Attention all RASCHIG owners and collectors.
Do we have any amateur sleuths among us on the AZB boards, a budding Hercule Poirot or Ellery Queen, perchance? This week's mystery, brought to you in stereo from the great state of Texas, is The Case Of The Ringed Cueballs. Da da da!
The unusual examples of K2Kraze's post below are strangely hypnotic when presented in concert, all those concentric circles mesmerising a viewer's eye as if in some billiardesque homage to Marcel Duchamp. But what exactly, one might ask, are these quirky pool balls? From where and when did they originate? Who made them? And why have they caused such debate of late within the collecting fraternity?
Permit me if you will, dear reader, to recount everything I know. Three full sets of these curios were recently obtained from Lübbecke, a town in northeast Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. They were sold to us as the veritable Holy Grail of any keen pool ball enthusiast... long lost prototype designs from the most desirable and heralded of manufacturers, the mighty Raschig.
Reserving one full set each for our respective collections, Mr K and I are now offering the remaining sixteen balls individually to any fellow connoisseurs on this great forum (see thread in the FOR SALE section).
Here is the rub though, ladies and gentlemen. Despite exhaustive research we have been unable to confirm the origin of these balls to our total satisfaction. They are PROBABLY genuine Raschigs, but I'm not yet prepared to stake my good reputation on such a bold claim. The positive news is that they arrived in the iconic blue box, their lustrous patina is commensurate of a 1970's vintage, and they're undoubtedly of German heritage... that much at least I can guarantee with complete confidence.
It is feasible in my view that they were experiment pieces at the R & D stage of early production from this renowned company. An evaluation of possible stripe placement, number spot design or analysis of embossing processes perhaps? I can offer firm assurances that this configuration was never marketed, nor have the cueballs ever been struck in anger, they are in a pristine, unused condition.
I must, however, comment on the depth of groove which is a noticeable feature of almost every black circle... very few are perfectly flush with the ball's surface and some could be described as deep. It is rather reminiscent to me of those beautiful old sets where the number engravings have sunk or deteriorated somewhat, certainly an issue if one intended to play with them.
With unimpeachable provenance of authenticity these balls would surely be worth a great deal to existing Raschig owners or any budding collector. In this instance, however, the only honourable course of action is to advertise them as being of uncertain origin, pitch the price accordingly low and encourage potential buyers to don a deerstalker, fill a pipe or two and perhaps engage in a little detective work of their own.
And with that, my friends, I'll hand over to my old buddy, K2Kraze, for all the important stuff.
Best wishes,
RC.
