Anyone seen this yet? *The Pool Mate*

Repeatedly calling prospective backers "pool gamers" might not be the best way to relate to serious pool players. I don't see myself backing or buying one of these, but I could see casual furniture-table owners (who outnumber us by a good margin) thinking they're cool.

Regarding the patent issue, filing a provisional patent application is quick and cheap; it can be done by anyone for a few hundred bucks. Its simplicity notwithstanding, the design is very likely patentable as long as there is no prior art to be found.

They produced a slick video, and with $1600 raised and 29 more days to go, it wouldn't surprise me if they met their goal of $20K. (Even though that $1600 has probably been mostly fronted by friends/family of the company - that's just how Kickstarter is gamed to show momentum. )
 
I don't see how this could be marketed to home players.

The home table is going to have lots of cues. I have a full wall rack and a floor rack. Why would I buy a cue holder for my home that only holds one cue? It makes no sense.

I can't imagine that it would fit in my pool bag so it ain't coming with me to the pool room. Besides, I'd have to have two of them.

Who are they marketing this at?
 
At first I thought "What a joke" but the more I thought about, it makes sense. At our community rec center there's blue chalk line about 56" high around most of the room...where people lean their cue against the wall. If it were my home, I'd go ballastic. Putting your cue in the wall rack while you go to the restroom is too inconvenient for most people. (I'm talking about casual players who don't have a cue-claw type accessory, and usually don't have a break cue.)

It's not meant to be a rack. It's a place where you temporary park your cue after shooting. When it's your turn to shoot, you remove your cue and kick it over to someone else who might need it.

The problem is that slobs who lean their cue against the wall either don't know any better, or don't care. They're not going to learn to use anything. The small cone-shape that easily slides around the floor is your best bet.

The one problem I see with the company's funding plan is to spend only $1800 (out of $20,000 raised) on marketing. That's unrealistically low.
 
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Pledge $125 or more

Receive:
- a single Pool Mate (choose from stained finishes) w/carrying case (Total Retail Value of $194)

Estimated delivery:
Oct 2015
Ships to:
Only United States
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My thoughts:

I think I might crack a rib laughing at someone who walks into the pool hall with one of these gigantic things hanging from their case.

And $194 is a lot of money to hold one cue.
 
King T said:
Patent Pending does protect your right to profits from competitors if the patent is granted and their design is deemed similar.

As far as it never getting a patent because ''its a piece of wood with a hole in it''. There are both design and function patents, so there might be an opportunity to patent the product based on its function.

I wish them the best of luck!
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It is civil. They will have to spend 10's of thousands on a legal action. They would also have to prove they were damaged by the other party and to what amount.

It better be a lot, or it will be deemed frivolous and they will be on the hook for the other parties legal costs. Once you sit in a lawyers office and have all this explained to you, unless this is a million dollar product you will go home with a dose of reality as to the value of a patent.

The fact is, even if someone outright steals it, you can't afford the fight on such a worthless item as this cue holder. And then we are back to what it is really, a piece of wood with a hole in it.

Put in two holes, flair the bottom more, make it from a different material or any number of things and they can call it their own. What you do with a product like this is make them and sell them, be the first in the market, establish a name and brand, get wholesalers and so on.

If the idea takes off you will most likely be knocked off but, you are in the market first, hopefully competitively priced. You will be hard to beat once you have the market and the identity. Being first is big.

Now if someone comes along and make it for 25% of your costs you are done. You will lose your wholesalers and the market. Thats just the way it is.
 
The six minutes that went into 'designing' this product were well spent.:boring2:

At least they have been awarded the 'Official Single Cue Holder In The Industry' gold medal for 2014. WTF is that?

All for a suggested retail of $194.

I do love me the photo of a multi-hundred dollar holder propping the black widow's cuetec.
 
Took me a bit to find where this $194 price tag was coming from. Once I found it I see it is more accurate to say they are claiming an MSRP of $100.

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- a single Pool Mate (choose from stained finishes) w/carrying case (Total Retail Value of $194)

- a pair of Pool Mates (choose from stained finishes) w/ carrying case (Total Retail Value of $294)
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This said, there is no way I see them actually trying to charge $100 for one of those or hardly anyone actually paying that much. More likely they will actually sell in the $30-40 range if the product ever goes into production.

I don't really like it though. I wouldn't buy one at any price.
 
If anyone buys one and wants to take it to the pool hall, I will be selling carrying cases. MSRP $200. I will discount the first 10,000 orders to $195. Plus $50 shipping and handling.
 
Probably could double as a single garden tool holder...People have already thought of multiple garden tool holders with holes, but maybe they didn't think about the single tool homeowner.
 
3 grand for a trailer and a hitch to tow it around.
1 cue design is poor, it should hold 4 - 6 cues, and a bottle of Vodka.

Wonder how many drunks would trip over it.
 
553
 
cwong79 said:
https://www.kickstarter.com/project...-american-made-single-cue-holder?ref=category

Thoughts?
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As a former manager responsible for investigating sites for safety hazards before they become problems, I would not allow these hazardous devices in my shop, pool hall, restaurant, home, or manufacturing facility.

Every one of these devices is an obvious trip and fall hazard, especially with no cue installed to give them better visibility to people walking nearby.

The normal human line of sight does not see trip hazards at that low level, so those holders are not much different from a heavy box left sticking out into an office aisle. They are an accident waiting to happen.

"Ouch! Damn, that stupid thing down there tripped me, I think I hurt my wrist trying to break my fall! Honey, call that personal injury lawyer we saw on TV, I'm gonna sue these guys for everything they got!"
 
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