Case of the Year 2012 - Jack Justis/Ron Ross

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The people have spoken - 191 votes - The Jack Justis case tooled by Ron Ross more than doubled the next closest finisher with 40 votes. This is especially potent as Jack had only two cases nominated. And with the second receiving 13 votes the total for Jack's two cases (both collaborations) was more than 25% of the total votes cast. Very strong result for the veteran case maker and his collaborators.

This case was definitely one of Jack's best ever. The inlaid diamonds surrounded by Ron Ross' perfect Sheridan tooling set against an elephant skin body truly made for an elegant case that flowed nicely.

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In second place all the way from China is the Red Sheep/Armor/YangandBonnie Case. Great finish for a newcomer to AZB's case makers.

Even in the midst of an identity crisis with what their cases should be branded as Mr. Yang's shop turns out incredible leather work of all types along with these wonderful cases. In my opinion this was not even close to the best case that they produced in 2012. For anyone who thinks that there is no quality in China Yang and Bonnie's work absolutely blows that notion away. With a style all their own which is reflective of the uniquely Chinese spin on traditional floral and Sheridan style tooling this case maker is going to be a top contender every year from now until forever, which is about how long their cases should last.

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Third place is the incredible Quiverz Sitting Bull theme case by another relative newcomer to cue cases Phil Eastwood.

And finally, a victim of his own amazing ability to come with complex theme cases in what seems like rapid succession, Phil Eastwood's Sitting Bull biopic case came in a solid third. Phil had six cases nominated, five in time for the voting and all are amazing work. I personally see these cases as approaching the level of sculpture in leather. With is signature use of metal rings to bind the leather pieces Phil can create amazing and clever forms to enhance the them. All of his cases have a ton of detail and story to them with lots of hidden meaning built in. With five cases in the running they split the 50 votes that they got which puts Quivers right there with Justis taking more than 25% of the vote. Any of these cases could have won on sheer effort alone. I don't know how he does it but when it comes to themes Phil packs a huge amount of work and thought into each case.

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Folks, you are witness to the creation of art on a scale never before seen. Not only is the decoration reaching great new levels but also the craftsmanship of these cases is at the highest point ever.

As Ralf Ganz said about his Matcase, "if you could hold it in your hands it would get more votes.". The very fact that such great cases like Marc's and Rusty's didn't win is a testament to how far they have pushed the craft in the past few years. Every case maker has to bring something a little more to the table now.

Lastly, there were many more cases completed this year from all the case makers which deserved to be showcased and part of the voting. I am extremely grateful for those who participated and congratulations to the winners and all the fine case makers and especially to the customers who make all this possible.

Thank you.
 
Very Proud

I am very proud to be the owner of this masterpiece made by Jack. Their were some truly awesome cases submitted this year. So hats off to you Jack. :dance:

Also hats off to John Barton for being the host and taking time out of his schedule to run the poll. Az'ers should remember to thank John! :bow-down:

The case is still brand new...can't bring myself to put a cue in it or take it to a pool room!!!

Wedge
 
Thanks for hosting the poll John, appreciate it.

Am also glad to see this Armor case fairing pretty decently in second spot. Am still a proud owner of the case and will be for a long time, everything still functions like its the first day despite my gentle abuse.

I should have one more case from Armor this year and hopefully I'll be in a dilemma come end of this year in deciding whether to submit your case or his for 2013 case of the year.

Thanks again John!
 
Congratulations, Thanks , and Appreciation

First, my heartfelt thanks to John Barton for all the work and dedicated efforts to bring this Review of the 2012 body of work in case making to all of AZ in a singular, aggregated thread via the Poll. Hard work and superbly well done.

The world of cue case making has taken revolutionary strides forward in the past couple of years, and to view the staggering display via the poll has been a thorough treat. Just like going to a custom cue show.

