When St Crox decided to discontinue the Legend Ultra I thought for sure they would start showing up for a discounted price. But even on ebay they are still selling at suggested retail, which I find a bit strange.
Hang in there Dave, some might still turn up. I saw some earlier on - late August / September including some blanks being offered by some e-tailers. There is a rod series from a different mfg. that isn’t as well known yet as the majors that I’m a big fan of. They’ve supplanted many of my Scott, Sage & Loomis rods. That rod was also was discontinued late this year after a six year run and on Ebay they’re still going for full bore retail. I’ve been quietly sifting through search results every couple of weeks, since not all the shops respond to d/c product lines at the same time and in the same fashion. A couple of those rods seem to pop up from previously unknown to me shops, every few weeks. I’ve been fortunate enough to pick up three of them this fall at goofy low discount prices…the search continues to round out the herd.
Like St. Croix that mfg. isn’t as well represented in the fly shops as some of the other top shelf and fast food brand rods. Which means that there aren’t as many retailers holding d/c St. Croix inventory and so there is less - shale we say " Motivation " to get them out the door before the market gets saturated with d/c product.
If very few people know they’ve been discontinued, are they really discontinued? Why give them away, when someone is still willing - albeit they may be few and far between - to pay full tilt boogie.
Of course you could always help your cause along by posting more St. Croix d/c the Legend Ultra on websites which might have the effect of getting a few fence sitting retailers to bust a move and get those models on those clearance racks. Of course then, you might generate greater interest from other would be bargain shoppers and thus, shoot thy self in the foot.
Might try going to the dealer listing on the St. Croix website and start clicking through on every one of those listings that goes to a dealers website in each of the fifty states. It takes time and patience, but it’s a good way to find those truly out of the mainstream deals.
Best, dave
Dave, good insight on your part. What kills me is that they have probably had them for sale in their factory store, which is only an 9 hour drive from here. Ha!
You know I suspect that St Croix just might introduce the LU series in a year or so after much like they did with the Imperials. Perhaps reintroduce it with the new nano technology that they now use in their Elite series.
Dave
You would almost think they would have to, from a business standpoint. The Legend Ultras were such good sellers and now there is a huge gap in price points between their product lines. Now it breaks down that if you are after a faster action rod, you are looking at the Imperial or Legend Elite. The Avid is such a different animal but even still, there is $200 difference between the price of the Avid and the Legend Elite.
Who knows if they will or not, however, the new Imperial is not even close to the same rod as the old if descriptions are accurate. St. Croix rates the new rods as “fast”, which the old definitely were not. With that much difference, I wonder why they even kept the name.
I have an old Imperial in a #5. Be interested in casting the newer one, especially the 10’ #6. I also like my LU, wouldn’t mind picking up a few more.
As far as bringing the LU back, that was hinted to me as a possiblity from someone who works for St Croix. But who knows for sure. When I inquired about them discontinuing that model, I was told that they just weren’t selling like the others, which I found hard to believe.
I’ve never owned the older Imperial but have cast them. I do own the newer version in an 8 1/2’ 4wt and it is a faster rod, but with a softer tip. At least that is my impression. Of course since there are no standards in rod action, I would rate it as more of a med/fast action than fast. Still it is a good rod and I am still pleased with it.
Six years seems to be the cut off point for most of the manufacturers, they keep a bell curve graph and once the sales have topped over the curve it literally is all down hill. It’s all about the money.
This fall I picked up a LU 7’9" 3 wt. at 25% off. It is a wonderful rod, cast as smooth as silk and it is a blast for small to medium size trout, bass and panfish. My only compliant is the really poor finish work on the guide wraps. Large gaps in the thread, globbed on, uneven epoxy and allot of "thread fuzzies in the finish.
Lanny