Ernest, I wonder, when you say you will never own top of the line Bamboo or Graphite rods…. If the fishing gods were to appear and offer you a swap, the rods you own and use now for a batch of top of the line in whatever matrix you choose… Would you take up the offer? Not a sale but a swap of your choice.
The reason I wonder and ask is that I agree 100% with you regarding buying rods to keep and fish rather than for investment, but my current position is very different from yours. I own a few rods less than you, as I have no wife or children to care for and used to have a decent job a chunk of my disposable income went on fishing in one form or another so I’ve spent just over $3000 on the rods I now own and more or less broke even on the other rods I’ve bought and sold over the years, leaning to less. If I sold them all now I guess I’d lose $600 where you would have a fourfold increase in value. Many of mine were/are top end be it 20 years ago or now, anyway there are many rods more expensive than mine nowadays but I very much doubt I’d take the offer as I don’t think they’d add anything to my time on the water. I suspect you’d say the same for the same reason but I don’t know and that’s why I ask. Would those top ends add anything to your fishing or would they just be collectors items? This might seem like a stupid question but I know top end Graphite and I don’t know much on top end Glass or Bamboo.

My experience with modern Graphite is similar I guess to buying cars, the minute you take it off the forecourt you lose a percentage of it’s value. They introduce a new replacement model and you lose another percentage, they then continue to devalue slowly and steadily after that until you get to a point where if you bought well and looked after them they become “classics” and the value goes up slightly and then hovers (Sage RPL’s, LL’s and SP’s seem to be there just now, especially some LL's). It might take another 20 years before we’ll really know if they’ll ever become more than that as the matrix is too young and in the past the quality has been spotty. You can find good percentage prices on used/replaced high ends but the further down the ranges you go the higher the percentage savings you’ll make. Same with makers, outside of Sage, Orvis, Winston and a few others there’s loads of good rods and those are the ones with the biggest and quickest percentage savings. Supply and demand.
As a general question to anyone, those who know the second hand Bamboo market better than me, which means anyone… Is the second hand Bamboo market much different? Do the high ends from the biggest names rise in value straight away or must they wait to become “classics”?

Adam, we do agree. Which can be unfortunate as where people disagree can make the most interesting discussions.
Bamboo brought forth Graphite, as did glass and where Bamboo was the entry point for a generation Glass was the entry point for me and Graphite is the entry point for most folk now. Where they go from that… I trust many will go to Bamboo.
An example of our difference in philosophy is where you say Graphite is cheap and Bamboo is inexpensive I say both are cheap or both are inexpensive. I know, I’m nit picking… but I can’t help myself. ;) :roll:

I’d love to fish a rod you’ve made. Maybe I will, I’d like it more if I fished it in Arizona. :D