The Best Cue Case Period
- Thread starter Straight Pool
- Start date
I love this style of case. I have several Fellini's,a couple of Ann Gore's,2 Centennials and many Engles cases. The style is timeless. I read this thread with the anticipation of finding something new in this style. The first post states that the GTF is a tribute to Fellini,only better. After viewing the case,I am left with the opinion that the case is just like a Thomas,maybe better,maybe not.
I am asked to accept the premise that they have improved on the original,and I just do not see that it has done so. . Case in point,the Lock. Comes with a key and a nice fob,nothing new,and if you lose your key,just unscrew the lock! Kind of pointless to lock a case you can take the lock off from the outside so easily. There have been several people stating the Fellini lock was a weak point in the design,I have not found this to be true. I can state with certianity that a lock attached with those small screws is nowhere near as stable as one attached with rivets. No improvement over the original here.
I applaud the efforts of everyone involved,and give the case a C,partly because I was given the impression they had re-invented the wheel,but it is still round. We were told there were so many more things you could do with this style of case,just wait and see.Where are all the inovations JB told us were coming? I am still waiting.
I am asked to accept the premise that they have improved on the original,and I just do not see that it has done so. . Case in point,the Lock. Comes with a key and a nice fob,nothing new,and if you lose your key,just unscrew the lock! Kind of pointless to lock a case you can take the lock off from the outside so easily. There have been several people stating the Fellini lock was a weak point in the design,I have not found this to be true. I can state with certianity that a lock attached with those small screws is nowhere near as stable as one attached with rivets. No improvement over the original here.
I applaud the efforts of everyone involved,and give the case a C,partly because I was given the impression they had re-invented the wheel,but it is still round. We were told there were so many more things you could do with this style of case,just wait and see.Where are all the inovations JB told us were coming? I am still waiting.
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Case ...
The prices are too high, especially for Chinese labor. Jayman and Jay said things pretty well. But, like the rest of America that outsources things, we are giving away our industrial and technical engine to foreigners, who will benefit at America's expense.
There will be BIG changes in the future for Americans, and they will not like any of them. There are problems on both sides of the fence.
People will buy what is affordable for them personally as long as they perceive the quality is acceptable, and that is the bottom line.
The prices are too high, especially for Chinese labor. Jayman and Jay said things pretty well. But, like the rest of America that outsources things, we are giving away our industrial and technical engine to foreigners, who will benefit at America's expense.
There will be BIG changes in the future for Americans, and they will not like any of them. There are problems on both sides of the fence.
People will buy what is affordable for them personally as long as they perceive the quality is acceptable, and that is the bottom line.
dave sutton
Banned
you are all crazy.
i hope you dont bash this thread then get into your honda to go get your chinese food for dinner, then watch your sony tv during dinner at your kitchen table that was made in taiwan or indonesia. need i go on???
ps maybe i missed a price but i think a retail of 200$ isnt that bad when ron thomas gets $300 or $400. esp if hes using to quality products. costs money to ship that stuff there too...
i hope you dont bash this thread then get into your honda to go get your chinese food for dinner, then watch your sony tv during dinner at your kitchen table that was made in taiwan or indonesia. need i go on???
ps maybe i missed a price but i think a retail of 200$ isnt that bad when ron thomas gets $300 or $400. esp if hes using to quality products. costs money to ship that stuff there too...
hangemhigh said:
The lock is really not an issue. I think that most would agree that if someone has the time to unscrew the screws then they have the case in their control to the point that they can get into the case in any fashion they choose.
However you correctly bring up the scenario of what if the actual owner of the case should somehow lose the key and not have the lockpicking skill to get into the case? Well with a few minutes time and with a small screwdriver they can access their cue without destroying the case which would be what they would need to do if the latch were riveted onto the body.
