Brutal….
OB cues shut down?
- Thread starter TeddyKGB
- Start date
Your post says you are the President of OB cues,don't you know if bankruptcy has been filed?
I thought when Mark G. got involved that they'd be around a while. Covid could play a part too. Hurt a lot of co's this size. Too bad. They made nice stuff.Back in the day, OB was one of my favorite companies to work with. They gave cuemakers great prices, and didn't mind small orders.
They recently sponsored some players I know, not pros just good players. Too bad things went south. RIP OB
it seemed like a good plan.... problem was, mark and the nits he hired didn't know the first thing about shaft/cue production....
skiergd011013
Well-known member
that is very sad to see a made in the usa cue company go under. I just did business with them a few months ago and the customer service was 100%, and their reviews reflect that. I just went ahead and ordered a backup OB extension and rubber adapter from omega billiards for it, before the price gouging begins. If i may, I will share a story. I played allison in a challenge match last fall, and loved her cue. It was a dark red wood, with the wrap going all the way to the butt. I hunted and hunted to try to figure out who made it. I concluded that it was pechauer. I called them, and even sent them several photos of allisons cue, and they told me it was their cue....purple heart wood with abalone inlays, and quoted me over $2,000. Luckily, I managed to spot the OB symbol on her cue in one of her matches on youtube. I called OB, and Amy, the manager, instantly knew the exact cue, and laughed out loud when i told her pechauer said it was theirs. The actual cue is an OB birdseye maple, burgundy stained, 54 inches with no butt sleeve, and a 4" extension to enable it full size. Allison was experimenting with a 54" cue for a while, and then used the extension to return to full size. OB did not have birdseye maple any longer, so they special ordered a piece just for me. They even had the same container of burgundy stain they used for allisons, so they used it on my cue as well. I now have the same cue. A local cue maker looked at my cue and said it is really well built. Behold, one of the last custom cues made by OB.Back in the day, OB was one of my favorite companies to work with. They gave cuemakers great prices, and didn't mind small orders.
They recently sponsored some players I know, not pros just good players. Too bad things went south. RIP OB
Allison playing with the OB
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I'm not surprised at all. Put it this way: They couldn't figure out how to sell me, a 20 year customer, on a new shaft. They were just not well-run. They blew so many little common-sense things. I thought when Mark Griffin bought it, they'd improve, and they at least streamlined the lineup. But they also did away with all the old products, and renamed everything, so you had no idea what new shaft was equivalent to your old one. The basic gameplan and marketing were terrible.
This was completely avoidable. They didn't fail because they refused to outsource and couldn't price competitively. They know how to correctly make low-deflection shafts and could make something comparable to predator gear. That was the niche they used to fill: Deflection like a predator, but cheaper... and they shoulda kept filling that niche.
They failed because they screwed up basic stuff like the website. I knew they were not being run competently when the revamped site had white text on a white background, so you couldn't see the name of the f'ing products... all you saw were pictures and prices:
This was easily fixable by simply giving a shit. And notice the pictures and text boxes were needlessly small, like the web designer didn't know how to make it scale up for the desktop. When you look at Predator's site, they fit 5 big product category images side by side, on the same monitor, then the cues themselves are displayed huge and detailed below. There's helpful filters on the left to narrow down your options, a blurb at the top about the product line, and just professional and nice-looking -
OB couldn't even bother finish filling in the template pages. You click on "which shaft should I choose" and you get:
"Third thing to consider is which category of shaft you would like to purchase.
We currently offer 4 options for you:
[literally nothing]
Note that we offer our shafts in many different joint types."
I emailed them about this stuff, and periodically checked a year later. Maybe over a year. It took forever to even see the white text thing get fixed. Either nobody was in charge of the website, or they just collected a check and hoped word-of-mouth and facebook would be sufficient.
Sorry to rant and dump on them but this wasn't bad luck.
