Justin , I'm not exactly sure what is after with tip his question ( asking about playability vs collector desireability and value ) but I will give you what I got. Imo, the old Malis are great hitting cues. My first " real cue " ( not the $15 junk from Kmart with the tennis racket grip lol. it was probably about a late 70's model and it played great and I loved it. It had the big pin as I'm guessing most to the old ones did ( only joint I've seen with the exception I am about to mention ). There is a member here and sorry I can't remember his whole name right this second but it has " west " in it I believe. He is the go to guy in regards to these old Malis IMHO. He greatly helped me out with my pawnshop purchase of and old Mali a couple years back and he is Very knowledgeable and has a nice and big collection of catalogs and such. He was able to find my MAli in what I think was the first Mali catalog. I have the BEM, and unlike any of the other cues listed in that first catalog. I had the small pin but it was brass ( first time I had seen one on a Mali but hough it was pretty cool. Cue was in real nice shape and hits A TON! LOL��. Anyway if I can remember his name I'll post or maybe he will chime in, but as I said he could probably help you out big time. GL!
Oh sorry, wanted to add as to your original question - the old Malis are great cues, well made and play very nice imo. As others have said, they do seem to have a nice following which one would assume would help value but as of so far prices remain low. Picking a nice one up should cost you no more than say about $150. ( I paid either $15 or $20 bucks for mine from a pawnshop but that was just luck.