Cue Buying Frenzy

J

johnnysd

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I recently started playing again after a 20 year absence for the most part. Amazingly just as I decided to play again seriously, I find my Fancy Judd Fuller sneaky Pete that i LOVED was stolen by the collision place. They actually admitted to taking it, and I settled on them buying me a Dominiak semi-custom cue, which is being built.

In the meantime I bought myself a simple Joss, which plays really well. One of their customs that Dan Janes said he built himself.

But I have always loved cues and it has awaken this cue buying animal in me. The more I thought about cues the more I wanted some specific cues. So now:

1. I am getting a Lambros merry widow that is slightly customized with very upgraded woods (cocobolo and golden mallee burl). 6 months away

2. I am getting a quite unique and what I think special cue made by Josh Treadway. He is actually pretty excited about it and while somewhat traditional and elegant it will be unlike any custom cue I have seen. Excited about that one. 2 years away. Secret :)

3. Having Kim Walker build me one of his cues starting in the fall time frame. It will be a pretty burl based cue with special rings (I love great ring work on cues) and Kim's are special, wrapless, multiple burls, holly and floating points. I have heard nothing but great things about the playability of his cues as well. 9 ish months away

4. Looking to replace my Judd sneaky.

What in the hell is wrong with me? I was perfectly happy with just the Judd but not that it is gone I am so excited about collecting what I think will be a quite awesome group of cues, each one unique.

My Cue.jpg

My Joss. Dan replaced wrap with a black/red linen and it looks awesome.

Dom 3.jpg

Early pic of the zircote/ash cue Bill Dominiak is making for me.
 
Last edited:
johnnysd said:
What in the hell is wrong with me? I was perfectly happy with just the Judd but not that it is gone I am so excited about collecting what I think will be a quite awesome group of cues, each one unique.
Click to expand...


Welcome to the dark side.


There is no turning back.

Enjoy it. :thumbup:


.
 
I have several very nice cues,small differences but all play well. I got a helluva schock when I ordered a plain true sneaky to bring to dive bars. For about $120.00 total I got a bocote full splce sneaky into straight grain maple,regular ol' LePro tip & the way this cue plays has flabbered my gast.
It's incredible,considering what else I own. Truly I have considered selling all but the Schmelke and one other,(don't matter which other) ... go head & give one a try,after you play with it a few times you'll be trying to look me up to say yep boy,you was right !!!
Enjoy and WELCOME BACK !!!
Johnny Rosato ~ B'ham,Al
 
Last edited:
Well I'd say there is nothing wrong with you. Cue buying & collecting is fun. I have a Treadway on order as well, summer 2018 should be done. I also have 3 others being built now too. Have 13 at the house now as well.
 
cues

I cant see buying all these small named cue and spending all the money you are ,
I'm sure if you add it all up you could have bought a top cue makers cue like Tascarella, or something like that that you would not loose a penny on if you decided to sell and get your money back, Hope you love what you are having made because your not going to ever get 100% of your money back on them, I know your not having them made thinking You will sell them later but things happen and you never know what will happen, That's why I always buy what I know I can sell later and not loose a dime,
 
JT's cuerepair said:
I cant see buying all these small named cue and spending all the money you are ,
I'm sure if you add it all up you could have bought a top cue makers cue like Tascarella, or something like that that you would not loose a penny on if you decided to sell and get your money back, Hope you love what you are having made because your not going to ever get 100% of your money back on them, I know your not having them made thinking You will sell them later but things happen and you never know what will happen, That's why I always buy what I know I can sell later and not loose a dime,
Click to expand...

It is a fair point and something I have thought about. I have had some high end customs done in the past by more "name" cue makers such as Paul Mottey and Richard Black that I was able to see for what I paid for them or more in the case of Mottey,

In terms of the others, the Joss was an impulse buy upon hearing Dan Janes had made it himself completely outside of their production process and it cost less than $500 even with a NOS Champion.

The Dominiak was literally free as it is paid by the collision company.

I would put forth that Lambros is a high end name cue and that the coco/mallee burl merry widow I will get will retain much of it's $1600 initial value.

Josh Treadway is less known but I do not think will stay that way. Treadway is already building a great reputation for himself, has a 2 year wait and is being featured already on high end resale sites like recollection cues and the cue he is making might not even be made by a Tascarella or someone like that. I actually expect that cue to appreciate in value, but even if it didn't I believe it will be special.

Kim Walker's will also be special. He is making just terrifically beautiful cues that hit extremely well, and is also growing quickly in reputation. His backlog is growing and he sells cues that become available in a few minutes, so again a cue maker on the rise, and it will also be a truly beautiful cue with exotic woods that will make it more valuable as time goes along.

So I will wind up with 5 fairly unique, elegant cues each every different that will cost $4500 over 2 years. The cues are spread out intentionally too. it would be difficult for me to outright buy a Tascarella at $4500.