Congratulations certainly to Jack Justis and Ron Ross for the artistry on display. And to Armor Cases and Phil Eastwood of Quiverz for the excellence and level of achievement.....but also, as John Barton so aptly points out, the recognition goes equally as well to Rex Goulet (Cyrex), Rusty Melton, Marc Turcasso, certainly John Barton, Joe Whitten, Ron Thomas, Jim Murnak, and many others who have each made remarkable, unique and extraordinary contributions to the genre. All heirloom quality. Much of their work is hard to find because it goes directly to a buyer and is just not later put up for sale.

In the past couple of years I have enjoyed my case acquisitions as much as my cues, and look forward to 2013.

Thanks again to all who contributed to the poll. And one more big THANKS to John Barton.

Will Prout
 
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Congratulation to Frank for getting the "case of the year" and yes I voted but after seeing how meaningless the voting can be I'm now 100% against polls of this nature and will never participate again in any manner. I will also encourage my customers to do likewise.They serve no useful purpose and cause nothing but animosity among the makers and their customers. I would like for someone to explain how Yandandbonnie's ARMOUR only got 2 votes. How can the voting be this lopsided. It pisses me off to no end for someone with such a large ego to instigate a poll to just to see where they stand in the pecking order.
 
Jack Justis said:
Congratulation to Frank for getting the "case of the year" and yes I voted but after seeing how meaningless the voting can be I'm now 100% against polls of this nature and will never participate again in any manner. I will also encourage my customers to do likewise.They serve no useful purpose and cause nothing but animosity among the makers and their customers. I would like for someone to explain how Yandandbonnie's ARMOUR only got 2 votes. How can the voting be this lopsided. It pisses me off to no end for someone with such a large ego to instigate a poll to just to see where they stand in the pecking order.
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Hi Jack,

I am sorry that you are upset for some reason. I assure you that in no way was the poll rigged if that's what you are thinking. I am not really sure what you mean by saying that the voting is meaningless?

It is and is isn't. On an emotional level a people's choice type award like this where the general public who has no real knowledge of either the products or what sort of work it takes to make them serves only to provide a snapshot of public taste at one small point in time. That is something I personally find interesting and gratifying. On a practical level it's dangerous to assume that the results of a completely random poll without an equal amount of choices is representative of what the market likes and wants.

Also the nature of the voting being private left it open to manipulation. You want to know why Yangand Bonnie's Armor Mermaid case only got two votes? I would say it's because they did not seek to manipulate the vote as it would have been incredibly easy for them push their cases into the winning slot.

But this type of poll is in fact a popularity contest as much as it is a showcase of great skill. Yang and Bonnie for all their brilliance are not as popular as you are. The owner of the Y&B Armor case is not as popular as your customer is. So it must be said that some people vote not only on the basis of the work they also vote on the basis of the reputation of the maker and how they feel about the people involved.

There are many factors at play here actually. What images were used, how much detail was shown, what do people know of the makers, what's the story, personal experience or lack thereof with the actual case maker's work. So yes when you think of all the variables that play into a person's single vote then such voting becomes meaningless in what is supposed to be just a quick and fun poll of the visual appeal of the best cases made in the year.

On the other hand 191 people DID take the time to look through the cases and cast a vote. Each of those votes was cast for whatever personal reason they had and at the end of the day it stands where it stands. I don't know if anyone had a personal voting drive or not but it doesn't matter. Ultimately it's not who is in first place that is important. What IS important is that there is a record in one spot highlighting the incredible work that a group of fine craftsmen and women and teams are putting out.

My personal goal was not to see where I am in the "pecking order". Being the number one case maker in any subjective category doesn't pay the bills so I honestly don't care whether I have that designation or not. I know what we can do and work hard to maintain and expand that and it's enough to know that we satisfy our customers. My personal goal for conducting this poll was to show off the great work that is being put out there from all over the world. I am sad that you seem to think that this is an ego thing for me. I don't know Jack but I wonder if you respect the craft of case making as much as I do? Do you love to study it and understand on a really deep level how things are put together as I do? Because I really do love the whole art of case making from construction to decoration. I find it fascinating with practically unlimited layers. Anyway, I assure you that putting up this poll was ONLY a compliment to Jamie's Cue of the Year poll and conducted following the same rules and format.

