Correct me if I am wrong, but it appears that Predator paints some of their cues, instead of using real woods.

9ballscorpion said:
Yeah, Schmelke offers an all Ebony cue too, for $194.

M081 Ebony (schmelkecue.com)
Click to expand...
If people are going to quibble about paying the few extra bucks to buy the wood the want, they should not even be looking at custom cues.

For me, my most important quality in a cue is how it plays. For the most part, I don’t care how it looks or what it is made of. Maple plays good. I actually was going to get a cheap custom Merry Widow made of straight grain maple with a solid black linen wrap and the forearm and butt sleeve painted Snow White and clear coated.

I am not impressed with shiny objects and bling.
 
David in FL said:
What? Surely you don’t mean to say that you get what you pay for?! 😂
Click to expand...

Or, but an all Ebony OB butt for under $400, and then throw a Z3 (or any Predator shaft of your choice) on there for a much better value, and no spray paint, and get some real value for your money.

OB-17EMW Pool Cue (Butt Only) – OB Cues

I am probably wrong though, because Predator cues probably hold their value better then OB, even though they are spray painted.
 
9ballscorpion said:
Or, but an all Ebony OB butt for under $400, and then throw a Z3 (or any Predator shaft of your choice) on there for a much better value, and no spray paint, and get some real value for your money.

OB-17EMW Pool Cue (Butt Only) – OB Cues

I am probably wrong though, because Predator cues probably hold their value better then OB, even though they are spray painted.
Click to expand...


I don’t really care about resale value. I suspect you don’t either. Ultimately we buy what pleases us the most, and makes us smile when we pull it out of the case.

Tough to put a price on that. 😊
 
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David in FL said:
I don’t really care about resale value. I suspect you don’t either. Ultimately we buy what pleases us the most, and makes us smile when we pull it out of the case.

Tough to put a price on that. 😊
Click to expand...

I was only trying to make a point that I think that Predator is being cheap to make a bigger profit, with Spray Painting their butts to just have an Ebony look to them, instead of using real Ebony, when it appears that other cue makers do use real Ebony in their butts, and charge a lot less.

Predator builds a great cue, but I still think they are being cheap with the Spray Paint.

Like I said before, it appears that several other Production cue makers are still using real Ebony in their cues, and for a lot less then Predator charges.

OB-17EMW Pool Cue (Butt Only) – OB Cues

Katana 11 African Ebony Pool Cue – Olhausen Online

M081 Ebony (schmelkecue.com)

So, I feel that $700 for a Spray Painted 9k Series Predator cue is out of line, but Predator has all of the top Pros, and the great marketing, and a very long history of building great cues, so I guess that makes it okay, and fair.

I am still pretty shocked that their original Plain Janes from way back in 98 were Spray Painted. That was back when Falcon (from Canada) was building their butts for them. Falcon (Ernie Chen) owned a cue factory in Taiwan too, so those Spray Painted butts may have came from there.
 
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9ballscorpion said:
I was only trying to make a point that I think that Predator is being cheap to make a bigger profit, with Spray Painting their butts to just have an Ebony look to them, instead of using real Ebony, when it appears that other cue makers do use real Ebony in their butts, and charge a lot less.

Predator builds a great cue, but I still think they are being cheap with the Spray Paint.

Like I said before, it appears that several other Production cue makers are still using real Ebony in their cues, and for a lot less then Predator charges.

OB-17EMW Pool Cue (Butt Only) – OB Cues

Katana 11 African Ebony Pool Cue – Olhausen Online

M081 Ebony (schmelkecue.com)

So, I feel that $700 for a Spray Painted 9k Series Predator cue is out of line, but Predator has all of the top Pros, and the great marketing, and a very long history of building great cues, so I guess that makes it okay, and fair.

I am still pretty shocked that their original Plain Janes from way back in 98 were Spray Painted. That was back when Falcon (from Canada) was building their butts for them. Falcon (Ernie Chen) owned a cue factory in Taiwan too, so those Spray Painted butts may have came from there.
Click to expand...

I’m curious, what do you play now, and why?
 
9ballscorpion said:
Or, but an all Ebony OB butt for under $400, and then throw a Z3 (or any Predator shaft of your choice) on there for a much better value, and no spray paint, and get some real value for your money.

OB-17EMW Pool Cue (Butt Only) – OB Cues

I am probably wrong though, because Predator cues probably hold their value better then OB, even though they are spray painted.
Click to expand...
Are you buying a cue to sell or play with?

If you buy a cue for a few hundred bucks and like it, why are you worried about the resale?

We are not talking buying and selling houses...we are talking about cues that cost less than a thousand dollars.

If you lose a couple hundred after you have used it, WGAF?

I spend more than that cooking a ribeye.

A couple hundred bucks is nothing today.

If people buy a cue for a few hundred and are worried about resale, they shouldn’t be buying cues.

Buy a cue you like and keep it to play with.

If you can’t sell it later, throw the SOB away or use it to rob somebody.

We aren’t talking Szambotis and Balabushkas here.
 
David in FL said:
I’m curious, what do you play now, and why?
Click to expand...

