Hey chopdoc, you always have bad news for me, lol. I feel so stupid that I do not see the bad quality that you see in a cue (but I do trust what you say). I really can't see what looks cheap about the cue. The cue does remind me of an Adams/Helmstetter. They use those very long points. I know that I have a lot to learn about cues, and I really wish that I could learn to see the same things that you see. Thanks for always posting replies to my questions.
It's funny that the cues you ask about are almost always in my Ebay watch list.
I am usually watching around 150 cues at any one time. Mostly for "research".
I actually have a strange affinity for these cues and would love to have that one. I just can't afford it, and it is overpriced at this point anyway IMHO. Many here already know I have several Cobra and Mizerak cues as well as a Slyfoxx cue. Now...for somebody that really wants one, the price might be OK. If I had some cash flow I might think the price would be OK, I am probably more critical of pricing because of my current financial status.
I actually hate letting that one go.
I have had communications with a couple of the people involved in the import and branding of these types of cues years ago. As I said, I know them well.
I am generally happy to respond when I know someting. The frustrating thing is the value issue. I generally don't like addressing that.
I will say that very often people in these forums respond that such cues aren't worth anything at all or perhaps are worth a few dollars. They couldn't be more wrong. In fact the market is VERY strong for them and this is proven every day. It's just that they themselves don't like the cues, but that has nothing to do with their market or value.
The price on that auction will probably go up. Watch it. Somebody will pay more.
I have seen such cues sell for more than very good classic McDermotts, Vikings, Hueblers, Meuccis, etc. Why? I don't know. People buy them...that's all.
I have only seen one other person in the forums mention interest in the old Cobras. I have never met anybody other than me that has serious interest in this genre of cues at all......yet their relative market values are every bit as strong or even stronger than "better" brands.
For example. Take a McDermott, or JOSS or something like that. Ten to fifteen years old. You can easily cut the retail price in half to find the market value. It's a generalization but I think not too far off if you will allow me the kindness of some elbow room with my statements.
Now take one of the genre of cue that this post is about. Same age, much lower quality. It is not at all unusual to see them DOUBLE their original retail price in a public auction. Again, allow me some elbow room for my generalizations but I think it's not far off.
Amazing isn't it?
I have watched you bargain hunting for some time and I think I get the idea of what you are after. For some reason I tend to have a pretty good eye. Some would say I have a "photographic memory" but that isn't accurate. I like to say I think in pictures...but it is really really hard to describe. I kind of have color coded "time lines" in my head. They are three dimensional...and time line is a very loose characterization because it isn't just time but objects and concepts laid out like colored floating 3 dimensional roller coasters in my head. It might be a form of Synesthesia.
If you are interested you can read about Synesthesia here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia
Yes...it's strange. But to me it's normal. It probably states in the article that most Synesthetic people don't even realize they think or perceive dofferently than others at all. It's normal to them.
All the pool cues that I have ever seen are categorized in one of these colorful rollercoasters in my head. All of them. Though some Synesthetics have tried to draw or paint what they see in their mid it is in fact impossible to reproduce what I see in my head in that way. It exists in a way that simply transcends 3 dimensions.
I see things immediately that sometimes others don't. But by the same token, I sometimes miss obvious things that everybody else sees right away. So there are definitely trade off's and it isn't an ideal way to see the world.
Anyway, that might be why you don't see what I see. But that does not mean you can't continue to learn about cues. I encourage you to do it. It's fun.
