Bushka on the market....

[Blue Hog ridr]

I guess who wouldn't like to own a Balabushka. And if money were no problem for you, 25 K isn't a problem to add that one to your collection.

Still, even if you're a serious collector, I would think that they still look at fair market value for their investments. Just because they have the money to blow, doesn't mean they are not conscious of what they are buying and the return on it should they want to sell or trade.

I like Titlists and if I were to find one, I would most certainly play with it.
Have a cue maker put 4 notched diamonds on the sleeve, a Delrin cap, cortland wrap and a couple of shafts. Oh, and a brown KU bumper.
It won't be a GB but it will play the same I imagine. Maybe even better depending on who converts it.

I haven't been able to figure it out Chris. I can't save them but I can send the pics to my email and then enlarge them after.

 

[Chopdoc]

Can you guys get the photos to enlarge on the ebay ad? All I see is tiny thumbnails.

.

 

[Woof Biscuit]

Most of you guys say its above market value. What would you value this at in today's market? $9-12K?

 

[cueaddicts]

Very nice....it's one of the classier looking back ends I've seen on a Titlist Bushka.

I think 25k might be a little out of line....just my opinion though.

 

[classiccues]

Two points:

Point 1: If you took all the cuemakers and made teams using the guys who won championships with their cues, this is team Balabushka:

Crane
Balsis
Hopkins
Mizerak
Murphey
Lassiter
Liscotti
Margo
Martin

and that is only his A team. We know Mosconi used a Bushka late in his career for shows. So lets make him the honorary captain. I'll wait for other teams to be listed...

cricket... cricket... cricket...

Now that that is out of the way.. The value of the cue is a little high to most, and the seller assumes everyone knows who Abe Rosen is. It's a great, all original cue. You do not find many of those and that might mean more to a collector than the Abe Rosen angle. 25k might not be your cup of tea and he might get it, he might not. Someone who sees the value in the 71 Hemi Cuda of pool cues, might be willing to pop on it. He'll find out where the market is and adjust accordingly if he has to. He can always change the listing and add the make offer option.

Those who do not recognize the high end market in any genre are the guys wearing a Timex at a watch show. There is an ass for every seat, some like to sit on leather, some wicker.

JV

 

[one stroke]

I agree with with you. I guess if you want it as a showpiece and you have money to burn then whatever.
I've never owned a Balabushka but I have played with a few and there is certainly nothing terribly special about the way they play.

There certainly is something special about a titlist blank that's why so many conversions are made arguably the best hitting blank ever made


1

 

[Chopdoc]

Price and accuracy of information aside...it looks like a nice fairly unmolested example.



I do like the cue.




.

 

[rayjay]

Wow, those are ugly inlays. Also, I don't think that's the '71 HemiCuda of pool cues. Maybe a 383 Roadrunner. Would I want it? Sure, but not at that price. I'd rather have a Szam blanked Bushka with the gingerbread. Anybody that ownes any Bushka would want to see this sell for $25k to set higher value for their own. JMHO.

 

[cuesblues]

The seller is asking for offers as well, but I think the cue is worth at least $12,000 in any market.
Maybe a $12,000 offer could fly on this cue, who knows.

 

[flyvirginiaguy]

I've never owned a Balabushka but I have played with a few and there is certainly nothing terribly special about the way they play.

Are you saying, every World Champion of Balabushka's time hunted him down for a cue that was "nothing terribly special"? Were they just all wrong? Would they all not be a better judge of how these cues played when new?
We are speaking of 40 year old cues, some have inhaled smoke of smokey pool rooms all their life, been dropped a hundred times, burned and lived (in an example by JV lol), sanded to nothing, exposed due to no finish, used as ways to get out of bar fights where out numbered, left in trunks of cars nightly for years, warped, forgotten, lost, left with insufficient cue repair people, you can get the point. And then we accurately can judge how these cues played?

But they were not sought after back then for their looks. Something I guess only pool players understand.... When you keep something like this in your safe, you really don't have anything special, just a piece of wood made by an old man who wanted nothing more than to make a pool player happy about his work. The excitement of owning one wears off really fast if it is for the wrong reasons. It is why the world of cues is always to "flip". The reason I see "I love this cue"; and the next day it is for sale. Remind anyone in your future, that they do not want your love...

If people feel the need to "look" at something, and have all this money, buy a Jackson Pollock. They are older, rarer, will give you much more status, were made to just "look at", and are much more colorful. Heck, they even have patina

 

[pt109]

There certainly is something special about a titlist blank that's why so many conversions are made arguably the best hitting blank ever made


1

I'm with rayjay....I'd walk over 50 titlist blanks to get at one Szamboti blank.
The titlists were production hit'n'miss...the Szams were the work of a genius.
Gus was as particular about the wood in the fore-arm as he was in the shaft.

