Adam cue?

[justinb386]

My take:
Cues were probably more late 70's and a direct response to Meucci's growing popularity. The implex joint, and clearly some of the designs are (chain link rings) are definitely Meucci influenced.
The quality of the prongs is very good. Your picture demonstrates what I believe to be a lot of Helmstetters influence at the Adam company. It would be 20 years before cuemakers here ran the prongs up that high and when they did that was a sign of "excellence" in their designs. Yet they were years late with that "innovation".
The price point was based on the fact of where it was made, and the costs at that time. They were still imports at a time when anything from overseas was considered "cheap".

JV

Were cues from Japan not far higher quality then cues from China (and other Asian countries) back then? I understand that these days, cues from China are probably on par with with best production cue companies in the US (Lucasi, and Predator to name 2 examples), but back then, I assume that the highest quality pool cue imports were from Japan. I do not know. I just can't imagine seeing any cues that looked that nice, from that era, being from China.

One negative that I will say about Adam cues, is that there are flaws in the way their inlays look. I think the term is "lopsided" shaped inlays. That is what I noticed, that I did not like, about that Adam cue that I had. The diamond shaped inlays just appeared to be lopsided to me.

 

[classiccues]

I am not aware of any relevant Chinese cue companies from back then. But back then China was making pure garbage. Today, Adam cues are made in China. Low labor costs, and the quality has vastly improved.

The lopsided inlays are par for the course. BUT even US companies had some quality issues, Palmer, Viking, etc.. in ALL production type shops, especially back then, things are going to happen. In a manual environment, and when quality "standards" were much different, you cannot compare them with todays standards on todays equipment.

This is the same type of argument as Brady vs. Montana. Brady would be rolled up in a fetal position if he had to play in Montana's time. With todays rules, Montana would have won 8 straight Superb Bowls.. Both statements are nonsensical because they are separated by 30 years of an evolving game.

JV

Were cues from Japan not far higher quality then cues from China (and other Asian countries) back then? I understand that these days, cues from China are probably on par with with best production cue companies in the US (Lucasi, and Predator to name 2 examples), but back then, I assume that the highest quality pool cue imports were from Japan. I do not know. I just can't imagine seeing any cues that looked that nice, from that era, being from China.

One negative that I will say about Adam cues, is that there are flaws in the way their inlays look. I think the term is "lopsided" shaped inlays. That is what I noticed, that I did not like, about that Adam cue that I had. The diamond shaped inlays just appeared to be lopsided to me.

 

[justinb386]

I am not aware of any relevant Chinese cue companies from back then. But back then China was making pure garbage. Today, Adam cues are made in China. Low labor costs, and the quality has vastly improved.

The lopsided inlays are par for the course. BUT even US companies had some quality issues, Palmer, Viking, etc.. in ALL production type shops, especially back then, things are going to happen. In a manual environment, and when quality "standards" were much different, you cannot compare them with todays standards on todays equipment.

This is the same type of argument as Brady vs. Montana. Brady would be rolled up in a fetal position if he had to play in Montana's time. With todays rules, Montana would have won 8 straight Superb Bowls.. Both statements are nonsensical because they are separated by 30 years of an evolving game.

JV

Thanks for your replies. Yeah, I am sure that the Adam cues made these days are very high quality (probably on par with the quality of Lucasi cues, and maybe made in the same factory that makes Lucasi cues). I still feel that maybe the ones made in Japan were higher quality. Maybe not though, because the precision on the cues made these days are probably so much more precise, so there may not be any lopsided inlays in the Adam cues that are made these days.

 

[Roscoe]

On the Adam/Helmstetter 87 series ivory like joint:

The 87 series, is where they copy some of the popular Meucci rings on the collars, and large bold ivory colored points, now being seen in their HOF series. The Helms used a polymer, that looked so much like ivory, I can’t tell it from the real deal, and I have a lot of cues with real ivory in them. The 87’s were engineered and designed for the more traditional minded player and probably the strongest cues ever built. All Helmstetter cues, have true spliced butts, not just veneers and wood surface inlaid into birdseye blanks. Wood to wood flat face joints on all 87 series cues feature stainless steel pins and brass females. The collar is unbreakable cerosite. All butt inlay work, is meticulously handmade, built for beauty and built to last.
Dick was building his Helms to last 30+ years, and Bob Meucci was building his to fall apart in 4-5.

 

[jay helfert]

Hi Jay, I am curious, how nice of a cue could you buy for $175 back in the late 70's? Would that $175 be compared to paying $500 (for example) today, for a cue?

I think you got your answer above. I could buy (and did) a brand new plain maple Tad for $250, which is now worth between $1,750 and $2,000! Used Tads could be had for $150-200. A really nice Gina might cost $4-500 (worth thousands today!).

 

[maha]

back in the 1970's adam cues were considered a joke by most players. no one that i ever saw really wanted one.

along with meucci and viking all were second line type of cues with no real following. just cheaper than the better cues for those looking to save a buck and wanting some flash on their cue.

 

[garczar]

back in the 1970's adam cues were considered a joke by most players. no one that i ever saw really wanted one.

along with meucci and viking all were second line type of cues with no real following. just cheaper than the better cues for those looking to save a buck and wanting some flash on their cue.

That's exactly how we all looked at ADAM cues. They played ok for what they cost but everyone really coveted JOSS, JossWest, Gina, etc. B.Stoud made cues where i live so a LOT of people in the Tulsa-OkCity area played JW's and really didn't see many ADAM cues. I had the cheapest Rempe model for a while and it made a good back-up, take-in-the bar cue. Helmstetter's were a little nicer but even those were not seen much in my area anyway. I disagree on what you say about Meucci's. From about '79-'99 they were very popular. You went a tournament and a LOT of players, of all levels, were playing Bob's stuff. Kinda agree on Viking. Think i've seen less than ten of them in 40yrs of playing.

 

[Bernard PH]

Adam cue fake or not

Can you check my adam cue if fake or not

 

[garczar]

Can you check my adam cue if fake or not

Not an ADAM cue.

 

[Roscoe]

I just inherited another Helmstetter 87-14 from a friend who recently passed away.

So that makes two plus my 98-6 and 87-4.

Roscoe