Color of Money Joss Cue

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Since the threads about Balabushka cues and the Color of Money Joss cue, I've been wondering something. Has anyone ever even seen a Balabushka that looked like the Color of Money Joss?? I know that I've never seen one that is even close to that design. When there were so many good looking Balabushkas, why did they make one with rounded points and that pattern in the butt sleeve? Irving Crane, for example, had a great looking one and I've seen others that looked great also.
 
I have seen many Balabushkas in person and much much more pictures of them, and none of the ones I have seen even come close to the one Joss made for that movie. As a matter of fact, there would have been thousands of cues by cue makers I would have put in there besides a Joss. Balabushka and Joss is like comparing a finely tuned McLaren to a Hyundai.
 
I would think that the over all look of the cue emphasizing the diamond in the points and an over emphasized diamond in the butt sleeve was the goal in getting the message across to those who had no idea what a Balabushka was supposed to look like.

I think if there were no diamond inlays, the cue would not seem 'special' enough to those who didn't know better.

That's just my opinion.
 
I heard the reason for using the Joss in the movie was because Mike Sigel was the "pool coach" on site...and he was sponsered by Joss at the time...Does anyone know if this is true?
 
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heard sigel did an exhibition and told a story about how cruise broke his joss while twirling it around and then profusely apologized and gave sigel 10x the value for a new one
 
Dont know if Cruise broke Siegels cue, but I know Siegel was the pool coach for the movie and did the trick and difficult shots in the movie. The Joss showed no brand name therefore no free promotion for them. And I have heard also that Siegel was sponsored by Joss at that time so it would stand to reason they would supply the cue. Since we are on about this, The color of money being the sequel to The Hustler has anyone notice the cue in no way even resembles the cue Newman or Gleason used in the original? Is it possible that one could have been a Balabuska? Anyway it was Hollywood and made for a good film, just not authentically accurate. One last thing, would you have stored a Balabuska in the cheap felt covered National billiards case used in the movie.....lol. Probably not
 
sun526 said:
Dont know if Cruise broke Siegels cue, but I know Siegel was the pool coach for the movie and did the trick and difficult shots in the movie. The Joss showed no brand name therefore no free promotion for them. And I have heard also that Siegel was sponsored by Joss at that time so it would stand to reason they would supply the cue. Since we are on about this, The color of money being the sequel to The Hustler has anyone notice the cue in no way even resembles the cue Newman or Gleason used in the original? Is it possible that one could have been a Balabuska? Anyway it was Hollywood and made for a good film, just not authentically accurate. One last thing, would you have stored a Balabuska in the cheap felt covered National billiards case used in the movie.....lol. Probably not
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I think I reasd somewhere the cues Gleason and Newman used in the first movie were made by Herman Rambow. Not sure if its true or not but I have wondered just where those cues are today. And Fast Eddies case...with some provenance that would be something cool to see.
 
JCIN said:
I think I reasd somewhere the cues Gleason and Newman used in the first movie were made by Herman Rambow. Not sure if its true or not but I have wondered just where those cues are today. And Fast Eddies case...with some provenance that would be something cool to see.
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Willie was quoted as saying that they were his cues and they were Rambows.
 
sun526 said:
One last thing, would you have stored a Balabuska in the cheap felt covered National billiards case used in the movie.....lol. Probably not
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Used one like it for several years, with no problems, why do you think there would be any??
 
I bet one reason they didnt use a Balabushka in the movie is because of the risk factor. Tom Cruise had more moves than a monkey with a rope in the movie and like someone posted previously, something was bound to happen. I do think they could have got a little better cue to represent a Balabushka, even though a lot of people wouldnt know what one really looked like anyway. I think an old R series Schon would have been a good choice. Heres a pretty good example, the top two cues are Balabushka's and the bottom two are Schon's.
 

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flyvirginiaguy said:
I have seen many Balabushkas in person and much much more pictures of them, and none of the ones I have seen even come close to the one Joss made for that movie. As a matter of fact, there would have been thousands of cues by cue makers I would have put in there besides a Joss. Balabushka and Joss is like comparing a finely tuned McLaren to a Hyundai.
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Thats a cheap shot IMO. Theres nothing wrong with Joss cues, especially the ones made 25 years ago. There were a couple of really unknown players named Sigel and Varner that won an event or 60 using the "hyundai" cues. :rolleyes:
 
Value?