That question has zero to do with the topic of this thread. Why is it that people on AZB always like to change the subject? I now see that there are several other cue companies that are still using Ebony in their cues, which are Production cues, and under $500, so Predator could do the same if they did not just care about making the largest profit possible.
 
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HawaiianEye said:
Are you buying a cue to sell or play with?

If you buy a cue for a few hundred bucks and like it, why are you worried about the resale?

We are not talking buying and selling houses...we are talking about cues that cost less than a thousand dollars.

If you lose a couple hundred after you have used it, WGAF?

I spend more than that cooking a ribeye.

A couple hundred bucks is nothing today.

If people buy a cue for a few hundred and are worried about resale, they shouldn’t be buying cues.

Buy a cue you like and keep it to play with.

If you can’t sell it later, throw the SOB away or use it to rob somebody.

We aren’t talking Szambotis and Balabushkas here.
Click to expand...

You are going way off topic of the point that I have been trying to make. I was talking about Predator being cheap, charging $700 for a cue that is Spray Painted.

On the topic of resale values, I am sure that does not matter though, because it is a Predator. They hold their value pretty well. I just think they are being cheap. That is all. Charging $700, they could easily be using real Ebony in their cues, instead of spray painting them black.
 
Exotic woods like ebony will likely be outlawed soon. Macassar ebony comes from the rainforests of Madagascar. This rainforest has been almost entirely razed to make ebony items, and contains some of the rarest, most special animal life in the world. Worst of all, many of the trees get discarded for being to light in colour and so are wasted. Sustainable woods like maple getting painted is a way to introduce colour variety to a rather "boring" looking wood. It can also be stained with very good result, looking very similar to ebony or whatever species you like.

Most cues will be made of artificial materials soon, I predict, much like tennis rackets and other sports implements are. There will probably be a small niche market for exotic wood cues, which will become prohibitively expensive and rare.
 
Straightpool_99 said:
Exotic woods like ebony will likely be outlawed soon. Macassar ebony comes from the rainforests of Madagascar. This rainforest has been almost entirely razed to make ebony items, and contains some of the rarest, most special animal life in the world. Worst of all, many of the trees get discarded for being to light in colour and so are wasted. Sustainable woods like maple getting painted is a way to introduce colour variety to a rather "boring" looking wood. It can also be stained with very good result, looking very similar to ebony or whatever species you like.

Most cues will be made of artificial materials soon, I predict, much like tennis rackets and other sports implements are. There will probably be a small niche market for exotic wood cues, which will become prohibitively expensive and rare.
Click to expand...

I forgot that these woods come from trees, lol. I am such an idiot. So, now that I think about it, pool players will probably be using cues that are eventually made entirely of Carbon Fiber, and other materials, that do not come from the forests. Sad to hear about the Rain forests being cut down.
 
9ballscorpion said:
You are going way off topic of the point that I have been trying to make. I was talking about Predator being cheap, charging $700 for a cue that is Spray Painted.

On the topic of resale values, I am sure that does not matter though, because it is a Predator. They hold their value pretty well. I just think they are being cheap. That is all. Charging $700, they could easily be using real Ebony in their cues, instead of spray painting them black.
Click to expand...
Then don’t buy one.

Problem solved.
 
9ballscorpion said:
You are going way off topic of the point that I have been trying to make. I was talking about Predator being cheap, charging $700 for a cue that is Spray Painted.

On the topic of resale values, I am sure that does not matter though, because it is a Predator. They hold their value pretty well. I just think they are being cheap. That is all. Charging $700, they could easily be using real Ebony in their cues, instead of spray painting them black.
Click to expand...
Why do they make $600 break cues?

Because people who can’t run three balls will buy them.

Are you going to convince me that a $600 break cue is worth the money?

I can make just as many balls on the break with my $60 Cuetec with a White Diamond tip as most people can make with their “special” cues.

Gimmicks!
Name recognition bling!
Status symbol!

Buy a Jackpot.

:)
 

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Straightpool_99 said:
Exotic woods like ebony will likely be outlawed soon. Macassar ebony comes from the rainforests of Madagascar. This rainforest has been almost entirely razed to make ebony items, and contains some of the rarest, most special animal life in the world. Worst of all, many of the trees get discarded for being to light in colour and so are wasted. Sustainable woods like maple getting painted is a way to introduce colour variety to a rather "boring" looking wood. It can also be stained with very good result, looking very similar to ebony or whatever species you like.

Most cues will be made of artificial materials soon, I predict, much like tennis rackets and other sports implements are. There will probably be a small niche market for exotic wood cues, which will become prohibitively expensive and rare.
Click to expand...

I see there are many different types of Ebony, which are from different parts of the world.

African Blackwood. Looks pretty dark. Is that Ebony?
Brazilian Ebony
Brown Ebony
Gaboon Ebony
Indian Ebony
Macassar Ebony
Royal Ebony

Medium Exotic Wood Blanks | Exotic Wood, Birdseye Maple, Curly Maple, Tiger Maple (bellforestproducts.com)

That is interesting.
 
I’m not sure why Mezz switched what wood their EC-9 is made of, but the EC-7 used real ebony and retailed for $600. I’ll take that Japanese craftsmanship over any other production cue maker any day.
 
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