Are you guys sure you have this right. Viking McDermott, Meucci, are all production cues that are mass produced. Do they go up in value. Yes they do. Do you really think that Dale's cues are not going to skyrocket when he isn't making them anymore. Those 2-3000 cues will probably be worth 4000 then. I have a Viking cue that I got in about 1986. It was 185 dollars new. You know how much it's worth now. at least 1000 it was worth 850 5-8 years ago. That means my mass produced Viking appreciated more % wise than that 1500 dollar cue you bought in 86. So maybe you should give the guy a break because I have had great customer service from him. Maybe that's because I want my taper specific and a better ferrule though. Who knows?
Tommy....lol....I remeber this deal well...I actually held on to that cue for the guy after he bought another cue up until about 3 months ago....he sold it for what he had in it.....I agree with the there isn't much out there that can be had for what he is selling them for in the quality range....as a new aspiring cue maker I wouldn't do a house cue conversion for what he sells his cues for.....but he has the machines to pump them out in quaintity.......so for any new pool player they are great...and if you deside you want to move on up later...get your money back out of them and buy a biger better cue....preferably from an american custom cue maker that is starving because the cue market is hurting.....we need all the help we can get.> Personally,I don't wish to discuss his sales methods,but this is what I think about his cues,based on my limited hands-on experience.
I was asked to tell a friend about a cue a mutual friend was selling. It was one of Dale's Speedster models,although a 1 of 1 variation. The cue was being sold for 125.00 with 2 shafts. I told him to buy it,and eventually bought it from him myself.
The cue itself was his typical thin-walled SS collar sleeved over black phenolic and wood,with the Radial pin. The base wood was a really nice medium blonde piece of curly maple with moderately breathtaking figure. The very edges of the maple were translucent,to the point of almost giving the long edges of the points a jagged appearance. This was only visible up VERY close.
The point wood and butt section were ebony,and either this was from some "secret stash" source,or stained/dyed,but whatever it was it was truly black,no visible grain to speak of. It had some simple white,MAYBE ivory diamonds in the points,and 4 broach-type inlays above the butt cap with the same material. The inlay work was good but not great. The woods used were top-shelf.
The shafts had not been sanded much if at all,and were pretty beefy,just a little over true 13mm at .516 and .518,the nice part was both shafts were so close. The shaftwood was fairly nice,little darker than some like but VERY clear,and tight. The shafts had a pretty stocky taper,enough that if someone wanted they could have then turned down by actually taking a cut on it rather than having to sand it all off. Both shafts had melamine ferrules and unknown tips.
The hit was pretty stiff for a "production" cue due to the diameter of the shafts and the taper,and had a pleasant amount of "ping",even with the flat-faced joint. The only thing I was unhappy with was the butt was a tad to thick where I gripped it.
I wound up selling it for 275.00 because that cue was truly a gem and the guy that bought it knew it.
For what I paid,that was the best cue I've ever seen in that price range even versus new cues.
His low-end cues are about 150.00 off his Ebay store,and I seriously doubt there is a better cue available for that price,unless the R360's are as good as what people say. Tommy D.
I personally own four DP's, 3 of the new ebay cheapy's and an older
sneaky pete with some weird looking trangle inlays at the bottom of it. I don't own any cues that are worth much more than 1K but I will say this much about my DP's, everytime I pull my Jacoby, Olivier, or Espiritu out of my case to hit some balls I find myself going back to my DP. Maybe he isn't a nice guy and maybe he screwed alot of collectors, but for the price I can't find anything close to a Dale Perry cue.
im not comparing them to any upper echelon custom cues but in this day and age when you can get an american made cue 1/1 for under $300 .
DP says that no wood grain is identical so therefore every stick he makes is a 1 of 1.
Actually I believe they are a great buy for a playing cue. Generally they don't hit bad for a production cue especially at the price they can be purchased for. Many people, especially those who were dealers for him and helped him get his start are upset for the thousands of dollars they lost when he started selling on e-bay at such a discount. Now the quality of his cues are nowhere what it used to be but never-the-less, the owners of his original CUSTOM cues can no longer sell them for anything near what they paid for them.