How good were DP cues before he started selling them on ebay in high quantities?

J

justinb386

Banned
I am curious what the quality of Dale Perry cues were before he started selling them on ebay in high quantities?

I am sure that he is still a custom cue maker, and still makes one of a kind cues (that are of high quality), but I am just curious how much better the quality of his cues were back before he started selling them on ebay?

Was he just doing custom orders back then, or did he still have a line of cues that were all certain designs, and were his cues of high quality, and highly sought after by good players ?

I do not know where to find pictures of some of his old cues from back when he was making true one of a kind custom cues, so can some of you collectors of DP cues post some pictures of your old DP cues on here, or post a link to some pictures?

I am curious if he always used a CNC machine to build his cues, or if some of them had sharp points?

I am also curious if anyone knows how many cues per year he makes now, and how many cues he made yearly (before he started selling on ebay).

I hope that I am not offending Dale Perry in any way by posting this thread.

I love the looks of his cues that he sells on ebay, and they appear to be made from very beautiful high quality woods, but I assume that one reason that they sell for so cheap is because he posts so many of them at one time.

Just mainly curious how good the quality of his cues were back in the 90's (or back before he started posting them for sale on ebay in high quantities), and also curious if those older DP cues have a much higher value today (or have gone down in value from what was originally paid for them new)?

Thanks.
 
I can't make the comparison but I played with a Dale Perry plain jane about 20 years ago. It was a fine playing cue, very much reminded me of a few Schons I played with around the same time.

I put that cue through the ringer over a few seasons. Hundreds of hours and the cue held up just fine. No fit or finish issues at all.

I sold the cue for more than what I paid for it after a few seasons and never had another experience again with DP cues. But wasn't it 15 or so years ago when he decided to go in a different direction?
 
It was about 7-10 years ago.

Bishop said:
I can't make the comparison but I played with a Dale Perry plain jane about 20 years ago. It was a fine playing cue, very much reminded me of a few Schons I played with around the same time.

I put that cue through the ringer over a few seasons. Hundreds of hours and the cue held up just fine. No fit or finish issues at all.

I sold the cue for more than what I paid for it after a few seasons and never had another experience again with DP cues. But wasn't it 15 or so years ago when he decided to go in a different direction?
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His old cues were excellent cues and sold for high $ amounts. In fact a lot of the condescension towards him came from the dealers who he screwed and the people who had some of his expensive cues that got screwed on resale value.

The first couple of years that he started mass producing, they were still quality cues, then they dropped off dramatically.

As what they would sell for went lower and lower, he had to produce faster and faster to still turn a decent profit, so the care dropped dramatically.

I had gotten one for about $265 when they were selling for average around $350 still and it was an excellent cue.

I ending up selling it about a year after I got it for $350. This was back in 2006

Jaden
 
They were nice back then...not top tier but nice cues...believe it or not those eBay cues he sells play pretty dank good....solid playing cues for the money but the craftsmanship Sux real bad...scrappy inlay materials and kinda lame looking but for around $150.00 u would be hard pressed to find a better playing cue. They really do play nice.
 
In 2000 I bought a DP custom . Came with 2 Uniloc shafts. It is a nice cue...quality, appearance, play wise. Paid close to $1000. Have no regrets. As far as resale goes I never buy anything with the intention of reselling it. It is the end cue on the right
 

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Jaden said:
His old cues were excellent cues and sold for high $ amounts. In fact a lot of the condescension towards him came from the dealers who he screwed and the people who had some of his expensive cues that got screwed on resale value.

The first couple of years that he started mass producing, they were still quality cues, then they dropped off dramatically.

As what they would sell for went lower and lower, he had to produce faster and faster to still turn a decent profit, so the care dropped dramatically.

I had gotten one for about $265 when they were selling for average around $350 still and it was an excellent cue.

I ending up selling it about a year after I got it for $350. This was back in 2006

Jaden
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It was around 1995-96 when I bought mine. It's retail was 460.00. I worked at the shop delivering pool tables, doing wraps, tips and ferrule so once a year I could pick any cue for half off and that's how I got mine.
 
Jaden said:
His old cues were excellent cues and sold for high $ amounts. In fact a lot of the condescension towards him came from the dealers who he screwed and the people who had some of his expensive cues that got screwed on resale value.

The first couple of years that he started mass producing, they were still quality cues, then they dropped off dramatically.

As what they would sell for went lower and lower, he had to produce faster and faster to still turn a decent profit, so the care dropped dramatically.

I had gotten one for about $265 when they were selling for average around $350 still and it was an excellent cue.

