Ivory questions

PaulieB

PaulieB

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hey there cuemakers,

I certainly hope I am not starting an inflammatory thread as I know people have lots of strong opinions regarding this topic.

My question is basically, what are your thoughts about buying a used cue with ivory that was originally made in the philippines? I would never risk buying one direct and I'll admit it's mostly due to the fact that I wouldn't want to pay for something and have it confiscated more than moral reasons regarding the way the ivory was obtained. I do have some concerns regarding that, but I'm being honest with my motivations. This is about a resale after the cue has already made it into the states.

I have some moral roadblocks regarding the whole issue but I also wonder if a cue would ever be confiscated in a US to US shipment because of the ivory? I also have a desire to support local cuemaking talent and am wondering if maybe getting a less fancy cue from a starting cuemaker or "entry level cost" custom cuemaker would be a better option.

I'm just confused and soul searching about getting a fancier used cue made outside the US with possibly illegal ivory or buying(for the same price) a locally made, non ivory or less fancy cue.

I know there are lots of opinions regarding this, please realize I am truly just looking for input and differing viewpoints to help point me in the right direction. I'm at the point where I am going to buy/order my first custom made cue and my head is spinning with all the options.

Thank you all for your input ahead of time. :)
 
PaulieB said:
Hey there cuemakers,

I certainly hope I am not starting an inflammatory thread as I know people have lots of strong opinions regarding this topic.

My question is basically, what are your thoughts about buying a used cue with ivory that was originally made in the philippines? I would never risk buying one direct and I'll admit it's mostly due to the fact that I wouldn't want to pay for something and have it confiscated more than moral reasons regarding the way the ivory was obtained. I do have some concerns regarding that, but I'm being honest with my motivations. This is about a resale after the cue has already made it into the states.

I have some moral roadblocks regarding the whole issue but I also wonder if a cue would ever be confiscated in a US to US shipment because of the ivory? I also have a desire to support local cuemaking talent and am wondering if maybe getting a less fancy cue from a starting cuemaker or "entry level cost" custom cuemaker would be a better option.

I'm just confused and soul searching about getting a fancier used cue made outside the US with possibly illegal ivory or buying(for the same price) a locally made, non ivory or less fancy cue.

I know there are lots of opinions regarding this, please realize I am truly just looking for input and differing viewpoints to help point me in the right direction. I'm at the point where I am going to buy/order my first custom made cue and my head is spinning with all the options.

Thank you all for your input ahead of time. :)
Click to expand...

They only opinion that matters is yours, why would you ask such a question? We all do things everyday and it doesn't require anyone's input. We have our own moral compass's
 
That's why I asked this in the cue maker forum instead of general forum. Not only for additional input regarding an area that cuemakers would be MUCH more educated about, but also to answer my direct questions that I had regarding shipping.
 
Hi Paulie; What kind of price are we talking about? As far as Ivory, I love Ivory & use LEGAL Ivory a lot in my cues...JER
 
Why not try to pm Al Bautista. He is a well known cuemaker from the Phillippines. Maybe he can be helpful about buying a cue from there.
 
PaulieB said:
Hey there cuemakers,

I certainly hope I am not starting an inflammatory thread as I know people have lots of strong opinions regarding this topic.

My question is basically, what are your thoughts about buying a used cue with ivory that was originally made in the philippines? I would never risk buying one direct and I'll admit it's mostly due to the fact that I wouldn't want to pay for something and have it confiscated more than moral reasons regarding the way the ivory was obtained. I do have some concerns regarding that, but I'm being honest with my motivations. This is about a resale after the cue has already made it into the states.

I have some moral roadblocks regarding the whole issue but I also wonder if a cue would ever be confiscated in a US to US shipment because of the ivory? I also have a desire to support local cuemaking talent and am wondering if maybe getting a less fancy cue from a starting cuemaker or "entry level cost" custom cuemaker would be a better option.

