Mitchell’s 308A Review
- July 23rd, 2010
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Mitchell 308A
Somewhere In The Middle
By: Jan Hannstra & Dennis Roberts
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Sometimes, we as collectors strive to determine exacting information as to when a reel was manufactured and issued into circulation. Unfortunately, these two don’t always match up. Recently, EBay auctioned off a Mitchell 308A in the Green MS (Mitchell Sports) box. It was determined after examining the reel that it was the first offering by MS of this model. Prior to MS, Browning, who controlled the Mitchell brand (1980-1983), packaged their reels in the familiar blue box. In the few short years that Browning was involved with Mitchell, changes in reel designs became the norm. In 1983, the last year of Browning’s involvement is when this particular version was manufactured. What makes this reel so unique is the fact we had no knowledge of this version’s existence until now. At the very end of Browning, MS quickly changed the packaging to a green box but retained the Browning warranty & paper work. Since this is a transition version of the 308A, and lays somewhere in the middle between Browning and MS, is it possible that the same model was issued by Browning in the blue box a few months prior to the MS release; something to ponder. The reel has been sold in Japan, Netherlands and the US, but yet, only now has it come to light. That is why we estimate the reel had a very limited production run; less than 3 months. In light of this new find, we thought it would be a nice idea to examine the entire spectrum of known Mitchell 308A’s issued from beginning to end!
Garcia Mitchell 308A 1977-1978