I never said that the Fellini lock was a weak point. What I do find to be a weak point in this style of case that has latches is that when the latches are riveted to the body and the lower part breaks then how does one replace it without tearing up the case to do so? Easy.... one tears up the liner getting it out, then you drill a hole into the cavity, then you put new rivets on being careful not to crack the tubing the in the process of using the hammer to set the rivets the rivets into place. Then you must make sure that the rivets are perfectly flush with the body and set properly lest the back piece fall off and you have a piece of sharp metal inside the tube with your cues. Again being very careful not to break the tube in the process. When you are done with that you need to put the liner back in, hopefully it's not too torn up from taking it out, be careful not to get glue on the inside of the liner as you do this step, it's easy to get glue on yoru fingers and accidentally grab the inside of the liner when you are positioning it into place. When you have done all that you now have replaced the lower part of the latch.
Compare this to about 3 minutes with a screwdriver - something everyone has in their home, as opposed to the correct rivet sizes and the rivet setting tools to go with them, and I would call this a definite improvement.
Strength. I wouldn't be so sure that this latch with it "little" screws is not much stronger than you think. I am willing to bet some serious cash that this latch will hold up as well or better than the original latch used by Fellini in several stress tests that are of consequence.
After Instroke, and as Joe Van Buren rightly pointed out, I have some experience with choosing latches that don't hold up to the task. So for this one I did my homework and I did the stress testing and I guarantee that it's more than adequate for the task .
If the case were just like a Thomas or a Centennial then it would be much cheaper. Those cases are much easier to build. The interiors are easier, the caps are easier, the quality level is not as stringent (in my opinion). But the fact is that this is more case than both. And the R-Style with the folded over ends is certainly as good or better than Fellini or Engles that I have personaly seen. And I know why. Because it's not easy to do. I should just bring a case with ends undone to a show and offer $1000to any person who has never worked on this style of case if they can do the ends using the tools that we use in less than two hours and finish them to the level we do. I bet that very very very few people can do it without plenty of practice and instruction. And they wouldn't have any kind of a chance if I did not start them off with the correct pattern.
Despite the ambitious title of the thread the fact is that no one claimed to have reinvented the wheel or anything close to it. What was said and is maintained is that this style has been modernized and improved on while maintaining the integrity of the original.
I have explained all the things that have been done to improve this design. Some of them may not be improvements to you but they are nonetheless and will do the job of protecting the cue in a better way every moment of every day and also a better job of preserving the look of the case throughout the life of the case.
Some of the things we do better are apparent. Others are not and I won't reveal them here because they are proprietary. However these things are done to insure that the case is top notch and more importantly that it remains top notch.
My only criteria is this:
If a GTF case, a Fellini case, a Thomas case, a Centennial case, and an It's George case all in black nappa leather were delivered to Consumer Reports and the only information that CR was given was that all cases cost the same amount of money, which one would get the best value rating? This takes nostalgia, patriotism, charity, and all emotion out of the equation.
In that kind of comparison I would be highly suprised IF the GTF did not come out with the highest score. And that was my goal as the casemaker.
I don't really care what the hot button issues are now, nor do I care where the loyalties are. Of course if I were heavily invested into my Thomas cases or my Engles, or my Georges then I might not want to see a newcomer. What I care about are two things, protecting the pool cue all the time and that the case is still protecting the pool in ten or twenty years. And that protection should be to my standard not Bob Hemphil's or Mike Roberts' or Ron Thomas'.
Sincerely,
John Barton, cue case maker.
smashmouth said:
I am not entirely sure that I understand.
If a case is the same or better quality than it's closest competitor then how is the pricing "out of whack" when the price is also the same?
If Mr. Thomas has a black leather nappa case, and I use black leather nappa because it's the easiest to compare, for $195 and GTF has one for $200 and the GTF case is better in several areas then isn't the $5 justified?
We know that there is indeed a "market" for $200 leather 1x2 cases in the style of George and Centennial since Mr. Thomas sells them. So I think that $200 is priced right at the market level.
We know that there is a market for Fellini and Engles cases in the $400+ range. So $300 seems to be right for that style. Of course Fellini and Engles have the collectibility factor due to the fact that no more are being made. However what is not being looked at in this trip into basic economics is that 30 years ago a leather Fellini case cost $50 and gas was .25cts a gallon. Now gas is $2.50 a gallon. So by that comparison the modern version of the Fellini case should cost $500 retail. 30 years ago a 4 point Gus Szamboti would set you back $150. Today a four point Barry Szamboti will set you back $1000 or more.
