2010 Cue of the Year

[cueaddicts]

Eric's BB is certainly very striking, but I for one am shocked that it is a twin to Tikkler's cue. With Tony's creativity, I am surprised he made two cues so similar. Believe me, I would love to own either one... but if I were to shell out that kind of cash for a cue, I would certainly want it to be a one-of-a-kind in every way.

Just my opinion... the voters will decide!

Jamie, although the comment may not sit well with some, I'm in agreement also. In my mind, Steve's was a most definitely a "cue of the year" the first time around. Yes, Eric's is awesome, a MONSTER for sure, quite fancier and strikingly beautiful in its own right....but frankly I'm a bit surprised, too.

BTW, this is a great idea for a thread and I look forward to following this to see how the voting shakes out. There are some amazing cues already in this thread and more to come, I'm sure.

Hope you and your family have a Happy New Year.
Sean

 

[Dakota Cues]

I KNEW I had seen that cue before!

jamie although the same style its no where near the same imo,,,,,much more inlay in this, vines near the joint/points, inlays near the butt prongs, other stuff too & alot of gold which makes them both different. i know they appear same style as steves, erics cue is alot different in many ways and is the largest one made to date

Actually it is VERY similar. The butt sleeve is identical in inlays, but different in color. The front is different, but somebody with Tony's talant and creativity, who charges what he charges, these cues should never be on the same planet.

Creative, yes.

One of a kind... not even close.

 

[classiccues]

Jamie, although the comment may not sit well with some, I'm in agreement also. In my mind, Steve's was a most definitely a "cue of the year" the first time around. Yes, Eric's is awesome, a MONSTER for sure, quite fancier and strikingly beautiful in its own right....but frankly I'm a bit surprised, too.

BTW, this is a great idea for a thread and I look forward to following this to see how the voting shakes out. There are some amazing cues already in this thread and more to come, I'm sure.

Hope you and your family have a Happy New Year.
Sean

This is why I pefer my cuemakers.... dead.

From monster to mortal in less than a year. I loves me some CNC... which stands for Clo-Nin-Cues

How come you missed this twin??? http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=140992&highlight=black+boar&page=2

JV (----guess 1 of 1 is subjective

 

[seether]

I like it

I like the cue they have on there with the old gangster car and the thompson machine gun drawn on it.That is a nice cue.

 

[bobroberts]

I have to agree that the 2 black boars are very similar. Plus it's basically the same design over and over again. I would like to see more asymmetrical looking cues.
Almost all the cues shown are extremely nice, i would only want to play with a couple of them so far. The others are "to me" strictly art.
don't bash me. It's MHO

 

[pooldogue]

Blackboars, Manzinos and Herceks o my................
I know its not as fancy but in its simplisticity it is a monster......(Hercek)

 

[9BallKing]

agree

Actually it is VERY similar. The butt sleeve is identical in inlays, but different in color. The front is different, but somebody with Tony's talant and creativity, who charges what he charges, these cues should never be on the same planet.

Creative, yes.

One of a kind... not even close.

yes i agree if i had that kinda money which i dont ,id want a one of a kind cue which they are not but kinda are.i see where everyone is coming from, let the votes decide. I think there is enough that there is a difference and they are different. Close but different. im just a huge fan of tony, donnie, & black boar cues.i have never really seen cues that speak to me more or are more felt imo and thats just an opinion. they are like rare art from picasso etc. i love the cue and its beauty, looks, style, and flare.

good luck to the winner of this ,and everyone here has amazing works of art & are very very lucky to have them.happy new years to all , may 2011 bring you all more art in the cue world

 

[poohkiller]

With respect, my take on the similarity in between the two cues is the following:
I believe that Tikkler's cue has been a fantastic and already a very mature start, sort of the first big leap forward in this matter. On the other hand Fatboy's cue has provided the opportunity for the Black Boar shop to fulfill and materialize everything that is into this layout; and, more importantly, to maybe show where they have managed to advance at what they do and for those who care enough to look into it one might find many more things that can interest the real enthusiast.

