A Seller Who Tells It Like It Is!

numbersix · May 30, 2014

lol! And he's actually trying to sell it. I am still a big fan of Petes, but I have to give him props for offering his honest opinion. : puffy

:
From http://www.pulversbriar.com/english.html

I've heard people say that I don't like Peterson pipes. That's not true, or at least it's not true that I have some innate aversion to them. What I have is an innate aversion to are low standards and mediocrity. Take this pipe, with beautiful Bird's Eye on one side of the bowl and rather mediocre grain on the other side. Take the fact that the air hole, on a not particularly difficult pipe to drill properly, is so high that you will need to take a cab from the draft hole to the bottom of the bowl. Add that even with a normal stem it has a mediocre (there's that word again) draw. Then factor in the gold band and the "Supreme" designation and what you have is a pipe maker that doesn't give a shit. I'm sure they would say they do. I bet they believe they do, but the end result of whatever work they are doing belies a statement like that. Wolfgang Becker gives a shit. Michael Parks gives a shit. Jim Cooke and Rad Davis give a shit. These people don't. Do you think I like writing this and wasting all this space when what I want is to be able to write nice things and sell pipes? But I can not lie to you, sell you a $200 pipe and then hope that when you get it you are blind to its shortcomings. I can't afford to do that and be seen as a mere huckster...not for one pipe. So, if you are a Peterson devotee, and are looking for a Supreme in excellent condition in XL size, here is one. I truly hope it smokes great. 6" long, bowl 2" tall. Weight: 2 1/2 oz., 72 grams. Price: $200.

The pipe in question:

FWIW, I agree that Peterson's standards are not as consistent as they could be, but they are listening to the complaints and I see them stepping up their game. If one is careful in choosing a Pete, one can have as fine a pipe as any.

pruss · May 30, 2014

Marty is one of the good guys in pipe sales, he's the past proprietor of Sherlock's Haven in San Francisco, and is one of the stalwart heroes of the estate pipe market. He knows more about pipes than most of us will forget in our lifetime and definitely keeps his comments real. We could do with a few more Marty Pulvers in our world.
-- Pat

pylorns · May 30, 2014

That's hilarious. Problem is - his description is so negative - even as a peterson fan I find myself not even remotely interested in that pipe.

numbersix · May 30, 2014

Marty is one of the good guys in pipe sales, he's the past proprietor of Sherlock's Haven in San Francisco, and is one of the stalwart heroes of the estate pipe market. He knows more about pipes than most of us will forget in our lifetime and definitely keeps his comments real. We could do with a few more Marty Pulvers in our world.

He's clearly upset with Peterson and I can't really blame him, esp in this instance. A Peterson Supreme should not have any issues. And I absolutely must give him credit in being completely honest in his description of the pipe. I have no doubt that he's a stalwart in our community and we're lucky to have him on our side.

numbersix · May 30, 2014

That's hilarious. Problem is - his description is so negative - even as a peterson fan I find myself not even remotely interested in that pipe.

That's what I find so interesting. He's trying to sell this pipe! But good on him for his honesty. In fact his other descriptions seem really fair and honest and for that alone, I am impressed with him.
The thing about Peterson, I agree that they are not as consistent as they could/should be. That said, I've own/ed about 11 Petes (I know, not a lot) but only two had issues and the issues were all in all, not overly serious. All of them were perfectly drilled and all smoked very well.
And from my limited knowledge, it appears that Savinelli has had plenty of misses too. And some have even had bad luck with Stanwell (tho they seem to be the best of the factory brands).
The way I see it, I like Peterson's styling and history. So I am willing to take some extra care when buying one to make sure it passes all of my tests. Once done, my Petes smoke as well (if not better) as any of my pipes.
For someone to swear off Peterson completely because they're not consistent seems to me to be a case of 'cutting one's nose to spite one's face'.

cosmicfolklore · May 30, 2014

Amen to all of that. When I've been in the Briary's lounge and heard people ask to see a Peterson, you can actually hear everyone's eyes rolling in their heads, LOL. But, for some strange reason, people love them things.

pruss · May 30, 2014

That's what I find so interesting. He's trying to sell this pipe! But good on him for his honesty. In fact his other descriptions seem really fair and honest and for that alone, I am impressed with him.

+1
In this instance, he reminds me of the bartender who wants to sell the local brew from up the road, with complex flavours and a brewmeister who is passionate, focused, and making award winning beers... the same bartender who sells a high percentage of his bar sales in Coors Light.
-- Pat

voorhees · May 30, 2014

Yep, that's Marty and his very candid description. I have spoke with him before and what a pleasure it was. He is a straight shooter.

settersbrace · May 30, 2014

I've seen the people in the pipe shop go ga-ga over a recently arrived Pete and I can't help but wonder how they are not seeing all the other, really well made pipes that are sitting in the case at or near the same price point. It's like Benelli shotguns, the groupies will wax poetic on how this or that is on the $1800 Monticello and the wood on the stock looks like a fence post! There are some great Petersons out there because there ARE so many devotees and collectors but personally, I've never been on board.

voorhees · May 30, 2014

settersbace, I have two Peterson's (estates) and like them, but not enough to buy new ones.

sladeburns · May 30, 2014

I frequent Marty's site as much for the commentary as for the pipe pics. Love his radio interviews from our forum host's podcast as well.

jmill208 · May 30, 2014

That's hilarious. Problem is - his description is so negative - even as a peterson fan I find myself not even remotely interested in that pipe

Someone out there (you know who you are) bought the Yugo.

