How much is my older Uni Loc Dale Perry DP custom cue worth?

I was with my buddy 12 years ago when he bought a dp from a place in Cedar Rapids. Uniloc, ebony, turquoise hoppe ring for $350. We were at league a few months later when he noticed the shaft was warped. A month later he couldn't play with it because the joint collar on the butt was loose. Didn't cost a lot to have the joint collar fixed and he bought a predator shaft to replace the warped one but I believe this was before the dp eBay era and they were still crap. Both cue makers that saw it said "Who made this? Oh, Dale Perry, that figures!" So they were notoriously crappy then too. They do feel ok when they aren't broken though, just not worth much.


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Oh, wow, so they were not even good quality cues before he started selling them on ebay. That is sad. I hope that mine does not start falling apart. Thanks for all of the other replies. It was a good lesson. At least I do not have much invested in the cue.

jgobigred said:
I was with my buddy 12 years ago when he bought a dp from a place in Cedar Rapids. Uniloc, ebony, turquoise hoppe ring for $350. We were at league a few months later when he noticed the shaft was warped. A month later he couldn't play with it because the joint collar on the butt was loose. Didn't cost a lot to have the joint collar fixed and he bought a predator shaft to replace the warped one but I believe this was before the dp eBay era and they were still crap. Both cue makers that saw it said "Who made this? Oh, Dale Perry, that figures!" So they were notoriously crappy then too. They do feel ok when they aren't broken though, just not worth much.


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They do play well, just don't hold any value. I wouldn't pay anymore than $100 for one. If you like it, you might as well just keep it!


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The older DP's are built quite well. I bought one at the first SBE. Still looks and plays well. I never bought anything with the intention of selling it someday. I paid $950 for it. It's a keeper. Top right. DP eBay cues are worth $100. The older cues are worth maybe 1/2 of what they sold for originally.
How about posting pictures of your DP. Sell it on Ebay if you really want to part with it.
 

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The DC is worth a hundred for the same reason a Southwest is worth thousands. It's the perceived value by the market Were Southwest to suddenly start making 500 crappy cues per year and selling them on eBay, their market value would plummet as well.
 
justinb386 said:
If the Uni Loc joint is so bad, then why does Predator use it on their cues? If it was so unpopular, then Predator would have changed the joint they use after all of these years. I read that there are knock off Uni Loc joints that are very low quality, but I also read that DP always used the authentic one in his cues (and that it was a $50 joint).
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I have had several cues with uni loc. They come loose from time to time. The only advantage is they screw on after a couple rotations. I don't know why predator uses them. I do know that I cannot recall ever seeing a uni loc on a custom cue until you posted this DP. Why do you think that is?
 
TheNewSharkster said:
I have had several cues with uni loc. They come loose from time to time. The only advantage is they screw on after a couple rotations. I don't know why predator uses them. I do know that I cannot recall ever seeing a uni loc on a custom cue until you posted this DP. Why do you think that is?
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exclusivity

Predator was one of the first, IIRC. The company making the UniLoc joints also claim to have invented the radial joint. They are also the creators of the bullet and ghost joint used on Poison cues (sister company of predator). www.uni-loc.com

To the OP, as to why your DP is not worth much; Supply and demand. The supply of cheaply made DP cues is too high and the fact that newer cues are cheaply made has also made the demand low. The enticing idea of a custom cue for $100 is great, until consumers find out that quality control is lacking.
 
Even though the DP cues are of such low quality, players keep paying a $100 to $150 on one of his new ones every day (on ebay), and for some reason they are very happy customers, because DP has a 99.7% positive feedback on ebay. Hardly ever an unsatisfied customer I guess. I also see the cues selling used for at least the same amount that they sold for new, and yet my older better quality DP cue is worth about the same as his cheaper made cues (actually less) based on most of the opinions I have received about the cue. I think the only good thing about his ebay cues with the radial joint is that they look very beautiful with very nice looking wood that he uses on his cues, but from a lot of reviews that I have read, they are very poorly made and very poorly put together, and seem to fall apart very easily. It does not make any sense to me that my older better quality DP cue is worth so little (even less then I see his newer ebay cues selling used for), but I have to agree with the experts on here. I just thought when buying the cue that it had more value (and maybe even collector value) because it is one of his older cues (and I assume much higher quality then the ebay cues with the radial pin).

