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I'll cast a vote for 'real' Cross rods, those made in Lynn, Mass. The gives your friend a 6-year production window to search for. They're around, reasonably priced, and designed by a man whose impact was greater than any other single 20th century man in the industry.
All the rest of the 20th century designer stuff is already overpriced. All of it.
Have at it, guys.

Todd

Your friend's style of collecting, as typified by his reel and lure collections, may give you a clue to what would work for rod collecting. At the shows I'm sure you've noticed collections of reels of all the same type, say sidemounts like in Jim Schottenham's collection, or baits of all the same marque, as in Stag's collection of McHarg stuff. Or your friend could collect nothing but 4,5,7, or 8-strip rods(no 6-strippers since that's what everybody else has). I considered doing just 8-strippers since a number of them have found their way to my neck of the woods but I only have 2 more makers to go, Fowler and Divine, and then it may be done as a category.
A John Landman collection could have some depth to it, since he did 6 and 8-strip, bait and fly (and surf if you include his son), trade and non-, 19th and 20th century, and Calcutta and Tonkin. Now that I think of it, that would be an impressive collection and there wouldn't be a dog in the bunch.
Tell him not to go heavy on the Cross yet. I'm still working on them myself...*g*

About 20 years ago Thomas Capstick, a McGraw-Hill editor, passed away. In Fly Fisherman Magazine it was said Capstick had one of the best Theodore Gordon-tied fly collections known, and sadly it had disappeared from his office walls after his death.
Less than ten years before he died he stopped in at the store where I was most often to be found behind the tackle counter. In answer to his question I said that yes, we did buy estate tackle. I added that we did occasionally get rods.
"Do you ever get any old flies? I'm not looking for rods - the collectors have driven prices right through the roof."
Then he handed me his business card and I agreed to contact him if any 'old flies' showed up. I never saw him after that.
Now, there was a well-connected collector who saw that prices were wacky 30 years ago. Competition hasn't improved the situation since then and it's partly for that reason that there's a new class of collector, one who seeks stuff currently in production.
Starting out collecting, questions to answer might be:
1) What can I reasonably afford to collect?
2) Do I simply want an array of similar, or related, items (i.e. same color, same size, same model, same region, or same maker)?
3) Is it important to collect landmark examples (first six-strip, first impregnated, first year of production, etc.)?
4) Can I stand to spend money for something that will not necessarily be used? Will I be satisfied just to have them?
5) Are other people's opinions about the collection important?
6) How many different ways can something be considered the "best", and does that matter?

Capstick had the resources and the connections, but also a sense that collecting should have reasonable limits to it. Everybody gets to decide that for themselves. For more insight into collecting, suggest your friend get ahold of copies of Art of Angling, in which Jerry Girard wrote columns about collecting.