...and I'll take a Tascarella blank over the titlist also.

I'm speaking as a player...the titlist has more value to an investor.

 

[bigshooter]

Are you saying, every World Champion of Balabushka's time hunted him down for a cue that was "nothing terribly special"? Were they just all wrong? Would they all not be a better judge of how these cues played when new?

They were sought after in his day because they were the best cue of that era.
I played with Laura Smith's Balabushka in the 80's and it wasn't terribly old at that point. Was it awesome - of course. Was it better than a Joss West - not really.

 

[measureman]

I wonder of it's TOI friendly.

Probably not-he did not need gimmicks to sell his product.

 

[classiccues]

I would say the Gus blanked Bushka would be the 71 Hemi cuda convertible.

JV

Wow, those are ugly inlays. Also, I don't think that's the '71 HemiCuda of pool cues. Maybe a 383 Roadrunner. Would I want it? Sure, but not at that price. I'd rather have a Szam blanked Bushka with the gingerbread. Anybody that ownes any Bushka would want to see this sell for $25k to set higher value for their own. JMHO.

 

[bigshooter]

I would love to have this cue and I would play with it. My point is that if Scruggs, Tascarella, Ginacue, Joss West, Sugartree, Southwest, etc. all existed in the same era you would see those names associated with many champions of that era as well.
George B. was an innovator and master of the art without a doubt. I mean no disrespect to him or his creations.

 

[classiccues]

I would love to have this cue and I would play with it. My point is that if Scruggs, Tascarella, Ginacue, Joss West, Sugartree, Southwest, etc. all existed in the same era you would see those names associated with many champions of that era as well.
George B. was an innovator and master of the art without a doubt. I mean no disrespect to him or his creations.

OK if thats the case how, come those names aren't associated with any of the champions TODAY.

To be fair, lets have a running tab of cuemakers that made cues in Bushka's time.

Martin
Rambow
Paradise
Palmer
Viking
Gina
Joss
Laube
Spain

Thats a pretty good list of hall of fame cuemakers, can we agree on that? He out sold them all, period. No disrespect to any name on that list, but Bushkas were used to win more championships from 1960-1975, without question. This is not rhetoric, its fact. It would absolutely kill him to know his cues are now closet queens because of their value as a collectible and not a surgical ball pocketing instrument.

JV

 

[pt109]

OK if thats the case how, come those names aren't associated with any of the champions TODAY.

JV

You know it is marketing considerations, not quality considerations.
Many cue-sponsored players get around it by tweaking the shafts.

If they were forced to buy their own cue and bet their own money....
...you'd see a few equipment changes.

 

[bigshooter]

OK if thats the case how, come those names aren't associated with any of the champions TODAY.

JV

That's where the 'etc' kicks in. My point is that if other fine cue makers were making cues in that era then other cues would be associated with the champions of that era.

Maybe my examples aren't the best. I have no idea what professionals play with, I've always assumed its whoever sponsored them.

 

[classiccues]

You know it is marketing considerations, not quality considerations.
Many cue-sponsored players get around it by tweaking the shafts.

If they were forced to buy their own cue and bet their own money....
...you'd see a few equipment changes.

Winning is the most important thing to any self respecting pool player. If it meant that much, they would spend whatever was necessary to achieve the zenith of their profession. If any of them thought cuemaker "X" was a game changer, they would have one.

I am a carpenter, I like Estwing hammers, Stanley hammers are cheaper, and if they told me I could have a lifetime supply of hammers for nothing I wouldn't take them.

JV

 

[bigshooter]

OK if thats the case how, come those names aren't associated with any of the champions TODAY.

To be fair, lets have a running tab of cuemakers that made cues in Bushka's time.

Martin
Rambow
Paradise
Palmer
Viking
Gina
Joss
Laube
Spain

Thats a pretty good list of hall of fame cuemakers, can we agree on that? He out sold them all, period. No disrespect to any name on that list, but Bushkas were used to win more championships from 1960-1975, without question. This is not rhetoric, its fact. It would absolutely kill him to know his cues are now closet queens because of their value as a collectible and not a surgical ball pocketing instrument.

JV

That's a valid point. I don't have enough experience in vintage cues to assess any of those competitors except maybe Joss.
I was simply trying to say in my experience in shooting with a Balabushka it was not significantly better than my Joss. (to me)

Would I love to have one... hecks ya! Would I play with it no matter what it was worth? Again.... hecks ya!