DAVE_M said:
exclusivity

Predator was one of the first, IIRC. The company making the UniLoc joints also claim to have invented the radial joint. They are also the creators of the bullet and ghost joint used on Poison cues (sister company of predator). www.uni-loc.com

To the OP, as to why your DP is not worth much; Supply and demand. The supply of cheaply made DP cues is too high and the fact that newer cues are cheaply made has also made the demand low. The enticing idea of a custom cue for $100 is great, until consumers find out that quality control is lacking.
Click to expand...
 
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justinb386 said:
Even though the DP cues are of such low quality, players keep paying a $100 to $150 on one of his new ones every day (on ebay), and for some reason they are very happy customers, because DP has a 99.7% positive feedback on ebay. Hardly ever an unsatisfied customer I guess. I also see the cues selling used for at least the same amount that they sold for new, and yet my older better quality DP cue is worth about the same as his cheaper made cues. It does not make any sense to me, but I have to agree with the experts on here. I just thought when buying the cue that it had more value (and maybe even collector value) because it is one of his older cues (and I assume much higher quality then the ebay cues with the radial pin).
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The 5 people I have seen, in person, with an eBay $100 Dale Perry cue, couldn't tell the difference between my customs and a house cue. I'm not saying you are like them, but I'm giving you an idea of who is buying up the ebay cues.

Here is my review on one of his $100 eBay specials:
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=343783

I may have had a dud, but the list of things wrong was through the roof. My biggest complaints were that the joint pin wasn't centered and the cue had a drilled and tapped hole through 3/4 of the butt.
 
Yes, I know that his ebay cues are of very low quality, and your review is one of the ones that I read in the past. That is the thing that I do not understand. Based on most of the opinions here about the value of my DP cue, my cue is worth even less then I see a lot of newer ebay radial pin jointed cues selling for used. The DP cue that I have is in another league of quality, and playability, and yet, it is just as worthless as any used ebay radial pin cue. Opinions from $50 to $125 on the value of my DP cue, and yet I see used ebay DP cues (with the radial pin) selling for more then $125 at times.

DAVE_M said:
The 5 people I have seen, in person, with an eBay $100 Dale Perry cue, couldn't tell the difference between my customs and a house cue. I'm not saying you are like them, but I'm giving you an idea of who is buying up the ebay cues.

Here is my review on one of his $100 eBay specials:
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=343783

I may have had a dud, but the list of things wrong was through the roof. My biggest complaints were that the joint pin wasn't centered and the cue had a drilled and tapped hole through 3/4 of the butt.
Click to expand...
 
justinb386 said:
Yes, I know that his ebay cues are of very low quality, and your review is one of the ones that I read in the past. That is the thing that I do not understand. Based on most of the opinions here about the value of my DP cue, my cue is worth even less then I see a lot of newer ebay radial pin jointed cues selling for used. The DP cue that I have is in another league of quality, and playability, and yet, it is just as worthless as any used ebay radial pin cue. Opinions from $50 to $125 on the value of my DP cue, and yet I see used ebay DP cues (with the radial pin) selling for more then $125 at times.
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I don't doubt that it is better quality. However, it is a DP cue and the market will always view it in the same terms they view new Dale Perry cues.
 
DAVE_M said:
exclusivity

Predator was one of the first, IIRC. The company making the UniLoc joints also claim to have invented the radial joint. They are also the creators of the bullet and ghost joint used on Poison cues (sister company of predator). www.uni-loc.com

To the OP, as to why your DP is not worth much; Supply and demand. The supply of cheaply made DP cues is too high and the fact that newer cues are cheaply made has also made the demand low. The enticing idea of a custom cue for $100 is great, until consumers find out that quality control is lacking.
Click to expand...

I have seen other cues that use uni loc (i.e. Lucasi). I don't believe they are exclusive to predator. Personally I think they are crap.
 
