"Vintage" cue....what does it mean?

Chopdoc

Chopdoc

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The word "vintage" gets tossed around a lot on Ebay as well as other such places and usually means essentially nothing there because it is so abused, but certainly the word has meaning.

I have seen it used here as well as other terms including "ancient", "classic" and "antique". I was struck when the term ancient was used to describe what I felt was a fairly modern cue (1990's).

I don't really want to get into Ebay marketing and how and why such terms as "vintage" are applied (abused), but I am interested in how the term is used and understood around here by "cue people".

I think it has a lot to do with perspective and one's age. A younger person might see a 15 year old cue as "vintage" whereas I wouldn't see that term as applicable.

Do you use the term? What does it mean to you?

What do you take it to mean when you see the term used by others?

Do you think it's just an abused term?


I'm just interested in what some people's perspectives might be on this term as applies to cues.




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Vintage Rare Classic Custom

I ignore those in any used item I look at.

They all usually just mean "old" and custom in a cue is just about worthless as a description. I think it just means "not a house cue".
 
hang-the-9 said:
Vintage Rare Classic Custom

I ignore those in any used item I look at.

They all usually just mean "old" and custom in a cue is just about worthless as a description. I think it just means "not a house cue".
Click to expand...

I tend to ignore it a lot as well. Yet....it does get my attention. I sometimes run searches on Craigslist, Ebay, and other places using the term....and yet I so often ignore it.


EDIT: A quick search of this site in the wanted/for sale forum reveals 1000 hits for the term, 499 if you search titles only.

Then if we search the cue and case gallery you get 283 hits. That's not a for sale forum (though some do use it for marketing).

A search in titles only in the cue and case gallery gives 41 hits.

So the term is being used by "cue people" outside of selling it seems.


I catch myself using it. When I do I kind of cringe a little. :embarrassed2:





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Vintage cues...

Chopdoc said:
I tend to ignore it a lot as well. Yet....it does get my attention. I sometimes run searches on Craigslist, Ebay, and other places using the term....and yet I so often ignore it.


EDIT: A quick search of this site in the wanted/for sale forum reveals 1000 hits for the term, 499 if you search titles only.

Then if we search the cue and case gallery you get 283 hits. That's not a for sale forum (though some do use it for marketing).

A search in titles only in the cue and case gallery gives 41 hits.

So the term is being used by "cue people" outside of selling it seems.


I catch myself using it. When I do I kind of cringe a little. :embarrassed2:





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Click to expand...

Yes, and it especially bugs me when a certain cuemaker lists new cues as "antique" or "vintage"...and there's a line of cues that are called "Vintage" which confuses things even more.
 
Vintage to me means early to mid 20th century, antique is 19 century and Ancient should date back to pools origins.

I loved it when they use the term vintage for anything from 1980's to present.

It's all a matter of perspective I guess!
 
Vintage is as late as 1980? In that case I've got a hanger full of "vintage" neckties. :D

Another perspective on the word vintage is "of its kind." If you have an early Predator shaft, would it be legit to call it a vintage Predator shaft...even though it's not very old? I think it's a legit use of the word, in that context.
 
the word Vintage should always be accompanied by a year. I use it to describe an Era for witch a particular cue was available new. (vintage 70's) Since it may be impossible to pin point an exact year of manufacture.

Vintage means little or nothing without a date or at the least some reference to a time period. It was originally used just to denote the year of the grape harvest used in any a particular single harvest wine.

It has mistakenly been used to infer an "antiquated item" or "classic" for so long that it has come to be used and understood to mean just that.
 
Its a good question.

I too see and hear the incorrect usages all the time...I guess it's not surprising that people would do it on purpose if they thought they could make a buck more.

Truely there are no 'official' rules on the subject, so nobody will be entirely right or wrong, but, amongst the hardcore collectors of such things as "real" antiques and "real" vintage cars, there does exist a few generally accepted 'standards' as far as the difference in terminologies.

wiki: " The Classic Car Club of America maintains that a car must be between 20 and 40 years old to be a classic, while cars 45 years and older fall into the Antique Class "

"The Antique Automobile Club of America defines an antique car as 25 years or older. A Classic is defined as 20–45 years old "

Most antique "furniture and goods" dealers expect an "antique" to be 80-100 years or older, or at a minimum, two whole generations.

