Question on cue collecting. No pics-great ??? for those with 3+cues.

Fatboy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
FIrst indulge me for a paragraph or 2. When I started playing pool in 85 we all had our cues, we were all about the smae age and didnt have a ton of $$$. I knew all my friends cues, playe with them etc. But for the most part we had just one cue. I had one friend who was about 40 who had a LOADED 8pt GUS(he turned me on to Gus'swork, he had one Gus) a few of his friends had one Gus. Another friend sold his cue when he got his Gus, I ws there when he openedthe box-Danny Deimpero(SP), he sole his other cue-he is one heck of a player.

When I retiered from pool to go foward with my life in about 94-95 ten years later I had about 5 or 6 cues when i pulled up, my friend Mike had about the same he kept on playing. I was totally out of the pool scene for almost 10 years-I only played at home so I wouldnt forget how(or so I thought LOL) I ight have went to the pool room 20 times in 10 years around Christmas every year with a friend who was visiting-he never had more than 3 cues.

I come back to pool in 06 and there are internet dealers, WOW!!!! I had a great rep for being a cue dealer on the rail at various pool rooms in Ca & Vegas I usually had 10-20 cues in the inventory-which i sold off before retireing, mostly player cues with alot of miles on them but in tip top shape. I did better than most trading/buying/selling cues in the earily 90's. No one I did biz with kept their cue it was awalys a trade back to me, which i liked because I didnt have to go shopping. I was a bubble gummer compaired to the guys these days(I'm considering getting back into the game-dealing cues/part time)

So I'm on the internet and seeing pics of cues I knew of from years past and then new cues, tons and tons of cues(not mass production cues) built by guys I never heard of. This time it was different I wanted to own what I couldnt afford before, so I started buying cues and more cues. I dont have near the $$$ tied up in cues as some, and not amount of cues as some guys do. I'm so lucky to have what I do, I awalys count my blessings. But man there is alot of cuestom work out there nowdays.

What I dont remember is guys back in the 80's owning 10,20,50,100 cues like there are today. Did the internet bring out out these closet case cue collectors?????. The market seems to absorb all the cues made and there sure is alot more custome cues buing made now than 20 years ago. So What I want to know is owning 50 cues a recent thing or was I not aware of big collections back in 85-90????. The first big collection I saw was in 90, until then 8 cues was alot.

Can those of you who been around a while please teach me something here, My guess is cue collection in huge numbers, guys owning 40 Szams are relitativly new. I believe Hawian Brian had a collection a long time ago. But I'm not sure. Please answere this question-i been meaning to ask for sometime and awalys forget, Its not a competition of who has the most, best etc. I see guys post up pics of 3-5 cues here that all kinda match and I know gor a fact they didnt pick them out accidentally, they did their home work. I really like to see all collections. But the Mega collections whan did they start????


thanks in advance,

Eric
 
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well eric i worked in a pool hall in houston in the early 90s called PLAYOFFS...and it was rare to here or see players with more than 2 to 3 cues....however there were a select few that had 10 and up cues....they usually bought them from players or gamblers going broke and needing cash to get home or get in more action...the part owner was a guy name JUDD he would buy or hold (loan cash) the cues for the players and i am sure he had well over 10 plus cues all the time.....there was a guy i allways heard about denny glenn who would buy alot of the collector cues back then when some of the older players would want to switch to a new cue or go broke..i also would buy some of the lower end productin/ custom cues that would come up for sale if i had made a score or worked and got tiped really well.....but i never saw the "big" cues that are out there today...heck if you saw a szamboti or bushka back then it was like the holeygrail....i remeber one time a local came in with a very early tad....the cue was he break cue....i didnt even really know what i was looking at....the cue weight was 22oz full cocobolo....it was nothing special but man i wish i would of offerd that guy like 500 bucks for it....lol....anyway they were around just not like today...wish i would have been one....ps eric hope your health gets better......mickey carroll
 
FIrst indulge me for a paragraph or 2. When I started playing pool in 85 we all had our cues, we were all about the smae age and didnt have a ton of $$$. I knew all my friends cues, playe with them etc. But for the most part we had just one cue. I had one friend who was about 40 who had a LOADED 8pt GUS(he turned me on to Gus'swork, he had one Gus) a few of his friends had one Gus. Another friend sold his cue when he got his Gus, I ws there when he openedthe box-Danny Deimpero(SP), he sole his other cue-he is one heck of a player.