There is a lot of validity to your statement but I think the variety of the cues I get will be great, I will get that "opening the cue package" feeling 4 more times, and I think that from a resale standpoint it is not as bad as you might think.

I definitely did think about going that direction. If Fuller Judd was alive I might have just gotten one from him and been done. and I did think about getting another Mottey or Black as well.

I also dont plan on ever selling them. I wish I still had the Mottey and my Gus, I could have figured out some other way to get money.
 
In 2003, I was still playing with my '85 Runde Schon and didn't even own a ivory joint cue.
Take a glance at my signature. I still have the Runde Schon but a helluva lot less IRA money.
My first addition was the Scruggs in 2005 & I'd still be adding but for the CA ivory ban in 2 days.


Matt B.
 
johnnysd said:
the Joss was an impulse buy upon hearing Dan Janes had made it himself completely outside of their production process
Click to expand...

Uh, what production process? Its my understanding that Dan Janes makes EVERY ONE of his cues by his own hand. Or did he lie to me?

r/DCP
 
I've been wondering myself what's wrong with me. I too am just getting back into the game after a near decade absence and like cues. Problem is I only had one cue left when I started up again early this year. A Jim Buss sneaky with a shaft I should have never let anyone whittle down that I just don't get along with like I like to.

I come to the conclusion that I need another cue and end up calling Keith Josey to have a snaky made. Unfortunately it's going to take a year and I make the order. I then call Jim Buss and find out he's retired and Josh Treadway has his shop. So I call Josh and now I have 2 shafts being made for the Buss sneaky. Now I need a cue and get my hands on a Blackcreek sneaky which by the way is a fine cue and my current player and only cue in my possession. I then make a call to Leon Sly to talk about a sneaky and end up ordering a custom. I certainly have taken care of my cue problem. Now I need to figure out which one is going to be the one. I guess we just like to have cues and have to accept that. There is nothing wrong with us.
 
Last edited:
Dan Janes was making, and pioneering cue making beginning in the late 60s, with the likes of Stroud, Scruggs, Ernie G, Balabushka, and Szamboti. How in the world is that a small name?
 
Chopdoc said:
Dan Janes is a HOF cue maker. Small name?




.
Click to expand...

Yes it is a small name...only 8 letters...D A N J A N E S.

Get a cue by a BIG name maker like Guzz Balebeshemski of Bumfugg Egypt and they will be worth a lot more down the road. I've heard he makes great ques and other stuff. If you are lucky you can sometime find his stuff on eBay. He makes great back scratchers too.

Keep buying what you like. I have never bought a cue that I ever intended to sell, but when I did sell one, I always got back what I paid for it or a little more.
 
Last edited:
HawaiianEye said:
Yes it is a small name...only 8 letters...D A N J A N E S.

Get a cue by a BIG names maker like Guzz Balebeshemski of Bumfugg Egypt and they will be worth a lot more down the road. I've heard he makes great ques and other stuff. If you are lucky you can sometime find his stuff on eBay.
Click to expand...

Lol! Dude! That is too funny.

.:thumbup:


.
 
2twoball said:
I have several very nice cues,small differences but all play well. I got a helluva schock when I ordered a plain true sneaky to bring to dive bars. For about $120.00 total I got a bocote full splce sneaky into straight grain maple,regular ol' LePro tip & the way this cue plays has flabbered my gast.
It's incredible,considering what else I own. Truly I have considered selling all but the Schmelke and one other,(don't matter which other) ... go head & give one a try,after you play with it a few times you'll be trying to look me up to say yep boy,you was right !!!
Enjoy and WELCOME BACK !!!
Johnny Rosato ~ B'ham,Al
Click to expand...

I'll 2nd this theory all day long. Have owned and played with many custom cues....But NOTHING hits as consistently awesome as a basic, flat faced full splice cue....doesnt matter who makes it really...Joss, Schmelke, Frey, Gilbert, Dufferin, Omen.
Put another way....IMHO, You'll find more "awesome hitting" cues in a random collection of $300 sneaky petes than you will in a random collection of $3K customs.
 
I Do Hope You Enjoy Owning a Hercek Pool Cue......

The cue you play with can either be viewed as an abstract tool that could be as plain as day or a reflection of how the owner feels about pool cues. When the pool cue construction
is a matter of great personal interest, one usually pays more attention to the cue-maker selection or else it's ust a crap shoot.

After you decide upon a cue-maker, then you assign a dollar value to what you want made.....$800, $1500, $2500 $4k. If you would rather own a variety of cues, with most cue owners
the chances are there will be differences in the weight of the cue butts & shafts, maybe even sizes, and the tips and likely different varying weights of any bolts used. So the owner does
get a variety of cues and in all probability, they feel different which might be what was the original desired outcome.

