[...]
Now, what was the second point? Oh, the fact that the grippy grips now in fashion sometimes get stuck in our cases. Well that's true. If someone wants to use a cue with rubber grips then our cases aren't the best thing for them. A simple sleeve takes care of it and they can have the protection we offer and the use of the case. It takes five seconds to put the sleeve on and insert it into the case and five seconds to remove it. I timed it.
I am however in the process of developing a removable interior where the user can switch to an interior that allows the rubber grips. That will take a while though to filter into the market and I don't know that they will ever be offered in all of our cases.
I am still dealing with the best way to balance protection against ease of use when it comes to the rubber grips. I know that they are a fad now and I hope that this fad dies out soon. If not I will have to adapt how we make cases or provide ten second solutions with every case.
So if you want to use a case that is loose enough for your rubber grip then by all means get that. It also means that you forgo a lot of other protection that we build into our cases. Life is about tradeoffs isn't it? You are certainly free to choose what to spend your money on.
[...]
Best,
John Barton, Earthling. (although now scientists speculate that MAYBE our DNA came from meteors........but I guess I am still an Earthling since I was born here, made on Earth and all that.)
If it means anything to anyone, I'm a proud owner of a Sterling Wave case, and have been so since the prototype era of said cases (i.e. the cases weren't formally out on the market yet). Yes, being a prototype, my Wave case has the old-style zippers that've since been replaced in newer revisions of the same model by a zipper design where the zipper tabs don't pull-off the main body of the zipper's "car." Yes, my Wave case's stitching is not as durable as the newer models (there are areas on the back of the base where the faux Nubuc leather is starting to separate at the stitches).
But the following items have proven to be true:
1. My case has been dropped, tipped over, stumbled over (by a drunk trying to catch his balance), and even drop-kicked by someone who, in a fight, tried to do a leaping side-kick at his opponent, the opponent stepped out of the way, and this person ended up drop-kicking -- with his full weight -- my Wave case propped up against the wall just behind that opponent. No harm *ever* came to my cues that were inside. Severe scuff marks? Yes. Damage to the case's structure or the cues inside? No.
2. John is someone who's constantly experimenting and improving his designs. The above-mentioned improvements in the newer revisions of the same models alone speak to this.
3. Forget the "built-in" rubber grips found on some of the newer production cues like the Lucasi Hybrid, et al. I use real carom rubber grips on some of my cues -- "Cyclone" brand, in fact. These are exponentially more grippy (have more "tack") than any built-in rubber grip found on those Lucasi Hyrbrid, et al. cues. These carom rubber grips have been around a long, l-o-n-g time -- certainly longer than the "fad" that John is referring to with these production cues having a rubber grip built-in. Having personally encountered the
"oh sh*t, I can't get my carom-rubber-gripped cue out of the Wave case!!" long ago, I use a fabric sleeve I had specifically made for the purpose, useful in any case design -- not just John's -- to put my cue in prior to dropping it down into the case's slots. It's the same material that pool gloves are made of, and because of that slick material, it takes two seconds to drop the cue's butt into this sleeve (even with the carom rubber grip installed), and then the whole shebang itself drops neatly down into the case. I fold-over about two inches of the very end of the sleeve (the closed-off part, that inserts first into the case) prior to dropping it into the case. Then, when I remove the cue's butt, that folded-over part at the closed end serves as a nice "handle" to pull the sleeve off the cue butt in one quick motion. It is very easy and quick -- 5 seconds from start to finish. No pains about it at all.
(Sure as hell beats having to roll and unroll the carom rubber grip itself onto the cue every time I want to use it! I don't look gift horses in the mouth.)
While I am a personal advocate of being a patriot (I'm a military veteran), at the end of the day, it all comes down to who makes the best product, and most importantly, who listens to their customers. John is certainly one of those people. While some people believe that a case is for aesthetics
(e.g. "Ooooo! Look at him[her] that just entered the room with so-and-so's case on his[her]shouder! Must be a really good player!"), at the end of the day, a cue case is all about protection of its contents, when you boil it down to barebones. These cases have proven to me to do just that, and then some.
-Sean
I really do encourage any case enthusiast who happens to be in that part of the world to contact John and see if he's available to accommodate you for a quick visit. I just got into the pool scene recently so I haven't seen any justis, murnak, Fellini or it's George cases in flesh..he had All these cases lying beside his pool table and he'd go through all the iconic cases one by one with me...think his got about 20 different cases from other makers...some really vintage ones as well..he takes these cases apart then reassembles them, this man has OCD...good for us the customers, not so good for Karen and his stuff... 
I'll see ya soon bud!