I have a feeling that if the DP logo was not there, then most people would think that the cue was a cheap chinese import (because of the uni loc joint, seeing that I do not think there are any US cue makers that use the Uni Loc joint on their cues). I think someone mentioned that the cue looks like a Schon STL7, but I see that the cue actually looks a little different then my DP cue, but the forearm looks very similar.

http://www.seyberts.com/products/Schon_STL7_Pool_Cue-1741-319.html

Still could not fool anyone because of the Uni Loc joint.
 
I just found an old DP cue that looks a little similar to the one I pictured.

http://www.tampabilliards.com/daleperry.html

The one I pictured actually has more ivory diamond shaped inlays in the butt. So I assume that the cue I pictured was originally around a $700 cue. It does have a lot of ivory in it. That should add some value over his newer cues (that do not use any real ivory) I assume. I also believe that the ferrule is ivory (because I see grain in the ferrule).
 
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justinb386 said:
I just found an old DP cue that looks a little similar to the one I pictured.

http://www.tampabilliards.com/daleperry.html

The one I pictured actually has more ivory diamond shaped inlays in the butt. So I assume that the cue I pictured was originally around a $700 cue. It does have a lot of ivory in it. That should add some value over his newer cues (that do not use any real ivory) I assume. I also believe that the ferrule is ivory (because I see grain in the ferrule).
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According to Dale Perry the cue is worth $762
I would go with Dale, my appraisal was way off
 
People used to hide their lobster shells from their dinner in the trash so that people didn't know they were so poor they had to eat lobster for dinner. Today, they get $20+/lb for lobster. Stuff changes, opinions change, marketing changes, etc.

If the cue is worth more to you than the ~$125 that current market value thinks it is worth than keep it. Otherwise, sell it. Nothing you can post, ask, or suggest will change the dollar value though, so get used to it. :)
 
I bought a similar cue from DP but no stain. The ivory was real ivory, and it came with 2 shafts. Unilock joint. It absolutely played lights out. I think it might have been the mid 80's, but I am not sure. It was a $750-$900 cue. I would still have it, if I hadn't had an offer to trade it for a really nice Joss West cue. If Dale had stayed on his original path, I don't doubt his cues would command high prices. Very few people seem to be aware of his early cues, which were totally removed from what he sells now. I'm sure his current cues kill the value of the early ones, unless you find someone familiar with the old ones.
 
That is an interesting story. That is really cool that you were able to trade it for a Joss West cue. I am sure that many people are familiar with his older cues, but a lot of those same people probably do not like Dale after he started turning out cues in very high quantity (and much lower quality), because their old DP cues lost so much value. I know now that the cue is not really worth more then $125, but I think that maybe if DP did not choose that horrible Uni Lock joint for his custom cues, and maybe if he would have built his cues without the use of a CNC machine (so the points would be sharp), then maybe his older cues would still be worth a lot more money (but maybe not). Sorry for bumping this thread again. I just recently took the cue back on a trade again (traded it even for one of his newer cues with the radial pin joint), and was just curious about it again. It really is a great playing cue (much better then his newer cues in my opinion), and it would just be cool to know maybe when the cue was made. I do know one thing for certain. I do not think I could find a better cue for $125 out there. By the way, I see that some of his new cues actually do sell on auction for a lot more money then $125, like the one in the link below (that sold for $227).

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dale-Perry-...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Highmiles said:
I bought a similar cue from DP but no stain. The ivory was real ivory, and it came with 2 shafts. Unilock joint. It absolutely played lights out. I think it might have been the mid 80's, but I am not sure. It was a $750-$900 cue. I would still have it, if I hadn't had an offer to trade it for a really nice Joss West cue. If Dale had stayed on his original path, I don't doubt his cues would command high prices. Very few people seem to be aware of his early cues, which were totally removed from what he sells now. I'm sure his current cues kill the value of the early ones, unless you find someone familiar with the old ones.
Click to expand...
 
I think I crashed the market on DP cues when I sold both of mine 10 years ago.

I liked my cue but it was too forward weighted. I'll see if I can find a pic.
 
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