Whats the word on the newly made Palmer cues? I see them go for cheap on ebay and just wanted to know why they went so far down in price as opposed to the much older ones?
New Palmer cues?
- Thread starter mistamikel
- Start date
because the new "Palmers" are NOT THE SAME AS THE ORIGINAL PALMERS
its comparative to an ORIGINAL Balabuska to the ADAMS BALABUSKA LINE
its not the same cue, not the same manufacture......they just have the rights to use the name....
The old Palmer Shop closed down years ago....here is a clip from the palmercollector.com website.
Tragedy struck on January 7, 1971, when Eugene Balner (palmers original founder)passed away. It was a fearful and challenging time for Peter and Ilona, but they rose to the occasion. They were fortunate to have a skilled and reliable shop foreman, Mike Katsiris, who was with them from the early days. Mike was able to supervise every facet of shop activities including building their own veneered forearms. He also had a stable and reliable crew of skilled woodworkers. Ilona continued to do the inlays and fine work.
Despite the setback, the Third Catalog was introduced in the 1970's after Eugene's demise. The new line consisted mostly of modifications and improvements to earlier successful styles, although they introduced the 8 prong cue (model 19) and the most famous Palmer of all time, the famed Model 20 with the inlaid shafts.
The writing was on the wall, however, as Palmer introduced a general supply catalog with billiards products and accessories. The company was becoming a distributor and retailer of manufactured products and was moving away from custom cue building. In the mid 1970’s, Peter Balner was convinced by David Forman of Sutra Import Corp, and later Adam Custom Cues Co., to try some of their forearms. Palmer began using these high quality forearms made exclusively for them by Dick Helmstetter in his Japanese factory. In the late 1970’s they introduced the PB Line (which stood for Palmer Billiards) and PM Line (Pete Margo). Pete Margo was a pro player and good friend of Peter Balner. The inexpensive PM line and mid level PB line were manufactured by Adam, Japan to the designs and specifications of Palmer. These were followed by the higher end Bullet series in the 1980’s which were made by Palmer. Additionally, Palmer kept the custom shop open and would make Old Line cues well into the 1980's using updated parts available from other lines.
In 1981, Peter Balner laid plans for Palmer to become an even larger player in the custom cue niche. Instead, he was convinced by Pete Margo to take a look at the video business. He did, and they became partners in Palmer Video, leaving Ilona in charge of Palmer cue. They were very successful and sold their 46 stores and 300 franchised locations to West Coast Entertainment in 1996.
This marked the heyday of Palmer cues, one of the most successful custom cue makers, innovators, and marketers in billiards history. Peter Balner is now retired and enjoying life, and his mother, Ilona, is a spry woman of 84 and doing well.
Sadly, in 1994, after 30 successful years in the Billiards industry, Palmer Billiard Corp. closed its doors. Their equipment was sold to Blatt Billiards in New york, and so ended a chapter in the Golden Age of custom cue-making history.
-Grey Ghost-
Ahhh gotcha now, thanks for the info GreyGhost.
So basiclly the Palmer cues sold on ebay are just a production cue?
So basiclly the Palmer cues sold on ebay are just a production cue?
The price is based upon the quality of the item, the materials, and where they are made. Over all if you buy one of these cues and you understand what you are buying they are mostly likely OK for the money, however, they will never appreciate in value first because they are a production cue and second because they are made in Asia.
Cues made in Asia for the most part are not considered collectible, a good example of this is the Adam / Helmstetter cue lines that were produced in Japan starting in the late 60's / early 70's. These were some beautiful cues and they had many striking designs which were very modern for the time, but today they are not worth 50% of the value of like cue made in America.
Never forget if it looks great, but it appears to cheap, it most likely is and you will get what you paid for, just like with anything else if it seems to good to be true it most likely is!!!
JIMO
no problem brother your very welcome.....but yes thats exactly correct they are just a production line made in a factory in asia......
Thanks Grey and Manwon,
I have no intention of buying one but just wanted to know why the older ones are selling for good amounts and the newer ones are cheap.
Thanks again
I have no intention of buying one but just wanted to know why the older ones are selling for good amounts and the newer ones are cheap.
Thanks again
In the mid '90's, I bought 2 Plamer Billiards cues that were made in Asia. I paid a little over $100.00 and sold one a couple of years ago for the same price - seldom used. I still have one that has 4 sharp 5 colored inlaid points, Irish linen wrap, dotted line rings, SST joint and simple 5 color patterned butt.
The rest of the wood was stained maple with no birdseye, but at the time, it was made well and inexpensive.
It isn't collectable but it still looks good to me.
The rest of the wood was stained maple with no birdseye, but at the time, it was made well and inexpensive.
It isn't collectable but it still looks good to me.