This month marks the 25th anniversary in cue making for Bob Manzino.
For those of us who have followed his work, many can recall that particular cue which stood out as being special or significant. For me, it was Silver Rhapsody, an award winning box cue he did for collector Ken Kerner in 2006. That cue gave the traditional box design a completely different look which no one had ever seen the likes of before. This cue was truly groundbreaking and took Bob to an entirely new level in his career. But, before we could really adjust to what was happening, La Finestra comes out in 2008 and stuns everyone. From there, the next award winning cue debuts at the 2010 ICCS in Sarasota, Fl. Dubbed Evolution, this decadent cue would become what some still believe to be the most beautiful cue of all-time.
Well, it didn’t take but for a few of these stunning creations to rekindle my interest in cue collecting and eventually bring Bob and myself together in 2013 for what would eventually result in a few more masterpieces plus a great friendship.
Knowing this date would be approaching, I thought it would be fun and interesting to research the last 12-13 years, looking for some of Bob’s finest examples of his work. Actually, I began assembling pictures as far back as April of last year. The task was big in that not only were some photos hard to locate, the quality was also poor in many cases. What I needed was various shots so that the detail could be captured and sufficiently illustrated in order to do each cue justice. In the end, I got what I was after and then some. As I carefully studied each cue design, I began to appreciate how each had to have been executed and how they each presented their own unique challenges.
So, here they are, twelve of Bob’s finest. Enjoy.
For those of us who have followed his work, many can recall that particular cue which stood out as being special or significant. For me, it was Silver Rhapsody, an award winning box cue he did for collector Ken Kerner in 2006. That cue gave the traditional box design a completely different look which no one had ever seen the likes of before. This cue was truly groundbreaking and took Bob to an entirely new level in his career. But, before we could really adjust to what was happening, La Finestra comes out in 2008 and stuns everyone. From there, the next award winning cue debuts at the 2010 ICCS in Sarasota, Fl. Dubbed Evolution, this decadent cue would become what some still believe to be the most beautiful cue of all-time.
Well, it didn’t take but for a few of these stunning creations to rekindle my interest in cue collecting and eventually bring Bob and myself together in 2013 for what would eventually result in a few more masterpieces plus a great friendship.
Knowing this date would be approaching, I thought it would be fun and interesting to research the last 12-13 years, looking for some of Bob’s finest examples of his work. Actually, I began assembling pictures as far back as April of last year. The task was big in that not only were some photos hard to locate, the quality was also poor in many cases. What I needed was various shots so that the detail could be captured and sufficiently illustrated in order to do each cue justice. In the end, I got what I was after and then some. As I carefully studied each cue design, I began to appreciate how each had to have been executed and how they each presented their own unique challenges.
So, here they are, twelve of Bob’s finest. Enjoy.