A Beginner's Pipes Cost $900

I hate to say it, but I agree with you. But the bigger question is there anybody buying them?

You may be right, but evidently they're selling at that price point. There are faddists in any community, including the pipe smoking community. It's part of the cult of the lone artisan, monetary reward for finding the most poetically inefficient way to produce a result. Master Whosis makes only 30 pipes a year using his teeth to chew out the rough shape then sanding it smooth with his whiskers all the while chanting haikus backwards to infuse the wood with the spirit of the tree from which it was harvested.
But, of course, I have no opinions regarding the matter...

Regardless of how long he has been in the briar game, his pipes look very nice and the briar he used has some amazing grain. I'd never pay hundreds of dollars for any pipe, but it is all about what the market will bear and he has already sold a bunch on smokingpipes. What does it matter that he has only been selling his pipes for 3 years? How is it an insult?

I've never seen his work, but that's not really important. A person has a right to charge whatever price they wish to for their work. I can make pipes out of balsa wood with plastic straws for stems and charge $1000 a piece if I wish to. Of course that doesn't necessarily mean that they'll sell. Bottom line... if you think that someone is overcharging for their work then simply don't buy it. Pretty simple eh! :wink:

Everyone has a price point. I guess someone is willing to pay. I have my limit and I find pipes just as nice at a much lower price in other makers. I don't see anything particularly wonderful about his acorn pipes than say my Growley Rhodesian artisan pipe. But mine is more affordable.

He is charging a bit too much in my opinion.

It's as easy as don't like it (the pipe, the maker, the status of seniority, or price), don't buy it. Free market. It's not like he took a briar block, put some sandpaper to it, let the dog chew on it, stained it, put an autograph on the side and called it a Kurusu autograph pre-Republic rusticated freehand: $900.

He obviously has a great teacher, and being in Japan, well things are more expensive there. But it does sound like he knows his stuff, and is a natural.
From Pipedia:

Reiichi Kurusu (who goes by "Ray") was born in November of 1977 in Osaka Japan, a bustling city where he still has a home, a home within which you'll find his workshop as well. Ray never gave pipes much consideration until he made a visit to the Tokyo Pipe Fest in 2011, and ran into an unassuming carver named Hiroyuki Tokutomi. To say that Kurusu was intrigued by both the master and his craft would be an understatement; he immediately asked Toku-san if he would consider mentoring him in the art, and found himself already giving pipe making as a career serious consideration by the end of his first session. Since that fateful day, Ray has visited the legendary carver countless times, learning as much as he could with every session.

Under Tokutomi's tutelage, Ray made steady progress over the next two and a half years, making, in his words, "A huge leap" during the last six months of that period. Clearly, Sykes Wilford of Smokingpipes.com agreed with the self-appraisal. Encountering Kurusu's new work at the Pipe Fest in 2014, he offered to purchase Reiichi's briars for his site on the spot.
Ray only uses Mimmo briar, refuses to have anything to do with pre-formed stems, and his draft holes are measured to an easy-drawing 4mm. When asked to cite pipemakers, both living and passed, whose work he most admires, Ray is quick to respond with the likes of Bo Nordh, Jorn Micke, Jess Chonowitsch, Björn Bengtsson, the Ivarssons, Kei'Ichi Gotoh, Takeo Arita and (of course) Hiroyuki Tokutomi. Courtesy, Smokingpipes.com
See also the interview with R. "Bear" Graves here.

Master Whosis makes only 30 pipes a year using his teeth to chew out the rough shape then sanding it smooth with his whiskers all the while chanting haikus backwards to infuse the wood with the spirit of the tree from which it was harvested.

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Sable
Most of the time I don't agree with you, and since I know nothing about the maker, I can't say one way or the other.
But that quote was funny.

If someone paid $900, then it's worth $900. It's as easy as that. If someone doesn't like the price, keep moving. There is no certification program for artists or artisans, once you hit the market. And, everyone's learning curve is different.
Personally, $900 is way out of my country boy log cabin range, but hey, if people are buying, more power to them.

Very fine looking pipes...and interesting stem work...
The pipes are $900, to be able to spend 2 years working with Tokutomi...priceless!

He learned from a great, does buy quality raw materials and makes nice looking pipes. I don't think I would pony up the asking price but it doesn't look like he's selling junk by any means. In Japan it is normal to dedicate oneself to a profession and seek top dollar for your work. Having never smoked or viewed one in person, I could only speculate how his pipes rate side by side other makers in the price range.

Some people are just naturally talented.

Very nice pipe, JD.
Hmmm...$2000.00 Well, I'll take a dozen. ship them to my Singapore address with a Po Box, please.

However, I do see a cliff coming for artisan pipemakers. I've seen it in ceramics, lampwork glass work, silversmithing, and lapidary.
The market catches fire with collectors of these things. The up and coming generation sees these extraordinary prices these artisans are getting, and they buy a lathe. I am also seeing the pipe making tool industry take advantage of this by offering the chucks needed for pipes and the spoons needed to cut the chamber. Vulcanite and briar are being sold in various places that you didn't see them before, making them very easy to find. Next thing you know the market will be saturated. Right now, the market is in the crazy range, but I also see the tool industry jumping in and the knowledge, videos, tutorials, local woodworking clubs featuring beginner pipe makers.
Just wait, they'll be giving the things away. They won't be amazing quality, but they'll be easier to find. And, even the top end makers will have to drop in prices as competition for the buying public's attention grows. I'd say that about half of the people I see come in the local Briary on the weekends have a lathe.
The rest of the craft areas that I've seen boom, hang in there, but things get tighter for them.
The biggest difference in the other things that have boomed and petered out and pipes, is the amount of guys who collect that aren't even comfortable in reaming their own pipe, or filing out a stem. The collectors seem to want to remain out of the tool using end of things. Maybe the biggest difference is that smokers just want to focus on the smoking part of the hobby. IDK. So far, I'm just enjoying watching these young artists getting creative. I haven't gotten a lathe... yet, Ha ha!

God Bless capitalism. Some people are skilled and master things fast. Don't like it don't buy it, it's not like someone's holding a gun to your head.

Big bubble soon to burst. I'm not going to be the one who looks foolish with a rack full of "artisan" (God that's pretentious) pipes that cost like an used car each. But I'm not telling people what to think, do or feel, this is just my opinion. I'm in it for the smoke delivering thing and a Peterson for around $150-200 is about as much I feel comfortable spending on a pipe. And yes this topic has been discussed into boredom before. Bla bla bla.
Let 'em turn their silly pipes and sell them for what ever they feel is justified.

I don't know guys. I have to say, the grain on two of those pipes ranks amongst the nicest I have ever laid eyes on. People pay $900 for a Dunhill, and I personally would pay $900 for one of the Kurusu's over a Dunhill at or near the same price point any day of the week. I have bought a few pipes from relatively new carvers and I agree that it is riskier than buying from a more established carver - part of the decision making process involves your own instinct about the carver. When I look at those pipes, and then reflect upon the carver's background and his mentor, my instincts give me some pretty solid vibes. I can't explain why, and for all I know my instincts are not to be trusted, but that's just my feeling.
As to whether we are near a bubble, I think a lot of that depends on the Chinese. They are buying an awful lot of high end pipes at the moment, and if that market dries up for whatever reason, things are likely to get painful.

Let 'em turn their silly pipes and sell them for what ever they feel is justified.

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Silly pipes?
I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean.

$900 beginner's pipe? I don't know foggy, this Russian guy's only been carving since 2011 also. I haven't smoked one, but I strongly suspect they smoke pretty well