I do own and appreciate true good custom cues. This is a different thing.
A number of years ago I was researching Steve Mizerak which led to researching some of his business dealings and the "Dove" cue line he had. That led to researching Cobra cues and KaoKao. I had bought a few example cues cheap and had seen a Slyfoxx cue that had the exact same design as one of the Cobra cues. My wife saw me researching the Slyfoxx cue and bought it for me for my birthday. That started all this craziness that led me to own the cues I picture here today.
There is a lot more info on all this, I even spoke to relatives of Steve and others that were involved in several of these brands. Sadly, one of the people had recently thrown away many records, and even products, samples, and prototypes, not long before I contacted him because he thought nobody would ever be interested in them. I do have trademark records, business filings, and more. But that's all ethereal BS for most people. Even these cues themselves will be BS to a lot of people. But, here they are.
One thing led to another, and over the years I would grab a cue of the same design if I saw it for a reasonable price. Recently, as I was going though all my cues, I came across them. I wasn't sure how many there were at first as my cue records were fragmented from changing computers. Now I know there are seven.
They're all versions of a cue found in the KaoKao Business to Business catalog, number 4201 on page 18 of the 99 page catalog. It is the 525 Side Winder in the 1992 Cobra catalog. It is the Apache in the Sierra catalog and in the original Sterling catalog. How is it that so many brands chose this particular model to have made? I don't really know. Kao makes a tremendous variety of cues to choose from. What is obvious is that they are of dramatically varying quality. The Kao factory is certainly capable of building cues up to the Adam/Helmstetter quality level, which is pretty respectable. I have examples of the "Pro" cues from the Mizerak and Cobra lines that represent that level of quality. This cue was never available in the Mizerak line, and it wasn't in the "Pro" line from Cobra. If it was in the "Pro" line it would have been produced to the quality level of the cues on the right in my pictures.
In this particular lineup I arranged the cues in ascending level of quality from left to right. On the top two the fit and finish is pretty darn good and the rings all line up. There is one brand logo I suspect is missing but have never seen one. It was produced in the 1980s I think. There is a reason I suspect it. If I ever see one I will buy it because...obsession.
From left to right:
1) Cobra 525 Side Winder (synthetic wrap)
2) Cobra 525 Side Winder (synthetic wrap)
3) Slyfoxx (linen wrap)
4) Craftmaster (linen wrap)
5) Pinnacle (no logo, linen wrap)
6) GW Collection (genuine lizard wrap, added by original owner)
7) Sierra Apache (linen wrap, the only cue here with 5/16x14 pin, the others are all 18 pin)
A number of years ago I was researching Steve Mizerak which led to researching some of his business dealings and the "Dove" cue line he had. That led to researching Cobra cues and KaoKao. I had bought a few example cues cheap and had seen a Slyfoxx cue that had the exact same design as one of the Cobra cues. My wife saw me researching the Slyfoxx cue and bought it for me for my birthday. That started all this craziness that led me to own the cues I picture here today.
There is a lot more info on all this, I even spoke to relatives of Steve and others that were involved in several of these brands. Sadly, one of the people had recently thrown away many records, and even products, samples, and prototypes, not long before I contacted him because he thought nobody would ever be interested in them. I do have trademark records, business filings, and more. But that's all ethereal BS for most people. Even these cues themselves will be BS to a lot of people. But, here they are.
One thing led to another, and over the years I would grab a cue of the same design if I saw it for a reasonable price. Recently, as I was going though all my cues, I came across them. I wasn't sure how many there were at first as my cue records were fragmented from changing computers. Now I know there are seven.
They're all versions of a cue found in the KaoKao Business to Business catalog, number 4201 on page 18 of the 99 page catalog. It is the 525 Side Winder in the 1992 Cobra catalog. It is the Apache in the Sierra catalog and in the original Sterling catalog. How is it that so many brands chose this particular model to have made? I don't really know. Kao makes a tremendous variety of cues to choose from. What is obvious is that they are of dramatically varying quality. The Kao factory is certainly capable of building cues up to the Adam/Helmstetter quality level, which is pretty respectable. I have examples of the "Pro" cues from the Mizerak and Cobra lines that represent that level of quality. This cue was never available in the Mizerak line, and it wasn't in the "Pro" line from Cobra. If it was in the "Pro" line it would have been produced to the quality level of the cues on the right in my pictures.
In this particular lineup I arranged the cues in ascending level of quality from left to right. On the top two the fit and finish is pretty darn good and the rings all line up. There is one brand logo I suspect is missing but have never seen one. It was produced in the 1980s I think. There is a reason I suspect it. If I ever see one I will buy it because...obsession.
From left to right:
1) Cobra 525 Side Winder (synthetic wrap)
2) Cobra 525 Side Winder (synthetic wrap)
3) Slyfoxx (linen wrap)
4) Craftmaster (linen wrap)
5) Pinnacle (no logo, linen wrap)
6) GW Collection (genuine lizard wrap, added by original owner)
7) Sierra Apache (linen wrap, the only cue here with 5/16x14 pin, the others are all 18 pin)
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