Movie was not shot in the Baltimore area.
????Original Color of Money Joss Cue
- Thread starter Ball Banger
- Start date
Movie was not shot in the Baltimore area.
I think you're right, as I have heard something similar to this in the past. Rumor has it -- and this is only grapevine rumor, mind you -- some guy named "Steve Meeker" [ph] got a hold of one of them.
I think Dan Janes has posted on this forum in ths past. He's not a frequent poster, but maybe somebody could send him an e-mail. He just might post in this thread.
In fact, I will try to see if I can send him a PM. Hopefully, he checks his PMs every now and then. :smile:
Geesh, I just heard another grapevine tale. :embarrassed2:
After the movie was shot, the production company gave away some of the cues that they bought to be used in the movie by the extras and some of the players.
Somebody I know who was in that movie claims to have sold a cue given to him by the production company, a Schon, for $350.
At any rate, Dan Janes' forum name is "Dan Joss." I am going to send him a PM. He has not posted on here since June, but maybe he lurks and will get my PM. I hope so.
After the movie was shot, the production company gave away some of the cues that they bought to be used in the movie by the extras and some of the players.
Somebody I know who was in that movie claims to have sold a cue given to him by the production company, a Schon, for $350.
At any rate, Dan Janes' forum name is "Dan Joss." I am going to send him a PM. He has not posted on here since June, but maybe he lurks and will get my PM. I hope so.
All the replica models have a larger distance between the points at the base.
The N7 on Joss site has a hoppe ring and a black butt cup while the original didn't have the ring and had a white butt cup.
The notched diamond inlays in the butt are also different in the way they are "notched".
The closest N7 I've seen to the original is on billiardwarehose.com
http://www.billiardwarehouse.com/cues/joss/joss_n7.htm
Butt still the point and inlays are wrong.
In fact if you compare all the specs of the replicas to the original you'll see that none of them is really similar to the original besides the V inlays on the butt.
The N7 on Joss site has a hoppe ring and a black butt cup while the original didn't have the ring and had a white butt cup.
The notched diamond inlays in the butt are also different in the way they are "notched".
The closest N7 I've seen to the original is on billiardwarehose.com
http://www.billiardwarehouse.com/cues/joss/joss_n7.htm
Butt still the point and inlays are wrong.
In fact if you compare all the specs of the replicas to the original you'll see that none of them is really similar to the original besides the V inlays on the butt.
The one question I've always had about the COM cue is not the value of very similarly-designed Joss cues, but how on earth did someone as knowledgable as Dan Janes design and build such a cue and expect people to believe it was an original Balabushka?
Every time I see that sequence in the movie where the camera lovingly glides along the length of the cue and I see those CNC points and inlays it makes me wince. Why didn't he just cut up a few old Hoppe cues, slap on a handle, a butt cap and X-Acto in a few inlays? It was a prop after all.
For that matter, as there's only one scene where the cue is seen close-up enough to tell what it is, so they could have used a real Balabushka so it would at least look right and the Joss for all the other scenes where he's actually playing/twirling/throwing the cue.
Every time I see that sequence in the movie where the camera lovingly glides along the length of the cue and I see those CNC points and inlays it makes me wince. Why didn't he just cut up a few old Hoppe cues, slap on a handle, a butt cap and X-Acto in a few inlays? It was a prop after all.
For that matter, as there's only one scene where the cue is seen close-up enough to tell what it is, so they could have used a real Balabushka so it would at least look right and the Joss for all the other scenes where he's actually playing/twirling/throwing the cue.
Guys
While I have not been happy with all the answers I received, I do Thank you for your candid replies. I have had a learning Experience. I have sent Dan Janes an E mail with a link to this thread. Hopefully he will put the icing on this cake. Bottom line is, It looks like my son won't inherit a fortune But he will get a great hitting stick.
While I have not been happy with all the answers I received, I do Thank you for your candid replies. I have had a learning Experience. I have sent Dan Janes an E mail with a link to this thread. Hopefully he will put the icing on this cake. Bottom line is, It looks like my son won't inherit a fortune But he will get a great hitting stick.
Not Quite.....
They wreck cars that cost more than that in movies all the time (not to mention that before TCOM was released you could still buy Bushkas for a couple grand.)
They needed identical replacements in case the cue was lost, stolen, or damaged in filming. That way they wouldn't have to re-shoot the scenes that featured the cue (re-shoots could have costed many times the cost of a real Bushka) in case something happened.
Since no two Bushkas are exactly the same, using a real Bushka was not an option. Mike Sigel was working with Joss, so he was the one who arranged the production of the cues for the movie.
They wreck cars that cost more than that in movies all the time (not to mention that before TCOM was released you could still buy Bushkas for a couple grand.)
They needed identical replacements in case the cue was lost, stolen, or damaged in filming. That way they wouldn't have to re-shoot the scenes that featured the cue (re-shoots could have costed many times the cost of a real Bushka) in case something happened.
Since no two Bushkas are exactly the same, using a real Bushka was not an option. Mike Sigel was working with Joss, so he was the one who arranged the production of the cues for the movie.
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Dang.....I thought I had the whole thing right! Thanks for adding some additional info to this one. I knew about the Mike Sigel/Joss deal, as I heard that right from Mr. Janes himself. I still bug him once a year, as he is getting older, to make that exact cue for me. His answer, this year, is still "no". Hopefully I catch him just after the breakdown, but before the medication one of these years!