Unfortunately this year we didn't get to see more of Yang And Bonnie's work. We didn't get to see any of Ritch Remo's. We didn't see Marcel Merkowitz's work nor Wolfgang Anstaeth's work. We didn't see enough of yours or Marc Turcasso's work. Nor did we see more of our own work represented.

Next year I will follow in Jamie's footsteps and remedy that to insure that the showcase is inclusive of the wider body of work that all of us put out there.

Congratulations again to you. The case that won is a truly great case. And like the cue that won Cue of the Year it just goes to show that simple elegance has an equal place alongside the highly decorated theme designs. Again I say congratulations to all the case makers for pushing this art form to new levels every year and again a genuine and heartfelt thank you to all of the customers who support us with their patronage.

Sincerely,

John Barton
 
Maybe Mr. Justis realizes that there were MANY cases in the poll that were worthy of more votes, but didn't have the "name" attached to them.

I applaud Jack for telling it like it is. The case that won is beautiful and well done, no doubt. It is, however, nothing that we haven't seen before out of Mr. Justis.

To me, it's a NORMAL Justis case with some frills...and that says a lot about his cases and should be taken as a compliment. When someone's norm looks THAT good, it says something.

But, for that case to runaway with voting amongst a field of amazing cases tells me one thing....

This should have been dubbed "Casemaker of the Year" and not "Case of the Year"

That's the way I see it.
 
My Suggestion for Next Year

Each Case Maker that wants to participate submit one (1) of their cases for the poll. That way the case makers who want to participate do so willingly and they are selecting which case they truly feel was their best effort of the year. That leaves some if not all of the impied manipulation of the voting as well as the popularity of the owner out of the equation as John suggested in his previous post. I think this would be a viable poll.

Wedge
 
I understand Mr Justis' frustration as he probably sees other cases that should be getting more votes. That said I think John has been pretty impartial in hosting this poll, never has he solicit for any votes nor has he manipulated anyone to vote otherwise.
On the contrary John was encouraging me to get the case maker Yang&Bonnie to participate.

When polls like this appear we need to realize that the general panel of judges aren't professional leather craftsmen, leather toolers or full time case makers. We are people who simply frequent AZ and likes pool and the equipments. Therefore when we vote we vote with our Eyes and Heart meaning we simply vote for what we like and what we'd like to own. For many I believe a Justis is still the epitome of high end cue case and something they yearn and like so naturally when they see such a luxurious case all else is in hind sight.

Unlike Cue of the year contest we don't have that many professional AZers that even understand half of what making a cue case means but I'm sure many voters of the cue of the year knows what's the meaning of full splice, mitre, bridged points, precise inlays...
That's why when it comes to Cue of the year the wealth of knowledge from numerous AZers plays a huge role.

I like these polls as its a collective thread of all the finest of the year put together. Once again thank you John and Jamie.
 
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add a survey to the poll?

perhaps a survey where the voters rank from 1 to 5
the most important reasons for their vote...
Then the highest average will give you the main reasons why they cast the vote the way they did.
Maybe that is subjective too, but it could prove to be insightful. (if it is even possible to rank the reasons within a poll) could be a huge P I T A.

Either way, all of the cases were great functional works of art.

It reminds me of Chili cook offs. everyone has a different idea of what good chili should be. It all comes down to who gets picked to judge.
(Unless you happen to live in Terlingua.)

The cases are all great.
 
Tro said:
Maybe Mr. Justis realizes that there were MANY cases in the poll that were worthy of more votes, but didn't have the "name" attached to them.