So the cases are priced correctly for the quality level that is currently on the market. If you are the kind of person who buys based on quality then these cases are a steal at twice the price. If you are someone who buys on speculation and are looking for the chance to flip something then these cases are worth nothng to you now. Come back and see us in twenty years when people are looking for the first run of GTF cases, the "GTF 2008" ones. We have a few tucked away.
Wish we would have done that with those Titelists and Sampios we thought were overpriced 50 years ago.
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jayman said:
Japan also took the first and mighty cheap shot at us in WWII. Do you know for certain that the conditions in 1970's Japan weren't sweatshop qualified? Also your importing scenario is exactly what Japanese imported products did then and is doing today. Your reasoning / justification is akin to going to a Peta rally wearing a chinchilla jacket eating a veal parm sandwich.
JV
Short answer (for one needing a long answer)
Many on this thread do not know China or have the slightest clue why China (and other countries as well) have gained the market share for products they have.
There is a saying: "To one who has the experience no explanation is necessary, to one who has not - no explanation is possible"! Sorry, but many of you fall into the latter category. Why, because you believe sound bites without any real experience!! You morn loss of 'Americana' and 'jobs'; again same reason why, you believe sound bites without any experience.
I have manufactured in USA. I had employees that held me up endlessly for more salary (and if not agreed on the spot would refuse to work and shut us down, as they know their jobs we imperative for us to function). And every year, health insurance increased endlessly, plus workman's comp, plus increased pension plans, and the frivolous lawsuits - can you imagine having your back permanently destroyed making shoes (we made women's shoes)? Think about it!!
In the eighties in China I saw most kids wearing US Army flak jackets with American Flags (never saw a Chinese kid wearing a Chinese Army jacket), in the 90's (having USA basketball on TV in China) they were all wearing Jordan Tank Tops. And since I was doing business there - they would see I was American and kids always would come over to me and speak in English and ask me about America and express their wish that one day they hoped to visit!! Yeah right, bad little children!!!! Our enemies!!!! You're nuts!!
From this thread:
JCIN; you said to me:
But.
A dude THREATENS HIS LIFE and everything is cool.
Am I missing something here? Since when are threats of bodily harm over a $50 cue deal allowed? That is ridiculous in the extreme. I know which of the 2 concerns me more, and it ain't the guy who sends a nicked up shaft. It is the self appointed AZ executioner who will have his "people" make sure a guy "never returns" from Vegas because of something he read on a message board.
Smokey my friend you are so far out of line it is stunning. What on earth makes you think this community needs you to issue death sentences on fraudulent cue dealers? Everybody hates bad deals, but good lord, are you serious?
The threat of "never return" is just stupid. I hope you never have someone unsatisfied with a deal and have some random guy threaten your life.
Unbelievable.
JCIN, (talking about me), isn't that exactly how you based something on a post (sound bite) where you thought you gained enough information to make a determination?? All based on what? A post??
This is just typical life, not only for JCIN. Just to make this point (not to single out JCIN, yes he is a moron), about China.
This could be a longer book. But I will say this, I can not make the quality of footwear in the USA as we can in China for 4 or 5 times the price. And we are not a rich company, but we are always trying to be better so we can survive.
Jayman has his reasons for his opinions I am sure, of course I didn't agree with his angry post with vulgarity, but as he said he apologized and I think regretted. And like JCIN said, I can not judge him even from multiple posts, (but he thinks he can judge from a post).
And last a little story. The company I worked for at the time was making a very large order, about 1,400,000 pairs of shoes (one shoe/style) for a major USA retailer. We needed a lot of factories to make parts for these shoes. One outsole factory I was inspecting had a female worker who looked too young - it was illegal for our company to have a worker under 16 years of age (China law too). I asked the owner of the factory her age - I can speak a little Chinese. She was only 15 1/2. This was really a problem for me and our company. I had to insist she was let go. I had no option. I was like many of you who felt that this was not acceptable and for sure I would get fired over this, and also ruined my reputation in the industry.
