Ever hear of a CPS cue ?

garczar said:
Never seen ADAM cue with decals. Even the Chinese built ones have all been inlaid. ADAM started building most of their stuff at Taican/Universal around '95-'96-ish. They still make the hi-end Musashi line in Japan. They are expensive but super nice.
Click to expand...

That is very interesting. Sounds like Miki of Mezz cues probably was the maker of Adam cues up until 94-95, if they had to switch to a Chinese manufacturer in around 95, which was around the same time that Mezz cues was founded.

I understand that the newer Adam cues are very high quality, and made in China, but some of the older Adam cues were low end, and made using decals. Here are a few pictures of Adam cues that were made using decals / overlays, or some sort of painted graphics. I had, and tried out the 1st cue in the pics, and it was very low quality, with a very poor quality / low grade shaft, in my opinion.

Maybe these cues in the pics were made after 95, in China.
 

Attachments

  • adam 1.jpg
    adam 1.jpg
    107.3 KB · Views: 278
  • adam 2.jpg
    adam 2.jpg
    91.7 KB · Views: 245
  • adam 3.jpg
    adam 3.jpg
    188 KB · Views: 236
Last edited:
From what i know on this when Miki's contract with ADAM expired he went out on his own. Most ADAM cues are made in same plant as Predator, Lucasi, Players, Dufferin and others. The plant in Sayama, Japan makes Musashi and a couple of the Mugen cues. Those are the first really lo-end/starter ADAM cues i've ever seen.
 
garczar said:
From what i know on this when Miki's contract with ADAM expired he went out on his own. Most ADAM cues are made in same plant as Predator, Lucasi, Players, Dufferin and others. The plant in Sayama, Japan makes Musashi and a couple of the Mugen cues. Those are the first really lo-end/starter ADAM cues i've ever seen.
Click to expand...

I wonder if any Helmstetter cues were ever made after 95, when Adam started having their cues made in China.

Maybe the 97 or 98 Series Helmstetter cues were made in China?

The 87 Series Helmstetter cues just seemed to be much higher quality, in my opinion.
 
I spent 3 years working for CPS (Child Protective Services). It was depressing and I never saw anyone making pool cues. Lots of dirty houses though..
 
animatedvmaker said:
I wonder if any Helmstetter cues were ever made after 95, when Adam started having their cues made in China.

Maybe the 97 or 98 Series Helmstetter cues were made in China?

The 87 Series Helmstetter cues just seemed to be much higher quality, in my opinion.
Click to expand...
"Seemed"?? In what way? The Japanese cues are definitely more collectible but the Chinese ADAM cues i've seen(roughly 10 or so) have all been extremely well made. The factory that makes them is capable of very hi-end quality. Look at a Predator or a Lucasi for example. Hard to find a flaw.
 
garczar said:
"Seemed"?? In what way? The Japanese cues are definitely more collectible but the Chinese ADAM cues i've seen(roughly 10 or so) have all been extremely well made. The factory that makes them is capable of very hi-end quality. Look at a Predator or a Lucasi for example. Hard to find a flaw.
Click to expand...

You said that the ADAM cues have been made in the same factory, in China, since around 95, at around the same time that Miki's contract with ADAM had expired.

It just made me wonder when the Helmstetter cues stopped being made. Before or after ADAM moved their cue making production to China.

I can't really explain why, but the 97-98 Series Helmstetter cues just did not seem to be as high quality as the 87 Series. That might just be because I love the hit of the 87 Series Helmstetter cues so much more, and may have nothing to do with the quality of the cues. They just seemed to be in a different / higher league then the newer Helmstetter cues. The original retail prices were also much lower on the newer Helmstetter cues, from 97-98 series. Also, the 87 Series Helmstetter cues came with a Micarta ferrule on them, I believe. They just seemed to be much higher quality, and I do not know how to explain it.

Also, you said that ADAM moved into the same factory that makes Lucasi cues. Well, I remember the Lucasi cues from back in the 90's, and they were not that great. They were okay, but they were not in the same league as a Joss for example.

I read somewhere that Lucasi moved to a new state of the art cue making facility at some point of time, and that might have been around the same time that they started doing their Custom and Hybrid lines of cues. Not sure if that is true though. They just seem to be much higher quality then the Lucasi cues that were made back in the 90's, like the Buddy Hall signature series Lucasi cues for example. They were good cues, but not in the same league as the cues they have been making in more recent years.

And yeah, I am sure that the more recent ADAM cues, from China, are very high quality, and right up there with the quality of Predator, Lucasi, Universal, and others that are made in the same factory, with the same high quality standards.

