I have the Okuma Aventa Pro and one of the Marco Cortesi (who is he anyway?!) pins. I really do like the Okuma, it's well made, gives off a nice feeling of quality and spins wonderfully although I primarily use it for lead work.
The Cortesi pin is very nice for the money, I have it on my trotting rod and is very good value. However it - quite unsurprisingly - doesn't feel like it will last. It would be fine for Roach and small Chub though but I wouldn't expect it to last catching multiple Barbel every day, not that there's any chance of that ever happening where I fish!
As a consequence I read the Grice and Young article on here, looked on fleabay and won an Avon Royal Supreme for 22 nuggets which I can't wait to try out in the new season!
If I ever come in to some money I'd be after a Fred Crouch pin as soon as I leave the bank, it just looks beautiful.