This factory only made outsoles only and the owner had been to USA 2 times. He said to me; Miles, please understand that she is a peasant and I am only trying to help her. If she doesn't work, she and her mother will "starve". She does not have enough money to go to school (in this area of China it used to cost about $10 a month to go to school) but she only had her Mother and she was a peasant (her mother) who only made rice, had only one pair of pants for both her daughter and her to share. So when one was out, the other had to stay home. This is true, as hard as you may think this is to believe. I remembered how we had also had child labor in USA from my studies in school. I could not understand how here we could have child labor in the past, but could not accept it for a poor country that needed to go thru the same, even to eat, but only condemned them for doing the same thing that at least helped feed their citizens. But I had no choice, she had to leave the factory. She cried and pleaded for her job. It was heartbreaking. It was too much for me. Through her boss I paid for her to buy some clothes for her and her mother. I said I would pay for her schooling for 2 1/2 years to finish school, but her boss after about 3 or 4 months would no longer take my money from me. He said he can not do this for all of China, but he also could not let me be responsible for his countrymen.
Just an example to consider in thinking about China. So many of you are just so foolish shooting your mouths off without any knowledge.
I am not an expert, I am just an a$$hole, but in more than 25 years I have spent visiting China at least 10 to 15 years actually in China, do you think you know more than me?? Do you want to call me a commie? Do what you want!! Have a party on my point. I couldn't give a hoot. But most or my friends here call me a redneck!
JB is right on most accounts about China, but in my opinion his prices are ridiculous. Your working with hides. The bellies are weak. So say he is working with smooth or printed leather and sans weak bellies, he has waste or is buying kips. None the less his biggest expense is leather. Say he at the very most needs 5 square feet (made in China leather), it can not cost him no more that $15.00 to $16.00. The balance should not cost more than the same - impossible. The savings in China is not materials, which may cost almost the same as here, but is the labor. And even giving a good salary and good health insurance and bonuses is where you can save on cost (but as JB said, it can be better than most get here is USA is accurate). The prices they are asking is ridiculous in my opinion. And if i am wrong, I have enough experience in China, I will make the cases for JB.
And last i will say, i just pm'd "thepavlos", I will take his last Thomas case if available.
While i gave a long lecture about China, I too will buy American unless I can have the same quality at an unbeatably better price.
The end,
Miles
Many on this thread do not know China or have the slightest clue why China (and other countries as well) have gained the market share for products they have.
There is a saying: "To one who has the experience no explanation is necessary, to one who has not - no explanation is possible"! Sorry, but many of you fall into the latter category. Why, because you believe sound bites without any real experience!! You morn loss of 'Americana' and 'jobs'; again same reason why, you believe sound bites without any experience.
I have manufactured in USA. I had employees that held me up endlessly for more salary (and if not agreed on the spot would refuse to work and shut us down, as they know their jobs we imperative for us to function). And every year, health insurance increased endlessly, plus workman's comp, plus increased pension plans, and the frivolous lawsuits - can you imagine having your back permanently destroyed making shoes (we made women's shoes)? Think about it!!
In the eighties in China I saw most kids wearing US Army flak jackets with American Flags (never saw a Chinese kid wearing a Chinese Army jacket), in the 90's (having USA basketball on TV in China) they were all wearing Jordan Tank Tops. And since I was doing business there - they would see I was American and kids always would come over to me and speak in English and ask me about America and express their wish that one day they hoped to visit!! Yeah right, bad little children!!!! Our enemies!!!! You're nuts!!
From this thread:
JCIN said:
JCIN; you said to me:
But.
A dude THREATENS HIS LIFE and everything is cool.
Am I missing something here? Since when are threats of bodily harm over a $50 cue deal allowed? That is ridiculous in the extreme. I know which of the 2 concerns me more, and it ain't the guy who sends a nicked up shaft. It is the self appointed AZ executioner who will have his "people" make sure a guy "never returns" from Vegas because of something he read on a message board.
Smokey my friend you are so far out of line it is stunning. What on earth makes you think this community needs you to issue death sentences on fraudulent cue dealers? Everybody hates bad deals, but good lord, are you serious?
The threat of "never return" is just stupid. I hope you never have someone unsatisfied with a deal and have some random guy threaten your life.
Unbelievable.
