cue prices in the past
- Thread starter Q-Street
- Start date
my sad story
I bought a several hundred dollar cue brand new for fifty bucks back in the early eighties. I quit playing for a long time and when a coworker was playing a lot of pool in the early nineties I gave it to him. I bought my first blue book of cues a few years ago and the cue is in there, valued at $1500!
Hu
Q-Street said:
I bought a several hundred dollar cue brand new for fifty bucks back in the early eighties. I quit playing for a long time and when a coworker was playing a lot of pool in the early nineties I gave it to him. I bought my first blue book of cues a few years ago and the cue is in there, valued at $1500!
Hu
I bought a Palmer model M, 2nd catalog, back in the early 70's...a buddy getting a "special deal" if he ordered two of them. I got the cue with two shafts, my name under the plastic ring, a case with my name embossed on the lid...all for $125. At the time, I thought I was paying quite a bit, because very good players were available for $50 or so.
Shortly after I bought the cue, I quit playing for a long time. Running a biz, raising a child, etc.
I still have the cue...it all original, still with it's original tips, wrap, finish...
Shortly after I bought the cue, I quit playing for a long time. Running a biz, raising a child, etc.
I still have the cue...it all original, still with it's original tips, wrap, finish...
22 years ago I bought a Schon R-5 and suitcase style case for $176. The cue came with 1 shaft. JW were starting at $300. The dealer told me that I was getting a comparable cue for 1/2 the cost.
I still have brochures and prices from that time by Scruggs, Mottey, JW, Black Boar, Schon and McD. Wish I would have bought a few BB but I couldn't afford it at the time and I really think that if it was for the internet the cue market would be what it is today.
I still have brochures and prices from that time by Scruggs, Mottey, JW, Black Boar, Schon and McD. Wish I would have bought a few BB but I couldn't afford it at the time and I really think that if it was for the internet the cue market would be what it is today.
In the 70's you could still buy Szambotis and Balabushkas for two to three hundred. WHO KNEW?
In the 80's I bought many Jerry Franklin SW cues for $125 to $150. I would resell them with a $25 mark up. Aren't I the smart one?
Fancy Tads and Ginacues were available for a few hundred in the 70's. Billy Stroud JW cues went for $150 to $250 typically back then. Even in the early 80's, you could get a nice Stroud cue for a few hundred bucks.
Cues began to break the $1,000 mark when Thomas Wayne came along and Gus and George passed away. In the mid 80's everything began to change and the collector cue market emerged.
I bought several plain Tad "player" cues for $60 to $75 in the late 60's and early 70's. They're worth $1,500 and up today.
In the 80's I bought many Jerry Franklin SW cues for $125 to $150. I would resell them with a $25 mark up. Aren't I the smart one?
Fancy Tads and Ginacues were available for a few hundred in the 70's. Billy Stroud JW cues went for $150 to $250 typically back then. Even in the early 80's, you could get a nice Stroud cue for a few hundred bucks.
Cues began to break the $1,000 mark when Thomas Wayne came along and Gus and George passed away. In the mid 80's everything began to change and the collector cue market emerged.
I bought several plain Tad "player" cues for $60 to $75 in the late 60's and early 70's. They're worth $1,500 and up today.
In 1989 I bought a Tim Scruggs four-pointer (birdseye with cocobolo points ending in "devil's tails") with a black leather wrap for $400 from John McChesney in Dallas.
I traded it even for a six-point Burton Spain with the screws in the shafts...
Man do I wish I had held on to either one of those...
Can you imagine paying $400 for a Burton Spain?
I traded it even for a six-point Burton Spain with the screws in the shafts...
Man do I wish I had held on to either one of those...
Can you imagine paying $400 for a Burton Spain?
I did and still do
I have bought and sold hundreds of cues. I have got the group I have now that I have insured for about $25K. These are basically cues that I have "stairstepped" IE, I have bought then traded with additional cash to get a slightly better cue. I have almost always made a little to alot on each cue.
