WTB: Good Investment cues of up & coming cue makers

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That Snakewood Harris is incredible. I love my cues and have tried many up and comming makers but I don't believe that there are any Cuemakers out there whos work will actually appreciate other than the ones that already do and we all know who they are. I will say that some definately hold their value and you can ususally get most of your money back if you don't beat the hell out of the cue and keep it pretty mint.

I pretty much have given up buying with the intention of making money . I'll buy it if I like it, know that I'll enjoy it, and can get rid of it later without loosing my shirt.

Otherwise I just enjoy the experiance(most of the time) of buying cues directly from the cue maker. I enjoy putting in my two cents on designs and seeing somthing in my imagination translated into a beautiful cue.

Some of the makers That I thought were among the best to work with were

Ron Haley- In a class by himself, let me participate in design, and sent amazing pictures detailing construction of my cue at almost every stage. You can order a cue from him but the wait is really long if your not already on his list.

Travis - Blackcreek Cues. I sketch it out on paper , he makes it happen. Always delivered on time.

Andy Gilbert- Ordered a cue a couple years ago at the SBE. Lost my job and Andy Held my order for a year Then delivered a cue that exceeded my expectations. He and his wife Vicki are just wonderful people what more can I say.

Darrin Hill- Have bought several cues from him . Has some really beautiful wood. Excellent communication and incredible quality and attention to detail. His work has moved to another level in the last couple years.

Rick Howard - Delivered (a little bit late) an amazing four pointer to me about a year ago. The cue is flawless. I can't find even 1 thing in this cue to nit-pick and I tend to be overly critical. Ordered another cue Immediately since the other one was so good.

Joey Cue- A man of few words who builds a really nice stick. I have a second one comming when he gets around to it.

Dave Barrenbrugge- Great to work with, Flawless cue even when examined with a jewelers loop. Was on time and made the whole process painless. Allowed me to pick the rings from four different choices that he made up for my cue.

Dave Kikel- Builds one of the best playing cues on the planet. Have ordered several through Jamie at new2youqs.com. I highly reccommend his 5/16 14 piloted Ivory joint.

There are probably others that I'm forgetting but that should give you a place to start.
 
In my opinion, its almost impossible to determine which up and coming cue maker will be the next highly sought after. I use to read books by Andrew Tobias when I was in Business School. One thing Mr. Tobias said that took me a while to get my head around was "A good company doesn't mean a good stock and a good stock doesn't mean a good company".

There are a lot of good cue makers and with today's technology even average cue makers can make a really nice cue. But, even if a good cue maker builds a great cue doesn't mean it will be highly sought after.

I think the first thing is to define what you are trying to accomplish. If you just want to create a nice collection, then just collect what you like and don't worry about whether it will become expensive or highly sought after in the future.

If on the other hand your goal is to make money buying and selling cues. My best advice is don't try it. Do something else. But, if you just have to, then stick to the masters. Buy right now while prices are low. Hold onto the cue until the economy and (even more important) more people want to own high dollar cues. Then sell.

One thing to keep in mind (I asked this question about a year ago) how deep is the market for high end cues? What I mean is, how many people world wide buy a $5,000 pool cue, $10,000 pool cue and so on. How many people do you know personally who own more than one $5,000 cue?

Just some thoughts

Steven
 
Worminator said:
You will get many recommendations on this subject. My advice is to spend some time to do your own research and draw your own conclusions. It's not an easy decision these days... especially with the new makers. There are a lot more makers today than when you left the hobby 12 years ago... I mean A LOT MORE!

Your email address is going to get bombarded, so get ready!!!!

Good luck in your search.
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+1, I bought a Cousins years ago. At the time, they were getting alot of hype. Now, not so much. I figure many of the new makers' cues, some of who ask alot $$$, will not be worth much in the future.

Picking the next upcomer cue maker is like picking stocks, gotta do your research. Me? I'm sticking to the blue chip makers.
 
Few great "investment cues" these days....lots of great cues though. It's not like the old days. Get educated and buy what you like, and most importantly enjoy the ride....that's what we tell everyone. :)
 
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Nice Try!

Jimmy Szamboti- Nice try, have fun trying to get one! If you do, you are very lucky!!!!!!!
 
I think some of the cues made at Shurtz are extremely underrated. I have a 2000 Shurtz that got me back into collecting again and i love it, Wanted to sell it to finance a more recognizable builder, but it just plays so nice that its gonna be with me for a long while.
 
Gmanpoke said:
In my opinion, its almost impossible to determine which up and coming cue maker will be the next highly sought after. I use to read books by Andrew Tobias when I was in Business School. One thing Mr. Tobias said that took me a while to get my head around was "A good company doesn't mean a good stock and a good stock doesn't mean a good company".

There are a lot of good cue makers and with today's technology even average cue makers can make a really nice cue. But, even if a good cue maker builds a great cue doesn't mean it will be highly sought after.

I think the first thing is to define what you are trying to accomplish. If you just want to create a nice collection, then just collect what you like and don't worry about whether it will become expensive or highly sought after in the future.

If on the other hand your goal is to make money buying and selling cues. My best advice is don't try it. Do something else. But, if you just have to, then stick to the masters. Buy right now while prices are low. Hold onto the cue until the economy and (even more important) more people want to own high dollar cues. Then sell.

One thing to keep in mind (I asked this question about a year ago) how deep is the market for high end cues? What I mean is, how many people world wide buy a $5,000 pool cue, $10,000 pool cue and so on. How many people do you know personally who own more than one $5,000 cue?

Just some thoughts

Steven
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This sums it up pretty good.
 
Not an up and comer but Rick Howard has been becoming more and more popular in the last few years. He has been making cues for a long time and coming from a player background he knows how to make a great playing cue.
 
kvinbrwr said:
Jimmy is working side by side with his father.

Thanks

Kevin
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Man he'll have a 20 year waiting list in the first month of business when he goes on his own someday. Hell he'll probably never even be able to take orders as all the szam collectors will just order 25 cues a piece so about 15 to 20 people will have those cues make the Jimmy Szamboti all the more rare.
 
Tim Prince! If you had seen his investment grade cues at the WCCS you'd know what I mean. There was lots of discussion and attention given to this "new" cuemaker.
 
I think what the OP is asking is what cuemaker in the average price range is the next Szam of the future, i.e. something in the $1k range now, untouchable ten years from now...? Impossible to say. The best bet is a maker who has a low turn out, makes very unique well-regarded cues or has a special construction technique. That pretty much narrows it down to Murray Tucker, Scott Gracio, Tony Zinzola and Darrin Hill. IMHO one of those guys will build/has built a cue that will be the "Golden Bushka" a decade from now. I'm old enough to remember Szambottis at retail...highly regarded cues, but no one saw the boom that came after he died. It's just impossible to say who the next 1,000 percent appreciation maker will be.
 
FSutton said:
Man he'll have a 20 year waiting list in the first month of business when he goes on his own someday. Hell he'll probably never even be able to take orders as all the szam collectors will just order 25 cues a piece so about 15 to 20 people will have those cues make the Jimmy Szamboti all the more rare.
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He will, in all probability, be handed Barry's huge waiting list when Barry retires. Nice deal for him, nice deal for Barry, nice deal for Gus. The tradition continues, which is a nice deal for collectors. Nobody that I know of abuses the Szams with 25 cue orders. It doesn't happen that way which is one (of the many) reasons the tradition continues.


Thanks

Kevin
 
I have owned and do own a lot of high end cues and my daily player is a Jeff Olney cue. You simply cannot find a better quality, and better playing cue for the money.
 
Another one for Travis his cues are precision and his shafts are jam up.
 
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