Sneaky Pete Cues ……

Bavafongoul

Bavafongoul

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Yesterday a Tim Scruggs SP cue sold on eBay for $1375. If you visit the eBay auctions sub-forum,
it is listed there. I looked at the listing. it’s not the best looking TS sneaky I’ve seen. What impressed
me was the selling price for a very plain looking SP cue that is admittedly from a famous cue maker.

It made me wonder why more cue makers don’t offer SP custom cues. I contacted a cue maker and
explained I wanted a simple travel cue and would he make me a SP? He wasn’t interested & explained
he could make a player style with points and veneers sans any inlays instead but it would run more than
a plain SP. It wasn’t worth his time to make me a SP cue since it interrupted his cue making routines.

So that made me wonder about the discussion I had with Jerry Rauenzahn before he retired. I suggested
making a limited run of SP cues. He could pick the number and make them available to his best customers.
I thought it would be cool to make a SP for every year of his cue making career. It appealed to him and we
talked about making the cues a 360 design rather than points but our conversations never came to fruition.


I think there is a demand for having a SP cue built like a custom. I’m not talking about inlays, rings, etc. I’m
referring to the cue’s specifications so that the cue is built the way you like it to be, not how the cue maker
otherwise thought the cue should be. I browse for SP cues in particular and have noticed that there aren’t
many from renown cue makers and when you see one by Scruggs, Mottey, White, etc, the cues sell quickly.

It would be fun and interesting to see a cue maker offer a limited run of SP cues. IMO, the cues would sell
out and people who missed out on placing an order would be asking if it’s too late to order one for years
to come. You see threads on Az being revived all the time and someone points out the original thread is
many years old. Needless to say, the price range should be lower than the TS cue that I earlier mentioned.

So if you have any thoughts about the popularity of SP cues or market demand, price range, cue makers,
limited # of cues or anything that relates to the topic, even absurd prices for a SP cue, I invite you to post.
 
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I've never used any ultra fancy butts so I can't comment on the "feel" they have or whether they "play nice" etc.

I do own several cues ranging from low quality to generic production to 1 custom Omen Sneaky Pete.

Love the way the Omen sneaky plays. Is it better than a McDermott? Eh not particularly. Is it as good as a Black Boar? Can't say. But it looks cool and is unique to me.

Personally I think a lot of ultra custom cues are ugly because they are overdone. I really appreciate the construction of the points in a cue so those are cool to me, but a lot of the inlays I see make me think of bedazzled jeans. I don't wear bedazzled jeans, why would I buy bedazzled cues?

This is all just my preference. I shoot pool for fun, I'll use any cue around.

Sent from my SM-S901W using Tapatalk
 
I'm a big fan of sneakies because I don't like wraps and I like the simple style of them. They are also usually a good way to get a nice hitting cue for less price. I see both sides of things, but would think making a run of sneakies would be profitable to most cue makers.
 
I got both of my Sneaky Petes in the $400 range with LD shafts
The equivalent Sneaky now is over $800 (also with LD shafts)

But, 10 years has gone by, maybe more........
 
Bavafongoul said:
Yesterday a Tim Scruggs SP cue sold on eBay for $1375. If you visit the eBay auctions sub-forum,
it is listed there. I looked at the listing. it’s not the best looking TS sneaky I’ve seen. What impressed
me was the selling price for a very plain looking SP cue that is admittedly from a famous cue maker.

It made me wonder why more cue makers don’t offer SP custom cues. I contacted a cue maker and
explained I wanted a simple travel cue and would he make me a SP? He wasn’t interested & explained
he could make a player style with points and veneers sans any inlays instead but it would run more than
a plain SP. It wasn’t worth his time to make me a SP cue since it interrupted his cue making routines.

So that made me wonder about the discussion I had with Jerry Rauenzahn before he retired. I suggested
making a limited run of SP cues. He could pick the number and make them available to his best customers.
I thought it would be cool to make a SP for every year of his cue making career. It appealed to him and we
talked about making the cues a 360 design rather than points but our conversations never came to fruition.


