Nope, all plastic is not cheap,,,,some is actually quite expensive,,,,,,and phenolic isn't plastic. Generally you can tell a chinese made cue by the generous amount of detail, which is usually just stickers that many people can't tell the difference with, as well as the low price,,,,,,so easily descernable from a mile away. Then there is the all exotic 'ebonized' finish, which to the more informed means cheap ass wood painted black. But at least they make cheap cues, and for the most part sell them cheap. And make no mistake, the ones I see are made extremely cheap. I get them in my repair shop occasionally,,,,,I see hollow ferulles with hardly any tenon in them at all, with plastic so cheap it melts down before I can even break the glue bond,,,,I've removed crooked pins from them that were nothing but a piece of 5/16-18 all thread hack-sawed off and the end that was screwed into the forearm not even deburred before being epoxied in. I have also seen forearms that were not cored at all,,,,,just one piece with a painted finish or a lithograph image on it to cover up the crap wood. Many times the repair work costs more than the cue could ever possibly be worth. I'll stick with American made personally,,,,,,I always get quality, and I never lose money on them.
