MARKET VALUE??? TAD

jdsons said:
There are a few signs that show its era. Silver rings at the joint, and inlays in the window. I haven't seen any like it before. I think this cue sat in Tads shop for awhile, before finishing. I feel bad bothering Fred. I am not sure if he works alone.

Julian
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Who is Fred and why do you feel bad bothering him? Does he have the answer you are looking for? Is he into Tad cues? I assume so. If yes he’d like to see I’m sure.

This thread is confusing.
 
Okay, I figured out who Fred is. Googled it. Give him a call. How big of a bother would it be?

  • Cues designed and made by one of the most famous cue makers in the world, typical of future hall of famer Tad Kohara, his wife Sue, and his son Fred in California, USA.
 
This cue’s value lies somewhere between $4300 -$5300. Tad is a heralded name in cue making but that only goes so far in increasing the cue’s value. But just like anything, rarity and scarcity influence the level of buyers interest and selling price.
 
tads were great cues. and valuable to this day. but this isnt one of his most ornate ones and more like his standard.
wonderful playing cue and that is what i would do with it.

if you need money put it up for auction and the price you get will reflect its true retail value.

as us old guys die off only the most ornate cues of the old time great makers will command top money.
 
maha said:
but this isnt one of his most ornate ones and more like his standard.
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A Google search finds OP's Tad cue as ornate and better than others for sale now:

Tad5.jpg
Tad 1.jpg
Tad 2 same as 1.jpg
Tad 3.jpg


The Poster's cue:
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Tad poster.jpg
 

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maha said:
this isnt one of his most ornate ones and more like his standard.
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WTF?

I do my best to comment on what I know. I will suggest what I think I don't know but be clear I don't know it.

What is this bullshit?
 
back when many of the better players had his cues most were more ornate than this one. maybe he made them special for the good players i dont know but that cue isnt like his higher line of cues.

but granted it isnt a simple one but a super nice one.
 
I'm not up to date in cues value, but if a CueTec cost over a $1000 and a production chinese cue like some of the Predators go for over $2000, this TAD should be worth more than 5K.
 
skor said:
I'm not up to date in cues value, but if a CueTec cost over a $1000 and a production chinese cue like some of the Predators go for over $2000, this TAD should be worth more than 5K.
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let me pose the question to you like this.

What can YOU pay for this cue right now? How much can you afford this very instant if the OP reached out and said he was going to sell it to you
It never ceases to amaze me the people that chime in about what a high-value cue SHOULD cost when their own budget caps out at mid-range McDermott (Not saying you fall in this camp Skor just your post got me thinking about this)

There are more people that want those Predators and Chinese production cues then there are who want a TAD. Not saying that is right, I've been to Fred's shop several times. Both him and his father are cue makers of the highest order...

But as we have talked about several times in HUNDREDS of threads, the market for older high-end cues is dwindling as Gentleman like Will Prout wind down the quantity of collecting they were doing, and there are very very few collectors coming in behind them to fill the gap.

Looking forward to this year's ICCS to get a feel for what the collecting community looks like right now...
 
jdsons said:
There are a few signs that show its era. Silver rings at the joint, and inlays in the window. I haven't seen any like it before. I think this cue sat in Tads shop for awhile, before finishing. I feel bad bothering Fred. I am not sure if he works alone.

Julian
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I called Fred a couple months ago, we spoke for 90 minutes I’d guess. We have lots of mutual friends in SoCal and I played there since the mid 80’s so lots to talk about. Was a wonderful conversation.

He will do LOA’s if he has the cue. He’s very fair on what he charges for them, I’m not sure how interested he is in doing a zillion of them-but he will do them.

Tad who I only met once briefly at the BCA trade show was an amazing cue maker. I had a chance to go to his shop in the early 90’s as I was invited but I dogged it and didn’t take the time to go. What a mistake that was-the Golden Ticket. Tad didn’t let many people in from what I understood. I played pool with one of Tads friends often and he set me up. That’s one I really messed up on, I was busy with biz and didn’t make that a priority.

I have another cool Tad cue story I’ll add to this thread a bit later.

Nice to see a Tad thread!

Fatboy 😃😃
 
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T411 said:
As far as appraisals go I’d make sure you are going to someone that can actually give you an accurate appraisal. Where would you be able to get a truly accurate appraisal of a vintage pool cue? I feel I could trust a few people here to actually give an accurate appraisal but are they recognized for insurance purposes? I don’t know the answer to that question. I question even if some actual auction houses know the nuanced differences between a handful of well known cue makers in the 1960’s and 1970’s like Balabushka, Tad, Ernie Gutierrez and say Viking and Meucci. Many people on here AZ are relatively new to the pool world, even some that resell cues often and that why we so many questions of what cues are worth when they are not diamonds. I have a few cues that I believe are worth some money and I’d like to get them appraised for insurance purposes only because I don’t intend to sell them but I don’t even trust an auction houses opinion. Maybe someone could answer that question? Even when watching Antique Road Show many times there is a very large window of what experts think something might be worth and sometimes they talk in very general terms that makes me wonder.

