Need help identifying this cue

[Cues R Fun]

I'm new here and this is my first post. I joined mainly to ask about the cue below hoping there is someone who can help identify it for me. (I hope this is the correct section to post this request).

I bought this cue not too long ago and have no idea who made it. It's been bugging me ever since. It seems like a pretty decent cue. It's well balanced, hits well, and the workmanship is pretty nice. There is no markings on it to show who made it. It appears to be a really nice custom cue. And, it just may be a 1 of 1 custom. But, I'm not sure. So, if anyone here has the knowledge to identify this cue, I'd surely appreciate it.

The forearm has some really nice curly maple in it. I can't tell if the points are ebony or man made (plastic), because they are so shiny. The designs in the points are definitely inlays, not otherwise. Same for the butt sleeve. Speaking of which, it looks like it is also a composite material instead of ebony and really shiny.

The finish on the whole butt is super shiny and hard. Not a nick in it. You can feel the rings as you run your finger over them, but, they are pretty smooth. They look like stainless. The joint is highly polished stainless, too. I've never seen a joint pin like this one (see pic), so, I can't figure out who the maker is.

Oh, and once I figure this out and determine its value, it will be for sale.

Thanks in advance for getting the right answer (with fingers crossed).

PS: I do have a few cues for sale in case anyone is interested. Check out my picture album with some McDermotts in it. I will be adding other albums soon.

 

[manwon]

I'm new here and this is my first post. I joined mainly to ask about the cue below hoping there is someone who can help identify it for me. (I hope this is the correct section to post this request).

I bought this cue not too long ago and have no idea who made it. It's been bugging me ever since. It seems like a pretty decent cue. It's well balanced, hits well, and the workmanship is pretty nice. There is no markings on it to show who made it. It appears to be a really nice custom cue. And, it just may be a 1 of 1 custom. But, I'm not sure. So, if anyone here has the knowledge to identify this cue, I'd surely appreciate it.

The forearm has some really nice curly maple in it. I can't tell if the points are ebony or man made (plastic), because they are so shiny. The designs in the points are definitely inlays, not otherwise. Same for the butt sleeve. Speaking of which, it looks like it is also a composite material instead of ebony and really shiny.

The finish on the whole butt is super shiny and hard. Not a nick in it. You can feel the rings as you run your finger over them, but, they are pretty smooth. They look like stainless. The joint is highly polished stainless, too. I've never seen a joint pin like this one (see pic), so, I can't figure out who the maker is.

Oh, and once I figure this out and determine its value, it will be for sale.

Thanks in advance for getting the right answer (with fingers crossed).

PS: I do have a few cues for sale in case anyone is interested. Check out my picture album with some McDermotts in it. I will be adding other albums soon.

The cue is Asian made, don't know if it was made in Japan. China or Taiwan. I can tell, by the bumper, Pin and the design, which appears to be an overlay / decal.

As to the value, I would say $100 or less if it is straight together and apart. Import cues do not have any collector value, or even really hold there value over time.

If it is straight it would make a good player for a beginning player.

Hope this helps

 

[Cues R Fun]

Thanks

Thanks for the input. I kind of suspected as much. But, it is one of the best quality I've seen from that side of the water. I do know the blue pearl pieces are inlays, but, can accept the white designs are decals, as well as the points. Even though the points are varying thicknesses and lengths at the very ends, although very minor and you really have to examine closely to see it.

I would expect Japanese over the others listed, just due to the quality. I've got a couple Pinay cues that are pretty, but, pretty poor for shooting with, too. :wink:

I guess my daughter's boyfriend can be the recipient of this one at Xmas. LOL! She's put a request in for the McDermott Lucky 7 I have, so, can't leave him out.

 

[hang-the-9]

If that's the original shaft, you'd be able to tell how good the cue is roughly by how tight the grain is, and how heavy the shaft is on it's own. Cheap shafts have uneven grain and tend to be made with cheaper younger wood with areas of discoloration.

I can't tell if it has inlays or not from the pictures, although that shiny inlay look is very often just a sticker (look in a 25 cent toy machine with stickers and you'll see the same effect). Bring it into a pool room with some real players, they'd be able to tell easier than just from the pictures you posted.

 

[PoolDood]

There's a guy on eBay with username "Delta_Sport" that sold several cues with a similar joint

I haven't seen that particular joint in a while but he may know if it was his cue. He's from Taiwan and I've bought several items from him. He's a nice guy to deal with.

 

[NineBallNut]

We used to sell that exact stick in our store. Pretty sure it was a brand called cyclone but we also had another over seas brand called Cobra in at the same time. Retail was right about 100 dollars

 

[Cues R Fun]

We used to sell that exact stick in our store. Pretty sure it was a brand called cyclone but we also had another over seas brand called Cobra in at the same time. Retail was right about 100 dollars

Now, that's the kind of answer I was hoping for. So, what else do you know about it? Is it an Asian import? Who made them? Any idea on its age?

