Dunno about the fireflames, Jon - in fact I've never heard of those.
However, I do have a beautiful billiard (gorgeous Birdseye) with quite a bit of age on it. I picked it up on fleabay for a song. It is as good as any pipe in my collection. A lovely smoker.
Might be stretching it to heartily recommend a brand based on one pipe, but, that's what I'm going to do. They're quite well known over here, and I haven't heard anything negative.
Go for it - you get a lot of pipe and smoking pleasure for your money.