Sterling Gaming and John Barton

[ccn7]

Recently I have the great pleasure of working with Mr. John Barton of Sterling Gaming, by doing a pool related survey, soon to be made public by John. Some very interesting information came forth, anyways i'll leave that decision up to you when you read it.

For my part of the survey John offered me my pick of a Fury S/P cue, I choose the Fury S/P 03 model. Also he asked if I would also do a review of the cue, and post what I truely thought of it. So the following is the review.

!. The pictures of the cue on the website dont do it justice, its a very lovely cue. The design is so much more than just your regular S/P look.
2. The Butt rolls perfect, so does the shaft and together its still a perfect fit and roll.
3. The Le Pro tip is thick and has a nice feel to it. By being thick you can shape it very easily and still have alot of tip left. I would say it produes a med hit .
4. The balance point is approx 18" from the Butt, which is about the same as my Predator, and the same as my wife's McDermott.
In conclusion, some might refer to this cue as a low end cue. But if i were looking to buy myself a good starter cue for under 200.00 i would look at purchasing a Fury.
My wife just informed me that this cue is hers now. So there you go, its
strong enough for a MAN, but yet pretty enough for a WOMAN.

Thank You John Barton and Sterling Gaming.

 

[pooltchr]

I know what you mean. I worked with John at Sterling for almost 2 years. A great company, and John was fun to work with. In fact, I can honestly say he is a "Stand-up guy". He invited us out one evening to watch him perform with an improv group at a local comedy club. I haven't laughed so long and so hard in quite some time. He is a very talented individual in many ways, and I am pleased to be able to call him a friend.
Steve

 

[John Barton]

Thanks CCN7! Sorry about the slight delay - you know how strenuous arguing on the internet can be............

Anyway, for those that are wanting to see the cue in question it is available for viewing at www.furycues.com

As for the survey, let's just say that people in general know A LOT less about "famous" pool players than we fanatics might think they do. And if the results are indication of the mainstream's interest then pool has a LONG way to go to get to more than vague awareness level.

 

[Pushout]

John, does the offer still stand? I've been thinking about doing it, either at Barnes and Noble or the local mall. It would be during semester break, I have finals coming up and it couldn't be for a couple of weeks yet.

 

[ccn7]

Just to add a bit more to what was said about the survey that John mentioned.
John had asked me not to interview at a pool hall, but i did anyways, and just didn't add it to the report back to him. It was the biggest surprise of all. Not that many who play pool or a regular basis, say 2-4 times a week had heard of any of the greats of today. Of course most knew the name Minnesota Fats, but that was the extent of their knowledge of pool players.
These were not tour stop billiard parlor but just your little 8-10 table max family places. They only put on weekly or monthly tournaments for the locals.
The mainstream doent have a clue about pool.

 

[John Barton]

John, does the offer still stand? I've been thinking about doing it, either at Barnes and Noble or the local mall. It would be during semester break, I have finals coming up and it couldn't be for a couple of weeks yet.

No, but thank you. I got what I needed and proved what I needed to prove.

John

 

[ccn7]

And just to add one more thing about Mainstream not knowing anything about pool and whats going on.>>>>> NOWHERE<<< Could i find a monthly magazine about pool, the only one i found was the free one called "On the Wire". I dont know maybe you just have to subcribe to these, and thats the only way to get them, but it would seem to me a place like Barnes and Nobles would have carried them......but they didnt..This survey was taken on the West Coast in Northern Calif. So I have no idea whats happening in middle America and the East coast.

 

[mikefeiman]

My experience has been that national rack distribution for magazines can be quite expensive, as circulation managment companies will take a fee for distribution and/or a big slice of the revenue generated from the sales.

At a previous company, we outsourced national rack distribution for our magazine and the cost as well as the waste created by minimum printing requirements was pretty extreme. It was good for exposure and for ad sales within the magazine, but ultimately we drove the majority of our subscriptions through other channels.

 

[Pushout]

And just to add one more thing about Mainstream not knowing anything about pool and whats going on.>>>>> NOWHERE<<< Could i find a monthly magazine about pool, the only one i found was the free one called "On the Wire". I dont know maybe you just have to subcribe to these, and thats the only way to get them, but it would seem to me a place like Barnes and Nobles would have carried them......but they didnt..This survey was taken on the West Coast in Northern Calif. So I have no idea whats happening in middle America and the East coast.

I buy Billiards Digest at Barnes and Noble every month. Haven't got around to resubscribing yet. East coast, South Carolina. They carried Inside Pool for about a year, but dropped it. Had Pool and Billiard before that.

 

[Eydie Romano]

John is a great guy. One of the very best in the business. I am not surprised that you had a good experience with him, it's always good business when you deal with John or Sterling/Fury...

Inside Pool Mag is not worth the paper it's printed on.. Bird cage liner in my book. Stick to Billiards Digest, they are reputable people where Inside Pool is not.