Estate Cue Liquidation - 450 cues
- Thread starter TATE
- Start date
guys should pay attention. I have personally been to Abes house and if Scot is selling all of it, then there are some really nice pieces that are going to come through.
Let me give you an idea how the house was set up.. water heater area.. good luck getting to the water heater you need to get around ball sets, cues and other stuff. That little crawlspace under the stairs.. yeah ok.. what crawl space over the rafters in the garage, probably stuff behind the drop ceiling panels..
Abes nightstand in his bedroom probably had the McDermott wild life cue set as legs...
JV
Let me give you an idea how the house was set up.. water heater area.. good luck getting to the water heater you need to get around ball sets, cues and other stuff. That little crawlspace under the stairs.. yeah ok.. what crawl space over the rafters in the garage, probably stuff behind the drop ceiling panels..
Abes nightstand in his bedroom probably had the McDermott wild life cue set as legs...
JV
Of course it is a common thing, they are hoping to get 1 or 2 people on the site who don't know anything about cues, possibly relatives or spouses of a player who know the name "Balabuska" from the movie the Color of Money or some mention their loved one made about "Balabushka Cues" being old, rare, and valuable. If they get that, the person does not quite know what they are really looking at since there is zero mention, and they make far more on the sale then the cue is worth.
If it was a non-issue to them to say it was an Adam cue, George Balabushka tribute, then they would do it with 100% honesty and divulging of the information to the potential customers so they can make fully informed decisions.
I also don't like the underhanded nature that these cues are sold with, they are purposely sold under the "Balabushka" name with no mention of being an "Adams" cue for a very obvious reason.
Saying a person should ask questions is missing the point that they "should not have to ask questions", the cue should be marketed with the information on the maker up front. All other Adam cues on that auction are sold as Adam cues, the Helmsetter Cues are sold as Helmsetter, the Meucci are sold as Meucci, and this Adam cue is being sold as a Balabushka with ZERO mention that it is in fact an Adam cue.
But in a true liquidation an auction with no reserve and no minimum price with every cue starting at $1 is actually a true liquidation of inventory. The minimum prices, some of which are not very low given the cues being sold and the current market make it look more like a bunch of stuff being sold at semi reasonable prices and less like a liquidation of inventory. That Prince of Brunei cue is nice, but it is $3000 starting price...
There are cues there that you can buy at the Valley Forge or the BCA National Championships in Vegas at the same price as the minimum starting price of the auction. Schons with starting prices of $700 that supposedly retail at $1200 and are ALWAYS on "sale" in Vegas for about $700, brand new. Makes the whole "liquidation" and "auction" pretty useless, you can bid on the cue and buy it for it's normal selling price, or if you get outbid now the cue is selling for more then it's normal selling price which is always far lower then the "retail".
I mean, a 4 leg 4 1/2x9 Kling and the "starting" price is $10,000? Sorry but that is pretty steep for the starting price in a supposed liquidation auction. "no reserve"... no chit.... it is starting at 10 thousand dollars...
Scot is extremely honest, one of the most honest people I know. Most of his members are informed buyers, so Scot probably just assumes everybody knows it's one of the Adam GB series cues, or maybe he just forgot to mention it. I'll e-mail him with these comments.
The prices are going to decline if cues are not being sold - as more people bid on the auctions, look for more deals.
Chris
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I originally didn't want to mention this is from the Abe Wambold estate because I wasn't sure if this information was public, but I've since noticed Scot has mentioned it several times. Some of his colltion had been sold a while back, so Scot is liquidating his remaining inventory.
Here is a obit on Abe. His house is just a few blocks from Scot's.
http://ephratareview.com/2011/07/abraham-wambold-mr-billiard-pool-hall-owner/
Chris
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Al,
They can have a starting price, so if one person bids, that means the reserve is met.
A reserve is a secret number that may or may not be met in the bidding process - so this way there is no "surprise".
Some of the auctions do have an unlisted reserve. This is usually for more expensive cues or collector cues people may fight over.
A lot of the prices are really good. for eample, the new price on the Balabushka tribute GB 4 was in the mid $500's on the net, retail higher. he's started it at $340 no reserve and it's a new cue.
Chris
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One other thing about the prices.. Scot just put starting prices he thought was inline. If you see something you like PM him an offer if the cue doesn't sell. Scot is more than reasonable and if you can convince him the price is a little high, you never know.
The only dumb questions are the ones not asked.
JV
The only dumb questions are the ones not asked.
JV
proficient
Registered
GB series is Adams
I am going in to change the title to change include the word Adams. Real Balabushka's were unsigned and do not sell for $300. I had assumed. Sorry for the mixup.
Regards,
Scot
I am going in to change the title to change include the word Adams. Real Balabushka's were unsigned and do not sell for $300. I had assumed. Sorry for the mixup.
Regards,
Scot
Scot...They also did not have "model numbers"! 
I thought your description was quite clear, without the Adams designation.
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
I thought your description was quite clear, without the Adams designation.Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
+1 for that.
I hope it sets off a precident that gets others to follow suit.
I was off AZB and reading a small amount of forums and yahoo answers and a tremendous amount of people chatting simply think Balabushka cues are just that, worth a fortune, and they have no clue Adam cues even exist or make modern cues called "Balabushka".
Truth be told the general public have no reason to even think that a Balabushka was a custom cue, and possibly don't know that there IS such a thing as a custom cue. They simply know Tom Cruise thinks "Balabushkas" are awesome and says they are worth a mint and suddenly they see a cue called a "Balabushka" for sale and think ZOMG!
Scot...They also did not have "model numbers"!
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
RIght, and the average league player or bar banger would know that a real Bushka does not have a model number. Yeah, and the description was as clear as mud since it did not mention the maker of the cue. But it's all good because Scott changed it. :thumbup:
I think that even someone who is vastly uninformed would have to surmise they weren't stumbling onto the holy grail of pool cues for $300, and even moreso, that such an incredible stroke of luck would not be happening on, of all places, a billiards website where cues and cue values make up a prominent part of their business.
I think Scot did the right thing to clarfy the description but in no way do I think he meant to deceive anyone.
Best,
Brian kc
Best,
Brian kc