What to do with this Willie Hoppe?

In my opinion, the Hoppe's with the ivory ring, which were made in the 1940's and 1950's, are undervalued at the typical $600 -$700 going e-bay price range, and the ones without the ring which were made in the late 1950's to the mid 1960's (with this decal) are valued about right at around $500 to $600.

For every one I see for sale in the original ivory ring form, I see 10 or more of these later day models for sale and many are in quite great condition.

I truly think the ivory ring Hoppe's should be bringing in twice as much, but it doesn't seem to be the case at the moment. Like the other cues I collect, I think the ivory ring Hoppe's will continue to go up as fewer examples come up for sale.

Chris

Ps. the butt wood and the points are the same because it's a full splice cue - they are one piece. It looks like jatoba or goncalo alves to me.
 
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TATE said:
Ps. the butt wood and the points are the same because it's a full splice cue - they are one piece. It looks like jatoba or goncalo alves to me.
Click to expand...


I know they were made full splice, doesn't mean something didn't happen to it at some point along the way. The points look like it is probably the same as the sleeve, I was just asking for confirmation.

The spine pattern and grain looks like Jatoba, but the color (spine also) looks like bloodwood. No way is it goncalo.

Kelly
 
I knew this was gonna happen!

:)

cracks me up how much ego there is in pool :)
 
As you might guess from the name, I follow the market on these cues quite closely, and own many of them myself. What you have here is most likely a 60s model in great condition, but unfortunately this model is the most readily available Hoppe Pro out there. These sell on eBay nearly every week for about $350, but one in this nice condition could bring up to $450 in my opinion. The link to the eBay auction that someone posted as a similar cue, is similar, but not the same. Look closely at the label to see the difference. That cue is an earlier model, and the seller did quite well to get nearly $700 for it. Someone REALLY wanted it... Anyway, Tate hit it right on the head when he said that the most rare and valuable Hoppe Pro cues were the earliest ones with the ivory "Hoppe ring" in the butt. These are quite rare, compared to the 60s models, which seem to be every where. The Hoppe Pros are the higher quality two piece versions of the Titlist cue, and sold for about double the cost of a Titlist when new.

Here are a few pics of mine to enjoy. Click link in my signature at bottom left to see more. Thanks for sharing yours!


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Mr. Hoppe,

That's a real solid collection of Hoppe pro's. It nice to see such a line up and all the 26 1/2's and Titlists too.

Believe it or not, with all my scrounging for 1940's and 1950's Hoppe Pro's with ivory rings, I have exactly 2, one great one and one very early version with the early black phenolic linen joint. Like a dope, about 4 years ago I sold one really prime Hoppe Pro with an ivory ring, when I did not full appreciate the historic value of these cues.

Chris
 
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