Why are Viking cues so often overlooked?

This used to be my toilet seat... but I had it made into a Viking F50 about 20 years ago. I'ts still my favorite cue!
Viking F50-1 Cropped.jpg
 
I bought a Millennial Series Cue in 01.
I dont know if they still do this, but a maple shaft took 3 years to make start to finish. Turned on a lathe and stored several times over the 3 year period. It is straight and can be, and will probably stay that way.
 
I hated their designs in the 80's with all the pearl accents and crazy colors but they are great playing made in USA cues.
 
And that's just about all I care about with my toys. Be it cues, guitars ,women,
How it looks is most important, I'll get used to anything that I like looking at.

:sneaky:
 
Poolplaya9 said:
The two reasons that I believe Viking cues never got more popular have both already been mentioned.

1. They are UGLY. Just about every damn one of them ever made. And not just a little ugly, but fugly ugly. Those atrocious Filipino cues with the busy designs and the snake skin wraps almost look like works of art in comparison. Mostly it is all the plastic and "pearlerscent" crap that Viking used but their designs were generally pretty horrible too. I think a large portion of people are just thoroughly turned off by their looks.

2. All the plastic made them appear to be very cheap quality. They weren't for the most part, but they sure gave off that impression and I think it scared a lot of people away.

Put out a product that is ugly as sin and appears to be cheap quality and you are going to have an uphill battle.
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You got it right. They had a bad reputation to live down. 40 years ago they were horrible. The butts were always fat, most were nylon wraps lots of plastic.

When I used to sell cues Viking were the last ones to switch to 58 in. standard. One of the first I ever saw was one Slim Barris had. It had so many inlays it made your head spin. They were just not good cues.
 
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Straightpool_99 said:
I've played with a few Vikings but never really gave them a good chance, but yesterday I got to play an extended session with one, and I really liked it. I guess my previous tries have been with cues that didn't have my preferred specs? It was a rather plain cue, with a special ordered slim butt, and a Vicore shaft turned down to about 12.5. Everything about the cue was nice, understated and it played brilliantly. I could easily have played wiht this rather than my Mezz and not be worse off, even though the shaft is a bit different. It doesn't hit like the Mezz, but instead has a very pleasant "pop" to the hit. My Mezz has been modified with harder ferrules and hits like a ton of bricks! I don't really like the joint pin on the Viking, that's really my only gripe. Otherwise the specs were perfectly to my liking, and the balance and overall feel was just great. I didn't really think about the cue too much,and just played. That's a good sign, to me.

For very reasonable money, I think it's a great playing cue. Got a really nice 60 ball run and crushed the 14.1 ghost on a very stingy and difficult playing table, and I was in control the whole time. The cue just did what I expected. It's a quality cue made in the US, and apart from some of the designs with "mother of pearl" in various colours (that I really hate) they make some good looking cues as well. They deserve more praise than they get. I mean after this I'd definitely recommend a low end Vicore over a G-core from McDermott for instance and I actually like those. I also like that Viking has special slim butt cues, which is something many players prefer. If you haven't tried a slimmer butt cue, I recommend that you do! You may like it!
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My experience = horrible customer service. JMO
 
Shawn Armstrong said:
You can’t. That’s misinformation. The blind section above the threads is slightly larger than a standard 5/16-18 pin. The threads either need to be bored slightly, or drilled out fractionally larger.
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I'm not trying to create yet another AZB post fight but I am sure that at least some (and maybe all) standard 5/16 x18 shafts with flat ends fit on Viking 5/16 x18 quick release pins. I've got a 5/16 x18 Predator 314-3 on my Viking A229 and it fits perfectly -- even the right diameter to butt right up to the joint. (I bought it to use on a Meucci originally.) The fact that the Viking pin is called "5/16 x18 Quick Release" supports this view. Of course 5/16 x18 shafts that aren't flat on the joint side won't fit.

I think it would be a public service for members to post their experiences on this subject. Obviously if all 5/16 x18 "flat end" shafts do fit on Vikings, that would be an advantage in buying a Viking cue.
 