I applaud Jack for telling it like it is. The case that won is beautiful and well done, no doubt. It is, however, nothing that we haven't seen before out of Mr. Justis.

To me, it's a NORMAL Justis case with some frills...and that says a lot about his cases and should be taken as a compliment. When someone's norm looks THAT good, it says something.

But, for that case to runaway with voting amongst a field of amazing cases tells me one thing....

This should have been dubbed "Casemaker of the Year" and not "Case of the Year"

That's the way I see it.
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Everyone is going to have an opinion no matter which way a vote goes. At the Super Billiards Expo the ACA conducts one or two polls, one is a people's choice award and the other is a collector's choice I think. At the ICCS they definitely conduct both collector's choice and a people's choice polls.

It's probably better if we don't try and read too much into this. I certainly didn't want to do it to hurt anyone's feelings or bruise any egos. I guess on some level all "contests" carry that possibility because if there is a "winner" then everyone else is considered to have lost.

I don't see it that way.

I think everyone wins by simply being a part of this amazing group. I have tried and continue to try to educate all of you on what top leather work is. You might think that a case is a case is case but that's simply not true. MOST regular leather workers do not want to try to make cue cases because they are complicated, use up a lot of leather and frankly don't bring in the amount of money that they should compared to the work that goes in them. However that is obviously changing in the era of cases costing up to $5000.

But to me the cue case buyer, especially in custom cases, has such an enormous range of choice that they don't even know how lucky they are. Try buying a custom golf bag if you don't think so. Or even a custom rifle case, there you have more choices but not nearly as many as cue cases.

Maybe next year I won't have a vote at all. Just a showcase where all the great cases of the year come together and then people can "vote" by simply having a discussion. And the important part is the conversation, not who is ranked #1.

Frankly ranking art is a silly endeavor because art hits emotional buttons in each person differently. I know people who think that overly tooled, well ANY tooling is tacky and would never consider a tooled anything to be the best on any list. On the other end of the spectrum are the people who appreciate all the intricacy that goes into a nicely tooled piece.

In any event, all this is supposed to be fun and drama-free and I hope that this is as far as it gets. Again the art is amazing on all the cases and I encourage all of you to look at them again and to study the finer details that you may have missed the first time around.
 
Wedge said:
Each Case Maker that wants to participate submit one (1) of their cases for the poll. That way the case makers who want to participate do so willingly and they are selecting which case they truly feel was their best effort of the year. That leaves some if not all of the impied manipulation of the voting as well as the popularity of the owner out of the equation as John suggested in his previous post. I think this would be a viable poll.

Wedge
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The dilemna there from the maker's perspective is that no one wants to say that any particular case was their number one because that then leads to hurt feelings among the other customers whose cases were not chosen by the maker.

I put in Jamie's case because I felt that it had another significance for me personally beyond all the work we did on it. Perhaps had I not nominated it then Jamie would have done so. But I didn't think that it was the best case we did last year as I actually don't rank my cases that way.

Frankly I am rethinking the whole thing now that I see I have somehow upset Jack which was the absolute farthest thing from my mind. I have always said that we don't build cases to win beauty contests and in effect this type of visual poll is a beauty contest. And by having simple voting mechanisms it's the type of beauty contest that favors anyone who wants to work a little harder to campaign for votes. That is not the type of showcase I want. I certainly don't want ANYONE to be upset for ANY reason.

So next year I think I will just put up a thread that shows off the cases of the year in my opinion and my thoughts on why I like them. It will be more work but my goal of showing off the incredible work will be accomplished. No need for winners or losers and no one would ever then need to campaign for votes. After all museums don't ask the public to vote on the art and neither should we.

But again, congrats on getting the top spot this year. I still feel that the Justis is worthy of it for many reasons. It IS a very very nice case and in my opinion one of the best that Jack and Ron have done together.
 
All great cases but hard to take a guy like Jack down. Great cases from a hard working man.
 
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