Not Sure if I Made a Good Purchase
(23 posts)
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So I have been taking a lot of peoples advice and started looking very carefully at estate pipes on eBay. I figured that since I have been working hard at my overnight job and balancing school I deserved to take my girlfriend out and buy a pipe for me. So anyways, I was looking on eBay and found this vintage bulldog pipe. The pipe has relatively no chatter what so ever on it and I just feel in love with the old looking bulldog shape. I was looking long a hard at it for a while and was surprised at the low price it had. I mean the thing was relatively new and had so much old character to it. I looks at the description and found out that the pipe had been repaired. There is a metal band at the top of the tenon that indicated that the pipe had been repaired but to me the guy did such a great job fixing it I thought it should have been there all along. The man truly just seems like an honest guy that needs some money but what do you guys think. Take a look at the pipe and give me your honest opinion as to if I got ripped off or I'm about to start enjoying a nice piece of pipe history in the next week.
Here is the link------> http://tinyurl.com/a5ptwnf
Thank you in advance!
Lou
Lou
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Naw, you didn't get hurt, if it's a dual bore might turn out to be a Radice (or Radice second), though I know absolutely nothing about them at all and someone else might know it on sight.
Anyway, under $20 for a pipe like that....it's probably half what it's worth, and will probably turn out to be a fantastic smoker.
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You got a nice looking briar bulldog for the same price as a decent cob I'd say you did pretty good bud all in all it's a nice looking pipe and if it smokes well then your good. All estate pipes are or need repairs in some way looks like you got one already fixed. Be happy you got a good deal IMO
Pack and lite, hope for no bite. Tamp and Dottle, Pour from the Bottle. Sit back and smell, Ah..All is well"
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Looks like you got a good deal.
Life's most valuable treasure is..Love
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Thank you, It made me feel better that you all thought it was a nice looking pipe. It also made me feel better to know that a lot of estate pipes need work so luckily the work that was made makes the pipe look nice (at least in my opinion). I looked up Radice pipes and its looks like a nice Italian brand of briar pipes. http://pipedia.org/wiki/Radice
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It might have fallen in a toilet bowl. Why else would somebody part with such a nice pipe? 
I find myself sitting idly on the line dividing past and future,
as if I could kill time without injuring eternity. -- Thoreau
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I would just suggest a good clean and you should be ready to smoke oh and a little polish on that silver band other than that the stem seems clean and the finish seems smooth.
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I think its hard to use the term "ripped off" on a $10 pipe. Spending money on anything is about perceived value. Some people have no problem dropping $70K on a car and others wouldnt dream of doing that even if they had the money. Your $10 pipe may be a GREAT value to you but not to others. Its in the eye of the beholder.
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Looks like a nice Bulldog to me for ten bucks plus shipping. Let us know how she smokes!
"I run a craftsman's shop, not a factory, my pipes are works of art, fruit of expert hands, heart and fantasy" ~Carlo Scotti
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It's not a 10$ pipe though its a pipe he bought for 10$ and from the looks of It it's better than my first pipe which cost me 30$ lol so I think he made a pretty good purchase.
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Great deal for that pipe! Good looking pipe also congrats!
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pruss
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Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 331
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Hey way to look hard and long at pipes on eBay and finding a great deal. Enjoy that briar!
If this is coffee, then please-bring me some tea. But if this is tea, please bring me some coffee.
~Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
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Other well known makers offered pipes with twin-bore stems. About 20 years ago, it was more popular than it is now. I have a Savinelli with a twin-bore and I love it.
I also have an old Barontini that has a repair band. I had the repair band put on the pipe because it had a small crack in the shank at the mortise end and I was concerned the crack would worsen. I smoke that pipe regularly and without worry.
Louie, I think you did fine with your purchase. Your pipe's stummel has a nice tight grain of a quality you'd never find in a new lower-end pipe, Enjoy the pipe and let us know how she smokes 
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You probably got an excellent deal. I have rarely been burned on ebay, especially from people with good feedback who are honest and up front about what they are selling. Understanding that price is relative depending upon your perception.... I would say $10 is more than a safe gamble, and you likely did well for yourself. If it turns out to be a bad smoker you are only out $10. If it turns out to be a great pipe, then you have the satisfaction of a GREAT deal.
Personally I pride you for searching out a diamond in the rough instead of looking for a diamond in the jewelry store. By the looks of the picture, and assuming the repair is solid as described, you have done your due diligence.
Smoke it!
I have picked up some dirty nasty estate pipes, that I paid more for.... In fact I am now attempting after hours of work to smoke the ass taste out of a Kirsten radiator pipe I paid $45 for. Maybe I am jealous? Ha!
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If it turns out to be a bad smoker you are only out $10. If it turns out to be a great pipe, then you have the satisfaction of a GREAT deal.
Well said.
I understand wanting some confirmation about worth/value but I am starting to look at it this way. The determining factors of a pipe's worth are how well it smokes and how well you like it, in that order. I've had an expensive and very pretty pipe smoke terribly and a $10 pipe smoke up there with my Brebbias so smoking characteristics are #1 to me. It seems alike you've already answered the second part of it so I won't go into that one.
Would I have picked that one up in a store if I saw it for $10? Probably.
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
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Thanks everyone! I feel relieved that I didn't let it go (like I told myself to do several times before buying it) I really am glad that people on here, not only would have bought it, but have great smoking pipes that have bands on them as well. Thanks for the comments!
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Louie, the twin-bore stems can often have smaller air holes in the stem than most "normal" one hole stems.
If you find it difficult to run a pipe cleaner though the twin-bore stem in you new bulldog, the Dill's (yellow package) and the BJ Long's ("regular" not the fluffy) yellow label 56-pack Extra Absorbent pipe cleaners have a thinner wire and work well so you can better keep your pipe clean.
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If it smokes OK, you got a nice deal! If not, it is less than $20 expended and a cheap lesson. You could spend a lot more and still stinker. Let us know how it works out.
Al
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You did good .
U.S.M.C. (SEMPER FI)
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Looks good. The only thing I saw in the listing is the seller mentioned a repair to the shank. Perhaps the silver band is covering a crack in the shank. As long as that doesn't get worse you should be fine. Again, for $10 you didn't get ripped.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness
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Louie:
I'm with CapSousie. If I saw that pipe in a store I'd have picked it up in a heartbeat.
It's as pretty as can be and it'll probably turn out to be a great smoker for you. Shine up that silver repair band and I bet it'll be a pipe you never part with.
Nice catch, pal.
Fnord
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It is a nice looking pipe. If it smokes cool and dry then you got a hell of a deal.
Harris
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Naw, you got a terrible deal. So bad in fact that I feel sorry for you enough to offer to take it off your hands at no loss. Least I can do for a new smoker . (wink)
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