Original Balabushka

tdavis · Sep 28, 2012

Hi all,
My uncle in texas passed down to me an original George Balabushka cue stick. From what i know, this is not on of the reproduction models. It does not have his signature on it and it does have the ivory butt with the diamonds and dots inlay. I was wondering what the value of this cue is and if there were any collectors out there that would be interested in an original Balabushka cue stick.
Thanks for looking. I will try to upload pictures of the cue stick. I has two shafts.

tdavis · Sep 28, 2012

pics

please click on the attachements. thank you

Double-Dave · Sep 28, 2012

Hi,

Let me start with advising you not to get your hopes up too much. I guesstimate
around 80% of the time people come here with a cue that might be a Balabushka
it turnes out to be something else.

If it is real, the cheapest/simplest Balabushkas sell for around $ 5000, if yours has
inlays, ivory butt and so on a lot more then that.
If it is a reproduction probably a few hundred dollars.
If you ask a fair price and have the cue authenticated by for example Pete Tascarella
you will have no problems selling it here.

We (I am no expert by any means) will need good pictures of the whole cue
and close ups of the jointpin area and the buttsleeve area, if possible with and
without the rubber bumper.

gr. Dave

Edit: I typed my post while you were posting pictures. Again, I am no expert
so I will not comment on whether this one is for real or not.

tdavis · Sep 28, 2012

Thank you for bringing that up. I remember a few years ago my uncle had it check out...i cant remember off of the top of my head what his name was. But, he did say that it was a 98% probability that this was an original but because it had two shafts, they were not 100% sure. I live in north central florida. The closest person whom i called was Ted Harris in south florida and he said that it sounds like i have the real deal.

TATE · Sep 28, 2012

To do this right, you need to have the cue authenticated by a respected authority on Balabushka's and my choice would be Pete Tascarella in New York. You can try e-mailing him at:

tascarellacues@optonline.net

He will charge you for the letter and evaluation. Then if it turns out to be authentic, I suggest you find a professional seller for the cue.

This cue will be highly desirable if it's authentic and it's worth it to go through the steps you need to take to make sure it is.

RyanTheImpaler · Sep 28, 2012

Spend a couple dollars to a few make more.

Here is a link that shows a letter of authenticity for a balabushka cue. Pete Tascarella is the man when it comes to letting you know what you have and with a LOA from him, you could fetch a more accurate price for the cue you have while appeasing any buyer curiosity. Mr. Tascarella's contact info is located at he bottom of the attached picture. Best wishes. RtI

http://www.billiardsforum.info/foru...12838_Tascarella Letter Of Authenticity 2.jpg

Fast Lenny · Sep 28, 2012

TATE said:
To do this right, you need to have the cue authenticated by a respected authority on Balabushka's and my choice would be Pete Tascarella in New York. You can try e-mailing him at:

tascarellacues@optonline.net

He will charge you for the letter and evaluation. Then if it turns out to be authentic, I suggest you find a professional seller for the cue.

This cue will be highly desirable if it's authentic and it's worth it to go through the steps you need to take to make sure it is.

Well said and if you can show better pics of the butt cap bumper and screw along with the joint it might help people identify it better on here whether you should even contact Pete. Take some pictures outdoors in the light.

iba7467 · Sep 28, 2012

tdavis said:
Hi all,
My uncle in texas passed down to me an original George Balabushka cue stick. From what i know, this is not on of the reproduction models. It does not have his signature on it and it does have the ivory butt with the diamonds and dots inlay. I was wondering what the value of this cue is and if there were any collectors out there that would be interested in an original Balabushka cue stick.
Thanks for looking. I will try to upload pictures of the cue stick. I has two shafts.

Without the letter of authenticity you will not get very far. If you do not want to send it for verification I doubt too many people would even consider it. As others have said you can post some additional photos that would help to be more certain one way or the other.

Another thing affecting value is original condition. This would mean whether the shafts are the originals from George Balabushka or made by someone else. Another factor is the wrap which to me appears almost certainly to not be original. The points also appear extremely long for a Balabushka. As is, no letter, I would offer $500 on the slight chance it is real. With more photos this offer could multiply substantially or become zero.