My firm belief is that today's masters such as Manzino, Black Boar, Hercek and you name who else can produce as many layouts and designs as you can imagine, that's not the limit and that's not the first place where I would seek for something new.
Thinking back new executions, intricate, new scrimmed images used as major design elements, new "3D" rings, structural solutions such as cored cues the way Black Boar does it or the butterflies of Fanelli, the full splices of Hercek and other NEW (or for nitpickers not necessarily new but improved to such extent that they can be referred to as new) things are those that go down in history most of the time as remembered cues and not just merely new patterns of these aforementioned elements.

The point I want to make here is that this is a good opportunity to see some of those improvements, to see what has changed in their abilities - in such a short time -, to what extent could they push their limits. One has to admit that at this level of intricacy these changes are subtle, yet, when looked for them, they are there and do prove to be entertaining since they happen at such a fine level.
I won't speak for anyone here but I suppose anyone ordering a cue from the BB shop knows that let that be the 'bestest' cue they have built till date there eventually will be another that goes beyond its predecessor's limits. Here: this is the case. You may see where those tiny improvements are and at the same time have a huge advantage as well: the similarity between these two cues help spot them while they both, together or apart, provide way enough entertainment and beauty.

 

[TommyT]

Pure genius !!!!

Although Eric's and Steve's cues are similar, there is enough of a difference for me to say that Eric's cue is pure genius for Tony. This is a cue for the ages, a legacy cue and a slam dunk for cue of the year in my opinion. Congrats, Eric.

TommyT :thumbup::thumbup:

 

[Ken_4fun]

My nomination

I really like the wood to tell the story. Great veneers, neat design, and africian blackwood on african blackwood.

To me most inlays and other stuff are negatives most of the time if they dont compliment the cue.

Ken

 

[SSach]

Eric's aka FATBOY's Black Boar is an outstanding cue with enough modifications to it's sister cue that Steve showed us already. I can't see how people are trying to take away from that BB. The floating pedals and ring work is absolutely mind boggling.

Sanjay

 

[Ken_4fun]

Just saw the thread. This Tucker is the only new one I received directly from the cue maker this year. Simple, classic player.

Scott

This one is pretty much on the top of the list IMO.

Ken

 

[Worminator]

Eric's aka FATBOY's Black Boar is an outstanding cue with enough modifications to it's sister cue that Steve showed us already. I can't see how people are trying to take away from that BB. The floating pedals and ring work is absolutely mind boggling.

Sanjay

Sanjay,

I understood when I made my post it would not be popular with some people... and I am fine with that. I was not trying to "take away" anything from the cue, just stating my opinion that the similarities between the two cues was very surprising to me.

There is no doubt the cue is a monster cue... albeit, the sister of a monster with more flair...

 

[Worminator]

Ok... before this thread gets derailed (by the engineer), I want to give a last call for posting cues. All cues need to be posted by 6:00PM Eastern time Wed Jan 5th. I will chose the cue finalists, and start a thread with a poll for everyone to vote on their personal favorite AZB Cue of the Year.

Thanks to all who participated and to all those who will cast a vote!

 

[mia]

Actually it is VERY similar. The butt sleeve is identical in inlays, but different in color. The front is different, but somebody with Tony's talant and creativity, who charges what he charges, these cues should never be on the same planet.

Creative, yes.

One of a kind... not even close.

Way too similar to even be called 'creative'. It's virtually the same buttsleeve with a few minor differences. The irony is, BBs are usually treated as an open canvas BELOW the wrap while the forearms are kind of 'cookie cutter'. This cue is the opposite. Still a monster, but not unique enough to be a 'Cue of the Year'.

The Sugartree still has my vote.

 

[rheester]

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=140992&highlight=black+boar&page=2

JV (----guess 1 of 1 is subjective

is that a bong in the background? i see where the inspiration comes from. haha

 

[Dakota Cues]

No more BB Bashing for me!

This will be my last post on this, but I think I just want to clarify what I, and maybe a lot of other posters here have felt about the now infamous Fatboy BB.