99.999% of the people who have seen the movie still believe it is a Balabushka. Is it actually worth the extra effort to try to convince 1 out of 100,000 people? And to be honest, when the movie came out, it probably was closer to 1 out of million people would be able to tell the difference. They never envisioned that 24 years later (the assumption that filming started in 1985) people would be debating the cue they used in the movie and how close or far it was from Balabushka's style... Plus the director probably wanted the cue to look a little flashier than most of George's cues were. After all, how many people in the world would know the damn difference.
Brian
The movie wouldn't have been the same with this dialogue sequence:
Vincent - "Eddie just gave this to me. It's a Joss"
unknown dude - "A Joss? Do you know how much that's worth?"
Vincent - "Yeah"
unknown dude - "Dan Janes makes like 1000 cues per year"
Just doesn't have the same oomph factor as "Balabushka" and "he died a few years ago".
Vincent - "Eddie just gave this to me. It's a Joss"
unknown dude - "A Joss? Do you know how much that's worth?"
Vincent - "Yeah"
unknown dude - "Dan Janes makes like 1000 cues per year"
Just doesn't have the same oomph factor as "Balabushka" and "he died a few years ago".
I prefer this one:
Vincent - "Eddie just gave this to me. It's a Budweiser cue"
unknown dude - "A Budweiser? Do you know how much that's worth?"
Vincent - "Yeah"
unknown dude - "Walmart started selling them a couple years ago"
Brian
No Problem
I got that story from Dan & Mike myself. It makes sense too.
PS: My favorite TCOM story, from Mike himself.......
When they were shooting in Chicago, Mike was on hand to help with the pool scenes. One night Tom took Mike out to dinner at a nice restaurant that Mike had recommended. He liked it so much that he told Paul about it, so Mike took Paul there the next night.
They had the same waitress both nights. When Paul went to the john the waitress came up to Mike and said "can I ask you a question?" Mike said yes so she asked "Last night you had dinner with Tom Cruise and tonight you are having dinner with Paul Newman." "Who are you?"
When Mike told her he was a pro pool player that was coaching them on a movie, she acted disapointed.
Guess she thought he might be some bigshot producer or director or something?
I got that story from Dan & Mike myself. It makes sense too.
PS: My favorite TCOM story, from Mike himself.......
When they were shooting in Chicago, Mike was on hand to help with the pool scenes. One night Tom took Mike out to dinner at a nice restaurant that Mike had recommended. He liked it so much that he told Paul about it, so Mike took Paul there the next night.
They had the same waitress both nights. When Paul went to the john the waitress came up to Mike and said "can I ask you a question?" Mike said yes so she asked "Last night you had dinner with Tom Cruise and tonight you are having dinner with Paul Newman." "Who are you?"
When Mike told her he was a pro pool player that was coaching them on a movie, she acted disapointed.
Guess she thought he might be some bigshot producer or director or something?
OMFG!!!!! Thanks for making me spit soda on my laptop ROFLMFAO . Really thanks for laugh dude i really needed .
Awsome!!!!! :thumbup:
Next time you're talking to Mike, ask him why he would allow shot sequences where the balls magically "move" between frames. When I didn't play pool, I didn't notice them. Every time I've watched the movie since becoming a player, it has drove me nuts watching the opening sequence, and the Vincent/Mozell sequence. First time you see it, the ball is straight into the side pocket, next view - it's a dead bank. Oh, and the one-handed 5 ball? First time you see it, it's a cut shot. Next frame - straight in. I'd expect this from Mars Callaghan, but not MIKE SIGEL!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrjSqK7xPLE
Beware the moving 5 ball...................starts at 1:22.
Dan Janes Returned My E mail at 4:22 today Thanks Dan for a quick reply. We know you are busy.
BTW the N 7 in this picture is the same Cue I have. I can see no difference from this picture. Priced at $ 590.00 which while being a let down is not bad considering I got it for under $ 200.00 in trade value in 1994. Plus I have a great hitting cue.
http://www.josscues.com//Archive/html/custom/N07.html
BTW the N 7 in this picture is the same Cue I have. I can see no difference from this picture. Priced at $ 590.00 which while being a let down is not bad considering I got it for under $ 200.00 in trade value in 1994. Plus I have a great hitting cue.
http://www.josscues.com//Archive/html/custom/N07.html
Joss
Here are pictures of 2 model J18 cues
The ebony one is marked "Joss" in gold letters at the joint. I purchased it new in 1991 or 1992. It has diamond shaped MOP inlays in the points and butt (Not notched)
The maple one has white letters at the joint. It is marked at the joint "Joss 1986" It has diamond shaped Abalone inlays in the butt only. (Not notched)
Not sure if this helps or if it just makes it more confusing....
Here are pictures of 2 model J18 cues
The ebony one is marked "Joss" in gold letters at the joint. I purchased it new in 1991 or 1992. It has diamond shaped MOP inlays in the points and butt (Not notched)
The maple one has white letters at the joint. It is marked at the joint "Joss 1986" It has diamond shaped Abalone inlays in the butt only. (Not notched)
Not sure if this helps or if it just makes it more confusing....
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Wow a whole $10K...this always cracks me up. $10K is nothing in the movie business.
Ken