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Are high end predators hard to sell on the secondary market?

jlrowe
I still prefer Predator LD wood shafts over CF any day. Personally, I think that the best shaft i ever had was a Predator Z2 S tuned. Of course, they are marketing genius. But, I really liked they used a lot of testing and was striving to make the best equipment available. I liked it that they had high end custom cuemakers making butts. Bill Stroud, Paul Drexler, Samsara, Jacoby and Pechauer instead of going the cheap route. Its crazy how marketing and sponsorship works. Sponsorship and marketing influenced my choice of a cue when i was young and it still influences the young generation today. Put your product into the hands of a pro and it is not only that pro that is winning major tournaments it is the cue that has won also or the equipment. As a young player getting into the game it was Meucci for me because that was what was in the hands of some of the top pros like strickland and there was always ads in magazines and pool rooms always had the Meucci branded display case full of Meucci's. Before the 80's major sponsorship of pro players was pretty non existent. Players were using mostly random custom cues. It was the makers or manufacturers that put out production cues that was fortunate enough to capitalize on this. they had the funds to sponsor and put their product into the hands of pros. So now its production cues and shafts that young people are seeing winning major tournaments not customs. So thats why young players have no interest or even know one custom cue from another. So back to the OP. Young players are more focused on the shaft now. But good news it is still Predator and Cuetec. The butts whether made by Josswest or a butt made in the Republic of China doesnt matter to them. Putting CF into the hands of pros has almost destroyed the the image of wood shafts. They look at it as the old man and his muscle car. Trying to sell predator cues with LD wood shafts has diminished. The young buyer is looking at it like well it is a Predator but i still have to buy a Revo and leave the predator 314 in the case. So it is a big expense.
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2026 Reyes Cup - October 15-18

sjm
jay helfert said:
As much as I like the Pinoy/Asian players, I think they are underdogs this year against a stacked ROW team. Nothing like last year!

It's the real deal.this time around. Should be a lot more competitive than the MC. I'll be there sweating it.

Wonder what the prize money is?
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In 2024, the payouts to the losing team and winning team were identical at $15,000 per player. It was a paid exhibition, not a competition. In 2025, I don't recall the payouts being published at all.
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McDermott GS Cues -- Where's the Love?

L
McDermott GS cues have a 3/8x10 wood-to-wood joint and a solid maple shaft with a long traditional ferrule. This joint, shaft and ferrule combination is found on quite a lot of custom cues today. The GS comes with a lifetime warranty, a lifetime maintenance plan and for $328.00 you can have one at your door in 3 or 4 days. The workmanship is fine. And if you need it fixed, McDermott will get it back to you in a crazy short time and treat you kindly. I've played with one and it feels much like a lot of the custom cues I've played with. So I wonder why these aren't wildly popular.
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2026 Reyes Cup - October 15-18

Cleveland_Rocks
sjm said:
When Team "Rest of World" showed up without SVB and Filler, the 2025 Reyes Cup was already over. The event was completely unwatchable.

To be fair, Team Asia might smoke Team ROW again this year, but if they do, let's hope that politics won't have diluted Team ROW the way they did last year, when Matchroom shot itself in the foot and ruined the event.

As an event, the Reyes Cup has yet to deliver. With or without the Reyes Cup, we all know how great the Asian pool players are.

... and yet, for what it's worth, Asia hasn't looked better than Europe in the two events played in Asia over the past two weeks. At the World 10 ball in Vietnam last week, all four semifinalists were European. At this week's Bali 10ball, Mi Le, who will play in the final shortly, was the only Asian in the semis, joined by three Europeans. Let's add that not even one Asian has won a WNT major in 2026.
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This is good information, sjm.
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1984 Ray Schuler?

B
Thank you. I went back and looked at it again, and I think you may be right that it is 116 rather than 911. It is very small, and I originally read it as 911. The possibility that it is 116 grams makes a lot of sense. Interestingly, the dealer's handwritten card also contains “472/116/750 P.” Do you know whether Schuler marked shaft weights in grams on the shaft itself? And if so, does the “P” indicate a taper?
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