How many still have the first cue they ever bought?

how in the world are those cues being held up?

I had a normal cue rack I got from Amazon that the cues were in originally.

When I setup the display case I used a piece of padauk used in the cue for the shelf. The pin goes through and hangs from the joint protector.

From that I got the idea to modify the bottom rack and move it up replacing the top one. (need to repair the holes on the wall now)

Just drilled holes for the pin and then screwing the cue together holds it in place.

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I could never part with my 1st cue……..a Palmer cue (Cocobolo) and it is still straight as a tautly stretched string.
The cue is almost 60 years years old….way too much sentiment to ever let go….it was a gift from my step dad.

I didn’t want a cue that was adorned with inlays back then. I wanted a plain, all wood cue and Cocobolo was a
new wood type back at that time being used to make cues. I sometimes wonder if Cocobolo could make a shaft?

The wood is so darn pretty that I’d consider having a Cocobolo shaft undergo torrification if the final weight was OK.
As I’m learning, most cue makers aren’t interested, or else aren’t able, to build me a heavier weight KW shaft I require.

Attached are some photos of the Palmer cue my step dad gave me as a college graduation present with a Bulova
Acutron watch. I played with it until I ordered my 1st custom cue from Bob Runde in the early 80’s shortly after Schon opened. And those were my only cues until 2005 when I began selecting cue makers to build cues the way I wanted.

I’ll admit to having more cues than one needs and so cues wait to get played. Since I added a Kielwood shaft last
October, my Scruggs gets played nearly all the time. The shaft is a radial thread and only my Scruggs uses that pin.
I have 2 more Kielwood shafts being made so all the cues in my 6x12 case has a KW shaft so I can play with them.

It’s been interesting to mostly play with my Scruggs cue so much only because of the KW shaft. Kielwood really does
play so much better than maple shafts and CF, well, it just isn’t what I care to use having already tried different brands.
So playing so much with only one cue instead of rotating a different cue made me wonder why bother owning so many.

Then it dawned on me I wanted to leave each on my kids and grandkids one of my pool cues. So right now I got that covered and counting my custom Runde Schon that has a unique provenance, each of them has a unique cue with a history behind every one. My Palmer cue isn’t accounted for yet but I have a hunch it’s only a question of time until it is.

My worry is my son hasn’t married yet and one of my daughters is likely to have one more grandchild so it seems I just
might be looking to add more cues instead of how I started to feel after only playing with one cue. Hah, and to think I
was starting to think maybe it’s time to thin out my small collection to only 2-3 cues. That would be a hard choice to make.
 

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First cue was a Rich that got sold and replaced with a Doc. I still have the Doc....in the Ava. The Doc would be the first cue I kept since it was born. It never was a great or favorite player but I always had and still have a love for it. It's with me until.
 

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The first cue I ever bought was an Eckes cue made a few miles from here in Marshfield back in the mid 70's.
I still have that cue as well as the Meucci 97-11 I bought around 2000 (give or take a few years)
My Meucci 97-11 was a cue that was made for and sold by Mueller sporting goods.
It has a rainbow stained birdseye maple forearm.

Oh, I wish I still had one of the 1st two cues that I had for years, as a kid. A Mike Durbin sneaky, made in the mid 90's, and a 90's era Jackson cue. Loved those cues. Miss them.
 
I had a normal cue rack I got from Amazon that the cues were in originally.

When I setup the display case I used a piece of padauk used in the cue for the shelf. The pin goes through and hangs from the joint protector.

From that I got the idea to modify the bottom rack and move it up replacing the top one. (need to repair the holes on the wall now)

Just drilled holes for the pin and then screwing the cue together holds it in place.

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Is that 3rd cue from the right a Lucasi?
 
This was my first, a Willie Hoppe which I still have as you see, I think I bought it around 1963 from Jimmy Wise at Sequoia Billiards in Redwood City, Ca. I may have had some cheap thing before this but I can't really remember.
 

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I wish.. I tend to sell things I don’t use and I didn’t want to be tempted to go back to playing with something as soon as I have a bad so I sell them. 3 cues I wish I wouldn’t have sold.
1) my first McDermott . Blue with a baby blue wrap. Crazy enough I still have the plastic sleeve that says McDermott on it it came in
2) a joss cue I bought out of the case at joss cues in md. It was a dark wood with diamond inlays.
3) a roundel era schonn that I played with for close to 10 years.
 
1) my first McDermott . Blue with a baby blue wrap. Crazy enough I still have the plastic sleeve that says McDermott on it it came in
I still have my D2 and had the sleeve.

About 10 years ago I sold an NOS D3 and put it in the sleeve.

Silly, but I wish I didn't let that sleeve go.
 
Wish I had it. My first cue, a gift from my father in 1969, was an Abe Rich Mike Eufemia signature edition. My second cue was an Addams cue I bought from Rempe. I loved it but one day it was stolen. On the brighter side, I still have the Nick Varner model Falcon cue I bought in about 1993.
 
How did ya'll get such nice sticks as your first stick? I though most people started cheap, but maybe I'm a minority.

My first 3 pool cues or so were from Walmart or Dicks. Me and my friends didn't know squat about pool cue brands. We just looked for a decent design or our favorite color. Do I have any of those no name brand sticks...no. Do I wish I saved them...no. I can still picture them in my head...yuck. lol.

My first decent stick was probably 7 years later when I got a Players cue. Sold it for 1/5th of what I payed for it. Do I regret selling it...no. Today that cue would probably be warped because I didn't really learn how to take care of cue until like 20 years later. Sorry to be such a drag on this party.
 
My first cues were two mid 80’s Schon cues, one sharp point and one cnc. Still play with both. They were my grandpa’s. He died when I was 14 and I got them at 21. His wife kept them that whole time hoping I would come get them. Bought a new Predator 16 years ago or so, just sits in a case. Finally bought an 09 Runde in ‘21, that’s in the rotation as well.
 

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my first was a very cheap Player cue I bought in the mid-1990s. Really crappy, soon moved to a Meucci, then an Espiritu, then a Schon, another Schon and my "Christmas present" 2024, a COM Joss, just cause I wanted one and thought they were nice cues. Haven't even hit a ball with it. A couple break cues and a jumper in the interim.
 
Back when I didn't know anything about pool or a good cue, I bought a green Halex graphite cue for like $30 at Walmart in about '99. I still have that cue. It's a great break cue so it gets into the rotation from time to time.

I wish I still had the second cue I bought. When I got "serious" about pool in '05 and joined APA, I bought a McDermott GS05 with an i2 shaft and played with that combo for about 16 years. I got a big promotion and had been thinking about getting a new cue in about '21. I got drunk one night at Skinny Bob's and let someone shoot with the Mcdermott. He offered what I thought was enough money for it to sell it. Turned out I couldn't even replace like for like with what I sold it for.

That started a journey over the last 4 years for me to find a new cue that I liked. I've probably spent $10k on cues since then. I finally found a cue from a maker in the Philippines that I love and paired it with a Revo and a BeCue Engage.

In hindsight, I wish I would have just had a custom cue built instead, but live and learn I suppose?
 
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