Logandgriff said:
I'm not trying to create yet another AZB post fight but I am sure that at least some (and maybe all) standard 5/16 x18 shafts with flat ends fit on Viking 5/16 x18 quick release pins. I've got a 5/16 x18 Predator 314-3 on my Viking A229 and it fits perfectly -- even the right diameter to butt right up to the joint. (I bought it to use on a Meucci originally.) The fact that the Viking pin is called "5/16 x18 Quick Release" supports this view. Of course 5/16 x18 shafts that aren't flat on the joint side won't fit.

I think it would be a public service for members to post their experiences on this subject. Obviously if all 5/16 x18 "flat end" shafts do fit on Vikings, that would be an advantage in buying a Viking cue.
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I stand by my previous comments. I’ve worked on thousands of cues over the past 30 years. The blind on a Viking pin, unless they’ve changed, is larger than the centre bore on a 5/16-18 pin. If you got lucky, congrats. But, if it fit a standard 5/16-18 pin, why would manufacturers like Predator make a specific joint for Viking cues? Hmmm.
 
Bob Farr said:
My experience = horrible customer service. JMO
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I agree! I bought one of my first cues from them in the mid 90's. Supposed to have a lifetime warranty on them. Well about 2 years ago the finish started peeling off my cue really bad and i contacted them about it. They asked for pics and etc, said I could send it in and be covered under their lifetime guarantee. The problem is they wanted an original receipt for the cue or they were going to charge me between $250 and $400 once they got it. the cue is over 20 years old and the place I bought it from closed 10 years ago. Viking wouldn't do a thing to work with me with it. Basicly said sorry about your luck. So it has since sat in a case ever since, probably never to see the light of day again. I have talked a lot of people into Mcdermott's since then.
 
Straightpool_99 said:
I actually never knew that you could use standard 5/16*18 shafts on them! That's a big plus, I think.
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A standard 5/16x18 shaft has to be drilled out a lil to work with their pin. The Viking shafts will fit on any 5/16x18 pin. I’ve modified my female drive pin to accept a Viking butt. There are a lot of different manufacturers that try to make their stuff proprietary. In my opinion it’s a shame.if you make quality products, you won’t have to have proprietary products to get people to buy your equipment.
 
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Burnett Custom Cues said:
A standard 5/16x18 shaft has to be drilled out a lil to work with their pin. The Viking shafts will fit on any 5/16x18 pin. I’ve modified my female drive pin to accept a Viking butt. There are a lot of different manufacturers that try to make their stuff proprietary. In my opinion it’s a shame.if you make quality products, you won’t have to have proprietary products to get people to buy your equipment.
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The best fit for any Viking owner is to take the butt to a cue guy, like you, and have them shave down the blind on the end of the pin. Once it’s down below .275ish, it will take any 5/16-18 shaft. Way better fix than screwing with every shaft insert.
 
yes they were ugly and considered a second rate cue long ago. only those that bought by price got them.
 
Personally back in the day (30 years a go) when I first started playing I thought they hit fine . I just thought they were really ugly lol they love that mother of pearl crap and that isn’t for me. I thought the mcdermott looked better and hit just as good so that was my cue of choice. But for the money there is nothing wrong with it.
 
I like my plain viking cue. I've had it about 20 years now I think. But it's just a red stained Birdseye maple with a black but cap and joint with a black linen wrap. It's just a clean looking cue.
 
The Vikore shaft is very good, the Inviktus shaft is excellent...but those ugly designs they can't let go of will insure most people will never even try one.

They have some nice designs but you have to swim through a lot of "mother of toilet seat" to find them. A few of mine:
987ca2d9141904114f58c5811e46c3cd.jpg


Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk
 
So I have an old Viking (beater cue) that plays good enough.

However, a twelve year old must be designing their cues.

Then there is their marketing department, lay siege to your opponent with a Viking cue!?#

Really?
 
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