Gus Szamboti 70's
- Thread starter Logdog
- Start date
Gus Szamboti's have lowered in my opinion. Barry's have gained. most people who collect Gus Szamboti cues are older & have quit collecting
cues, or have deceased. it's a tough market right now. i think you have been offered close to top dollar for your cue. i'm not sure you want to sell
it
cues, or have deceased. it's a tough market right now. i think you have been offered close to top dollar for your cue. i'm not sure you want to sell
it
He just wants the reputation as "the greediest, free eBay searching poster on AZB"
I don’t know what Gus charged, but Richard Black charged me $40 for one when I had him make me a second cue back in 1981.
I don’t have either of his cues anymore, but I still have the case.
Thank you for taking the time to respond. I am surprised nobody on here knows what Gus charged for them
Logdog,
I dug out an original Fellini mailer that I have from early 1982 complete with cover envelope, photos of several cases (tooled, not tooled, exotic, etc), along with prices ranging from $75-140. A cuemaker could choose to put some of the cost of the case in his cue cost, so it is hard to answer your question. The cost could have varied a bit with each successive order by the same cuemaker. The price could fluctuate quite a bit depending on the type of case ordered (tooled, plain, type of skin) so no standard price. I ordered one along with a Josswest cue from Bill Stroud in the late 1970s and paid $50. Hope this helps.
(Btw, I would keep all the shafts together with your cue).
Will Prout
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I bought a R. Black Hoppe in '82($320 w/ 2 shafts) and he sold me a Fellini for 55bux. Wish i still had both.
You are the man so I will take your advice. Thanks!
Those would make a great pair still, all these years later!I bought a R. Black Hoppe in '82($320 w/ 2 shafts) and he sold me a Fellini for 55bux. Wish i still had both.
Will Prout
In the 1970s I would buy cues from Bill Stroud, 4-point, no inlays for $115 with one shaft. I can still hear him regularly telling me it would be another $20 if I wanted a second shaft. lolI bought a R. Black Hoppe in '82($320 w/ 2 shafts) and he sold me a Fellini for 55bux. Wish i still had both.
WP
Hi Will, thanks for sharing the info about cue and case prices from the 70s. It seems that cue prices overall have outpaced inflation. If a 4 pointer with veneers was @135$ in the mid 1970s, accounting for rough inflation, that price would only be around 600 today. Richards site shows similar cues for about 2000$. (still seems like a steal to me).
Do you feel this assessment of cues and inflation is correct or am I missing an element here? How far did $135 dollars go in the 70s?
xianmacx, Howdy;
Back in the 70's you could buy for $5.00 what now costs ya $25.00. Ya spend $100.00 to buy something that used to cost $20.00.
Seems like I go through "Sticker Shock" at least twice a day and it keeps gettin' worse.
hank
Hi Hank, both of your example are 5x. That is similar to the math of $135 vs $600. It would be tough to make money today at 600$ for a cue as described. How were cuemakers in the 70s able to make money at the 135$ price? Again, I am sure I am missing an element beyond this calculation...
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The inflation calculator shows the multiple for 1975 to 2021 is 4.96 so it is very close to 5 times more
agree, but that doesn't align with todays prices of a similar cue. @2000$. And to be clear, I feel 2000 is very cheap for such a cue. I am just curious what was different in the 70s that justified such a low price of $135/$600 for a cue?
In summary, why were these cues so cheap back then? If you work backwards from todays price of 2000, the cue should have been 400 in the 70's if the only factor was inflation.
People back then did not collect dozens of cues at a time as investments. Supply and demand.
It was about 1983 or so I saw Gus hand deliver a plain 4 point cue 59" with 2 shafts each with Ivory ferrules to Neptune Joe Frady for $425.00.
Wife and I got married in 1972.
Rented an apartment for $120 a month and spent $25 a week for food for the two of us.
Thanks for sharing numbers. In my area, these 2 would probably be 10x today or more.