I ending up selling it about a year after I got it for $350. This was back in 2006

Jaden
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exact same take on it and experience i had. I bought an early ebay cue for about $300 - a wrapless speedster I think it was called and it played so well that I wish I still had it.
 
That is a very beautiful DP cue. I can see that is is a true custom. Thanks for all the replies. Was just curious because I was recently offered an older DP cue on trade, so wanted some thoughts about the quality and value of his older cues. So they were of high quality, but they may not have much of a resale value these days?

GoldCrown said:
In 2000 I bought a DP custom . Came with 2 Uniloc shafts. It is a nice cue...quality, appearance, play wise. Paid close to $1000. Have no regrets. As far as resale goes I never buy anything with the intention of reselling it. It is the end cue on the right
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They play jam up, but…

You gotta tweak them to the way you like them. I paid $150 for one made in 2008 and put it through its paces. The brass radial pin puts the weight pretty far forward which felt great to me. I changed the tip and ferrule and eventually bought a stage IV of his and made the same mods. I eventually sold it for $175 with both shafts and the guy who bought it loves the cue.

However, anymore if somebody asks me what the best cue for the money is I say cuetec r360. But if who's want something that looks a little nicer they're a good option. They also make a predator shaft play pretty nice :wink:
 
Can anyone tell me if the cue in the picture appears to be one of his older nicer quality cues? I have a feeling it is not, but I really do not know. Looks to me like a really nice leather wrap was added to it to make it look a lot nicer. Did DP use CNC inlaid points back when he made his higher quality cues? Does anyone have any opinions about the cue in the picture? Thanks.
 

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The old cues were one of kind but the ebay cues are good for the price u pay I've shot with both old and new both great cues
 
justinb386 said:
Can anyone tell me if the cue in the picture appears to be one of his older nicer quality cues? I have a feeling it is not, but I really do not know. Looks to me like a really nice leather wrap was added to it to make it look a lot nicer. Did DP use CNC inlaid points back when he made his higher quality cues? Does anyone have any opinions about the cue in the picture? Thanks.
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Even if its not that's still a great looking cue
 
Yeah, his cues are really great looking, but I have purchased 3 of them over the years (from his ebay auctions), and was really unhappy with the hit on all of them. The taper he used on the shafts was not a good pro taper, so that may have been why I was so unhappy. Maybe a good retaper would have changed my opinion about the hit of the cues.

Busboy said:
Even if its not that's still a great looking cue
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justinb386 said:
Yeah, his cues are really great looking, but I have purchased 3 of them over the years (from his ebay auctions), and was really unhappy with the hit on all of them. The taper he used on the shafts was not a good pro taper, so that may have been why I was so unhappy. Maybe a good retaper would have changed my opinion about the hit of the cues.
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I had ob classic on the ones I shot it helped out
 
justinb386 said:
Can anyone tell me if the cue in the picture appears to be one of his older nicer quality cues? I have a feeling it is not, but I really do not know. Looks to me like a really nice leather wrap was added to it to make it look a lot nicer. Did DP use CNC inlaid points back when he made his higher quality cues? Does anyone have any opinions about the cue in the picture? Thanks.
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:scratchhead:

Looks like one of mine from seven years ago...when I was sending them out to Scott Erwin to put wraps on them.

And if you ever see a new Meucci being sold with a leather wrap...you can almost bet that Scott Erwin put it on.

Trade secrets revealed....:ignore:
 
I had Dale build me a titlist conversion year and years ago.

I was pretty happy with it, and this was years before the dumping of cues. I traded it off right before the DP cues fell off the cliff.

I have some REAL old catalogs for DP cues and they were priced with the typical cuemakers of the day. $1500+.

The deal I see easily in quality is shafts. I had a friend who had a really old DP cue and my DP had pretty good shaftwood in them. What I have seen from the ones I have seen more recent it is not the same. Probably just too many, and not enough time and attention.

The current DP cues I would put on the same plain as todays Meucci, Joss, Schon production cues. While you might get a great shaft, by and large they are making enough cues that they cant produce a superior product.

I do think one of the ebay DP is an excellent starter cue and a good buy for the money. But if you compare a Meucci, Joss, Schon or DP cue of today to a simple Andy Gilbert jump break cue (as a player cue), it is a world of difference, IMO.;)

Ken
 
poolguy4u said:
:scratchhead:


So when you threw the older cues on the floor...they didn't break?


:rotflmao1:
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:grin:

The forearm snapped when I broke the rack. I pulled the joint pin and collar right out of the forearm. The butt sleeve snapped off when I threw the cue. That's when i noticed the cue was hollow.
 
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