Customer Reviews

The Blue Book of Pool Cues

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The book is broken into sections that include the history of Cue making, the components and tools required to construct a cue, and an comprehensive illustrated catalog of the various cue makers and manufacturers. Whether your interested in Balabushka, Szambotti or Cognoscenti, you'll find the data you need to recognize and enjoy the craftmanship of their work. The author provides a rating system for the intricacy and condition of the cues that is the standard for buying, selling and grading cues today. I would like to see more illustrations of the master cuemakers than the many cues that were shown of the mass production companies. Too much space was taken up by these cues that are computerized clones. All in all the book was well written and I am eagerly awaiting the overdue release of Vol 2.

As this is the 3rd edition of Blue Books, that tells you that people into pool cues have been buying them, with good reason.
First off, the author, Brad Simpson, has been adding more and more info into each new edition, the 1st ed.(1996) had 465 pages, the 2nd, (1999) 600 pages, and this 3rd edition,(2005), a whopping 913.
The number of color photos's showing the work of the more well known cuemakers, past and present, living and dead, has also increased with each new edition and, IMO, is the best feature of these books.
The 3rd edition has a fairly extensive listing of cuemakers and a brief business bio of them. Their current cue offerings, as well as their older and one of a kind cues is provided. The pricing guidelines should be regarded in the most general of terms, as so much goes into the value of a pool cue.
If your a collector or just someone looking to spend a few hundred dollars on a nice cue to play with, The Blue Book of Pool Cues, 3rd Ed., can provide both useful information and enjoyment at a reasonable cost.

This is a great value for content and price! I don't know how it could have been done much better for the cost. Some of the minor cuemakers don't have pictures of their work, but I suspect they didn't submit any to the publisher. It was a big help to me when I went to buy a cue.

It's amazing how much my old cue has appreciated in value. I almost sold it at my garage sale. Thanks to Simpson's BLUE BOOK, I got almost 10 times what I thought it was worth. This book is a goldmine.

Tyhe blue book of pool cues is an invaluable resource for pool cue valuation and it is the only publication solely dedicated to this subject.

This book is usually 30.00 to 40.00, I stole this one for $6.00. Can't be happier, the book was better than it was described. Thanks

Mike k

Great book, I have been using it for the past couple years. It has saved me a lot of money when I bid on items on ebay.

the book is very nice alot of great information, there are alot of great pictures of some really nice cues. For the price of the book I think was kinda of steep just because out of 900 pages only 50 pages were in color and the rest were in black and white. If all 900 pages were in color i would have given it 5 stars, black and white photos does not do any of these beautiful cues any justice.

This is a MUST HAVE for anyone that is either a cue stick collector or even in the market to purchase a higher end cue for themselves. It gives the prices for all common cues, many uncommon cues and a few that you wouldn't believe they'd have. I have been buying and selling on Ebay to try to find the right cue for me. I've already bought and sold enough cue sticks, making a profit each time, to have bought this book 8 times....And that isn't even my goal! Knowledge is power and this book gives you the knowledge that you'll need to be secure in buying and/or selling pool cue(s) on EBay or at the pool hall. It is also a nice coffee table book due to the hundreds of beautiful styled pool cues many of which are unique pieces of art. As for art, its not even a stretch, form and function meet in the seediest places sometimes and the pool hall is one of them.

get the book: position yourself for a great buy on a used stick.
find out what that old stick in the garage is selling for.
learn to identify cues that you encounter in league
matches and at tournaments.

get informed: speak with confidence about exotic woods, hand made
splices and inlays. get a basic history of the pool cue.

get the girl: show off your vintage cue, show her that you know how
use your stick, show her how to hold and stroke...