Some interesting notes. I have made the most from Meucci cues. Not very much on each cues but they are low end, I buy right and can sell pretty easy. I have made $50 to $200 on each one.
Secondly, I like to buy cues that need refinished or needs shafts or some additional work. I bought a Shurtz with one shaft for 400, sent it back to him and he made second shaft and refinished cue, and I sold it for $1100.
While most and probably me a few times have said cash is king, I still get my best deals trading cue plus cash. That is because I have got into the cue I am trading pretty good.
My final point is dont buy with your heart but buy with your head. I will buy almost any brand, if I think it is underpriced. I know the market pretty well and try to look for values. AND ALWAYS LOOK TO TRADE UP!
I wish all my friends here good luck,
Ken
I have bought and sold hundreds of cues. I have got the group I have now that I have insured for about $25K. These are basically cues that I have "stairstepped" IE, I have bought then traded with additional cash to get a slightly better cue. I have almost always made a little to alot on each cue.
Some interesting notes. I have made the most from Meucci cues. Not very much on each cues but they are low end, I buy right and can sell pretty easy. I have made $50 to $200 on each one.
Secondly, I like to buy cues that need refinished or needs shafts or some additional work. I bought a Shurtz with one shaft for 400, sent it back to him and he made second shaft and refinished cue, and I sold it for $1100.
While most and probably me a few times have said cash is king, I still get my best deals trading cue plus cash. That is because I have got into the cue I am trading pretty good.
My final point is dont buy with your heart but buy with your head. I will buy almost any brand, if I think it is underpriced. I know the market pretty well and try to look for values. AND ALWAYS LOOK TO TRADE UP!
I wish all my friends here good luck,
Ken
I had some old R series Schon cues and some D series McDermotts back in the 80's that I now wish I had kept. I only paid a couple hundred at most back then and they all have appreciated rather nicely.
check out the palmer collector site. here is a link to the "blast from the past" with flyers from the mid 90's of high end cues. i believe there is even a spreadsheet:
http://www.palmercollector.com/BlastfromthePastHome.html
guy
http://www.palmercollector.com/BlastfromthePastHome.html
guy
Edited because I can't read,,,,lolguycrunch said:
Well not really
Well - I dont think so. It will be pretty rare. With the internet and ebay and everything else, I think alot of the bargins are gone are at least few and far between.
The best deals I get are from guys that are broke and need to sell a cue, and when I tell them I recommend getting it refinished and put on ebay or whatever, they just want cash immediately.
Ken
Q-Street said:
Well - I dont think so. It will be pretty rare. With the internet and ebay and everything else, I think alot of the bargins are gone are at least few and far between.
The best deals I get are from guys that are broke and need to sell a cue, and when I tell them I recommend getting it refinished and put on ebay or whatever, they just want cash immediately.
Ken
I bought a cue in 1964 at Airway Billiards in Dayton, OH for 22 dollars. I used it for 30 years before buying another one. I still carry it in my case all the time.
I went to Joss Cues in 1974 to buy a steel jointed joss /2 shafts for $155.00, Danny Janes had an ivory joint cue 4 point with 3 venners started. He showed it to me and I loved it. He had just made a similar cue for lassiter with a 29 inch butt and 28 1/2 inch shafts. So I had him make mine the same way (ivory joint,implex block rings / ebony rings top and bottom and two shafts with ivory ferrules for $240.00. I told him he was robbin me...lol. Tim Scruggs was working with Danny then and he made part of this cue. Turns out it was a steal. Ohhh...also bought a fellini case with it for $65.00. I played with the cue for 20+ years and have been offered over 2k for it.....guess I was the robber...lol
original Meucci
The original Meucci. They were a decently respected cue at the time and a friend that ran a gameroom got them at a super deal when he purchased other things. I forget the name or model now, I never knew or cared when it was my player but matched it up to a picture in the blue book. The truth is that I regret letting my snooker stick that I paid ten or twelve dollars for get away far worse than the Meucci. It was just an old Brunswick one piece but I did things with a cue ball with it that should have been illegal.
