Blue BOok of Cues - 3rd Ed. (Help!!!!)

Bavafongoul

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Okay...so I have the God awful heavy Blue Book of Cues 3rd edition and it has everyone and everything in it, including a tier rating scale for the secondary cue market. Aside from overall condition, and whether the cue has or hasn't specific things such as an ivory joint, 2 original straight and playable shafts, etc., a cue has to be rated so it cab be placed within a tier range to establish its true most likely value.

The two criteria for the tier range ratings are the number of points and the total number of inlays, including ivory which can sometimes add a little extra value to the cue. I've looked at the examples in the book but still have this question. What constitutes inlay....is it the number of veneers within a point, does it include the diamonds, spears, cloverleaf etc insertions as well...are they also considered inlay? What about Hoppe style rings? It's a relatively important thing to understand and get right because in this crazy cue market, you can't let your emotions overrule using a level head. That's why it's important to know what any cue's "potential" value because as most sellers are learning, it's becoming increasingly more improbable to get that price in this cue resale market.

Can anyone help me out by explaining what exactly is an inlay and what's included in the term inlay. Attempting to determine a cue's value requires knowing the total number of inlays on the specific cue? Any thoughts or comments are appreciated....Matt
 

calibration

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Opinion

In my opinion the book is worth its weight in recycled paper and some pretty pictures to look at. It was published so darn long ago and before the market dump that the prices dont really make sense.
 

ToomnyQs

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Blue Book??

I agree Cal..Although it can be used as a guide of sorts, there is little information in the Blue Books that I would deem valuable when I am trying to place a value on a cue today..IMO..The "Book" confuses the issue more than it helps for the most part..Most of the values I find in there IMO can be cut in half and then some when I am trying to place a value on a cue..
 
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classiccues

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Okay...so I have the God awful heavy Blue Book of Cues 3rd edition and it has everyone and everything in it, including a tier rating scale for the secondary cue market. Aside from overall condition, and whether the cue has or hasn't specific things such as an ivory joint, 2 original straight and playable shafts, etc., a cue has to be rated so it cab be placed within a tier range to establish its true most likely value.

The two criteria for the tier range ratings are the number of points and the total number of inlays, including ivory which can sometimes add a little extra value to the cue. I've looked at the examples in the book but still have this question. What constitutes inlay....is it the number of veneers within a point, does it include the diamonds, spears, cloverleaf etc insertions as well...are they also considered inlay? What about Hoppe style rings? It's a relatively important thing to understand and get right because in this crazy cue market, you can't let your emotions overrule using a level head. That's why it's important to know what any cue's "potential" value because as most sellers are learning, it's becoming increasingly more improbable to get that price in this cue resale market.

Can anyone help me out by explaining what exactly is an inlay and what's included in the term inlay. Attempting to determine a cue's value requires knowing the total number of inlays on the specific cue? Any thoughts or comments are appreciated....Matt

Well generally speaking, an inlay would be just that.

951_butt_hi.jpg


This butt has 20 inlays. It's pretty basic. Some inlays are easy to determine and some not so much. A Bushka ring for example, might have 16 blocks. So 8 of them are inlays. Some people count them in their inlay totals and some just call them rings. An ebony bordered ivory inlay, is technically 2 inlays.

953_butt_hi.jpg


The above butt sleeve, how would you count this? In each ring are "inlays" of veneers, in each suspended large dot are 3 "inlays". Someone might or could say this butt sleeve has 128 inlays. However most experienced cue buyers would just say it's a fancy butt sleeve and not get to technical on the "inlays".

I think counting inlays on simpler cues is a good indicator, but on a fancier cue someone can look at a cue and call it a level 5, without much thinking or having to count actual inlays.

JV
 

Bavafongoul

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Thanks So Much

I can understand that there isn't any up to date publication that duly considers the cue resale market. The Blue Book of Cues is a reference and the main benefit is to establish benchmark price distinctions on cues, both current production and discontinued versions as well. Without some sort of guide, beauty would be in the eye of the beholder and we all know that sellers always see theit items differently than buyers. Supply and demand invariably rule what takes place in the real world but without some sort of compass, the cue market would be inundated with hyperbole, exaggeration and perhaps even false representations as well. The Blue Book helps to validate facts and "indicate" value but againm supply and demand determine that last point. From what I've seen, cues are selling for 50-70% of the seller's price expectations or else the seller just announces it's going to raffle or they're keeping the cue.

JV....thank you so much for the photos and explanation. I betcha there's a bunch of readers out there that didn't actually know the answer or were too timid to even ask. .....Thanks Again.....Matt
 

$TAKE HOR$E

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The BB idea is great and if a few things were changed and updated it would serve its purpose a lot better. Its tought to keep an up to date version going because the demand is limited and the cost would keep a lot of people from buying them. Some of the information in it is real close but some is far from true. For instance, the amount of cues that is says some cue makers turn out is way off. I have spoken to several cue makers and people in the know when it comes to things like that and they say a lot of material was just filled in when the book was being finished.
 

classiccues

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A true cue price guide is very difficult to manage. In some cases by time the prices are gathered, and it gets to print, it's off. It would be very tough to do a monthly, because you would need to gather information from many sources and let's face it, A- there aren't a lot of dealers, B- you need to trust all the sources.

IN my head I had an outline of a dynamic website where people could log in and post a sold / bought price which would update the cuemaker section as they were bought and sold. However it would be to easy to manipulate because cue buying is very limited.

JV
 

cfrandy

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I agree Cal..Although it can be used as a guide of sorts, there is little information in the Blue Books that I would deem valuable when I am trying to place a value on a cue today..IMO..The "Book" confuses the issue more than it helps for the most part..Most of the values I find in there IMO can be cut in half and then some when I am trying to place a value on a cue..

So otherwise, when you are selling a Balabushka that is priced at $25,000 in the BBC...you will offer it for sale here for less than $12,500?

What gets me is how a new cuemaker who is not mentioned or barely mentioned in the book can be hyped as a "top" cuemaker demanding prices comparable and even surpassing prices of hall-of-famers who have been producing cues for over 30 years!:shrug:
 

Bavafongoul

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Cue Guidelines

I suppose the best way to view the Blue Book is to not think of it as if it's an iron clad predictor of cue prices in the marketplace because there's a buyer and seller for everything sooner or later. The resale market will self adjust itself to economic conditions and buyers will pay what they can when they want the item. I think the Blue Book as a compass that helps keep one's eyes focused on the truw horizon and you sure don't want to overpay for a cue simply because you fancy it or got caught up in an auction war. I think it has value and helps validate the price range of any cue you might be considering. A lot of cuemakers aren't well known by everyone and their cues can have appeal and intrinsic value that might otherwise go unnoticed or unappreciated.......Matt
 

Joel Chue

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Blue Book

The Blue Book Of Pool Cues should be used as a guide...Prices and the values of cues are only what people are willing to pay for them.If someone post a cue with a price if they are asking more than what you are willing to pay , then do not buy it. Collectors generally will buy cues that they know they can resale at a higher value. I personally have waited more than 10 years to buy a cue that I was searching for, to buy in the price range that I was willing to buy it at.I have over 50 cues and have probably turned a few hundred cues. IMHO.
 

Grantstew

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And of course, the prices are dramatically off in both directions, I will buy all the Barry Szamboti's, Showman's and Black Boars they can supply at the quoted valuations!

$750 for a 4 point showman :)
 
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