At what point is a cue too expensive to play with?

[n10spool]

It depends on who you play with and how you play
1.If you like to through around your cue use a sneaky pete.
2.If you play with people that respect there equipment and others then use your fancy cue without any worries of nono's happing too it.
3. if you bought it dirt cheap and dont care about it heck play with it till it breaks or makes you alot of money then upgrade again.

If you always worry about it you will never shoot consistant play with what you are comfortable with.

Best of luck
Craig

 

[Slickx]

why not try to buy the McDermott Intimidator Cue. $150K, and see if you would use it to play. not just the price of it but how it looks. Imagine, playing with that cue on your favorite pool hall! That's Conan the Bar b Cue!

 

[jdelcue]

why not try to buy the McDermott Intimidator Cue. $150K, and see if you would use it to play. not just the price of it but how it looks. Imagine, playing with that cue on your favorite pool hall! That's Conan the Bar b Cue!

Funny you should mention that...
That's actually one of the things on my to do list when I become a millionaire. Buy a McD Intimidator cue and just walk into some pool hall...whip it out of some oddly-shaped custom made case...

And just start running balls with it. LOL!



........or maybe I'll just buy a sports car. Lol

 

[GADawg]

If it's going to really bother you if it gets a ding in it, it's too expensive for you to play with, in my mind.

Otherwise, fire away.

 

[TATE]

I was wondering if most people have a threashold for how expensive a cue they'll use as their daily cue. At what point do you look at a cue and say "I can't play with that...it looks to good, and cost too much?"

I cut it off at about....

 

[TheMarsMan]

I have taken a few Gus' to play with at various places, one is worth about 20K. I let a friend of mine hit some balls with the cue and he ran four racks on a tight 9' table, I told him he should buy the cue and in a week he would pay it off with all of the money he won! If you treat a cue right you certainly don't hurt the value by playing with it.

Unless it was a cue that has never hit a ball. I was trying to buy a Balabushka that had never been chalked or even hit a ball. If I bought that cue it would of been the first cue I would of owned that I wouldn't have played with.

Other than that every cue is fair game to me!

 

[dave sutton]

I have taken a few Gus' to play with at various places, one is worth about 20K. I let a friend of mine hit some balls with the cue and he ran four racks on a tight 9' table, I told him he should buy the cue and in a week he would pay it off with all of the money he won! If you treat a cue right you certainly don't hurt the value by playing with it.

Unless it was a cue that has never hit a ball. I was trying to buy a Balabushka that had never been chalked or even hit a ball. If I bought that cue it would of been the first cue I would of owned that I wouldn't have played with.

Other than that every cue is fair game to me!

i think that at no point a cue should be unplayed. maybe some mottey or black art cues. there is nothing you caqn do to it that a refinish couldnt fix except smashing it over your knee. ive played with every cue ive ever owned. szambotis included

 

[thediamond]

I shoot with a Barry and sometimes a Gus. I am not rich but these cues were made to be played and thats what I do with them....and I get a real buzz out of using them also.

 

[TheMarsMan]

i think that at no point a cue should be unplayed. maybe some mottey or black art cues. there is nothing you caqn do to it that a refinish couldnt fix except smashing it over your knee. ive played with every cue ive ever owned. szambotis included

You should never buy a vintage cue that is unplayed then sir unless you don't mind losing 5-20K in a few minutes. Refinishing a cue like a Szamboti or a Balabushka hurts the value. A refinished Balabushka is never going to be worth anywhere near what a great condition original cue is worth.
I went with a friend once to a collectable store and he bought some type of star wars toy for $150 that was about 10 years old at the time and had never been opened. He opened the toy in front of the guy and handed it to his 8 year old son, you should of seen the store owners face! He turned a $150 toy into a $30 toy in seconds. The owner asked him why did he do that, he stated that his son had asked for that toy for months and he didn't care about losing the money. The owner then went over to another counter and produced a new looking one out of the box that he stated he would of sold for $30 bucks!