Personally, whether the cues cost $800 or $4,000, I want the cues to match or be as close as possible. I started with a large budget when I got my first ivory joint cue back in '05 but
have just ran out of time. The CA ivory ban takes effect in 2 days & I still have funds for a Hercek cue but alas, I never found one. Some things are meant be and some aren't meant to be.
Obladi Oblada.......I learned a lot along the way and had a lot of fun. and made lots of friends.

I can't help but wonder how many flat ivory cues Ed Prewitt has released over the last 5-7 years. He doesn't make many cues & unless Ed relocates, there won't be any more so this could
become an interesting cue to own. Mr. Scruggs has passed on and Jerry is getting ready to retire and Bob has indicated that he's basically done making ivory joint cues. So in actuality, I
own a bunch of cues that won't be made any longer, that is up until Jerry actually retires and I won't reveal his date in mind.

48 hrs from now the doors slam shut for California cue buyers, cue-makers and cue-sellers in general when the cue in question contains any type or amount of ivory (zero tolerance). So
understandably, I am very appreciative with what I've acquired but am still disappointed over never finding the right Hercek cue despite that price was never an obstacle.


Matt B.
 
Bavafongoul said:
The cue you play with can either be viewed as an abstract tool that could be as plain as day or a reflection of how the owner feels about pool cues. When the pool cue construction
is a matter of great personal interest, one usually pays more attention to the cue-maker selection or else it's ust a crap shoot.

After you decide upon a cue-maker, then you assign a dollar value to what you want made.....$800, $1500, $2500 $4k. If you would rather own a variety of cues, with most cue owners
the chances are there will be differences in the weight of the cue butts & shafts, maybe even sizes, and the tips and likely different varying weights of any bolts used. So the owner does
get a variety of cues and in all probability, they feel different which might be what was the original desired outcome.

Personally, whether the cues cost $800 or $4,000, I want the cues to match or be as close as possible. I started with a large budget when I got my first ivory joint cue back in '05 but
have just ran out of time. The CA ivory ban takes effect in 2 days & I still have funds for a Hercek cue but alas, I never found one. Some things are meant be and some aren't meant to be.
Obladi Oblada.......I learned a lot along the way and had a lot of fun. and made lots of friends.

I can't help but wonder how many flat ivory cues Ed Prewitt has released over the last 5-7 years. He doesn't make many cues & unless Ed relocates, there won't be any more so this could
become an interesting cue to own. Mr. Scruggs has passed on and Jerry is getting ready to retire and Bob has indicated that he's basically done making ivory joint cues. So in actuality, I
own a bunch of cues that won't be made any longer, that is up until Jerry actually retires and I won't reveal his date in mind.

48 hrs from now the doors slam shut for California cue buyers, cue-makers and cue-sellers in general when the cue in question contains any type or amount of ivory (zero tolerance). So
understandably, I am very appreciative with what I've acquired but am still disappointed over never finding the right Hercek cue despite that price was never an obstacle.


Matt B.
Click to expand...

What are the levels next your your list of cues?

Glad not too many think I am nuts.

Of course I also need to figure what to do about a case now.
 
There are many important aspects for determining a cue's value that include who made it, how intricate (fancy) is the design and what's the condition. Naturally, the marketplace dictates of rarity & scarcity come into play for assigning the final value of any pool cue.

A Level of Grading Intricacy System was developed for the publication Blue Book of Cues. The system works best on simle designs & gets more difficult as cue designs progress in complexity. There are 8 Levels and Levels 1, 2 & 3 are the easiest to evaluate because the lack of variety in those type designs. It becomes more difficult as cue designs progress beyond Level 4 because many different inlays & point designs can be involved.

Anyway, the higher the Level, the more complex the cue design and generally that means the cue design involved more time & materials and therefore, understandably cost more. It is impossible to know the upper limit for a certain cue-maker since that would require knowing the actual sale and resale price of every cue they ever made. Additionally, one of a kind custom cues can also have an artistic value that an be hard to determine. Needless to say, some designs cost a whole lot more and it's pretty easy to recognize those type cues. Anyway, below is the chart:

Level 1......4 Points.............Hustler
Level 2...... 0 Points .........0-25 inlays
Level 3.... . 2-6 Points..........0-8 inlays
Level 4.... 4-10 Points..........0-25 inlays
Level 5.... 0-12 Points..........26-50 inlays
Level 6.... 0-12 Points.........51-75 inlays
Level 7.... 0-12 Points.........76-125 inlays
Level 8.... 4 or more Points..... 126 or more inlays

The cue values expressed in all three editions of the Blue Book of Cues
are guidelines only and should not be confused with, nor relied upon, as
actual cue values. i.e.,sale price attainable in the secondary resale market.


Matt B.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top