Can we talk about Dale Perry cues?

Dale Perry’s Cue was sold on Enay, Dale sold many made money, and must have done OK.

Know several people who own DP Cues, and they like their Cue.

Recreational player who are happy.
 
Texas Carom Club said:
id spend that on a chinese import before buying anything he made
itll hold up longer thats for sure
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Not sure about that. I gave one of my pool league teammates one of the eBay specials 12 or 13 years ago and it’s still going strong, with now-black Irish linen wrap. I thought they were built very solid.
 
I sold mine a few years back for around $500. It's crazy to think that a custom cue that once sold for well over $1K is going for half the price. Your average Meucci or McDermott's sell for more.
 
cueman said:
I have two of his Ebay cues and one earlier custom. The main difference is the quality of the inlay work and sharpness of details.
There has been a debate within our circles about whether he should be put into one of the Cuemakers Hall of Fames. Those in favor site the fact he has built many more cues than almost all the other customer cuemakers that are in. The negative side says he had some bad business practices that gave him a bad name among some. But I once asked him if he regretted going ebay route and he just said "I am still here and still getting the same paycheck as before." He was no longer going to be able to make a full time living at the rate his high end cues were selling through dealers for. So he made lower end cues with simple big radius inlays and let the market decide what they would sell for on ebay. It was great for the players and bad for his older dealers. So if the public were able to vote him in would they or would they not?
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I believe that is a well considered set of objective observations from someone that truly understand the nuts and bolts of cue construction.

And it poses an interesting question at the end.

Richard Helmstetter and The Schmelke Family are in the International Cuemakers Hall of fame.
 
I play with the cue I ordered that took about 3 years to get.

Why would I do anything else?

This cue from a distance looks like a Plane Jane maple cue.

Gotta have it in your hands to see the work. But that's a side note. Love that cue.

If a joint looks shady, likely I won't go in. If I do, I'm going to pick from the wall.
 
NathanDetroit said:
Anyone else got one they are proud of?
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Yes I do. And I'll keep as opposed to selling cheap. I ordered this at the 1st SBE. It is well made. Nice thin butt. Uniloc. I love this cue... As well made and nice as any out there. DP is the 1st on the right. Will post a better picture.
 

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A lot people of people claim he was a jerk, but I talked to him several times on the phone for a long time and he was as nice and customer service-oriented with me as could be.
 
Icon of Sin said:
This reads like... "They suck, wanna sell yours?"
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No thank you, I have two in my collection one pre-ebay I picked up for about 250 and one of the eBay 1/1 cues that was with a group of cues I bought

Don't need anymore than that.

Have any Jim Buss?
 
Odd, with the passing of Mr Perry, the supply is finite. The pre-ebay cues should appreciate in value. The older cues should be worth more depending on the quality.

Talking nicely about those older cues is a much better way to support your friends who own them
 
NathanDetroit said:
Odd, with the passing of Mr Perry, the supply is finite. The pre-ebay cues should appreciate in value. The older cues should be worth more depending on the quality.

Talking nicely about those older cues is a much better way to support your friends who own them
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The damage he did to the old cues won't be fixed by his passing.
 
Matt_24 said:
Dale Perry made fantastic cues that played really good! He did change his business model to a more mass produced, affordable cue - but a lot of players were able to buy a fine cue at a solid price. If I were smarter I would grabbed a few off of ebay when I had a chance.
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I think you pretty much got it there in that he discovered eBay and a market for his cues that the other cue makers didn't recognize. And he started developing cues to meet that market. I remember when you started doing that and you didn't have to be much of a math wizz with to figure out how much money he was probably making while other cue makers were starving.

To be honest Tim Scruggs did the same thing with some of his low end cues and his sneaky Pete. He began making cues for the everyday pool player. In fact Tim Scruggs was wholesaling his cues. If I ordered three or more I could get them for about 40% off. The biggest cue market is somewhere between maybe $300. and $700. range. If you can build cues in that range and produce enough cues to be happy with your profit you're going to make money.

It used to be funny I used to go to the BCA show every year and you'd see the same cue makers and their displays. And they'd have really high-end cues there that you begin to recognize from show to show. Nobody's buying $3,200 cues.
 
A question in general or for MikeMosconi. The last couple of days, I have been doing a small cue inventory. Tomorrow, time permitting, I will bring the ones up from the dungeon. I have 2 Dale Perry cues. One that I bought, and another, a gift from my then wife.
Both DP cues are very well made and pretty decent players, no complaints, specially for the price that I likely paid. Have to apologize, I had a brain op in 2001 and my memory isn't as good as what it used to be. So, pre 2001 and here and there after, not so good at recall on certain things. I am going to say, I may have bought mine directly from Dale's site, as I remember many other pictures of his set up, lathes, wood stock, finished cues for sale. So, a Pre 99 will have both a signature and a 1/1 on it, am I correct. Pretty sure that mine are not that old, and likely just cruised around Dale's site a bit to look.
 
garczar said:
The damage he did to the old cues won't be fixed by his passing.
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My DP ordered from the 1st or 2nd SBE is a beautifully made cue. Nice thin butt..great player. Close to $1000 with 2 shafts. Most likely worth $500 at best if I could find a buyer. Not for sale. I had Proficient refinish it and added to the Closet Queen collection.
 
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