McDermott's 50th Anniversary Series is a limited commemorative run of 13 cue designs, each one a tribute to a specific classic McDermott model from the company's history, individually numbered to an edition of only 50 per design. We carry 4 of the 13 SKUs, 2 currently in stock, priced from about $1,490 up to about $2,450. Every 50th Anniversary cue ships with a Certificate of Authenticity and a matching 50th Anniversary carrying case.
Every item is brand new and 100% genuine, backed by its full manufacturer warranty. Free shipping on orders over $98 (contiguous US) and 30-day returns. Every spec on this page is checked against the manufacturer's published data by our Wilmington, NC store team.
McDermott introduced the 50th Anniversary Series as a commemorative collection marking 50 years since the company started building cues in 1975. The series runs to 13 unique cue designs in total, each one built as a tribute to a specific classic McDermott model pulled from the company's back catalog, and each design is limited to an edition of only 50 cues. Every cue in the collection ships with a Certificate of Authenticity and a dedicated 50th Anniversary carrying case, which is not standard on the rest of McDermott's lineup. We currently carry 4 of the 13 designs. McDermott says each cue in its catalog, commemorative or otherwise, passes through more than 150 individual build steps and starts from kiln-dried, hand-selected North American Hard Rock Maple; the 50th Anniversary designs add the exotic inlay work, stone and mother-of-pearl accents described below on top of that same base process. Independent retail sourcing also credits McDermott's three-piece butt construction, a bonded forearm, handle and buttcap rather than a single piece of wood, for the long-term stability and consistent balance the brand is known for generally, the same base construction sitting underneath the 50th Anniversary Series' commemorative finishes. In the five decades since 1975, McDermott says it has grown from a single cue line into a family of more than a dozen McDermott-distributed brands, a growth arc the 50th Anniversary Series is built to mark.
The MCD50C pays tribute to McDermott's M14D "Portico," a cue originally released in 2001, reworked here with a connected window motif in place of the original's floating box windows.
The MCD50H draws on the E-M5a from McDermott's 1990s Masterpiece Series, carrying over the original's signature "Battlement" rings and purple accents while adding gold mother-of-pearl inlays and blue river agate not on the original design.
The MCD50E and MCD50D round out the 4 designs we carry, priced at $1,495 each in our catalog, the entry point into the series alongside the higher-priced MCD50C at $1,900 and MCD50H at $2,450.
All four designs below ship with the same 50th Anniversary carrying case and individually numbered Certificate of Authenticity, so the unboxing experience does not change based on price tier, only the cue itself does.
The MCD50C is priced about $1,900. Like the rest of the 50th Anniversary Series it ships on McDermott's Quick Release joint with a 12.75mm classic wood shaft under a linen wrap, plus the Certificate of Authenticity and matching 50th Anniversary case included with every design in the run. It's out of stock at the moment.
The MCD50D is one of the two entry-priced designs in the collection at about $1,500, built on the same Quick Release joint, 12.75mm shaft and linen wrap as the rest of the series. McDermott's site does not identify which historical model the MCD50D pays tribute to the way it does for the MCD50C and MCD50H, so we're not guessing at a lineage we can't confirm. It's out of stock at the moment.
The MCD50E is the other entry-priced design, also about $1,500 and built on the same Quick Release joint, 12.75mm shaft and linen wrap as the MCD50D. We likewise could not confirm from McDermott's site which classic cue inspired this particular design. It's currently in stock.
The MCD50H is the highest-priced design in the collection at about $2,450 and the one with the deepest inlay work: gold mother-of-pearl and blue river agate set into the "Battlement" ring pattern borrowed from the 1990s E-M5a. It's currently in stock.
Because all four 50th Anniversary cues share the same Quick Release joint, 12.75mm shaft and linen wrap, the real decision in this series is design and budget rather than mechanical spec. The MCD50D and MCD50E sit at the series' entry price, about $1,500 each, with McDermott not publishing which historical cue either one is a tribute to. The MCD50C, at about $1,900, is a confirmed tribute to the M14D "Portico" from 2001, reworked with a connected window motif in place of the original's floating box windows. The MCD50H tops the line at about $2,450 and carries the most elaborate inlay work of the four, pulling its "Battlement" ring pattern, purple accents, gold mother-of-pearl and blue river agate from the 1990s E-M5a. A buyer choosing between them is really choosing which piece of McDermott's design history they want on the wall or at the table, not comparing shaft technology.
