I've never heard of recon ebony either but Masecraft does sell recon ivory. It has an ivory color but no grain. Like the recon stone, I doubt there's much ivory but a whole lot of recon.
Dick
I was interested in one of the 2010 COTY cues. After reading the cue descriptions, and seeing these terms used, I emailed McDermott for an explanation of recon ebony and ivory.
This is what I received:
"These are both man-made synthetic materials that we use as substitutes for genuine Ebony and Ivory. We use them to keep the cost of the cue in a
reasonable price point. These materials are also more durable and stable. They are less likely to warp, crack, or cause problems than their genuine
counterparts."
Recon, what a joke. I was really interested in the McDermott G1904
the 2010 Cue of the year "special edition" only 50 made but in typical production cue maker fashion they ruin it with short cuts. That cue has a killer design and would have been a monster of a cue using Gaboon Ebony & Real Ivory.
Your mistake was looking at McDermott's from a collector standpoint. If your really serious about collecting then get a 1 of 1 from a custom cuemaker. But I do agree, nothing like the real thing.
It means "colored plastic replacement for..." McDonald's has been using it in their cues for years. One reason why I have never purchased one of their cues.
The problem is, as soon as you relax the restrictions on ivory, elephants start dying. They tried allowing some of the old ivory to be sold and almost immediately poachers started killing elephants. If anyone doesn't see why that matters, (or even if you do) go to youtube, type in "Shirley the elephant" and watch videos 1 & 2. They give new meaning to the words "solitary confinement" and "love". Then, check out www.elephants.com.
After all that, you should know why ivory needs to be off limits.
nO THE PROBLEM IS THAT THE PEOPLE WHO NEED TO ACT, AND THINK DIFFERENTLY DON'T GIVE A **** ABOUT THOSE AWESOME ELEPHANTS !:frown: