John Lee-- To answer your question, the Japanese Morrums and Ambassadeurs are not currently available in the states. Two years ago, they were offered in a special deal-- Abu was marketing their 10 best selling reels in the world in the US. From that I got a little left-handed 2500C and a Morrum of the same size.

HOWEVER, Pure Fishing is setting up a global marketing program where any product they make anywhere in the world will be available. That means anything from Japanese baits to European rods-- they've got some 11-foot Morrum baitcasting rods that are truly awesome-- to the fly stuff they market overseas. I don't know when that system will be in place or even if it's still a plan given the current economy.

As far as the quality of the Morrum reels-- well, I've had no problems with mine, and I like them a lot. I can't say that I've fished them as hard as others on the board would, but the C3s and C4s keep working so well that I would be hard pressed to justify buying one-- or any other reel for that matter.

As a balance, if you're looking for a new reel, you might check out the new Pfleuger Trion round baitcasters. I've used a couple this year and have been very pleased, but it is early days yet.