JB Cases said:If I can weigh in on the subject.
A JB Light Interior weighs .8KG or 1.75lbs - It should be about the same as a Justis as they both use the same polypropelyne shells as far as I know.
A JB Exterior of 4-6oz leather weighs 1.9Kg or 4.2lbs
A JB case with tubes and using 3oz leather weighs 2kg or 4.4lbs.
A JB Case with tubes and using 6oz leather weighs 3.2kg or 7lbs
The difference between a Justis Prolite and a JB Light case is that the Justis is made with the leather exterior directly on the plastic tubing with no insulation or other support at all. The JB case weighs a little more because the exterior is bonded with a fiberboard to provide a strong support shell for the leather. Then the exterior and interior are fitted together like a glove. In my opinion this provides a lot more protection for the cues and for the shell against acute impact. But the tradeoff for better protection is a little more weight.
A JB case made of lightweight industrial nylon with a light weight interior comes in at about 3lbs.
This case can have custom lettering done in a variety of ways, inlay, onlay, tooled section, embroidered, embossed, silk screened, and metal lettering attached with rivets.
A GTF 2x4 comes in at 4.4lbs using 4oz leather. It also can be personalized in many ways.
While we are at it - let me ask your opinon about something. I know a lot of players like the envelope style cases because they are lighter. What if I made tube style cases without the tubes? That means that the cases wouldn't have a plastic shell nor would it have individual PVC tubes.
But the leather would be bonded to the fiberboard and would hold shape well. You could squeeze the case and it wouldn't be very good with real hard impact, but it would be much better than just a sleeve as the envelope style cases are.
I'd layer in some extra foam rubber and the case would then be around 4.2lbs if made of 6oz tooling leather. Less if it were made of lighter leather.
Does that type of case sound interesting to anyone? It would be slighty cheaper as well since I wouldn't be doing the plastic shell or the tubes.
Call it the JB Lite-Lite
I will probably do some just to try them out anyway. I am thinking that they would be an in between sort of case between the envelope style and the tube style. From appearance they would be jsut like any tube style case and from weight and protectiveness they would be closer to the envelope.
Feedback welcomed on this subject.
John ... I fail to see the 'added benefit' of the fiberboard, I mean the leather normally would be bonded to the plastic shell, which provides protection against impact, and the fiberboard is flexible by your words, so any added benefit would be minimal at best.
You idea for an inbetween case is a good one, but one of the reasons like soft cases or envelope cases are liked is because they are usually not expensive to buy. Many players do not allow their cases to be in a position to be stomped on or driven over, so impact protection is nice, but can not be a major issue when purchasing a case. Envelope (or soft) cases can be more convenient to use (at least the ones with pockets on them), and I refer to them as a 'load-n-go' case, perhaps a better reference to the case you are thinking of making. They are lighter, don't feel like a 4 x 4 against your back, and convenient.
And most players don't leave their cases out in the rain, or subject to humidity changes usually (maybe a few do, but not the majority).
Now, your cases I have seen look nice, pretty sure they are made well, looked okay although some of the tooling was a little overdone and not balanced throughout the case like I like, but I do feel your prices are on the high end, especially with .60 cents an hour Chinese labor over there.
I have a natural penchant towards have 'casual' cases and 'formal' cases, and your case you suggested would fit right in line with the 'casual' case
category, for a spur-of-the-moment or casual league play use.
I strongly feel though, if your price was not reasonable on the new case, from a buyer's viewpoint, that the case would not be that successful. In other words, not to charge what the market would stand, but to charge costs + a reasonable profit percentage, then it would be successful.
In today's world, you have to realize to have the dream case is nice, and you might plan to keep it 20-30 years, but you also have the buyers that want to spend less, maybe keep it 5-6 years, then buy another with updated features offered on them, and keep it for 5-6 years. Over a length of time both may have spent the same, but one chose to have many cases, where the other kept the one case.
And many people can not justify spending $800-1,100 on a case when their cue cost $500. Just my viewpoint, from a buyer's perspective.