I'm always on the lookout for a 12oz Brunswick snooker stick, playing condition or not, if someone has one. I'd settle for measurements off of one.
You are absolutely right that a lot of folks will be crying about some of today's cheap cues that they let pass through their hands. Some good builders are way underpriced and once their name and quality is known some prices will soar. Some will fade from the scene and be forgotten too, which ones will do what though?
My saddest story comes from the running horse days. An old neighbor called me wanting to sell a colt for $700. He played the horses too and getting in a bind was pretty common for him. On the other hand the last three horses he had raved about on the phone had been soap on a rope when I went and looked at them. Told him I wasn't interested. He called me less than a year later, 11:30 at night, fourth of July. The colt had just won the Firecracker, $400,000 in early eighties dollars! My neighbor had sold the colt to his bookie so we were both SOL.
Hu
Q-Street said:
The original Meucci. They were a decently respected cue at the time and a friend that ran a gameroom got them at a super deal when he purchased other things. I forget the name or model now, I never knew or cared when it was my player but matched it up to a picture in the blue book. The truth is that I regret letting my snooker stick that I paid ten or twelve dollars for get away far worse than the Meucci. It was just an old Brunswick one piece but I did things with a cue ball with it that should have been illegal.
I'm always on the lookout for a 12oz Brunswick snooker stick, playing condition or not, if someone has one. I'd settle for measurements off of one.
You are absolutely right that a lot of folks will be crying about some of today's cheap cues that they let pass through their hands. Some good builders are way underpriced and once their name and quality is known some prices will soar. Some will fade from the scene and be forgotten too, which ones will do what though?
My saddest story comes from the running horse days. An old neighbor called me wanting to sell a colt for $700. He played the horses too and getting in a bind was pretty common for him. On the other hand the last three horses he had raved about on the phone had been soap on a rope when I went and looked at them. Told him I wasn't interested. He called me less than a year later, 11:30 at night, fourth of July. The colt had just won the Firecracker, $400,000 in early eighties dollars! My neighbor had sold the colt to his bookie so we were both SOL.
Hu
In, I think, about 1976 or '77, I bought a Joss cue from Dan Janes. Birdseye, four ebony points, red, black, blue veneers, round piece of rosewood in the butt sleeve with blue, black accent rings, mop diamond-dot in the rosewood, mop diamonds in the points, pressed and polished Irish linen wrap, two shafts with ivory ferrules, maple rings in joint collars. $260.00. Which is, I think, what I sold if for after getting my Scruggs. Didn't need the money, either.
It's one of the few I've owned that I wish I'd never let go. Sigh.
It's one of the few I've owned that I wish I'd never let go. Sigh.
Scruggs sneaky
In 1996 I was playing in a local pool league.I was in a hurry and didn't have time to go home and get my cue, so I borrowed a Scruggs sneaky from a friend of mine (it was his break cue).I really liked the way it played and after we were finished I asked him if he would sell it to me. He said why don't you just call Tim Scruggs and order one? At that time I didn't know you could just do that.
So, the next day I called and told Tim the same story. I asked about a sneaky pete with two shafts to see about how much it would cost and how long I would wait . He said it would be 250.00 + shipping and about three or four weeks. The total was 267.50 for a brand new Scruggs sneaky pete from Tim with two shafts, and it arrived in three weeks. I wish I could still get that deal today.
In 1996 I was playing in a local pool league.I was in a hurry and didn't have time to go home and get my cue, so I borrowed a Scruggs sneaky from a friend of mine (it was his break cue).I really liked the way it played and after we were finished I asked him if he would sell it to me. He said why don't you just call Tim Scruggs and order one? At that time I didn't know you could just do that.
So, the next day I called and told Tim the same story. I asked about a sneaky pete with two shafts to see about how much it would cost and how long I would wait . He said it would be 250.00 + shipping and about three or four weeks. The total was 267.50 for a brand new Scruggs sneaky pete from Tim with two shafts, and it arrived in three weeks. I wish I could still get that deal today.
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