Well here goes my .02. I have to agree with R.T. about big business. They have turned into a huge business in the 90's. As far as quality goes they are nice but the competition has gained huge ground on them. As far as fish catching abilities go I would say they are highly over-rated. I own several loomis rods and several lami's. I would throw my whole fleet of lami's away if if I thought they were costing me fish because I choose to use one of them.. If you have any experience at all you will catch just as many fish with a good lamiglas as you will any model loomis!! If fishing with your new IMX/GL3 gives you the personal confidence that you are all of the sudden a better fisherman than you are ahead of the game!!! Because confidence in what you're using plays a huge part in your ability to catch a fish.. I for one will not purchase anymore loomis rods. I feel that when they went to the plastic reel seat they did so to save money..Sure they might have had a few problems with the rosewood reel seats but I thought they portrayed a "touch of class". They were set apart from the so called lower class, now they are an equal in appearance and a VERY close equal to acouple of manufacutars in quality!! I will continue to use my various loomis rods but I am never going to give up my lami's... Last I would like to add that lamiglas has given me excellent service in their warrenty dept. Personnally I haven't had any problems with loomis but I seen some of my friends struggle with getting rods replaced.. Maybe it just all depends on who you talk too.?!? For the money I paid for my loomis rods I certainly do not expect any hassles when I accidentally snap one in two..