Here are a few more that I have found in the last ten years or so. Getting good deals or even just finding vintage cues is not easy in fact I have walked out of hundreds of stores with nothing.
Near as I can remember this bunch cost me about $360.
Left to right
H Betti = $9
BBC Challenger = free.
BBC Tru Balance = $15.00, and they threw in the Challenger.
Schmelke/Brunswick sneaky pete = $9, Someone used it to stir blue paint and I restored it.
Rosewood one piece Titlist $4, not in great shape but maybe a conversion.
BBC Titlist Professional (very early model)= $217, super straight two shafts.
Palmer= $90, present from a friend.
BBC Tru Balance - Snooker $17, 60 inch's long and straight ShootingArts to receive this when I croak.
Old McDermott =$10, with case and very straight needs a wrap and a lot of TLC.
I hear ya...it may not be something amazing but when i was a kid i used to follow my mother around to auctions and flea markets....
at one auction they had a whole table of stuff, nothing but junk but there was a box of cedar #2 pencils that had almost 2k of them in it.....she got the table of stuff for $5 and we threw it all away and kept those pencils....
that was when i was like 8 or something....now I'm 25 and I still haven't purchased a pencil from the store...
everytime i go over she gives me a new bag of them lol....
like i said it wasn't much but we got a lifetime supply of #2 pencils for $5 and I'd say thats pretty strong
I’m 67 and have never been in a pawn shop. Every time I walked by one with my grandfather in Montreal I got a lesson on not lending or borrowing money. I can still hear him in German telling me ‘If your brother or friend asks for 5 dollars, you give it to him no conditions’. When I was 10 years old, 5 dollars was like a million to me. I likely nodded but no way was I ever giving my brother 5 bucks...that could buy 3 models, glue and even some paint.The only time I’ve been in a pawn shop was when I was looking for a cue my wife accidentally lost. Someone got a nice Mobley cue that day. But it wasn’t me.
Here is a Blackcreek I found recently...What's the best cue you ever saw/bought at a pawn store? Any custom cues?
Lol, if it says Harley on it, it isn't gonna work for very long.Not a huge find... but a small mention.
Picked up a 1 Pc Harley Davidson Jump Cue ($89 retail) for $10 bucks! this weekend in a Pawn shop.
Whoa, drop the mic on that one and walk away. Great finds.I’ve bought a fair amount of cues at pawnshops, but I think the better ones are:
Tim Scruggs
Mike Bender
Two Titlist Palmers
A few Schons
Centennial Case
Fellini Case
Yes Pawns are too wired into the internet now. I have been a picker for 26 years now- your best bet to find a good cue on the cheap will be thrifts, yards, estates, and sometimes the internet - but those will be rare- basically someone who uses eBay for other types of sales and came in possession of a cue for some reason.The internet is not always that easy to find cue information. Just look at how many "ID this cue" threads there are on AZB. It is much easier than it used to be, so Pawn shop deals probably are getting more difficult to find unless they are just wanting it out of the shop because they suspect it is hot.
E-Bay can be tough to get a good deal with sellers researching more or the quantity of knowledgeable buyers bidding up the item.
Probably the best deals are still yard sales and estate sales. Where the sellers have no clue and don't care to research. They just want it gone.
I'm new to the search and haven't hit the "Big One" like a Richard Black or Szamboti. Pawn and thrift have been bone dry. If I get some spare time I may try to explore the yard sales more. I don't really expect the "Big One", but you never know. It's fun to just search for something cool.
I have gotten a couple decent deals on E-bay like the Kid Delicious Prototype.
My coolest deal so far was on OfferUp for a generic cue (Harvard Graphite I think) and spotted the cue next to it. When I contacted him I asked if the other cue was included and he said sure. So I got the Willie Hoppe for free or paid $30 depending how you look at it. Good deal either way. Also got a barely used Pechauer for $100.
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Yes Pawns are too wired into the internet now. I have been a picker for 26 years now- your best bet to find a good cue on the cheap will be thrifts, yards, estates, and sometimes the internet - but those will be rare- basically someone who uses eBay for other types of sales and came in possession of a cue for some reason.