Someone out there buys all of the useless crap off of the late-night infomercials.

Someone out there buys their "jewelry" in Chinatown.

Even with that description, don't be shocked when this pipe finds a home.

There's an ass for every seat.
Personally, I'm not taking that gamble, but to each his own....

peckinpahhombre · May 30, 2014

I bought an Il Duca pipe from Marty a couple of weeks ago which I have not posted. This is the second pipe I have bought from Marty. What an amazing experience. He quoted me shipping from memory ($12 - to Canada no less). Of course I said fine. He wrote me an apologetic e-mail a couple of days letter telling me that his memory was off and the actual cost of shipping to him was $8, and then he asked whether he wanted the $4 refunded to my credit card or just apply it towards the next pipe. He then had a funny sentence or two about how he hoped there would be a next pipe, but he didn't want to assume that etc.
Top notch guy.

layinpipe · May 30, 2014

hahahahahahahahaha this post just turned my uncheerful friday frown upside down, as i have not been feeling well today and just got into work about an hour ago. Marty is the man. I conversed with him back and forth via email when i was dealing with benandci and the huge stone pipe i bought and he is a good and honest dude. I am the same exact way he is and respect the hell out of his blunt and frank to the point description of a mediocre made pipe with a high quality sounding name. He calls it how he sees it and i love it.
I like and own 3 peterson's. 1 is drilled two states away from the bottom of the bowl but besides that smokes very well. The second has cosmetic flaws and fills out the ass but smokes like a dream and still is aesthetically pleasing to the unscrupulous eye. The third is one of my favorites out of my 33 or so pipes, both aesthetically and performance wise. It is a flame grain 106 billiard and looks EXACTLY like a rosslare, so much so that you could not tell the difference until you read the model name up close. It does have a few small fills in it, but the grain and birdseye are spectacular for a mid range factory pipe. It is drilled perfectly and is one of my top 5 best smoking pipes, maybe even top 3.
Does Peterson have quality control issues with what they sometimes sloppily allow out of their factory?...Obviously yes. Do they still make an excellent pipe the majority of the time?...In my opinion and many others, YES. Which is why they are still around and one of the biggest factory brand of pipes in the world. I would buy another peterson in a second, but only if i could see it and inspect it in person first or if it was from a top notch reputable online site like smoking pipes that would have no issue exchanging it for another if it had obvious flaws not offered in the description.

numbersix · May 30, 2014

Top notch guy.

Very impressive! Thanks for sharing that Peck.

kanaka95 · May 30, 2014

Daaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmm bro.Thanks for the honesty.

brewshooter · May 30, 2014

Yeah, I've purchased three pipes from Marty. He tends to paint pipes in the worst light to make sure they don't disappoint the buyer. He actually was really good on making sure that I understood that the Oom Paul I was asking about was somewhere around the size of a large man's fist and explained if, after seeing it in person, I decided I didn't want it, I could return it. I kept it.

cfreud · May 30, 2014

I worked at Sherlock's Haven for Marty in San Francisco while I was in college, and a large portion of my collection comes from that period as well as buying off his site. He's a no BS guy. He's also one of the people who makes this a great hobby. As has been noted here, he is a walking encyclopedia of pipe knowledge. We'd all be lucky to have more people like him.

brewshooter · May 31, 2014

I worked at Sherlock's Haven for Marty in San Francisco while I was in college, and a large portion of my collection comes from that period as well as buying off his site. He's a no BS guy. He's also one of the people who makes this a great hobby. As has been noted here, he is a walking encyclopedia of pipe knowledge. We'd all be lucky to have more people like him.

The odd thing, I worked less than two blocks up Battery Street from the old Sherlock's Haven. I still work in the area. I was always interested in the place, but, alas, this was at least a decade before I started smoking a pipe. Now that Grant's is gone, there aren't a lot of choices.

neverbend · May 31, 2014

Pipes are Marty's business, not a hobby, but I've never known his passion for and about them to have wavered. Marty's been selling pipes for well over thirty years and all the nice things that are being said about him could have been said at any point in his pipe career.
You can expect honesty and humor and good cheer from Marty. I'm just saying what those who are acquainted with him know and those that haven't yet met him should.
Oh, he's a fine wordsmith too.

A Seller Who Tells It Like It Is!

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