My personal opinion, and that of many people I know who deal with historical items, falls very much in line with these accepted standards, with a few slight variations based on ones own age.

For example, I consider "Vintage" (or Retro) to be anything from your OWN childhood (which means that the minimum age will vary per person), going all the way back to the advent of the "plastics era". Which is roughly 1930 or so.

To me, anything prior to 1930 or so is Antique.

Except for cars and electronics. But thats another story.
 
It just means the dam thing is old...... what did you expect?????

Lol

Kim

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2
 
Sometimes I search vintage in cues as a tool to sort as I am looking for cues from the 70's and 80's. But other than a search tool it such a general term it really has not much other use to me.
 
To me, vintage means anything that is no longer being made or the manufacturing process has changed significantly to modern standards.

For example of something that is still being made but to me falls under the criteria of qualifying to be vintage is the older Mali cues with the logo in green. Back when Mali was making their cues in Massachusetts, I feel they were much better made than what is currently available today. They used short splice construction and were made by craftsmen vs. being mass produced in Asia. So to me, those are "vintage" Mali cues vs. the stuff thats available now.

The same could be said for other production line cues as well such as McDermott, Viking, and Joss (when Dan and Bill were still making cues together). I'm referring to contruction methods being used today vs. how they were being built when Gordon and Jim were doing it when they first started. What is up for discussion is when the turning point was. I guess it would be when they started using mass production techinques and the use of CNC became prevalent.
 
I am not sure how to label the whole Classic, Vintage, or Antique thing but I know I prefer to use "cost effective" rather than "cheap":D
 
Words tend to 'lose their currency' from misuse....ignorance and hyperbole
are often the culprits. I went into a rant in a restaurant once when they gave
me a smaller container that said 'real cream' on it....what kind of culture are
we creating when you have to declare that this one is real?:angry:

My favorite pool cues are a '68 Joss, an '86 Joss, an '89 Joss sp, and a '94 Richard Black....and a snooker cue made from a '58 Brunswick house cue with
150 year old 'lake wood' shafts.

This is what I want to be told when I'm shopping for a cue..........
....well, that and..."It hits a ton.":)
 
To me it pretty much just means old and unmolested pretty much.

As in period correct and relatively original or un-altered.

'Vintage' example from the time period like a car or fine wine.

I find antique to more related to a specific date age.

None of them bother me either way though.
 
jayman said:
the word Vintage should always be accompanied by a year. I use it to describe an Era for witch a particular cue was available new. (vintage 70's) Since it may be impossible to pin point an exact year of manufacture.

Vintage means little or nothing without a date or at the least some reference to a time period. It was originally used just to denote the year of the grape harvest used in any a particular single harvest wine.

It has mistakenly been used to infer an "antiquated item" or "classic" for so long that it has come to be used and understood to mean just that.
Click to expand...



There are a lot of perspectives on the matter. So far I think this is the one I can agree with most.

Vintage really means a date or year. I can understand expanding that to an era, I do the same thing.


It is definitely an abused term.

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hang-the-9 said:
Vintage Rare Classic Custom

I ignore those in any used item I look at.

They all usually just mean "old" and custom in a cue is just about worthless as a description. I think it just means "not a house cue".
Click to expand...

Lock<----- Likes house cues! I played last night with one with no tip on it. I even put chalk on it. The guy I played, laughed until I beat him.
Many Regards,
Lock N Load.
 
MahnaMahna said:
947 of those hits are from acedonkeyace.
Click to expand...




:rotflmao1::rotflmao1::rotflmao1::rotflmao1:


Yes, well, to be fair, he has the most impressive collection of vintage stuff that is...well...vintage...that we have ever seen. :D All clearly worth 3-4x market value...just because they are....here it comes...vintage!


Oh, and let's not forget rare. :wink:




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