Nice cue jdsons!
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I don’t call myself an expert, that’s a self proclaimed bullshit title. “Experienced” is what I can call myself without going over the line.

What I can say is I own pretty much every cue you listed and have owned them all over the decades. I buy and sell cues when I feel like it. Some cues I’ve owned for 35 years, others for a couple months. I’ve never tried to make maximum profit on cues. I just love the action and I buy right and sell right.

The values of cues moves, insurance numbers are bullshit. They are meaningless. True market values are what’s real.

Having said that I have a pile of Bushka’s I’m losing my ass on, I have a stack of SW’s I’m printing $ with (should I sell either the SW’s or Bushka’s) it would come out as a wash. I should have bought bitcoin lol.

Point is the only real way to know the cue market is own cues and trade cues and stay active. Then and only then do you really know what you have. And that’s not always true-I’ve screwed up and sold way too cheap and paid too much. It happens. It’s trading and biz. How it averages out is the measure of how you did. I’m not looking only for locks.

Best
Fatboy <——-not a cue dealer, rather a guy who is in the cue market (dealers are too profit motivated)
 
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Benelli said:
let me pose the question to you like this.

What can YOU pay for this cue right now? How much can you afford this very instant if the OP reached out and said he was going to sell it to you
It never ceases to amaze me the people that chime in about what a high-value cue SHOULD cost when their own budget caps out at mid-range McDermott (Not saying you fall in this camp Skor just your post got me thinking about this)

There are more people that want those Predators and Chinese production cues then there are who want a TAD. Not saying that is right, I've been to Fred's shop several times. Both him and his father are cue makers of the highest order...

But as we have talked about several times in HUNDREDS of threads, the market for older high-end cues is dwindling as Gentleman like Will Prout wind down the quantity of collecting they were doing, and there are very very few collectors coming in behind them to fill the gap.

Looking forward to this year's ICCS to get a feel for what the collecting community looks like right now...
Click to expand...

I won't pay a dime for this cue, as I'm not looking to buy expensive cues anymore.
But when I was interested in cues, I remember TADs being very sought after and being sold for big money, but I don't remember how big....

I tried to do a little research to try and find what it could be worth; this is something I would do before buying anything.
I found this site that lists this cue as Tad 81-6, but no prices were mentioned.

If I look at the last edition of the Blue Book of Pool Cues, then I think we can rate this cue as a Level-5 cue that, in 98% condition, is valued to start at $5000, but that book is from 2005; that's $8000 in today's money, but we can't just go with inflation, and the market demand will eventually set the price.
I found a TAD group on Facebook, and similar cues were sold for between $6000 and $7000.

So I would say that $5000 would be a great price if I were looking to buy.
If I was looking to sell, then I would target the Chinese market and look for $7000.
 
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Only one true present value of anything is what a willing and able buyer will pay today for that item - period. Put it on eBay with a 30 day time limit - do a buy it now at $10000 and set your listing to receive offers with no automatic accepts or declines .
Over a 30 day period everyone in the world who wants a TAD will see it and your highest offer coupled with any negotiation on that offer is current market value - end of story!
 
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Fatboy said:
I sold one similar this year for around 5

I don’t try and hit home runs with cues, never gonna get 8 for that cue.

I have around 7 or 8 which are similar to that
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I agree with FatBoy, 100%.

REALLY sweet cue, but there are several of them. Great playing cue, really beautiful craftsmanship.
 
Fatboy said:
I don’t call myself an expert, that’s a self proclaimed bullshit title. “Experienced” is what I can call myself without going over the line.

What I can say is I own pretty much every cue you listed and have owned them all over the decades. I buy and sell cues when I feel like it. Some cues I’ve owned for 35 years, others for a couple months. I’ve never tried to make maximum profit on cues. I just love the action and I buy right and sell right.

The values of cues moves, insurance numbers are bullshit. They are meaningless. True market values are what’s real.

Having said that I have a pile of Bushka’s I’m losing my ass on, I have a stack of SW’s I’m printing $ with (should I sell either the SW’s or Bushka’s) it would come out as a wash. I should have bought bitcoin lol.

Point is the only real way to know the cue market is own cues and trade cues and stay active. Then and only then do you really know what you have. And that’s not always true-I’ve screwed up and sold way too cheap and paid too much. It happens. It’s trading and biz. How it averages out is the measure of how you did. I’m not looking only for locks.

Best
Fatboy <——-not a cue dealer, rather a guy who is in the cue market (dealers are too profit motivated)
Click to expand...

Great post Fatboy. I’ve always likened it to classic cars… cars can replace cues in your description.
 
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