JCIN, (talking about me), isn't that exactly how you based something on a post (sound bite) where you thought you gained enough information to make a determination?? All based on what? A post??
This is just typical life, not only for JCIN. Just to make this point (not to single out JCIN, yes he is a moron), about China.
This could be a longer book. But I will say this, I can not make the quality of footwear in the USA as we can in China for 4 or 5 times the price. And we are not a rich company, but we are always trying to be better so we can survive.
Jayman has his reasons for his opinions I am sure, of course I didn't agree with his angry post with vulgarity, but as he said he apologized and I think regretted. And like JCIN said, I can not judge him even from multiple posts, (but he thinks he can judge from a post).
And last a little story. The company I worked for at the time was making a very large order, about 1,400,000 pairs of shoes (one shoe/style) for a major USA retailer. We needed a lot of factories to make parts for these shoes. One outsole factory I was inspecting had a female worker who looked too young - it was illegal for our company to have a worker under 16 years of age (China law too). I asked the owner of the factory her age - I can speak a little Chinese. She was only 15 1/2. This was really a problem for me and our company. I had to insist she was let go. I had no option. I was like many of you who felt that this was not acceptable and for sure I would get fired over this, and also ruined my reputation in the industry.
This factory only made outsoles only and the owner had been to USA 2 times. He said to me; Miles, please understand that she is a peasant and I am only trying to help her. If she doesn't work, she and her mother will "starve". She does not have enough money to go to school (in this area of China it used to cost about $10 a month to go to school) but she only had her Mother and she was a peasant (her mother) who only made rice, had only one pair of pants for both her daughter and her to share. So when one was out, the other had to stay home. This is true, as hard as you may think this is to believe. I remembered how we had also had child labor in USA from my studies in school. I could not understand how here we could have child labor in the past, but could not accept it for a poor country that needed to go thru the same, even to eat, but only condemned them for doing the same thing that at least helped feed their citizens. But I had no choice, she had to leave the factory. She cried and pleaded for her job. It was heartbreaking. It was too much for me. Through her boss I paid for her to buy some clothes for her and her mother. I said I would pay for her schooling for 2 1/2 years to finish school, but her boss after about 3 or 4 months would no longer take my money from me. He said he can not do this for all of China, but he also could not let me be responsible for his countrymen.
Just an example to consider in thinking about China. So many of you are just so foolish shooting your mouths off without any knowledge.
I am not an expert, I am just an a$$hole, but in more than 25 years I have spent visiting China at least 10 to 15 years actually in China, do you think you know more than me?? Do you want to call me a commie? Do what you want!! Have a party on my point. I couldn't give a hoot. But most or my friends here call me a redneck!
JB is right on most accounts about China, but in my opinion his prices are ridiculous. Your working with hides. The bellies are weak. So say he is working with smooth or printed leather and sans weak bellies, he has waste or is buying kips. None the less his biggest expense is leather. Say he at the very most needs 5 square feet (made in China leather), it can not cost him no more that $15.00 to $16.00. The balance should not cost more than the same - impossible. The savings in China is not materials, which may cost almost the same as here, but is the labor. And even giving a good salary and good health insurance and bonuses is where you can save on cost (but as JB said, it can be better than most get here is USA is accurate). The prices they are asking is ridiculous in my opinion. And if i am wrong, I have enough experience in China, I will make the cases for JB.
And last i will say, i just pm'd "thepavlos", I will take his last Thomas case if available.
While i gave a long lecture about China, I too will buy American unless I can have the same quality at an unbeatably better price.
The end,
Miles
undersell and over deliver-you got it backwards
Just a few points
Just a few points
JB Cases said:
classiccues said:
Pre world warII japan died with the war. they are the good guys now. China is taking us to the cleaners right now, and if you dont see this, Just hide and watch! it is not pretty now, and its going to get a lot worse.
in the 70's japan saw that u.s auto makers were not willing to make a desperately need product even though we had gas rationing, they still offered no solution. japan had japanies workers working to mprove their own country, and truly tought the big three a lesson they very unfortunatly needed to learn. They learned it!
and think i would like to go to a peta rally and eat a veal parm sandwich sometime. I understood the senario, but its realy not the same. in my perspective anyway. now m hungry.
