Vintage Vikings
- Thread starter HereWeGo
- Start date
Yup.
About 1972....
Figure the x300 was $300 in 1972, in 2017 dollars that is $1,748.35!
http://www.vikingcue.com/x-series/
The top cues from Viking back then were NOT CHEAP. You could have had a Balabushka for much less at the time.
Are they rare? Yes indeed they are rare. Why? Of course because they were so darned expensive at the time, they certainly didn't sell many. And those that were sold were mostly eventually lost to history, not bought by many "real players" and hence often not preserved or really looked after.
IMHO these are hot items when you can find them. And you can get them relatively cheap of course. IMHO they are currently undervalued on the open market.
Often, when they come up, many looking don't even know what they are.
In the earlier thread by the OP several knowledgeable people failed to identify the x300.
And they aren't crap. You will find old growth maple shafts. The materials and methods these manufacturers used were often on par with some of the best makers of the time. In fact some great makers were there.
Viking
National
Schmelke
Mali
Mayer
Gandy
A.E. Schmidt
Several more
I am not claiming any of them will be a George, Gus, or a Spain. These cues are not as consistently good as players. Those men built seriously consistent top notch players. But these are not junk.
Look at what happened to Palmer values and general appreciation. They are not consistent players. They will never be a George or a Gus. But their values exploded.
I will say that I can buy a George cue any day I like, they are for sale regularly. Seriously. Try finding one of these cues though and you will be stumped.
These cues will certainly never be what a George or a Gus is...but IMHO they are the next big thing. 50's, 60's, and 70's production cues.
If you have one...hang onto it...selling now would be nuts....
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Here are a couple of pics of an old Viking I just picked up. I saw that one sold recently on ebay for $185 and it had issues with the points and overall condition. Mine is in really nice original shape except that the joint pin has been replaced (with newer style Viking pin, and most likely by Viking according to them), and the lower part of the chain link in the shaft was not done well, I assume during the pin swap out. I will post pics of another I have if I can find them.
