Custom and High End Cues on the Decline?

Hail Mary Shot said:
closest one I have is I have to take an hour boat ride. the other one is an 8 hour drive and one more from overseas. I'm already in talks with 2 of them. one of which I'm waiting after I gave what materials I want for the cue. from those 3, I could buy a few right now from their inventory but wanted to try something unique as per my specifications. nothing too flashy but the wood selection are bit on the denser side.
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Sounds like you have an idea of what your cue will hit like based on your wood selections, good idea, the worst thing that could happen is the cue doesn't, back to the drawing board, if the cue does, you have a 1 of kind cue you designed, priceless!!!!
 
classiccues said:
You are not collecting, you are investing. Very short term as well. These are two very different things. I have news for you; there is going to be a time where many big names are going to be in that pile if collecting is strictly turned into speculative investment.

Collecting because you love something is very different than collecting to try not to lose money. There are no guarantees for the latter either.

JV
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truly said. it's like hunting for rare items. the question though is how much are you willing to spend, gain or lose from it. the appraisal value is also difficult to gauge. it's even more difficult now considering seller are trying to maximize profit even for garbage items.
 
SSP said:
Sounds like you have an idea of what your cue will hit like based on your wood selections, good idea, the worst thing that could happen is the cue doesn't, back to the drawing board, if the cue does, you have a 1 of kind cue you designed, priceless!!!!
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I did my research and have some friends that helped me along the way. it also helped to try out some of their cues, how they felt, what's the composition, balance, etc... from there, I narrowed my selection to 4. depending on what's available in their inventory.
 
classiccues said:
You are not collecting, you are investing. Very short term as well. These are two very different things. I have news for you; there is going to be a time where many big names are going to be in that pile if collecting is strictly turned into speculative investment.

Collecting because you love something is very different than collecting to try not to lose money. There are no guarantees for the latter either.

JV
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Did you read the entire post?

Short term?
 
SSP said:
Sounds like you have an idea of what your cue will hit like based on your wood selections, good idea, the worst thing that could happen is the cue doesn't, back to the drawing board, if the cue does, you have a 1 of kind cue you designed, priceless!!!!
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You give 10 different builders the same wood and every cue will hit differently.
 
jasonlaus said:
Probably not that much to do with it although I don't think taxpayers $$$ was being sent all over the world, not to mention, I wouldn't bet that half the population didnt pay taxes like now. Just outright theft from our entire g o v

You add in a cellphone plan, internet, cable, going out for dinner, fast food, computers, gaming systems, etc, etc and it's no surprise that people can't afford what their parents did. Eliminate all that shit and almost anybody could afford the same.
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Government is almost always the main, if not sole, cause of inflation
 
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Benelli said:
So one aspect of custom cues that we have sort of glossed over is these cues are not only functional pieces of art but many of them have incredible histories/stories that take them to another level.

Case in point, I have a 73 Szamboti barbell cue that is in its own right a stunning player that has incredible feel and hit transmission. The shaft is also some of the finest maple and is in its own right an incredible example of shaft building.

But what takes this cue from masterpiece to legendary is its history. This cue was a custom order for a Rhode Island gambler whose name, I shit you not was Pawtucket Fat's.

Fats ran into two Colorado road players doing a East Coast swing and had been on the road playing for three months at that point. Fats proceeded to loose game after game to said Co. Hustlers and after being busted had to give up his cue as collateral on money he owed. The road players gave him two days to pay up and get his cue back but they never heard from him again and they had to move on.

The cue came back to Colorado where the road player kept it for a year before selling it to a local player
That local player used it for a couple of years and then put it in their safe where it remained until after their death where it was sold to me by their kids.

I love this cue, looks amazing, plays incredible but more than that it has a history that I'm now the keeper of and hopefully become part of.

This is what I enjoy about all my high-end cues that you not going to get in your new predator/becues/Mezz-a -mijiggy. These cues have no soul, maybe someday, but not now.

I've come to the conclusion that humans have the ability to embue objects with echoes of our feelings, emotions, maybe even pieces of our psyches. But when I use the Szamboti I can feel the history, same as my 72 Bushka and my 75 Joss West. These cues speak to me, they tell me when I'm shooting good or if I'm a fucking embarrassment and please stop using them and switch to a house cue.
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Hope you will post photos of these nice cues.
 
jasonlaus said:
Because for the most part, cues lose $$$ the second they are bought, just like most cars and everything else.

It's fine if you don't care about $$$ but absolutely ignorant if you're not selecting from a very few cues and makers and I mean very very few.

Also, everybody thinks when their maker dies the price will go up, this is so wrong its almost laughable.
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There are alot of things that people collect that don't appreciate in value, I don't have the desire to collect cues, for me they are the most important tool I use in my pool game, I enjoy the art and precision in building a custom cue I just don't have the desire to invest in owning a cue that I won't use to play, I love the cue I own, it feels like it was built for me.
 
Hail Mary Shot said:
I did my research and have some friends that helped me along the way. it also helped to try out some of their cues, how they felt, what's the composition, balance, etc... from there, I narrowed my selection to 4. depending on what's available in their inventory.
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Happy for you, I hope it works out just like you planned, nothing like having a cue that feels perfect for you.
 
MIROPHAN said:
Custom or built from a custom shop CAN not be more expensive than a production cue. Price out a Cuetec or Predator with 2 shafts, with their premium models, it is easy to get to $1500-2k. I did this and ended up with a Merry Widow from SugarTree for less with 2 shafts.
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I paid $1500 for a custom cue built for me almost 20 years ago, that would be double in today's money.
 
SSP said:
I paid $1500 for a custom cue built for me almost 20 years ago, that would be double in today's money.
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Depends on who and how much. It pays to have a referral or let's say sometimes being a local. Some cuemakers can really be picky and won't entertain customers other than their preferred clientele. Is the pricing constant or fixed/same for all cuemakers? I believe we all know the answer to that. 20 years doesn't seem that long ago.
 
jasonlaus said:
A bunch of us have wood shafts that are over 30, 40, 50 years old, I would hope carbon fiber would last 10 years, what would happen to it?
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I don't think anything would happen to them, it was just a number to show that even in 10 years the cost of the shaft is not that much.
 
Hail Mary Shot said:
Depends on who and how much. It pays to have a referral or let's say sometimes being a local. Some cuemakers can really be picky and won't entertain customers other than their preferred clientele. Is the pricing constant or fixed/same for all cuemakers? I believe we all know the answer to that. 20 years doesn't seem that long ago.
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20 years ago everything was ALOT cheaper, so $1500 then is like at least $3000 today.
 
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