At the time of the movie, Balabushka's didn't have nearly the value they do now. I saw fairly plain 4 pointers for $1500-2000. After the movie is when they skyrocketed.

I was in Miami when the movie came out and a local player had a basic four pointer that probably would have been valued at $1500. After the movie he was offered $5000 from a kid who had never hit a ball before. Pool needs another The Color of Money!
 
Gerry said:
Thats a cheap shot IMO. Theres nothing wrong with Joss cues, especially the ones made 25 years ago. There were a couple of really unknown players named Sigel and Varner that won an event or 60 using the "hyundai" cues. :rolleyes:
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I'm with Gerry. The Joss cues of the late seventies/early eighties were good cues. It wasn't until they started mass producing that the quality went down. Would you consider Joss West to be a Hyundai?
 
Gerry said:
Thats a cheap shot IMO. Theres nothing wrong with Joss cues, especially the ones made 25 years ago. There were a couple of really unknown players named Sigel and Varner that won an event or 60 using the "hyundai" cues. :rolleyes:
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Only because they were being payed to do so... You think that a Joss cue made Mike and Nick win all those tournaments? They coulda used a house cue and played the same. And it was not a cheap shot, just telling it like it is. Comparing the workmanship in a Balabushka to a Joss is just as I said in the previous post. Or you could also say, it is much like comparing a real Bushka to the cheap Adams Bushkas you see everywhere.
 
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metallicane said:
I'm with Gerry. The Joss cues of the late seventies/early eighties were good cues. It wasn't until they started mass producing that the quality went down. Would you consider Joss West to be a Hyundai?
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The cues you speak of were closer to the time that Mr Stroud was still part of the original Joss Cues. The cue in the movie was just like all the rest they are still pumping out today... Affordable.
 
Interesting thread.

flyvirginiaguy said:
The cues you speak of were closer to the time that Mr Stroud was still part of the original Joss Cues. The cue in the movie was just like all the rest they are still pumping out today... Affordable.
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The last I heard there were still 3 of the original release cues from Joss signed by Paul Newman and Tom Cruise for around $6500 I think it was.
Compared to the same catalog cues for a few hundred without the signatures, not too sure about the feasibility of that price.:eek:
Of course now that Fast Eddie is no longer with us, $6500 might be worth it for nostalgic reasons...


Didn't someone recently post pictures of the cue that Mosconi gave Jackie Gleason after The making of The Hustler?
 
Cheap Shot

flyvirginiaguy said:
Balabushka and Joss is like comparing a finely tuned McLaren to a Hyundai.
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Dan Janes is a hard working American cuemaker with a quality product. I can assure you no one on AZB needs a noobie telling them what a Joss cue is or is not.

Joss may be a production cue but I know a few local guys that will rob you with one if you are as foolish with your cash as you are with your words.
 
desmocourtney said:
Joss may be a production cue.
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You said it all right there. But you also show me your post is lacking a little bit as you do not even know me or my pool game. And you refer to local guys as doing it, cant you? BUT you can pm me for my location to play a bit. And I want get no local guy to play, it will be me. And I want use no bushka, I will just use a cuetec...
And I certainly am not a noobie to this forum and certainly not pool lol, I was here a long time ago and lost my username due to inactivity on this forum...

And it certainly was not a cheap shot, I think even Dan Janes will tell you his cues are made for a different market than was an original Balabushka. I however did not say I could not shoot pool just as good with a Joss as I could with an Original Bushka.
But I guess you would also say a Joss can compare to a Black Boar or Szamboti? Do tell, since you are a LONG time member here.
 
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flyvirginiaguy said:
And I certainly am not a noobie to this forum and certainly not pool lol, I was here a long time ago and lost my username due to inactivity on this forum...
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NEVER HEARD OF THIS HAPPENING TO ANY MEMBERS HERE.......NOT BUSTIN BALLS, I'M BEING CURIOUS. WHAT WAS THE OTHER ID, AND HOW LONG WERE YOU INACTIVE?

THANKS
 
flyvirginiaguy said:
And you refer to local guys as doing it, cant you? BUT you can pm me for my location to play a bit. .
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My point was there are several guys around here that play with Joss cues who I would stake against you without even knowing your speed.

As for me, I don't use a Joss anymore, but if you wanna play, step up or meet me at the Derby from the 28th to the 31st. Woof!

PM sent.
 
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