Dad's 25 year old custom 8 pointer with MOP inlays

A

astandrich

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
So, the story goes that my Dad (formerly a long haul truck driver) found himself in NW Wisconsin around 1984-85 and ran into this fellow that had just completed building a custom cue that had been ordered a while back... Unfortunately, the guy that ordered the cue passed away before the cue build was completed. This guy shows the cue to my dad and tells him the story... Dad is in love with the cue, but doubts he could afford such a beauty... the guy tells him he'll sell it too him for less than half price at $300. Before long this cue is in the hands of it's proud new owner.

Now, I'm 30 years old myself, and as far back as I can remember, my Dad has had this cue and absolutely loved it. I have always admired it, and I asked him recently to send me some pictures of it. He did the best he could with a cell phone camera, and I took what he sent me and made a sort of collage showing the general look of the cue, and then the various other shots show the unique joint, the 4 high / 4 low points & veneers ( I count 4 - natural, dark blue, light blue, & black), the MOP inlays, & the ring work which we don't know to be ivory or just some other material.

I'm posting this here to get some opinions of it... perhaps even an idea of it's value. I ask only that you please be gentle if you have negative feedback... it's sentimental value is far more important than any dollar figure, so please respect that and don't beat up on my old man's prized cue.

Thanks!
Anthony

DadsPoolStickCollageSmall.jpg

Direct Link to higher resolution:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/_EMbsJ74gAeCavCNow9YOg?authkey=Gv1sRgCOX1z5SWtveo2wE&feat=directlink
 
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a buddy of mine had one almost identical around the same time this was made....was a nice looking cue....as to value i would guess $150 to $250 based on it's an early 8 point Schmelke.....my buddy's cue played pretty well but the workmanship left a little to be desired for custom cue makers back then...
 
Yea... I forgot to put that in there, but he did say it was a Schmelke.

If it really is worth so little today, I'll not be sharing that info with him... that'd be horrible if he actually paid more for it in the mid-80s than it is worth today :(
 
astandrich said:
Yea... I forgot to put that in there, but he did say it was a Schmelke.

If it really is worth so little today, I'll not be sharing that info with him... that'd be horrible if he actually paid more for it in the mid-80s than it is worth today :(
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Shouldn't be horrible if he has gotten enjoyment out of it. If I had a 1980's chevy truck it would be less than I would of paid for it new. But I bet I'd be happy to still be driving it.
 
i'd say its priceless...its really hard to put a real value on any cue that plays well or has meaning. Alot of guys these days make cues that look and play better than older cues that cost exponentially more. I wish i had something like that, that belonged to my dad
 
I thought pool cues were one of those unique situations where value didn't depreciate... but I like what the last poster pointed out... priceless :)
 
astandrich said:
I thought pool cues were one of those unique situations where value didn't depreciate... but I like what the last poster pointed out... priceless :)
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THERE ARE WAY TO MANY VARIABLES TO BE ABLE TO MAKE THAT BLANKET STATEMENT...... HAD HE BOUGHT A CUE FROM GUS SZAMBOTI, PETE TASCARELLA, BILL SCHICK..... OR MANY OTHERS DURING THAT TIME FRAME, IT WOULD BE WORTH MORE NOW THAN IT COST THEN. BUT NOT ALL CUES VALUES ARE AFFECTED THE SAME WAY OVER TIME.

Marcus
 
$300 seems right for what these sold for back then if my memory serves me right....it'd be cool to have this cue in my hands and check shaft quality, wrap, finish and the rest of the cue as well....who knows this cue could be a "gem" from Schmelke....if that's the case it could bring a bit more than what i stated......i will say i do remember really liking by buddy's cue when he got it in the 80's
 
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