Jayman.
smokey said:
smokey,
Very nice post and you make some excellent points, obviously with the experience to back them up. I have not, but would love to see these cases in person when I get a chance. When considering the price, I will most certainly continue to buy a comparable if not equal American product (from Ron Thomas) for equal or less the price even.
In America, consumers have basically been forced to buy certain things that are now made exclusively in China, Mexico, Bangladesh, Phillipines, wherever. This is obviously due to a lot of complicated economic and politcal issues....not just corporate greed, cost of living, health care, political leaders who knowingly sold us all out through secret deals, etc. (but these are certainly some of them).
IMO choosing to buy American when one sees fit is everyone's right and a honestly I consdier it a privilege. It doesn't make you a bigot. In this case it simply means you make a conscientious decision to support a fellow countryman like Ron. Anyone who labels someone a bigot because of this immediately looses all credibility with me.
IMHO price will be GTF's biggest hurdle to conquer in the market. Honestly, if it were 1/2 or 3/4 the price of a Thomas, it would probably be a no-brainer based on the pictures I have seen and Joe's excellent review in the other thread.
Hangemhigh,
Your points are noted and I can certainly understand your position. I know what I built and I know how well the screws were tested since I did the testing. I know what it will take to make them fail. If the case gets that stressed out then perhaps the issue isn't how strong the screws are or not.
Give me a little credit for knowing that the cases were going to be critiqued from every angle.
I knew that the cases would be torn apart because no one wants to see a case come from China that could rival anything made in the USA. What's next, cues that hit as good as Szambotis, sacrilege, I know.
So please give me a little credit for knowing that I had to build something at least as good.
But all this is really ridiculous. The cases have already passed scrutiny by many who are intimately familiar with all brands of case in this style that exist. The GTF folks have been real thorough and very careful throughout this project to insure that they are getting the case that satisfies their own level of quality. And that level is extremely high and demanding.
So while I agree with you that "best case ever" is certainly a very high bar to set out of the gate I am super confident that this is in fact the best ever of this style. At least it is the best that I have ever seen and I have personally owned over 12 Fellinis, Centennials, and Gores, and more Georges than I can count. I have never seen an Engles in person so I cannot comment on them except to say that I am confident that just by looking at the pictures I can tell that our quality on fit and finish is at least the equal of Mr. Engles work.
I hope in the near future to be able to incorporate real exotic skins as Mr. Engles has. At this point I do not know what laws pertain to the export/import of such skins but I do have access to quite a lot through my contacts in Africa and Australia.
Never is a long time. I don't think either of us will be around that long. I am pretty sure that Mr. Hemphil and Mr. Roberts were not thinking about the future collectibility of their cases when they built them. They, like me, just wanted to build good cases.
All the best to you in your endeavors.
Your points are noted and I can certainly understand your position. I know what I built and I know how well the screws were tested since I did the testing. I know what it will take to make them fail. If the case gets that stressed out then perhaps the issue isn't how strong the screws are or not.
Give me a little credit for knowing that the cases were going to be critiqued from every angle.
I knew that the cases would be torn apart because no one wants to see a case come from China that could rival anything made in the USA. What's next, cues that hit as good as Szambotis, sacrilege, I know.
So please give me a little credit for knowing that I had to build something at least as good.
But all this is really ridiculous. The cases have already passed scrutiny by many who are intimately familiar with all brands of case in this style that exist. The GTF folks have been real thorough and very careful throughout this project to insure that they are getting the case that satisfies their own level of quality. And that level is extremely high and demanding.
So while I agree with you that "best case ever" is certainly a very high bar to set out of the gate I am super confident that this is in fact the best ever of this style. At least it is the best that I have ever seen and I have personally owned over 12 Fellinis, Centennials, and Gores, and more Georges than I can count. I have never seen an Engles in person so I cannot comment on them except to say that I am confident that just by looking at the pictures I can tell that our quality on fit and finish is at least the equal of Mr. Engles work.
I hope in the near future to be able to incorporate real exotic skins as Mr. Engles has. At this point I do not know what laws pertain to the export/import of such skins but I do have access to quite a lot through my contacts in Africa and Australia.
