Identify Pool Cue with AJAY Sticker
9/6/2017 10:07:16 PM
Identify Pool Cue with AJAY Sticker
My pool cue has an AJAY sticker with #C570 on top of label and #40192 on bottom also set up for a screw on tip.
The butt has linen wrap and has mother of pearl 5 round on bottom of wrap and 4 round on top portion of wrap.
Any info would help.
saintIdentify Pool Cue with AJAY Sticker
Replies & Comments
billiardsforum on 9/6/2017 11:04:50 PMCan you upload a photo or two?
I see a couple of other AJAY pool cue models on worthpoint and eBay but not your exact model. These sold for around $30 USD.
I am still digging for some more info on the origin and cue maker behind these cues. They are a cheap Asian import cue from yesteryear. Sold under various names like "AJAY" and "Sure Shot" at places like K-Mart, etc.
Apparently Brunswick outsourced some of their cue making to AJAY cues (the cheap importer) in the 1970s. Ajay, through various overseas manufacturers, and started a flood of import cues.
For many years Brunswick owned the rights to the Willie Mosconi name and signature facsimile. However, in the 1970s Brunswick over-diversified, and they outsourced a lot of production, etc. Apparently the licensing agreement between Mosconi and Brunswick expired and Brunswick wasn't in a position to renew. Ajay (a large importer of pool cues) bought the rights to the Mosconi name and thus started a flood of import products bearing Willie's name & signature. Ajay must have used several Taiwanese manufacturers because the style and quality of the Mosconi branded cues [and their other general cues] was wide ranging. [...] The real piece-of-shit AJAY cues are the ones with the pin-in-shaft type joint, with the integral brass pilot at the base of the pin. These usually just used a clear sticker, with Mosconi's signature facsimile on it. A lot of Mosconi products were sold through mass merchandisers like Kmart.
...but then later information surfaced to contradict, rather, refine and clarify the above claim:
Ajay was not a cue manufacturer, nor did they have anything to do with Brunswick. Rather, Ajay was a large importer, and they purchased cues from a lot of the same Taiwanese factories that Brunswick used. They knocked-off all kinds of designs, so it's not unusual to see very similar cues with one being branded a Brunswick and the other an Ajay or Mosconi, or unmarked. Ajay owned the rights to the Mosconi name after Brunswick relinquished it.
...and yet another clarification still:
Brunswick owned the rights to the Willie Mosconi name for several years and manufactured two cues, that I know of, as Willie Mosconi models. After Brunswick relinquished rights to the name they were purchased by Ajay, a large importer of pool products that sold to mass marketers like K-Mart. I assume the decal to which you refer is a piece of clear tape with a facsimile of Willie's signature - usually in red. Sometimes placed around the cue below the joint, or lengthwise above the wrap. These are Taiwanese cues. The earlier ones are of decent quality and have the usual pin-in-butt joint configuration. The latter ones were real cheapo pool cues and can be distinguished by the brass pin-in-shaft with integral pilot type joint. I have the Brunswick iterations and several of the Taiwanese ones (early) - one a very interesting butterfly spliced cue with a polished, faceted metal butt cap.
Identify Pool Cue with AJAY Sticker
- Title: Identify Pool Cue with AJAY Sticker
- Author: saint
- Published: 9/6/2017 10:07:16 PM
- Last Updated: 9/6/2017 11:04:21 PM
- Last Updated By: billiardsforum (Billiards Forum)