I'm just confused and soul searching about getting a fancier used cue made outside the US with possibly illegal ivory or buying(for the same price) a locally made, non ivory or less fancy cue.

I know there are lots of opinions regarding this, please realize I am truly just looking for input and differing viewpoints to help point me in the right direction. I'm at the point where I am going to buy/order my first custom made cue and my head is spinning with all the options.

Thank you all for your input ahead of time. :)
Click to expand...

There is quite a bit of legal pre-ban ivory here in the US and I don't see anything at all wrong with using it in cues. Any ivory that was poached would probably have too much moisture content to be used in cues anyway and would be shrinking, swelling, cracking and showing signs of it's problems by the time a year or so went by. Once the cue was in the US, I can't see where you'd have any legal ramifications unless you tried to either ship or bring it out of the country. Shipping it within the US is legal and not really a problem, but I still probably wouldn't mention the material in the inlays anyway. If you got an inspector who's GF wouldn't give it up the night before or had a bad attitude he might ask for paperwork on the ivory to prove it was pre-ban stuff. I've only heard of this happening once IN the US and the guy was making a big deal out of the fact that his cue had a bunch of ivory in it and got an inspector who'd bought in to the BS about all the ivory being poached and gave the pool player a hard time. I know Edwin Reyes had a cue confiscated once that was going through customs coming into the US from the Philippines, but that's a different scenerio. In a nut shell, once it's here as long as you don't try to bring it out of the country, you should have no problems.
 
I'm definately in the sub $1k area as it's my first custom cue ... was thinking of going used. I just love the look of ivory in cues and I'm dying to try an ivory joint cue.
 
PaulieB said:
Hey there cuemakers,

I certainly hope I am not starting an inflammatory thread as I know people have lots of strong opinions regarding this topic.

My question is basically, what are your thoughts about buying a used cue with ivory that was originally made in the philippines? I would never risk buying one direct and I'll admit it's mostly due to the fact that I wouldn't want to pay for something and have it confiscated more than moral reasons regarding the way the ivory was obtained. I do have some concerns regarding that, but I'm being honest with my motivations. This is about a resale after the cue has already made it into the states.

I have some moral roadblocks regarding the whole issue but I also wonder if a cue would ever be confiscated in a US to US shipment because of the ivory? I also have a desire to support local cuemaking talent and am wondering if maybe getting a less fancy cue from a starting cuemaker or "entry level cost" custom cuemaker would be a better option.

I'm just confused and soul searching about getting a fancier used cue made outside the US with possibly illegal ivory or buying(for the same price) a locally made, non ivory or less fancy cue.

I know there are lots of opinions regarding this, please realize I am truly just looking for input and differing viewpoints to help point me in the right direction. I'm at the point where I am going to buy/order my first custom made cue and my head is spinning with all the options.

Thank you all for your input ahead of time. :)
Click to expand...

Buying a used or even a brand new cue with ivory made here in my country will have a big problem specially when the cue is going by shipping to U.S.Most of ivory here or i think is all are illegal. Few years ago,I have a friend who has a factory of making statue of saints and all the materials was all made of ivory, until i discovered that the government is searching for him because of ivory, and that i know that the ivory that was used are all illegal. Few years ago, i made lot of fancy ivory cues but those cues will sent only to Japan. and no problem with that. Another thing also is that fancier cues with lot of ivory inlays that came from here are very cheap compare to international cuemakers. So i guess it will be a good to market if the cue enters to U.S..

But as for me i just used ivory if the customer request on it, and also the customer must be the one to pick up his cue in my country. As far as i know, the only way to enter the cues to U.S. with ivory is through hand carry. And it was already tested with some of my friends here. better also if you have friends or relatives that is working on the airlines like pilot and stewardess.
And Good luck to your search!!!

More powers to all,
Al
 
Last edited:
Al,

Thank you so much for your first hand and dead honest information regarding ivory and shipping issues.

PaulieB
 
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