If you are in the neighborhood of Huntington beach the Golden West College has some awesome deals on fantastic equipment. I wish i would have had more money. I got a great outfit for less than a 3rd of retail. They have Seekers, Calstars, Penns, Tlds and a bunch of the stuf is in great condition. Reels are about half price and ya get a deal on a rod if ya know what your looking at and the seller doesn't have a clue.
I mentioned somewhere that I saw a custom Fenwick that I'll bet cost $750 to $1000 for catching whales and it was $125.