I just never cared for the Helmstetter cues from the 97-98 series that I tried out. The 87 series just seemed to be so much better and higher quality, and they hit amazing. I am also not sure if 87, 97, 98 series meant the years that they were released, so that is why I was curious if the 97-98 series may have been made in China.
 
Last edited:
animatedvmaker said:
You said that the ADAM cues have been made in the same factory, in China, since around 95, at around the same time that Miki's contract with ADAM had expired.

It just made me wonder when the Helmstetter cues stopped being made. Before or after ADAM moved their cue making production to China.

I can't really explain why, but the 97-98 Series Helmstetter cues just did not seem to be as high quality as the 87 Series. That might just be because I love the hit of the 87 Series Helmstetter cues so much more, and may have nothing to do with the quality of the cues. They just seemed to be in a different / higher league then the newer Helmstetter cues. The original retail prices were also much lower on the newer Helmstetter cues, from 97-98 series. Also, the 87 Series Helmstetter cues came with a Micarta ferrule on them, I believe. They just seemed to be much higher quality, and I do not know how to explain it.

Also, you said that ADAM moved into the same factory that makes Lucasi cues. Well, I remember the Lucasi cues from back in the 90's, and they were not that great. They were okay, but they were not in the same league as a Joss for example.

I read somewhere that Lucasi moved to a new state of the art cue making facility at some point of time, and that might have been around the same time that they started doing their Custom and Hybrid lines of cues. Not sure if that is true though. They just seem to be much higher quality then the Lucasi cues that were made back in the 90's, like the Buddy Hall signature series Lucasi cues for example. They were good cues, but not in the same league as the cues they have been making in more recent years.

And yeah, I am sure that the more recent ADAM cues, from China, are very high quality, and right up there with the quality of Predator, Lucasi, Universal, and others that are made in the same factory, with the same high quality standards.

I just never cared for the Helmstetter cues from the 97-98 series that I tried out. The 87 series just seemed to be so much better and higher quality, and they hit amazing. I am also not sure if 87, 97, 98 series meant the years that they were released, so that is why I was curious if the 97-98 series may have been made in China.
Click to expand...
Don't agree on a lot here. I had a Buddy Hall Lucasi that was made extremely well. A friend owns it now and its still dead straight with perfect points and inlays. Lucasi's QC was/is better than most custom makers. They've always been made by the TaiCan, now Hamson Int'l, factory. The switch from Japan to China for ADAM was not done all at once. It was gradual shift so some cues could very well have still been made in Japan. Only hi-end hand-made Musashi cues are Japan built now. I've done a lot of searching/homework over the last few yrs. and am pretty confident of what i know about ADAM history. There are others on here that know more. Also, AFAIK all Helmstetters were built in Japan. From talking to others and doing my own digging that's what seems to be.
 
Last edited:
garczar said:
Don't agree on a lot here. I had a Buddy Hall Lucasi that was made extremely well. A friend owns it now and its still dead straight with perfect points and inlays. Lucasi's QC was/is better than most custom makers. They've always been made by the TaiCan, now Hamson Int'l, factory. The switch from Japan to China for ADAM was not done all at once. It was gradual shift so some cues could very well have still been made in Japan. Only hi-end hand-made Musashi cues are Japan built now. I've done a lot of searching/homework over the last few yrs. and am pretty confident of what i know about ADAM history. There are others on here that know more. Also, AFAIK all Helmstetters were built in Japan. From talking to others and doing my own digging that's what seems to be.
Click to expand...

Okay, thanks.

One thing that always bugged me about Adam / Helmstetter cues, are their uneven points, and lop sided inlays.

I think that the higher end the Adam cues are, the more careful they have been with how nice and even the inlays and points are.

I guess that because the Helmstetter cues were not made using CNC machines, and the points and inlays were all done by hand, it made everything so much more difficult to get the points and inlays perfectly even.

I always loved sharp points and sharp inlays though.

All of these CPS cues look to have been made using CNC machines.

It appears that even some of the Musashi cues have been made using CNC.

https://global.rakuten.com/en/store/cue-shop/item/964135q/

With CNC cues, everything is always going to be perfectly even.

So, I guess I would rather have a cue with sharp points, that are not perfectly even.
 
Last edited:
Definitely not a Petersen. I attached a picture of one of his cues from an old thread to show the logo he used.
 

Attachments

  • petersen4.jpg
    petersen4.jpg
    80.6 KB · Views: 133
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top