Never is a long time. I don't think either of us will be around that long. I am pretty sure that Mr. Hemphil and Mr. Roberts were not thinking about the future collectibility of their cases when they built them. They, like me, just wanted to build good cases.
All the best to you in your endeavors.
I'm a little suprised at all the China hate here on AZ since the last Poll I saw in the main forum had Predator leading all others by a landslide. 
classiccues said:
I remember when I was a kid in the 50?s getting all this CHEAP Stuff (Toys) labeled ?MADE IN JAPAN?. It was a joke,?MADE IN JAPAN?, NO MORE Well the JAPS are kicking are asses again. Camera?s Automobiles, Televisions, DVD?s Machines, Bicycles, Motorcycles etc.
Think China is Japan circa 1980, and closing FAST.
I was south of the border yesterday, and the Mexican in this border Town by Yuma were selling some much counterfeit stuff from China I lots track, and the line of tourists like myself were being waved across the border with little aggravation for US Customs Service.
I went down to this Mexican Border Town to purchase PRESCRIPTION DRUGS, and Supplements. I spent about 90.00 US, had I bought the same quantify from Walgreens my bill would have ben over 600.00 US.
Need Dental work try a Mexican Border Town Dentist that will charge you 20-30% of what a US Dentist charges. Sadly I don?t have the sdame Dental coverage Geore, Laura, or Bill & Hill have...
John, the demand everyone is referring to for higher priced leather cases is from the AMERICAN manufacturers
your product is not the same, it is comparable but not the same
this is what we're all discussing here and the point you're either missing or just playing with us, i suspect you realize this
I'll probably buy one though if the options are there, I like semi-custom objects that give you lots of options without the wait of full customs
your product is not the same, it is comparable but not the same
this is what we're all discussing here and the point you're either missing or just playing with us, i suspect you realize this
I'll probably buy one though if the options are there, I like semi-custom objects that give you lots of options without the wait of full customs
smashmouth said:
I don't think he's missing it. He's saying if 2 items are the same quality and construction , why should the price be so different ?
Also , you (not you but 'yous'
) are comparing MSRPs to selling prices. Who knows what these cases will 'sell' for once they are on the open market.
Oh , and as for pricing of Import VS US makers :
For all the Pro USA guys
, if the prices of these case are too high , you should be glad. That just makes the US alternatives a better deal and should give them more business.
For all the Pro USA guys
dave sutton
Banned
classiccues said:
sounds yummy. off topic. that HBO show about PETA showed some terrible things. i was seriously upset
they do some crazy ^$%^I& though
dave sutton said:sounds yummy. off topic. that HBO show about PETA showed some terrible things. i was seriously upset
they do some crazy ^$%^I& though
You missed the point.. you cannot cry foul for an import case and still buy foreign. Regardless of the country. I bet that a good percentage of the same people that could cry foul also shoot with predators, have a moori tip, use a cue glove, drive a Hyundai, buy BP or Lukeoil gas. There is NO gray area, I mean if you're going to walk the walk, then talk the talk. Like the cocobolo cowboy who goes to Mexico for cheaper medicine, he cannot cry foul. The person that went to Canada for Lasik because at one time it was 800.00 for both eyes while it was 2500 here, can't cry foul.
People don't realize that from their feet to the top of their pointy heads, they are imported. Shoes, clothes, hats. it all comes from somewhere, most times out of the country.
Jay collects cues that whether he likes it or not, had helped put people out of business. Helmstetter didn't go to Japan because the labor was the same, and the climate equal. It was CHEAPER than setting up shop in the US.
JV
I'm a little lost about all this lock stuff. When would you have the case locked and not in your control ? In other words if its out of sight then there is no lock in the world that will stop someone from just taking the case and all its contents. Unless its a TSA approved lock (meaning they have a master) you can't lock it for airline travel , TSA has the right and will pop/pry the lock to open it , which will cause damage. And if its a standard luggage lock well almost any key from any luggage will fit it. If not a child can open one with a paper clip. So the lock on this case would function fine as a more secure closure , which I would think is its intent. Its not an anti-theft device, that some posts seem to elude to.
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