Ponzi Schemes and cues!

measureman

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
That's a fraud. There is no original Picasso oil painting that is only $60k. That is a painting done in the style of Picasso similar to a couple of paintings he did of his girlfriend, Dora Maar.

Here is one of his simpler (and cheapest) paintings of Dora:

View attachment 685228
This is from the E Bay listing. Lousy spelling and all.LOL.
pablo picasso Orginal painting. This is the classic Picasso from 1966 on Canvas it is in good condition for over 50 years old a beautiful work size 19x26 inches in a custom frame a true gem a beautiful work a very hard to locate work from Spain with a letter from Paloma Picasso as well as Douglas Cooper it is priced very reasonable for A orginal Picassos it has eBay’s money back guarantee and includes shipping insurance and professional packing a great work
 

LC3

Playing the table
Silver Member
A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment scheme in which money from new investors is used to pay "returns" to earlier investors. That's what Madoff did, to the tune of $65 billion in fabricated gains that actually weren't in investors' accounts. I'm not aware of anything like that happening with cues.

My only reservation with custom cues is that some makers might be too cash strapped to handle a return or even work a repair or replacement into the schedule. That's why I prefer production cues these days. As nice as many custom cues are, I'm more confident that a production company has the assets to deal with a return, repair, or replacement.
 

Cornerman

Cue Author...Sometimes
Gold Member
Silver Member
Charles Ponzi started the scheme.
Andrew Ponzi was a champion pool player.
The two were not related, but maybe I am on to something?
I actually thought they were related. Sort of…

His moniker is Andrew Ponzi and not his birth name. He was specifically nicknamed “Ponzi” in reference to Charles Ponzi.
 

Das Cue-Boot

Active member
That's ok...I just bought the entire Trump baseball card collection. I'll sell it one day and move to Florida.
That’s funny. I just bought the Santos collection. I thought it was Ron, but this guy George has a card there with amazing stats. Is that maybe Ron’s son or something?
 

Das Cue-Boot

Active member
That's a fraud. There is no original Picasso oil painting that is only $60k. That is a painting done in the style of Picasso similar to a couple of paintings he did of his girlfriend, Dora Maar.

Here is one of his simpler (and cheapest) paintings of Dora:

View attachment 685228
I’m actually surprised eBay didn’t pull that one immediately. In that price range it would be at Sotheby’s or similar art auction house, if that’s its actual value. Been to their auctions when we lived in England, and worked at one small one in Midhurst. Their art experts evaluate paintings and give their estimated value along with the pre auction display, and are usually pretty close. Any real Picasso would be at a private, invitation only auction where they wouldn’t even allow cheapskates like me in the building.
 
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Cuebuddy

Mini cues
Silver Member
I actually thought they were related. Sort of…

His moniker is Andrew Ponzi and not his birth name. He was specifically nicknamed “Ponzi” in reference to Charles Ponzi.
I have heard something similar to this.
But deep into a six pack at the time I posted had my memory a little fogged.
 

Bob Jewett

AZB Osmium Member
Staff member
Gold Member
Silver Member
I actually thought they were related. Sort of…

His moniker is Andrew Ponzi and not his birth name. He was specifically nicknamed “Ponzi” in reference to Charles Ponzi.
Andrew Ponzi's birth name was Andrew D'Ellasandro according to his autobiography. He got his nick name in 1925 when someone remarked that he was getting all the money, like that guy Ponzi. While Andrew was in an orphanage as a kid, he had eye surgery for cataracts. (I think I've seen D'Allesandro before. -- Edit: see below!)

Recently his daughter reprinted the autobiography in a limited edition. I have extra copies of both editions in case anyone is interested....
Reproduced dust jacket:
Screenshot_20230202_122439.png

Original paperback:
Screenshot_20230202_122300.png

Screenshot_20230202_122358.png


Reprint:
Screenshot_20230202_122422.png
 
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Bob Jewett

AZB Osmium Member
Staff member
Gold Member
Silver Member
Andrew Ponzi's birth name was Andrew D'Ellasandro according to his autobiography. ... (I think I've seen D'Allesandro before.) ...
Well, I just checked in the reprint. In the reprint his daughter included his birth/death dates (1903-1950) and his name:

Andrew Joseph D'Allesandro

I guess the co-author/editor (Levy) was not such a good fact checker.
 
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