Every 50th Anniversary cue starts from the same North American Hard Rock Maple McDermott uses across its catalog, kiln-dried and hand-selected before it's turned 11 times to check for stability, the base process McDermott says every one of its cues, commemorative or otherwise, is built from.
The MCD50H's mother-of-pearl inlays are a shell material cut into ring and point work around the joint rather than painted on, a traditional cue-making inlay material chosen for the way it catches light differently than wood or metal. The blue river agate set alongside it is a banded stone, sliced thin and inset the same way the mother-of-pearl is, adding a second natural material next to the shell.
All four 50th Anniversary cues run McDermott's proprietary Quick Release joint instead of the standard 3/8x10 pin found on most of the rest of the catalog. Where a threaded joint has to be screwed on and off, a quick-release mechanism lets the shaft disconnect without unscrewing it, and the wrap itself is the same genuine Irish linen McDermott specifies across its catalog, a woven fabric grip chosen for absorbing hand moisture during play rather than turning slick the way some synthetic wraps can. See our cue glossary for more on joints, ferrules and wrap materials.
All 4 of our 50th Anniversary cues use McDermott's proprietary Quick Release joint rather than the standard 3/8x10 pin used across most of the rest of the catalog, and all 4 run a 12.75mm shaft in classic wood construction with a linen wrap. That's a more uniform spec sheet than McDermott's larger lines, which fits a commemorative series built around matching a handful of specific historical designs rather than offering broad shaft or wrap options. If you already own another McDermott cue on the Quick Release pin, a 50th Anniversary shaft is not interchangeable with a standard 3/8x10 McDermott cue; check the shafts category if you need a Quick Release-compatible replacement shaft specifically.
This is a collector's line first. The numbered edition of 50 per design, the Certificate of Authenticity, and the tribute concept behind each cue are all aimed at a buyer who wants a specific piece of McDermott history rather than a general-purpose playing cue chosen for shaft technology or price. At $1,490 to $2,450, the series also sits well above McDermott's volume lines like the G-Series and GS-Series, which is consistent with a limited commemorative run rather than an everyday production model. That puts it in a different tier than McDermott's other specialty line, the all-carbon-fiber Vanquish, which is priced for a player chasing shaft technology rather than a specific piece of the brand's design history.
Being American-made McDermott cues, the 50th Anniversary Series carries the same Lifetime Warranty against manufacturing defects and warpage as the rest of the catalog, extended to the original purchaser for as long as they own the cue and contingent on the cue having been bought from an authorized McDermott retailer. Given the collectible nature of this series and its numbered edition sizes, buyers focused on resale or collector value should also keep the included Certificate of Authenticity, since that document is part of what verifies the specific numbered edition of the cue.
McDermott's warpage coverage only applies to cues built since 2004, a cutoff that doesn't affect a new 50th Anniversary cue, and the company backs its American-made cues generally with a free Lifetime Maintenance Plan; return shipping runs a flat $25 domestically by insured UPS Ground with signature required if a 50th Anniversary cue ever needs to go back for service.
McDermott's Maintenance Plan excludes butt refinishing on a short list of models, the Sledgehammer SH1, Stinger, Star, Lucky and Element lines; none of the four 50th Anniversary cues we carry are on that exclusion list, so they qualify for the same refinishing service as McDermott's standard G-Series and GS-Series cues. That matters for a numbered, collectible cue specifically, since a buyer who wants to keep the original finish intact for resale or display can still send the cue back for the covered inspection and maintenance work without losing the case or Certificate of Authenticity that came with it.
To see the rest of what McDermott builds, from the entry-level GS-Series to the carbon-fiber Vanquish line, visit the McDermott Pool Cues category, or browse all pool cues.
McDermott built 13 different tribute designs for its 50th Anniversary Series, with each individual design limited to an edition of only 50 numbered cues.
Yes. Every 50th Anniversary cue ships with a matching 50th Anniversary carrying case and a Certificate of Authenticity verifying its numbered edition.
The MCD50C is a tribute to McDermott's M14D "Portico," a cue originally released in 2001, reworked with a connected window motif instead of the original's floating box windows.
All 4 of the 50th Anniversary cues we carry ship with a 12.75mm classic wood shaft and McDermott's proprietary Quick Release joint, rather than the standard 3/8x10 pin.
No. Of the 4 designs we carry, the MCD50C and MCD50D are out of stock at the moment; the MCD50E and MCD50H are currently in stock.
Learn about our up and coming Quarter King Billiards engineered products, get coupons to save $$$, stay up to date with our sales, and of course stay in the loop with our constantly changing used cues!