When I retiered from pool to go foward with my life in about 94-95 ten years later I had about 5 or 6 cues when i pulled up, my friend Mike had about the same he kept on playing. I was totally out of the pool scene for almost 10 years-I only played at home so I wouldnt forget how(or so I thought LOL) I ight have went to the pool room 20 times in 10 years around Christmas every year with a friend who was visiting-he never had more than 3 cues.

I come back to pool in 06 and there are internet dealers, WOW!!!! I had a great rep for being a cue dealer on the rail at various pool rooms in Ca & Vegas I usually had 10-20 cues in the inventory-which i sold off before retireing, mostly player cues with alot of miles on them but in tip top shape. I did better than most trading/buying/selling cues in the earily 90's. No one I did biz with kept their cue it was awalys a trade back to me, which i liked because I didnt have to go shopping. I was a bubble gummer compaired to the guys these days(I'm considering getting back into the game-dealing cues/part time)

So I'm on the internet and seeing pics of cues I knew of from years past and then new cues, tons and tons of cues(not mass production cues) built by guys I never heard of. This time it was different I wanted to own what I couldnt afford before, so I started buying cues and more cues. I dont have near the $$$ tied up in cues as some, and not amount of cues as some guys do. I'm so lucky to have what I do, I awalys count my blessings. But man there is alot of cuestom work out there nowdays.

What I dont remember is guys back in the 80's owning 10,20,50,100 cues like there are today. Did the internet bring out out these closet case cue collectors?????. The market seems to absorb all the cues made and there sure is alot more custome cues buing made now than 20 years ago. So What I want to know is owning 50 cues a recent thing or was I not aware of big collections back in 85-90????. The first big collection I saw was in 90, until then 8 cues was alot.

Can those of you who been around a while please teach me something here, My guess is cue collection in huge numbers, guys owning 40 Szams are relitativly new. I believe Hawian Brian had a collection a long time ago. But I'm not sure. Please answere this question-i been meaning to ask for sometime and awalys forget, Its not a competition of who has the most, best etc. I see guys post up pics of 3-5 cues here that all kinda match and I know gor a fact they didnt pick them out accidentally, they did their home work. I really like to see all collections. But the Mega collections whan did they start????


thanks in advance,

Eric

Hey Dude,

i think there are Collections and there are Investments.
I line of 40 GUS Szams is for sure an great Investment.

There are some very mixed up Collections which have all kind of cues mixed up.

There are "THEME" based Collections.

There are Collections because the Collector finally find out what works to best for him.

I think its all based on Appreciation, EGO and a kind of Investment.

But may i am wrong :grin-square:

Take care Eric

Berny
 
I think cue collecting is a newer thing, as in the last decade or two. The ACA helped with that as did the ICCS, and of course the internet. I think it'll be a thing that lasts. If it with held this recession/depression, then it'll be stronger when money is flowing well again. But staying strong as it did, I would think it's here to stay.
 
Anything Rare is collectable

I think there is a big difference between owning several cues and collecting cues. Cue collecting has been around for along time. John Wright is probably one of first cue dealers I met who turned me onto cues. He showed me my first real Balabushka (could of had it for $3K...ahhh). He knew who the collectors were back then. He knew what the highend buyers wanted.

The internet just brings everyone's collection to the forefront. If something is rare people will be looking for it.
 
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The Glenn Family was seriously collecting Bushkas and Botis when the makers were still alive and producing cues. They started off with Rambows and from what I understand, they would occasionally have George refinish or convert Herman's cues. Papa Pete started the ball rolling and then Denny took over for him. Wouldn't you have liked to have had that kind of foresight?