I think there is a demand for having a SP cue built like a custom. I’m not talking about inlays, rings, etc. I’m
referring to the cue’s specifications so that the cue is built the way you like it to be, not how the cue maker
otherwise thought the cue should be. I browse for SP cues in particular and have noticed that there aren’t
many from renown cue makers and when you see one by Scruggs, Mottey, White, etc, the cues sell quickly.

It would be fun and interesting to see a cue maker offer a limited run of SP cues. IMO, the cues would sell
out and people who missed out on placing an order would be asking if it’s too late to order one for years
to come. You see threads on Az being revived all the time and someone points out the original thread is
many years old. Needless to say, the price range should be lower than the TS cue that I earlier mentioned.

So if you have any thoughts about the popularity of SP cues or market demand, price range, cue makers,
limited # of cues or anything that relates to the topic, even absurd prices for a SP cue, I invite you to post.
Click to expand...
Scruggs would be laughing his ass off over these prices.
 
Bavafongoul said:
Yesterday a Tim Scruggs SP cue sold on eBay for $1375. If you visit the eBay auctions sub-forum,
it is listed there. I looked at the listing. it’s not the best looking TS sneaky I’ve seen. What impressed
me was the selling price for a very plain looking SP cue that is admittedly from a famous cue maker.

It made me wonder why more cue makers don’t offer SP custom cues. I contacted a cue maker and
explained I wanted a simple travel cue and would he make me a SP? He wasn’t interested & explained
he could make a player style with points and veneers sans any inlays instead but it would run more than
a plain SP. It wasn’t worth his time to make me a SP cue since it interrupted his cue making routines.

So that made me wonder about the discussion I had with Jerry Rauenzahn before he retired. I suggested
making a limited run of SP cues. He could pick the number and make them available to his best customers.
I thought it would be cool to make a SP for every year of his cue making career. It appealed to him and we
talked about making the cues a 360 design rather than points but our conversations never came to fruition.


I think there is a demand for having a SP cue built like a custom. I’m not talking about inlays, rings, etc. I’m
referring to the cue’s specifications so that the cue is built the way you like it to be, not how the cue maker
otherwise thought the cue should be. I browse for SP cues in particular and have noticed that there aren’t
many from renown cue makers and when you see one by Scruggs, Mottey, White, etc, the cues sell quickly.

It would be fun and interesting to see a cue maker offer a limited run of SP cues. IMO, the cues would sell
out and people who missed out on placing an order would be asking if it’s too late to order one for years
to come. You see threads on Az being revived all the time and someone points out the original thread is
many years old. Needless to say, the price range should be lower than the TS cue that I earlier mentioned.

So if you have any thoughts about the popularity of SP cues or market demand, price range, cue makers,
limited # of cues or anything that relates to the topic, even absurd prices for a SP cue, I invite you to post.
Click to expand...
So the popularity of the T.S Sneaky Pete is 80% nostalgia and 20% collector in my opinion (and mainly because most every want to be hustler and short stop from that time had an SP at some point). T.S was really making those cues high performance (because of the great taper and strong ferule). As soon as Predator entered the scene with LD technology most players could care less about a sneaky pete.

Fast forward today and older guys want their cues back from when they had hair...

I ordered mine with a custom wrap (brown and white speckle) and had it sent to me COD by Timmy for $160. Do I miss that cue? Yes! Would I pay North of $1K for it? Hell no!!

Sorry, but they are way, way over hyped at this point. My opinion
 
Here’s what I’d do if I were a cue maker. I’d release a limited series of SP cues periodically.
The intermittent timeframe between series of cues released must be relatively long length.

So maybe ever decade but how many years of cue making does one have so that might be
too long. How about every 5 years & not more than 5 series releases. Call it the 55 SP Project.

The first thing that came to mind was make the series only 5 cues but that’s not enough. There
needs to be more than a few but not too many. How about a bakers dozen?….13 cues & 1 cue
from each series is retained by the cue maker so only 12 cues are available for order. The cues
retained out of each series make up a 5 of 5 complete set. Each series needs a identifying mark.

