RNT2 Jim Sisti Brass Cups:My Story:When I first caught Cup Fever and started making a list of coveted Cups, The Jim Sisti Brass Cups always ended up on the list but somewhere near the bottom. Not that I had anything against them, but there were others that were calling out to me stronger. Then it happened, RNT2 announced that they were closing shop and like the rest of you, I scrambled to purchase what I could before the end.
The time came when I was ready to get the Sisti Cups and they were not available from RNT2… Oh well, it wasn’t meant to be. Then boom, as if the Cup Gods were smiling upon me, a set was offered for sale at TMC. So I did what every Cupster would do, I ordered them. So what if I had to do without lunch for a couple of months… I could stand to lose the weight and I would have another set of Cups.
When they arrived I was not disappointed (and a few pounds lighter)… for I held 3 shiny Cups of gold! Even before I gave them a polish, the Sisti Cups sparkled and felt right in my hand. Since then, they are in the rotation and are being played with.
The Cup’s Story:The Jim Sisti Cups have a pretty interesting story, born from the desire of a working Pro to almost being no more due to litigation.
As I remember how the Cup came to be… Jim Sisti was performing magic and it happened that one of the audience members was a metal worker. One thing lead to another and it was decided that Jim’s idea for a Worker’s Cup could be made. A small batch or so were released with success.
As things were looking good, Jeff Busby who claimed he had the rights to the Paul Fox Cups went on a rampage. He went after all those that made a Cup that slightly resembled the Paul Fox Cup. Jim Sisti decided to go to court against Jeff Busby and after much time and money spent for lawyers, Jim prevailed. It was a short lived victory because the metal worker had enough… too much time spent in the courts and he could not believe there was a market for little metal Cups.
With original metal worker gone, Jim Sisti struck a deal with RNT2 to make his Cups. Changes were made to improve the Cups such as a heavier gauge of metal and a reworking of the saddle to accommodate 1” balls.
The Cups:The Jim Sisti Cups are of a squat single bead design, the set that I have are of a highly polished brass (Pic 1). Like other RNT2 Cups, I can find not faults as to their make. Each Cup stands about 3” high and short of 3” wide. Stacked the Cups stand about 7” tall (Pic 2, 3 & 4). The Cups did not include a set of balls, so I settled on a set of 7/8” balls. These have no problem sitting upon the saddle as a group of 3 or within a stack (Pic 5 & 6).
PIC 1
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm227/BCSDenver/Cups/SistiBrass008.jpgPic 2
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm227/BCSDenver/Cups/SistiBrass010.jpgPic 3
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm227/BCSDenver/Cups/SistiBrass011.jpgPic 4
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm227/BCSDenver/Cups/SistiBrass009.jpgPic 5
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm227/BCSDenver/Cups/SistiBrass014.jpgPic 6
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm227/BCSDenver/Cups/SistiBrass015.jpgNow when I tried to do some research on the Sisti Cups, I came across a posting from Jake of RNT2, who says the RNT2 version is designed to accommodate 3 each 1” balls upon its saddle and will stack with such. I did not find this to be completely so, it was a stretch to have 3 each of the 1” balls to sit comfortably on the Cup and there was a small gap when stacked (Pic 7 &
.
Pic 7
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm227/BCSDenver/Cups/SistiBrass1Balls001.jpgPic 8
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm227/BCSDenver/Cups/SistiBrass1Balls003.jpgThe Final Load:The Jim Sisti Cups will hold a fairly large load… we are talking a lacrosse ball not a tennis ball. The Cups make a pretty good display, giving the illusion of the lacrosse balls being too large for the Cups. The following pictures pretty much tell the story. I have included some pictures of similar Cups for comparison.
Pic 9
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm227/BCSDenver/Cups/SistiBrass012.jpgPic 10
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm227/BCSDenver/Cups/SistiBrass013.jpgPic 11
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm227/BCSDenver/Cups/SistiBrass016.jpgPic 12
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm227/BCSDenver/Cups/SistiBrass018.jpgPic 13
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm227/BCSDenver/Cups/SistiBrass017.jpgPic 14
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm227/BCSDenver/Cups/SistiBrass019.jpgPic 15
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm227/BCSDenver/Cups/SistiBrass020.jpgConclusion:I know that I sound like a broken record; but the RNT2 Jim Sisti Cups are yet another good set Cups. I suppose if I were a working Pro that I might have another opinion. One day I hope to find a set of the original Sisti Cups, I am sure that they would be worthy of my collection and it would be fun to do a comparison of the two versions. As always I welcome any comments or questions.
Thanks for looking,
Bruce
Cupscon
