Adam Cues subcontracted production out of Japan starting in the mid-1990s, and the licensed Balabushka replica cues were shifted to off-shore manufacturing.
1995 – 1998 (The Move to China & Taiwan): Due to rising Japanese labor costs, Adam began outsourcing the majority of its mid-tier production. Standard Adam cues and the lower-end Balabushka models shifted production to China and Taiwan. The mid-90s to mid-2000s outsourcing contract was not given to the Kao Factory. Instead, the bulk of Adam's outsourced production was sent to the Taican (Universal) factory. I said Kao, my mistake.
After 2007 the original Japanese factory scaled down to strictly producing Adam's ultra-premium, high-end boutique Musashi cues, while 100% of standard production permanently moved to China.
1969 – 1995 was sort of the golden era for the original Adam many of us remember and love. The early first catalog cues are legendary with pointed pins and aluminum shaft inserts.
My Kao confusion is due to remembering Harold Miller, the former sales manager for Adam Cues. He later used the Kao Kao factory to manufacture high-end "Cobra Professional" import cues. The Mizerak Professional Series cues were made at that same factory under a deal with Mizerak. These lines directly rivaled the construction of Adam cues.
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