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Yep, like was posted, someone else definitely had an interest also as I bid this one blind inside 30 seconds to go. I was as surprised as anyone when it rang up at 1600+. I had just put in a high enough amount that I thought for sure I would win it and evidently got caught by someone else doing the same, I was just a bit higher. I haven't posted in this forum before, always staying in stealth mode as I haven't felt like I had anything to really add to what I have been reading, bamboo rods being an interest of mine. But its sure been interesting to hear what you guys bring up and I would agree that there sure seems to be quite a lot of poeple nuts about bamboo rods here, being nuts about this stuff is sure a lot of fun for sure...and a wealth of knowledge is here for sure. I have been using this site to get info on a couple of rods that I have bought as like the Granger, my grandad owned Heddons also...so I've bought a couple of them too in order to fish what he fished. He was quite a sportsman, a national field trials winner in the early 1900's and was from a small town in TN and took me fishing as a young kid in the 50's. Not rich, an insurance salesman, but always fishing or hunting in the outdoors, always taking me along. He would give me the two end pieces of a flyrod and I would fish shrimp bits for bream as he fished for bass in the lakes and ponds. So he was the one who taught me to fish. Thats why I really want to do it like he did. Unfortunately he died when I was 10 and I was left his gear as I was the fisherman in the family. My mom says that I would fish in a bathtub if it had water so he taught me well.
WARNING: DO NOT READ FURTHER IF FAINT OF HEART. (just kidding but what happens next is a true story)
As I said, I got all his sporting goods and fishing gear, including the bamboo rods. Being 10 at the time, I had no real idea what he left me but he sure believed in good gear as there's still an original in the box Abu Ambassador still around, a Merkel 16 GA O/U that I hunted with and broke the stock when I was 14, a Randall that was my Boy Scout knife and I don't know where it ended up... but I do remember the fate of the rods. I had caught the model airplane bug by then and for some reason, the rods seemed like perfect airplane making material... light, strong and already sized properly tapered for fuelages and spars...so the Heddon's and Granger's (the ones that I know the names of, there were others) all ended up going under the coping saw and becames parts of model airplanes. All that is left is one piece that I was looking at when I was at my parent's house last week. It is a mid section from a Granger, wrapped in the same colors of the 8040 and the same length. So over the years, as I felt the guilt of knowing what I had done as a kid, I decided that one day I would get a rod like it and fish it like he did. So I did what I did and that's that...my grandad is smiling down on me and will be happy to see me finally understand the worth of what he gave me. The fishing bug I have always been grateful for and this is my way of saying thanks for a wonderful lifetime of outdoors experiences.
I appreciate hearing everyone being happy for me and that does go a long way in my book, so thanks again. I'll be sure and take pics of it when it gets here and will share them... and will fish it next month on the Yakima during the BWO hatch...I even will take it out and put a bit of shrimp on it and catch a bream or two when it gets warmer around here in WA...dj

I took these in my living room, lighting not quite as desired...no defects to speak of other than a bit of bag marks on one small facet of one tip and a small section of the mid as can be seen in the pic under the handle...but that was evidently because it sat in the bag for all the time after it was bought...there is no wear on the tube or bag at all...a bit of surface oxidation on the ferrules and handle, but no pitting and the handle is perfect with only a bit of the cover plastic still adhered to the swell. I don't think it has ever been handled or put together even, definitely not fished as the handle is spotless with no signs of any cleaning or repairs or defects. Maybe I was the first person to string it up and cast it (which I immediately did and then took the pics, first things first, priorities ya know)....I think that it was never put together because the ferrules still have the protective coating that was used on them and there are no wear marks from putting it together. But what is probably what I didn't expect the most is the absolute absence of wear or use on the tube and bag. Just one nick on the tube in the last pic that looks recent. The guides and wrappings look perfect with no breakdown in the varnish or the guides. If I didn't know it wasn't around 60 years old, I would swear it was brand new. I expected some age or wear or use but this one has none that I can see...I would think that this is basically what one looked like when it came from the shop back in the 30's and 40's...dj