Expert: Pool_Teacher - 10/12/2009

Question
I have a balabushka in excellent condition, wondering how much to ask for it. Nice inlay%26 no scratches. I still use it at times but never break with at.

Answer
Hi Butch

Are we talking about an original Balabushka, i.e., a cue hand crafted by George Balabushka sometime between 1959 and 1975 that you can provide provenance for? Or a more recent Adam Custom Cue Company licensed replica with a signature on the forearm? In either case, I can give you a relative estimate if you provide me enough detail about the cue to go on. I would need far more than you have provided. Though it would be many times better to upload a photograph in a follow-up post, if you can't, describe the cue very precisely, with details such as how many points the cue has, what the inlays look like and are made from, what woods are employed and where, the type of joint and bumper and so on. Describing this well requires experience and knowledge most people don't have and wouldn't need to ask me is they did (what type of joint "I have no idea, what types of joints are there?"), which is why a photograph is really needed.

I can give you an extremely rough and wide range which will at least highlight how different the value might be if it's a replica verses an original. A licensed replica will be worth approximately between $300 and $1,000 depending on model and condition and an original Balabushka will range approximately somewhere between $6,000 and $30,000 (and even much more depending on extreme rarity and what the market can bear). If it's an original I strongly recommend you contact an expert to have it authenticated. All of the following people are recommended by the Blue Book of Pool cues as Balabushka experts to contact: Pete Tascarella, Bill Schick, Paul Rubino, Barry Szamboti, Richard Black, Bill Stroud, Ernie Guttierez and Brad Simpson who is the author of the book. They will charge a fee but the cue will be more valuable with authentication. Google should provide you with contact information (just putting a name in quotes and adding "cue" should turn up some of their websites).

Best of luck,

Pool Teacher