 

[Pangit]

Thanks for the input. I kind of suspected as much. But, it is one of the best quality I've seen from that side of the water. I do know the blue pearl pieces are inlays, but, can accept the white designs are decals, as well as the points. Even though the points are varying thicknesses and lengths at the very ends, although very minor and you really have to examine closely to see it.

I would expect Japanese over the others listed, just due to the quality. I've got a couple Pinay cues that are pretty, but, pretty poor for shooting with, too. :wink:

I guess my daughter's boyfriend can be the recipient of this one at Xmas. LOL! She's put a request in for the McDermott Lucky 7 I have, so, can't leave him out.

"Pinay" is a woman, Pinoy is a man. I don't think you have ever been to the PI and played with a decent locally "crafted" cue, Diba? Crap, Efren has MANY sponsorship opportunities, sometimes he plays with "sponsors" cues. Given his choice, he'll play with a cue made by Jesus “Jessy” Bundalian, OR Boyet. Good enough for Bata, good enough for me. I think you underestimate the quality of the more refined cues made the PI?

Billiards is the NATIONAL sport, it's a matter of pride. You can buy a $300 cue here that would comparably cost you 1500-2000$ US. The average "Pinoy" works for about 5 bucks a day.

 

[Cues R Fun]

Excuse my naevity

"Pinay" is a woman, Pinoy is a man. I don't think you have ever been to the PI and played with a decent locally "crafted" cue, Diba? Crap, Efren has MANY sponsorship opportunities, sometimes he plays with "sponsors" cues. Given his choice, he'll play with a cue made by Jesus “Jessy” Bundalian, OR Boyet. Good enough for Bata, good enough for me. I think you underestimate the quality of the more refined cues made the PI?

Billiards is the NATIONAL sport, it's a matter of pride. You can buy a $300 cue here that would comparably cost you 1500-2000$ US. The average "Pinoy" works for about 5 bucks a day.

Sorry about that. My terminology is amateurish at best. I've seen the term used in that manner many times by others, so, I thought I was using it correctly. Thanks for the lesson.

Let me be specific about my cues. They are Gordon's. First off, on one of them, he inserted the pin at an angle instead of straight, then lathed the shaft to fit it to mitigate wobble. I discovered this flaw when I purchased a low deflection shaft for it and there was a severe wobble at the joint that my local cue maker had a terrible time remedying. He never got it perfect, but, after an hour of pounding on the pin while using a gauge to bring it to center, he finally got it within about .010". Additionally, on both the cues, the plastic resin wrap coverings over the snake skins have cracks in them all the way through and are not repairable without destroying the snake skins. They are also butt heavy for center balance, making them hit not as well as they should. I was also amazed he just glued the bumpers on with a poor quality glue (which caused them to fall off) instead of using a plug style. So, even though the sticks look pretty (beautiful hand done inlays and exotic woods), they are actually fairly poor quality over all in my opinion (lots of uneven & crooked placements). I'd never buy another one by him. Yet, he seems to have a respected reputation based on the research I did on the web about him. Maybe I have experienced an exception to his quality, but, there has to be a reason the prices today are well under $100 to buy one here in the states.

I purchased my Gordon's before I learned much about cues (in fact my first attempt at buying a custom and my second cue purchase), and I bought this story from an older gentleman selling them who claimed to have selected all the materials himself and had Gordon make these cues for him. Well, I now know he fed me a line of c**p about all this, as he could tell I was a rookie and did this to get as much out of my pocket as he could. I now see Gordon's cues on Ebay all the time listed for $45 -$60 each, which is much less than what I paid for mine. And, most the time the pictures are hiding his logo. I wonder why.

My cue maker (known nation wide) told me he hates working on cues from the PI due to the poor workmanship on most of them (mentioned this is due to antiquated tools and methods, but, I don't have first hand knowledge of this). And, his girlfriend is from there, so, he is not biased against the country or their people. I have heard this same assessment by many others in my circle about cues from there as well, and seems to be the consensus around here by the higher skilled/knowledgeable people I know. I have read many comments online to the same effect. So, excuse me if I haven't heard otherwise. I'm not claiming they don't make quality cues over there, but, I have yet to be exposed to confirmation as such by anyone here state side.

So, again, I apologize if you took offense to my statement, but, I have not seen or heard of anything mentioning good quality about cues from over there as of yet. You are the first. So, maybe what I've heard is referring to the common cues available, or what makes it over here for us to see, not the exception. But, then, I don't claim to be an expert by any means. I still have a lot to learn and see.

So, you are correct. I have never been to the PI. And have not had an opportunity to use a "quality" cue from that region. However, I would think that if there are some quality cues from there, they would have made their way over here and gained some recognition. Wouldn't they? I just haven't seen it yet. Not saying they don't exist, though. I'll just say pride is one thing, quality is another. I believe 90% of pool performance is the player, the rest is the cue, anyway. E.g. A good player can play good pool with a poor quality house stick, a good cue won't make a bad player much better.

So, if you know of some of those cues you mention above you can show me, I'd appreciate it. Maybe I'd be interested. But, then, I'd want some references about them from some state side experts before I'd buy one.