From my perspective, you need to decide what you want from a Schick cue. At your price point, I would assume you are looking for a player. Display quality collectables are going to cost more than $3K. I would also assume that you are looking to play with Bill’s shafts. Buying an older, less decorative Schick cue (perhaps even a conversion) and putting an aftermarket LD shaft on it would not make sense to me. If you are looking to make money by flipping the cue, I would probably consider something different.
Next I would decide what features you want in a Schick player.
Do you want the butt to be built entirely by Bill?
Will a conversion be acceptable?
Do you want shafts with Bill’s taper?
What tip diameter?
What balance point do you want?
What joint material/construction do you want?
Do you want ivory ferrules?
Do you anticipate using his shafts with different cue butts?
Bill builds cues to meet the buyer’s specifications. He has his own preferred specs that many (but not all) buyers request. Some people do not care for his taper and will have either Bill or some other cuemaker/repairman retaper the shafts.