So if the cues sold for $800 - $1000, the cue maker would realize would $10-12k of revenue. If
the cues sold for $700, that’s still $8500. I imagine if Barry Szamboti made the cues, the price
would be a lot higher than what the Scruggs cue sold for. Gosh, there are so many great cue
makers out there that I envision that someone one might shoot for a collection of SP cues by the
biggest names in cue making. Anyway, I think it would be something that would persist for years.
 
Bavafongoul said:
Here’s what I’d do if I were a cue maker. I’d release a limited series of SP cues periodically.
The intermittent timeframe between series of cues released must be relatively long length.

So maybe ever decade but how many years of cue making does one have so that might be
too long. How about every 5 years & not more than 5 series releases. Call it the 55 SP Project.

The first thing that came to mind was make the series only 5 cues but that’s not enough. There
needs to be more than a few but not too many. How about a bakers dozen?….13 cues & 1 cue
from each series is retained by the cue maker so only 12 cues are available for order. The cues
retained out of each series make up a 5 of 5 complete set. Each series needs a identifying mark.

So if the cues sold for $800 - $1000, the cue maker would realize would $10-12k of revenue. If
the cues sold for $700, that’s still $8500. I imagine if Barry Szamboti made the cues, the price
would be a lot higher than what the Scruggs cue sold for. Gosh, there are so many great cue
makers out there that I envision that someone one might shoot for a collection of SP cues by the
biggest names in cue making. Anyway, I think it would be something that would persist for years.
Click to expand...

Schon did this with highly limited model runs. They did not appreciate 10x in value.

Scruggs values matured because people are stupid. Every guy who buys one ends up selling it 3 months later. Surely not because it is the best playing cue ever.
 
I think there is not much Sneaky today in world of Pool.

Recall a guy who was good at fleecing suckers playing with Bud Beer Cue he held together but & shaft to for transportation with rubber band.

His skill was his weapon, not his Cue, could have use Wall-A-Buska, and still beat most.


Think in 2022 the old Hustlers, and Road Players would say Pool world has changed, like the Woke World is not like 50’s to 70’s.
 
CocoboloCowboy said:
I think there is not much Sneaky today in world of Pool.

Recall a guy who was good at fleecing suckers playing with Bud Beer Cue he held together but & shaft to for transportation with rubber band.

His skill was his weapon, not his Cue, could have use Wall-A-Buska, and still beat most.


Think in 2022 the old Hustlers, and Road Players would say Pool world has changed, like the Woke World is not like 50’s to 70’s.
Click to expand...

ok boomer
 
ideologist said:
Scruggs values matured because people are stupid. Everything who buys one ends up selling it 3 months later. Surely not because it is the best playing cue ever.
Click to expand...


Think your full of 💩 saying “everyone is stupid”, plus people who buy Scruggs SPs, sell in “3 months”.

Facts❓

🐂💩❓

Or do you get info Via Magic 8 Ball❓


IMHO your what people call 🔥 starter, Troll.🤯
 
CocoboloCowboy said:
Think your full of 💩 saying “everyone is stupid”, plus people who buy Scruggs SPs, sell in “3 months”.

Facts❓

🐂💩❓

Or do you get info Via Magic 8 Ball❓


IMHO your what people call 🔥 starter, Troll.🤯
Click to expand...

I just see the market, TS sneakies flip super fast between dance partners on all of the marketplaces

Commonly paid for and then people "want to try something new" - code for this cue "don't play no good"
 
CocoboloCowboy said:
Think your full of 💩 saying “everyone is stupid”, plus people who buy Scruggs SPs, sell in “3 months”.

Facts❓

🐂💩❓

Or do you get info Via Magic 8 Ball❓


IMHO your what people call 🔥 starter, Troll.🤯
Click to expand...

I also think it is profound that a guy who sells used cubes of chalk is trying to school people on market behavior.

Get on your bike and ride home, as Tony G famously said
 
If I recall correctly, the special runs that Evan undertook at Schon involved decorative designs.

Having said that, I’d like to acknowledge Evan Clarke’s recent passing with a note of reverence
and tremendous regard for his accomplishments and contributions to the craft of cue making.

My original reference to SP cues was entirely linked to having a cue that felt and played the
equivalent of your main playing cues. This way if it was lost, you’d only shed crocodile tears.
 
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