Why buy American?

ratcues said:
Good ol' USA!
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http://www.stanleyworks.com/a_directory.asp

There you can learn about where in the world Stanley has manufacturing plants. I have no idea about tape measures, but Stanley certainly is a fine US brand that owns plants around the world.

BTW, I play with a 199x Falcon and break with a 199x Dufferin ... buy Canadian I say, we've got the best maple :p

That is a funny picture of a label applied inside-out ... kinda like those ambulance guys.

Dave
 
I was brought up to buy American and I did go out of my way to do that until about ten years ago. I never in my 50 years of owning cars (probably bought at least 50 of them for me, wife, daughter) bought anything but American, weather it was new or used. Since our Gov doesn't seem to give a damn where our jobs go and in a lot of cases help companies move out of America I go for price and avaivability now. I'd buy the Brooklyn Bridge from X Pan:grin-devilish:. Johnnyt
 
The problem is that there are crap cues made in the US as well. Don't paint everyone with the same brush - quality doesn't have a nationality. Tai Can in China is putting out some high quality cues at a lower than American pricetag.

Mezz and Helmstetter have been in Japan for years now, and their quality is top notch. Cheap is cheap. You get what you pay for.
 
Shawn Armstrong said:
The problem is that there are crap cues made in the US as well. Don't paint everyone with the same brush - quality doesn't have a nationality. Tai Can in China is putting out some high quality cues at a lower than American pricetag.

Mezz and Helmstetter have been in Japan for years now, and their quality is top notch. Cheap is cheap. You get what you pay for.
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+10 :rolleyes:
 
It's still funny though. Sometimes the dumbest mistakes will get through. In my nearly two years in China I have seen some of the silliest production mistakes one can imagine.

I am sure that a lot of such mistakes happen in factories all over the world. There is no way to control all the people all the time.

I have come to learn that so much depends on the individual even in a factory setting. One day you could have a quality control person who won't let anything get by him or her and the next day you could have someone who could care less. And yes there are processes that could diminish the amount of substandard product getting through but few factories implement them because their customers don't want to pay $1 more per cue.

The funny part is that people confuse buying "American" with buying quality. They aren't the same thing. Just because a product is made wholly or, as is most times the case, in part in the USA does not guarantee that it is a quality product. What guarantees a quality product is a company's reputation for putting out quality products and how well they handle the occassional quality issues that arise.

If I were to put up a picture of 500 Stealth Cues that an independent labratory would conclude were structurally and aesthically sound would you then make the assumption that all Chinese cues are good?

What are the most valueable coins and stamps? The misprints.

Buy quality. Learn to inspect things adequately and buy quality. I bought three sets of headphones between $10 and $30 and all of them crapped out on me. I know nothing of headphones. I have a pair of Bose speakers that have done well for me for over 8 years. I just spent $100 on a set of Bose earplug headphones and couldn't be happier with the sound and quality.

Pick a brand that stands behind their products and stick with it. That could be a brand where the products come from China or from Michigan. Mueller Sporting Goods sells a lot of Chinese products. Muellers also has a stellar reputation for standing behind what they sell. Therefore I trust Mueller Sporting Goods. If we followed your advice to only buy American then Muellers would lose a lot of revenue and probably be unable to afford to employ as many American people as they do.

It's a ball. We all share it. Let's not be so damn territorial and realize that we all have a right to live on it.
 
Shawn Armstrong said:
The problem is that there are crap cues made in the US as well. Don't paint everyone with the same brush - quality doesn't have a nationality. Tai Can in China is putting out some high quality cues at a lower than American pricetag.

Mezz and Helmstetter have been in Japan for years now, and their quality is top notch. Cheap is cheap. You get what you pay for.
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This is true. Most people don't buy on quality as much as they buy on price. That's why they buy the China cues to begin with. If American cue makers could produce cues that looked as good as the China cues, and then sell them for a price that matched the China cues, then more Americans would be buying American made cues. But the sad fact is, they can't. So what we end up with is China cues that are not a bad value for the little money they cost. If it weren't for this fact, mistakes like the one depicted in this thread might be more of an issue.

