Actually I am pretty sure these reels are made in Bridgeport CT about 10 minutes from me.
I am a big Penn fan, thats all I use. I have most of them from the little 4200SS to 710's and 5500SS. I love their Slammer and Prion lines as well. When I do offshore fishing I will get a bunch of the International 2's.
Yeah I knew what they cost about $500-$1k depending on what you get. They can and do engrave them. But they are so sweat kind of like a nice watch or car, once you play with one you will want one!
They way I look at it I want either a new spinning or fly set up this year. A Loop or Tibor fly reel costs about the same. I have a Redington fly reel now on my 9wt rod and am not really happy with it. The drag is kind of weak I wish I spent the extra money on a nice Tibor.