Just look at the Szamboti that is on ebay for 25K, I don't feel the cue is worth that much but perhaps someone else does. I would probably pay 15K for the cue and after someone plays with the cue it is probably only worth about 8,500.

With every collectable 'perfect" examples are always worth more, coins that have never been touched, stamps that have never been used, toys that have never been opened, comic books that have never been read, baseball cards that are centered and have razor sharp corners, etc...

I agree that it is strange to have a cue and never hit a ball with it, I have a lot of cues and I will hit balls with every one of them.

I was just stating that if you have a valuable cue that has never hit a ball, you shouldn't use it unless you don't mind losing a lot of money.

 

[Rich R.]

I was wondering if most people have a threashold for how expensive a cue they'll use as their daily cue. At what point do you look at a cue and say "I can't play with that...it looks to good, and cost too much?"

Everything is relative.

I know one guy, who owns a mid-level McDermott cue and he won't take it to the pool room because he is worried something will happen to it.

I also have been told, from an excellent source, that the guy who bought the Mike Lambros "Dragon Cue" actually plays with it.
http://www.lambroscues.com/

The bottom line is that cues are made to play pool. If you don't play pool with it, it is nothing more than a work of art, or a fancy stick.

I have no problem playing with any cue that I own.

 

[cueaddicts]

You should never buy a vintage cue that is unplayed then sir unless you don't mind losing 5-20K in a few minutes. Refinishing a cue like a Szamboti or a Balabushka hurts the value. A refinished Balabushka is never going to be worth anywhere near what a great condition original cue is worth.
I went with a friend once to a collectable store and he bought some type of star wars toy for $150 that was about 10 years old at the time and had never been opened. He opened the toy in front of the guy and handed it to his 8 year old son, you should of seen the store owners face! He turned a $150 toy into a $30 toy in seconds. The owner asked him why did he do that, he stated that his son had asked for that toy for months and he didn't care about losing the money. The owner then went over to another counter and produced a new looking one out of the box that he stated he would of sold for $30 bucks!

Just look at the Szamboti that is on ebay for 25K, I don't feel the cue is worth that much but perhaps someone else does. I would probably pay 15K for the cue and after someone plays with the cue it is probably only worth about 8,500.

With every collectable 'perfect" examples are always worth more, coins that have never been touched, stamps that have never been used, toys that have never been opened, comic books that have never been read, baseball cards that are centered and have razor sharp corners, etc...

I agree that it is strange to have a cue and never hit a ball with it, I have a lot of cues and I will hit balls with every one of them.

I was just stating that if you have a valuable cue that has never hit a ball, you shouldn't use it unless you don't mind losing a lot of money.

excellent post and spot on !!

 

[.shadow.]

In response to your concern. I personally think that a pool player (real pool player that is) can shoot with any cue providing it is straight. Were i live we have an individual that plays alot of local tournaments. He grabs a cue off the rack and he plays with that. Let me also mention that he does win tournaments against good pool players. I personally have 4 Schons and a Tim Scruggs cue also 2 old Joss cues. Yes, i play pool with them all, but they are for my own personal satisfaction. I cannot point my finger at anyone certain cue that i play with that is better than the next. God bless.

 

[FAST_N_LOOSE]

I've Hit Balls With Cues Up To The 20,000 Dollar Range. I Play With A Cue That's Probably Worth About 6k. I Use It In My Pool Room, And In The Bars. I Make Sure I Watch It And Take Care Of It. If It Was Worth 10k, I Would Most Likely Still Be Using It As My Playing Cue. It Took Me A Long Time Though To Convince Myself To Use It All The Time. It's The Best Playing Cue I've Owned And That's Why I Use It. If The Best Playing Cue I Owned Was 200 Bucks, I'd Use That Instead.

