Kudos for Assist on a Particular Savenelli

I recently mentioned on Forums that I'd missed an unsmoked estate unfinished Sav 404 on one of our sponsor sites by ordering it a few seconds/minutes too late. I'm a devoted fan of unfinished Sav's which are getting harder to find. Thanks and kudos to snagstangl for spotting a similar unfinished Sav 920, new, on Paylesspipes and PM'ing me. I went, had a look, thought it over while I did something else, and went back and ordered it. I really like this bent Dublin shape, and I decided it was better not to supplant my good old 404 which is still in prime shape and well broken-in (over 30 years!). So thanks to snagstangle and Forums for giving me a good ending to missing that other pipe. Forums members have done me many generous deeds and offered much assistance. Recently received a great polishing cloth through the help of another Forums members. A great sample, and sampler, and full package of tobacco from others, not to mention one of my premier pipes. This is a good place to be!

The unfinished Sav 920 doesn't get here until Wednesday (3/11) but here's a link to the Sav page on Payless pipes:
http://www.paylesspipes.com/items.php?deptid=1&styleid=64
I have to say, as minfarshaw points out, watching these pipes evolve their own finish is a worthwhile experience. I'm sorry Savenelli seems to have abandoned selling unfinished pipes in favor of going with their less expensive line of finished pipes, the Rossi. I'm afraid the raw look of a new unfinished pipe puts people off a little, like why didn't they finish the pipe? If you've never tried this unfinished pipe routine, I strongly recommend it. Often they have a fill or two, though some don't. They do not have the balsa filters, or any filter. But they are Sav's and a great smoke, and a bargain you don't have to be ashamed of. Give it a go!