Sealegs50 · Sep 28, 2012

While the pictures are terrible and do not show some of the more characteristic features, I don't see obvious concerns. Take everybody's advice and get Pete's written opinion. Some cue makers in the past made cues that would pass for Balabushkas. Even some of those are worth a bit of money, albeit not like an original Balabushka. The piece of mind will be worth the effort.

Sorry to hear about your uncle. Obviously, he liked you a great deal. I look forward to seeing updates.

classiccues · Sep 28, 2012

From the looks of it, you're not going to be dissapointed. It appears to have a Szamboti forearm and all the bells and whistles a person looking for a Bushka will want. The butt cap is delrin, not ivory and looks right from the pics.

JV

Eric. · Sep 28, 2012

Also, in case you've been getting flooded with private message offers-

An original, authenticated Balabushka, with two shafts, good condition and unaltered, can easy sell for over $10,000.00. Yes, 10k.

Eric

zpele · Sep 28, 2012

In response to your original post- if its real you got yourself a very expensive cue there. Original Balabushkas are at least $10,000 and many are more if they have all the bells and whistles. Judging by the amount of inlays I can see in your pictures I would put a value of at least $15,000+ if it is real.

There was one in particular with a clear plastic butt cap that sold for over $150,000.

Can you please tell me how many points are present on the cue along with how many individual inlays there are?

Edit: For your reference here is a cue that sold for 7k+ and it has less inlays than yours:

Also just so you know it does not appear that the cue was refinished by any cuemakers. If it is in original condition do not touch it with any cleaning products or give it to another cuemaker for restoration until you know more about it.

Pushout · Sep 28, 2012

It's hard to tell from the pictures but it looks rewrapped to me and the butt cap looks like it might not be delrin but the pics are too dark to really tell. Pete would be your best bet.

szamboti · Sep 28, 2012

I think the points look long.

I think that I'd have Pete check this for sure.

I've never seen one of George's cues have points this high.

Sorry, I am not trying to rain on your parade. Just going by these
pictures.

Not enough info for proof yet.

Barry

Chopdoc · Sep 28, 2012

Definitely worth having "officially" checked out. There is nothing about it that is obviously screaming that it isn't authentic.

Whether or not it is a Balabushka you certainly have a very nice cue there.

.

TATE · Sep 28, 2012

szamboti said:
I think that I'd have Pete check this for sure.

I've never seen one of George's cues have points this high.

Sorry, I am not trying to rain on your parade. Just going by these
pictures.

Not enough info for proof yet.

Barry

Hi Barry,

Good observation.

Also, is it my imagination or do I see the butt sleeve is made up of 3 segments?

TATE · Sep 28, 2012

Here I just enhanced the photo. Why would someone make a butt sleeve like this in segments? I know Palmer did it to interchange the material and parts, but never on a solid ebony background. Also, the buttcap does not appear to be Delrin and doesn't seem to fit the cue very well.

Black-Balled · Sep 28, 2012

what the hell? I read this whole thread and there is no resolution yet?
Get on the ball, AZB!:sorry:

RRfireblade · Sep 28, 2012

Hmmm.....those are really long points for a Bushka.....

iba7467 · Sep 28, 2012

szamboti said:
I think that I'd have Pete check this for sure.

I've never seen one of George's cues have points this high.

Sorry, I am not trying to rain on your parade. Just going by these
pictures.

Not enough info for proof yet.

Barry

I had the same concern about the length of points. Nice to see you posting.

Original Balabushka

New member

New member

Attachments

Developing cue-addict

New member

AzB Gold Mensch

AzB Silver Member

Faster Than You...

AzB Silver Member

AzB Silver Member

Don't hashtag your broke friends

Club a member

AzB Silver Member

AzB Silver Member

Registered

AzB Silver Member

AzB Gold Mensch

AzB Gold Mensch

Attachments

AzB Silver Member

Grammer Are For Stupids

AzB Silver Member