 

[dave sutton]

You should never buy a vintage cue that is unplayed then sir unless you don't mind losing 5-20K in a few minutes. Refinishing a cue like a Szamboti or a Balabushka hurts the value. A refinished Balabushka is never going to be worth anywhere near what a great condition original cue is worth.
I went with a friend once to a collectable store and he bought some type of star wars toy for $150 that was about 10 years old at the time and had never been opened. He opened the toy in front of the guy and handed it to his 8 year old son, you should of seen the store owners face! He turned a $150 toy into a $30 toy in seconds. The owner asked him why did he do that, he stated that his son had asked for that toy for months and he didn't care about losing the money. The owner then went over to another counter and produced a new looking one out of the box that he stated he would of sold for $30 bucks!

Just look at the Szamboti that is on ebay for 25K, I don't feel the cue is worth that much but perhaps someone else does. I would probably pay 15K for the cue and after someone plays with the cue it is probably only worth about 8,500.

With every collectable 'perfect" examples are always worth more, coins that have never been touched, stamps that have never been used, toys that have never been opened, comic books that have never been read, baseball cards that are centered and have razor sharp corners, etc...

I agree that it is strange to have a cue and never hit a ball with it, I have a lot of cues and I will hit balls with every one of them.

I was just stating that if you have a valuable cue that has never hit a ball, you shouldn't use it unless you don't mind losing a lot of money.

well since i just went through something similar i think i can comment on this.

how is it possible to prove a 25 yr old cue is unplayed. you cant. no matter what anyones says. so what are you gonna do but a carolina custom cue for 400$ and put it in your closet for 30 years and never play with it and hope it a 30,000$ cue. thats what ur saying bc gus and them guys made cues in there basement for 300$. no one knew they would be worth anything more than 300$.

lets face it how many $50,000 gus' or bushkas are out there. handfull . i very much doubt u are loosing 20,000$ ir barry refinishes a gus. there can be refinishes by the right ppl that dont hurt the cue as much as u are talking about.

ps i may have used the wrong word. unplayed im sure wasnt the right word there. im not sure exactly what i wrote but im sure i ment very little or 99%. come on how mant unplayed bushkas or gus' are out there and prove they are unplayed.

 

[dave sutton]

I've Hit Balls With Cues Up To The 20,000 Dollar Range. I Play With A Cue That's Probably Worth About 6k. I Use It In My Pool Room, And In The Bars. I Make Sure I Watch It And Take Care Of It. If It Was Worth 10k, I Would Most Likely Still Be Using It As My Playing Cue. It Took Me A Long Time Though To Convince Myself To Use It All The Time. It's The Best Playing Cue I've Owned And That's Why I Use It. If The Best Playing Cue I Owned Was 200 Bucks, I'd Use That Instead.

agree. i will not buy a cue i dont care what its worth until i hit a ball with it. chalked unchalked played unplayed. i wana know what im getting.

what happens when u buy the 50,000$ gus and you get it home and find out something us wrong with it like a crack somewhere or a terrible buzz bc something isnt right maybe that cant be seen. now u have a 50,000$ piece of firewood and you have to send it to barry to fix the problem and u lookse you 5- 20k like mars said.

 

[Zeek]

I was wondering if most people have a threashold for how expensive a cue they'll use as their daily cue. At what point do you look at a cue and say "I can't play with that...it looks to good, and cost too much?"

To that end...are you really just buying a work of art, not unlike a Rembrandt or a Picasso? A cylindral canvas upon which a masterful piece of art has been rendered?

I dont' know, personally, if I could ever shoot with a cue that cost me much more than $2000. I find that with my wrapless Scruggs, I already walk around the table like I'm in a glass museum...constantly making sure I don't whack my cue on anything.

I'd say the moment you start to worry more about the cue than your game

 

[Snapshot9]

Good answer!!!

I'd say the moment you start to worry more about the cue than your game[/QUOTE

Classic answer .... LOL I always imagined I would start to get a little nervous about a cue worth more than $3,000, although I have played with a Gina and a Bushka worth more (friend's cues).