Steve
 
The Glenn Family was seriously collecting Bushkas and Botis when the makers were still alive and producing cues. They started off with Rambows and from what I understand, they would occasionally have George refinish or convert Herman's cues. Papa Pete started the ball rolling and then Denny took over for him. Wouldn't you have liked to have had that kind of foresight?


Steve


im doing that with a couple cue makers now(thats a secret), but the problem i have is i cant sell any of the one-off cues, or super rare stuff.
 
That was the beauty when they started collecting. They didn't have inventory to move and the cues they were picking up were a few hundred bucks instead of several grand apiece...
 
That was the beauty when they started collecting. They didn't have inventory to move and the cues they were picking up were a few hundred bucks instead of several grand apiece...

Papa Pete was buying, but he never sold lol. Come on Denny, let's see that cue museum! I know him and many others were collecting in the 70's and 80's.

Great thread Fatboy.
 
Somebody needs to mention the late John Wright. He was responsible for helping many of us build our collections before internet collecting was as prominent as it is now.

Berny pegged me in his post...I am a theme collector. If it is a box cue, I am interested. This has led to a growing collection of cues. Had I saved my cash, I could have bought the holy grail...a Gus 8 point or box cue, but the flesh is weak...and I have met many fine cuemakers along the journey.
 
I think cue collecting is a newer thing, as in the last decade or two. The ACA helped with that as did the ICCS, and of course the internet. I think it'll be a thing that lasts. If it with held this recession/depression, then it'll be stronger when money is flowing well again. But staying strong as it did, I would think it's here to stay.

Mr. Crisp...I wish I could own every cue you make my friend. What a collection that would be. :)
 
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When I quit playing pool in around 1980 or ther abouts I had a Gus ebony and ivory box cue it was a beautiful. Ivory joint and butt cap what a cue. I stopped playing and sold that cue for 750.00 that is what I paid for it 2 years earlier. I did not know any collectors and there were cues for sale in every pool hall in Houston. People getting broke and wanting to keep going would sell there cue or whatever.
That cue today is worth well over 20 grand I am sure.
 
Iccs,,,,,,,,

I've enjoyed acquiring cues for about 6 years , really no theme, just what I like, I've never designed a cue although I've been encouraged to since my tastes , I guess are ''up there''....

I think there is a great chance to have cues ''EXPLODE'' to the general public via the ICCS,, but for the life of me, I can't understand why those in charge, or were in charge, don't make it a point to get cues expanded into the conciousness of collectors in the various arts,,,,????

Just to have a show where the same cue collectors show their cues to other collectors is pointless to me, if at the end of the show, no one in the given city knew that a show or exhibit of this magnitude took place,,,

New Mexico is one of largest hotbeds of arts,,,very few even knew that a cue show was in town,,,,,,

I know many of the upper echelon cuemakers and collectors and many feel as I do, unless the folks that run the ICCS get the media and public involved, it's a joke,,,,,,
 
Do you guys know of the coconut cue made by DPK? I knew the fellow that owned that while up in the Chicago area. He had more DPKs than you could shake a stick at and this was early 80s. Had a slew of other hi-end collectable cues as well but his pride and joy seemed to be the DPKs. Can't recall that fellow's name but he was the first BIG-time collector I ever met.

I think John Wright introduced me to that fellow at one of the area rooms and I ran into him again a few times - once at Dallas West's place.
 
Do you guys know of the coconut cue made by DPK? I knew the fellow that owned that while up in the Chicago area. He had more DPKs than you could shake a stick at and this was early 80s. Had a slew of other hi-end collectable cues as well but his pride and joy seemed to be the DPKs. Can't recall that fellow's name but he was the first BIG-time collector I ever met.

I think John Wright introduced me to that fellow at one of the area rooms and I ran into him again a few times - once at Dallas West's place.

His name is Ed Boado, and he started the Omega/DPK cue company that employed Mike Bender and David Kersenbrock.

He also bought the poolroom in Rockford that Dallas West played in, and hired him as the house pro.

Will Prout
 
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