Roger
 
CocoboloCowboy said:
. . . . Sadly there is not much made in America any longer, but companies like Ralph Lauren have gone off shore for CHEAP LABOR RATES, but there price to the end user is the same.
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So so true. I spent a week in Disneyland and San Diego last Christmas and I went WHOOOOAA! when I peeked at the Disney Store. Every item sold in the store is made anywhere but the U.S. with subpar quality. The clothes looked like they will be easily mangled by the washer in the first washing. But because Mickey & Co. and Disney are pasted on them, they were selling for 5 to 6 times more had Mickey & Co. not been on them. No siiirrrrreee, thank you. I'll keep my souvenirs in my head and in my pictures. It's a heavy insult to intelligence not to mention the blatant and outright rip-off. The admission alone for a day trip is almost $70. It won't be long (if it not here yet already) that Disney will become the dis-ENCHANTING KINGDOM. :o :p
 
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ratcues said:
I am also building a new shaft for a cane cue.....:eek:
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I've wanted to have this done for years!!!! How much?

Fred <~~~ going to check out eBay cane cues
 
Cornerman said:
I've wanted to have this done for years!!!! How much?

Fred <~~~ going to check out eBay cane cues
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A couple months ago I wanted to resurrect this type of cue. It's still in the catalog of the factory. They don't make it anymore. :-(

I wanted to do just that - make them with a good shaft and see how they did.
 
I used to make a living selling large quantities of Chinese made merchandise and one thing I do know is that the Chinese can make a product as good or as bad as your willing to pay for.

If your willing to pay and provide the specs or pay extra to have the specs copied (stolen) the Chinese can make anything you want at whatever quality level you're willing to pay for.
 
I fear it might be too late to be crying "buy American", now that so much of our manufacturing has gone overseas. Is the damage reversible? Who knows. It was so insidious that no one could have foreseen the far-reaching consequences.
 
fan-tum said:
I fear it might be too late to be crying "buy American", now that so much of our manufacturing has gone overseas. Is the damage reversible? Who knows. It was so insidious that no one could have foreseen the far-reaching consequences.
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Welcome to Walmart !
 
Here's what I learned from watching a B movie in the mid-ninetys

BUY AMERICAN

STEAL JAPANISE:lol:
 
Fuel Cost will make products in America COST cheaper or at par with Imported Goods.

High Fuel Cost = High Shipping Cost

Beside the Middle East, America is next to pay the cheapest fuel prices.
 
JB Cases said:
I am sure that a lot of such mistakes happen in factories all over the world. There is no way to control all the people all the time.
Agreed. It doesn't matter where an item is made, mistakes happen. I, by no means, intented this thread to start an "American vs the rest of the world." I just thought it was funny that the logo was backwards and needed a catchy title for the thread.

I am sorry if this offended anyone.

Ryan<~~doesn't care what you play with as long as you play.....and then send it to him for repairs.:thumbup:
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fan-tum said:
I fear it might be too late to be crying "buy American", now that so much of our manufacturing has gone overseas. Is the damage reversible? Who knows. It was so insidious that no one could have foreseen the far-reaching consequences.
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Well, most factories/production are in China, but it doesn't mean that the Chinese own everything. The company may still be AMERICAN (usually, the Americans & other nations are the capitalists) but the labor & other materials are provided in China to keep costs low while maximizing profit. IF the company still charges the same retail price as if the product was produced in the US, then you should blame that company for the steal, right? :rolleyes:
 
ratcues said:
JB Cases said:
I am sure that a lot of such mistakes happen in factories all over the world. There is no way to control all the people all the time.
Agreed. It doesn't matter where an item is made, mistakes happen. I, by no means, intented this thread to start an "American vs the rest of the world." I just thought it was funny that the logo was backwards and needed a catchy title for the thread.

I am sorry if this offended anyone.


Ryan<~~doesn't care what you play with as long as you play.....and then send it to him for repairs.:thumbup:
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It is possible that this cue was a reject. It might of just got to this country as a case stuffer. They usually put some sort of reject inside all leather cases when shipping. Something about a cue and case combo being import taxed different
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