Newell levelwind prototype?

Had a couple of old newells never liked them always felt awkward on the rod .I sold them after one season.

Hi Mbg75, thanks for bringing notice of that sale to this board! Here's what I think - without any documentation from Carl or some other authority that was "in" on its build establishing true provenance, its probably not worth all that much. More than a decade of watching Big Rick on Pawn Stars explain this simple fact over and over and over again, makes me question the authenticity of such items.

Additionally that hacky-looking grafting of what appears to be part of a Penn chrome on brass reel foot to the Newell aluminum reel stand is suspiciously WAY below Carl's standards. I honestly doubt he would be showing off that kind of work in his business's office.

But I wouldn't be surprised if it does sell. There's A LOT of people out there that . . . well, anyway, to me it does resemble someone's backyard project. I suppose it COULD have been Carl, though that gear plate looks bogus and more Penn than Newell. Having owned (and still own) nine Newells of various generations and sizes including a "Blackie 220F" and a few P's, in addition to working on many, many more - well, this one just doesn't look "right."

If the seller can get someone involved with Carl's factory from "the old days" to authenticate it - in writing, all well and good. Otherwise, while its an "interesting" item, to my mind, that's about it.

The blank side plates do look “prototype” but I agree, not worth much without provenance from Carl or family.

I still have a few 220s and 229’s, sold off the rest, but still holding onto these. Can’t seem to let them go due to their simplicity.

I don’t use them much anymore with all the newer style reels that are out.

Mbg75 - If my memory is correct, Carl did produce and sell some of those plain-looking side plates as replacements for Penn 140 or 500 reels - prior to introducing his own reels, the "Blackie" series. I think they were called "Newell 300" plates, or something similar to that name. It was so long ago . . .