When it was first brought up on page 2 or 3 about it being "The Cue", and people chiming in saying, "Yeah I've seen it and if he posts it it WILL win." or something like that, I know that my expectations were super high. I thought I was about to see the 2nd coming of Christ in cue form. Then, when the cue was actually posted, it was not only an Epic disapointment in the cue (due to the fact that it was VERY similar to one already posted), but also in the cuemaker himself, for even making something so similar.

EVERYONE on this board agrees the "FatBoar" it is a monster cue, and nobody would kick it out of bed for eating crackers. It's just that I would feel slightly jipped if my $35K cue looked freakishly similar to my friends $30K cue, when the cuemaker has more than enough tools, creativity and experience to have pulled off a COMPLETELY UNIQUE work of art.

Nice cue? Yes.

Winner of the 2010 COTY Award? Nope. Not even close. Manzino, Haley and Hercek are WAY out in front in this race IMO.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program...

 

[Fatboy]

The pics of the boar are way off from real life, its hard to capture any of these ornate cues to a reasonable proxmity of real life.

for example the small inlay thats smaller than the writing on the quarter isnt clear on any of the pics, its a drop shadow on one of the other inlays, it needs a circle around it or a arrow pointing to it.

there are 42 grams of 22ct gold in the cue, 22ct gold is real soft and difficult to work with. Most cue makers like 12-14ct, So I suppose thats a bit of a good thing for Tony. The dark gold is real nice, all the colors complement each other real good on this cue.


There are actually 4 cues similar to Steves and mine. Tikkler got the first, mine is the 4th. While they look similar Tony refined each successive one he built each one is slightly different. I'm not going to knock Steves cue, its one hell of a cue. Tony made some changes that are visable if you see pics side by side(but you have to look hard) some are not visable in the pics-the flower stems curle around in my cue, in Steves they are at 90 degree angles, more inlays more refinements thats all. And Steves new Boar with the 3D looking ribbons are better than anything in my cue.

Tony explainded the cue to me and how each one was refined from the next one. I have seen 3 of the 4 that were made. They are all differnet. So yeah its a strike against me that there are 3 other similar cues out there. I knew that before I decided to go ahead with the project. I'm cool with that and if Tony builds another one more detailed than mine I'd be happy for the new owner. I am not insecure and have to have the "Only one". I was worried that I'd piss off the other 3 guys that had their cues before me, Tony said "No its cool man", I said "Your sure??"-we built the cue. I wish he would have put more vines on the joint and shafts, I think whats there isnt enough to match the cue. Also I was hopeing he was going to wrap the vines around the points higher, but is was a brutal task to get the angles right so it looked 3D, and they were put in last so a mistake would have cost Tony a ton.


I knew that I'd get shit for having a cue that is not a one-off cue, like I said its not a big deal to me, I just know how long this cue took to build and the differnces it has from any other Boar, I might switch over and use it as my daily player-anyone else got the stones to use a cue like this 5-6 hours a day? I dont need the approval of my peers to sleep good at night or feel happy. I'm just happy to be lucky enough to have such nice cues. I'd trade them all but a couple in to play like Chris Bartrum. Playing pool is what I like the most.


I bet that some opinions would be differt if this was a one off cue, but that shouldnt matter. Each cue is its own thing and should be looked on it by its own merits not compairing it to Tikklers.

My favorite cue is still the rosewood/rosewood GSB, and that aint ever gonna change. but thats a differnt story.

 

[Big-Tattoo]

If I remember correct one was with BLUE in the Center. Eric your is the Best for ME and everything looks in harmony, that is what makes a Cue Special, not counting the Inlays.
Ralf,see so many nice Cues here on this Thread:thumbup:

 

[Fatboy]

Actually it is VERY similar. The butt sleeve is identical in inlays,.

no it isnt identical(it is very similar), you need to look more carefully. at first glance your correct. I said the same thing, Tony showed me the refinements that were made.

Its cool I'm happy with it and thats all that matters. Sorry to disappoint you. Its hard to say what cue is the best, I have a ebony/ebony SW that I'm picking up soon as I get to Vegas with hott pink veneers(I cant remember all the other colors, they are all bright)