How can I tell if pre-flag Master chalk is the real deal?

Mikey Town

Mikey Town

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Today, I walked into the break room at work and saw a new 8' table being installed. The owners of the company are cheaper than cheap, so this surprised the crap out of me.

In the end, their true colors showed a bit... imported no-name table, Lakers colors felt (not cloth... felt), cheaper than cheap play package, etc...

At the end of the day, it has 6 pockets and plays decent... at work... so it's a pretty cool thing to have access to on a lunch break.

Anyway, I was looking through the play package and noticed that the Master chalk was a bit of a different shade of blue than I'm used to seeing. I picked up a cube and, what do you know... no flag. When i chalked a cue, it seemed softer than normal too.

I have never used pre-flag Master before. Does anybody know how I can tell if this is the real stuff, or if it just another imported knock-off? If it's the good stuff, I'll swap 6 cubes from home with the 6 that are here tomorrow.


Thanks in advance,

Mike
 
Taste it, if it has a metallic taste to it (like mercury) then it's the real deal. When billiard chalk was mined in the 1800s, they used mercury to separate it from the granite. Now they use infrared heat.
 
That's a tough one.

It's kind of hard to imagine a new play pack with original pre-flag Masters in it. Even the knockoffs here in China have the flag on them.

I just bought some chalk from Chris' Billiards when I was in Chicago and I brought it home to compare to the stuff I bought here and it's definitely different in both package design and feel.

BUT if I didn't have any original to use as a comparision then there is not any way I would know that the fake stuff is fake.

I can definitely see a situation where the new play packs are being imported with packages of fake Master chalk that is supplied by some company that hasn't caught on to the fact that Tweeten is putting flags on their cubes now.

OR you could have just stumbled onto an old play pack where the distributer had put in Master chalk instead of the stock chalk. We at Sterling put in real Master Chalk into our Play Packs. We don't even buy them from China with chalk in them.

And our play packs aren't the "cheaper than cheap" variety. :-)

And for once I agree with GMT- I don't think that there are many people living who can say what mercury tastes like. I'd also question whether chalk composition can be determined by taste. Also the ingredient that is now not present in chalk which formerly was is lead. That change however was long before Tweeten started putting flags on the chalk.

It's an urban legend that pre-flag chalk is different. It's not. The Flag was put on the packaging for marketing purposes and the formula was not changed in the slightest according to Skip Nemecek, the director of Tweeten Fibre.

And another little tidbit - Triangle Chalk is the EXACT same as Master Chalk. Different label made for England.
 
Go to Pre Flag Master threads on here and you will see that there is a difference between todays flagged Master chalk and the old stuff without the flag. But you will also find out they built the newer inferior formula without the flag for a while before introducing the flag. They also build it with no flag even now for the overseas market. If the hole in the top of an unused piece is a lot deeper than the stuff you get today, it is most likely the better original formula.

Here is a thread that should tell you all you need to know. If not keep searching becasue there are many more threads on Pre Flag Master Chalk:

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=202273
 
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Mike, don't swap it out without permission - it's not worth losing your job over something so trivial.
Click to expand...

Do it, its like borrowing office supplies. Blame it on one of your co workers.
 
CC, why would you post that?
He wasn't asking what the difference is. He was just making a statement because he thought it unusual to see new no flag Master come with a new table and accessories.

I swear, if they ever have a HOF award for King of Stupid Thread Starters,
you're in like flint.

Chris, I just checked and have an older box, the chalk wrappers are faded and the hole is definitely deeper and wider than most.
Yet, I have another partially used box, the color of chalk is the same as the older box, the hole is as deep but not as wide.
I'll have to take pics of both.
 
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Step 1: Bring in a box of post flag Master chalk, grab the pre flag chalk at your work and swap them ... nobody will notice or care.

Step 2: Sell your newly "acquired" pre flag Master chalk

Step 3: Buy some Blue Diamond chalk with the money you made. :)
 
cueman said:
Go to Pre Flag Master threads on here and you will see that there is a difference between todays flagged Master chalk and the old stuff without the flag. But you will also find out they built the newer inferior formula without the flag for a while before introducing the flag. They also build it with no flag even now for the overseas market. If the hole in the top of an unused piece is a lot deeper than the stuff you get today, it is most likely the better original formula.

Here is a thread that should tell you all you need to know. If not keep searching becasue there are many more threads on Pre Flag Master Chalk:

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=202273
Click to expand...

As someone who has purchased nearly a million cubes of Master chalk from Tweeten I have kind of an insight on the chalk thing pre and post flag.

But admittedly, some have taken the study of chalk to much deeper levels.
 
I thnk the "Flag" appeared on some CHALK after the 911 EVENT, and imho the company still make MASTER without Flag. So it is Flag, or No Flag Chalk.
 
FIXED

PaulieB said:
Step 1: Bring in a box of post flag Master chalk, grab the pre flag chalk at your work and swap them ... nobody will notice or care.

Step 2: Sell your newly "acquired" pre flag Master chalk

Step 3: Buy some Blue Diamond chalk with the money you made. :)
Click to expand...

Step 4: Post on AZ that you bought Blue Diamond, and get mired answering posts claiming that you wasted your money, and should've kept the patriotic Master's chalk.
 
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