Advice Needed On (possible) Pre-owned Cue Purchase

cuesblues said:
Of the hundreds and hundreds of Tim Scruggs cues that have been resold over the years, one that is obviously a Scruggs needs authentication from Bob Frey?
Sounds ridiculous to me, we are not talking about a Balabushka or Szamboti here, Tim Scruggs make thousands of cues over the years.
This is a very typical ivory jointed Tim Scruggs cue, with what looks like a nicely done refinish-rewrap.

There's nothing wrong with this cue being refinished and rewrapped by someone other that the Scruggs shop.
Many classic cues need refinish, repair, new shafts, and if the guy isn't around and someone wants a nice TS cue, there isn't a choice.
It is what it is, which is not a problem unless the work is poorly done.
This cue is still a players cue, not a wall hanger.
The fact that it was played with and needed some work could mean that it plays really good.

Edit: Now that I have a better screen, it looks original, not refinished
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call me crazy, but i'd expect to see an older logo on that cue: http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=290183
 
DJSTEVEZ said:
So I'm looking at this pre-owned cue for sale over the Internet. The cue is by a well respected cue maker (who is no longer with us) and is in the exact style I always wanted, using veneer colors I love, but rarely used by the cue maker.

The price is a little more than I wanted to spend, but I suspect the real asking price has been inflated so as to arrive at the real desired price by the seller after a little negotiating.

The issue is the current owner is the cue's 2nd owner and there's absolutely no documentation to support who the stick was made by. Outside of some ring-work upgrades, the cue is identical to a standard catalog offering by the cue maker from back in the 90s. There are more and more "replica" cues out there that are being passed off as made by the cue maker than ever before. To complicate matters further, I happen to know (through Jim Rockford like investigation) this cue's seller is friendly with an up and coming cue maker in his area.

What say you all?
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I know little about Scruggs cues but I know your posts in small font are hard to read.
 
Bavafongoul said:
When you spend this much moola, always be as certain as you can.
Bob Frey's name was mentioned & here's another to consider as well.

Nick Serdula.....contact him and ask if he'd buy the cue as an original TS.
That man knows more about TS cues than most mere mortals on Az.


Matt B.
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Lol 😂.....
 
cuesblues said:
Of the hundreds and hundreds of Tim Scruggs cues that have been resold over the years, one that is obviously a Scruggs needs authentication from Bob Frey?
Sounds ridiculous to me, we are not talking about a Balabushka or Szamboti here, Tim Scruggs make thousands of cues over the years.
This is a very typical ivory jointed Tim Scruggs cue, with what looks like a nicely done refinish-rewrap.
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Agree with this. A couple of lousy fake TS with poor workmanship that have been scam sales on ebay shouldn't cause paranoia throughout the cue market.

However, I do think it is wise to be cautious. It would be nice if there were more specialists to help people verify. Although nobody knows everything, the obvious fakes can be quickly eliminated.
 
PhilosopherKing said:
call me crazy, but i'd expect to see an older logo on that cue: http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=290183
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There are so many Tim Scruggs cues out there who really knows, but I had the same logo on my brand new, almost identical cue.

Tim Scruggs cues haven't really gone up in value.
People try to sell them at a premium but other than a few hundred dollars it isn't happening.
Not exactly a market to fake.
A replaced butt cap buy one​ of Tim's select cuemakers is always possible and that would be the logo they have available, however,​ this cue is not a fake and the logo is real.
If I was selling this cue I wouldn't be very happy right now.
 
cuesblues said:
There are so many Tim Scruggs cues out there who really knows, but I had the same logo on my brand new, almost identical cue.

Tim Scruggs cues haven't really gone up in value.
People try to sell them at a premium but other than a few hundred dollars it isn't happening.
Not exactly a market to fake.
A replaced butt cap buy one​ of Tim's select cuemakers is always possible and that would be the logo they have available, however,​ this cue is not a fake and the logo is real.
If I was selling this cue I wouldn't be very happy right now.
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Amen.

This thread is a dumb joke honestly...and it's more indicative of the nits in this hobby than anything.
 
less than 2 inches of the first photo and​ I called it Scruggs.
 

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PhilosopherKing said:
call me crazy, but i'd expect to see an older logo on that cue: http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=290183
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Bingo! You get the prize for being astute. I wasn't going to mention it specifically in any of my posts, but the TS logo on the cue in question doesn't "feel" right to me...especially on a cue that's said to be 27 years old and be 100% original from Tim's shop, including the tips. That is one of the red flags for me. Alone, not an issue, but there are others. Again just to review for anyone who may have not read all the post: The seller of the cue, who is the cues 2nd owner, has no documentation that the cue is a Tim Scruggs. No letter, no order sheet, no sales receipt, nothing. Through information on which I won't elaborate, I know the seller is close to an up and coming cue maker in his area. For me, when you add all this up, for the amount of money that's the asking price of the cue, I feel it's caveat emptor. To those who don't, no problem, but then again it's real easy to be cavalier when it isn't your money that's at stake.

It's worth restating this is not about questioning the ethics or word of the seller. I do not know him and as such I'm not calling him personally into question. -Z-
 
cueaddicts said:
Amen.

This thread is a dumb joke honestly...and it's more indicative of the nits in this hobby than anything.
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I very thankful that I was able to sell all but 5 of my 150-cue collection, and now have 50 different cues that I don't care if I sell or not.
I'm playing with all of them, one cue at a time.
If my sales relied on the current group, my collection could of died a slow death.
A
I sold all three of my more expensive Josswests to one guy, and one of the reasons he paid the full price was because I utilized Paul Drexler to do the restorations.
In other words they were worth more because they weren't original
I doubt many understand how that works, and the history of which cuemakers didn't make a great transition from the lead based paints.
 
chefboyjp said:
If this is the cue in question I have no problem backing my claim.....I've owned a couple of these cues in similar fashion and I am willing to have this Cue verified by Mark Kulungian or by The cue maker too if needed to sell. Please contact me with any questions or concerns: chefboyjp@yahoo.com.

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Sent from my iPad using AzBilliards Forums
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The one in question has linen wrap.
Both are DAMN nice looking cues. Wouldn't mind owning one of them.
 
Cue is priced ok and looks right. Guess I'd do escrow.

If a up and coming maker is doing that nice of work he'd probably throw a fit if someone put a TS logo on it.
 
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