This was completely avoidable. They didn't fail because they refused to outsource and couldn't price competitively. They know how to correctly make low-deflection shafts and could make something comparable to predator gear. That was the niche they used to fill: Deflection like a predator, but cheaper... and they shoulda kept filling that niche.
They failed because they screwed up basic stuff like the website. I knew they were not being run competently when the revamped site had white text on a white background, so you couldn't see the name of the f'ing products... all you saw were pictures and prices:
This was easily fixable by simply giving a shit. And notice the pictures and text boxes were needlessly small, like the web designer didn't know how to make it scale up for the desktop. When you look at Predator's site, they fit 5 big product category images side by side, on the same monitor, then the cues themselves are displayed huge and detailed below. There's helpful filters on the left to narrow down your options, a blurb at the top about the product line, and just professional and nice-looking -
OB couldn't even bother finish filling in the template pages. You click on "which shaft should I choose" and you get:
"Third thing to consider is which category of shaft you would like to purchase.
We currently offer 4 options for you:
[literally nothing]
Note that we offer our shafts in many different joint types."
I emailed them about this stuff, and periodically checked a year later. Maybe over a year. It took forever to even see the white text thing get fixed. Either nobody was in charge of the website, or they just collected a check and hoped word-of-mouth and facebook would be sufficient.
Sorry to rant and dump on them but this wasn't bad luck.
A 16 year old high school student could have constructed a web page from scratch for them, and the kid would have been happy to have been paid with a pizza and a free cue, so that the kid could put "OB Web Designer" on their resume for college.
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skiergd011013
Well-known member
I was watching accustats last night, and one of the mods (azbtv) said he "heard" someone approached OB and offered to buy them. We shall see.
If they want to be successful, they probably should just buy the brand name (which still brings some fond feelings from people) and then sell a lineup of shafts that's part of a larger company/website. I dunno if they can make the business work as-is. Besides changing the lineup and fixing the site, they'd have to address the quality control issues that have now become part of the OB reputation... cracked ferrules, delaminating shafts, etc.
I hope they go forward and become strong again.
Better for the Industry.
I didn't like thier universal insert switch set up on thier c/f shafts.
Ferrules could have been a better option too.
Better for the Industry.
I didn't like thier universal insert switch set up on thier c/f shafts.
Ferrules could have been a better option too.
Still have couple of Clear Chalk Case from Royce, good idea.
Talking about web sites,Schmelke spelled Cocobolo as Cocobola on their site.
I e mailed them but they never bothered to fix it .
The R040 cue is crafted with a Cocobola butt and long ten inch prongs, premium hard maple shaft and a 5/16" dia., 18 tpi joint, giving this cue a natural soft hit. The soft tip and juma ferrule give a perfect combination of control and power. The shaft is coated with a special UV finish giving it a smooth, easy glide surface with minimal upkeep. The UV finish also protects the shaft from moisture and chalk stains.
I e mailed them but they never bothered to fix it .
The R040 cue is crafted with a Cocobola butt and long ten inch prongs, premium hard maple shaft and a 5/16" dia., 18 tpi joint, giving this cue a natural soft hit. The soft tip and juma ferrule give a perfect combination of control and power. The shaft is coated with a special UV finish giving it a smooth, easy glide surface with minimal upkeep. The UV finish also protects the shaft from moisture and chalk stains.
It’s known as both spellings. One is more common than the other.
Does (before this latest news) OB still make their original shaft? The one with the moon shaped cross section splices, and the laminated wood ferrule?
I tried that shaft at the Philly expo OB booth in the early 2000’s. It wasn’t for me (felt too rough in my bridge hand), but it was visually super different than any other shaft and immediately recognized as OB brand. I thought that was great for marketing reasons. I used to see players have that shaft quite a bit during those years, but haven’t in a while.
I tried that shaft at the Philly expo OB booth in the early 2000’s. It wasn’t for me (felt too rough in my bridge hand), but it was visually super different than any other shaft and immediately recognized as OB brand. I thought that was great for marketing reasons. I used to see players have that shaft quite a bit during those years, but haven’t in a while.