Starting Collection of Pipes

Every collection has to have at least one Peterson.

P&C has some Nordings for $39.99. Those Icarus and Neptune pipes look like a really good investment into your pipe smoking pleasure. Stanwell has nice perfectly drilled pipes for like $50.00...I can vouch for the Stanwell.

I'd take your time to peruse some of the expansive retail sites like our sponsors smokingpipes.com, iwanries.com, pipesandcigars.com, cupojoes.com, and 4noggins.com. Just do some of each site at a time, a brand or two, and hold off on buying until you begin to get a feel for what's available, at what prices. Get a feel for filters and non-filtered pipes, and how you want to proceed with that. The best cob brands are Missouri Meerschaum and Old Dominion, in my opinion, and these are inexpensive and excellent smokers, and will give you a rotation, to rest your pipes, while you learn more. Really take your time with this. A few cobs would give you plenty of pipes to buy time to learn briar and Meerschaum pipes, and a little about other woods that are used. With tobacco, don't buy more than a tin, or an ounce or two of anything, until you really learn what you like, and what you continue to like. The more deliberate you are, the fewer mistakes you'll make, the more you'll enjoy the trip. I'd buy new pipes for the first five or six, so you can stick to dependable products likely to be pleasing, before you venture off into estate (used) pipes, if you do that.

Rossi, Peterson, Savinelli, Stanwell, Bjarne Viking, Bruyere St. Claude or IMP Meershaums on Smokingpipes.com while they last, and Brighams are all good choices for the next level of piping.

P&C also has Big Ben churchwardens for $69.99.

http://www.pipesandcigars.com/mobile/pipes/92647/big-ben-elegant-pipes/

I have a few Danish Freehands and an assortment of Turkish Meerschaums.
But, I love the styling and quality of the better Italian pipes. Savinelli has been mentioned but I would also look to Moretti, Don Carlos, Mario Grande and a few others.
IMHO, can't beat the Italians when it comes to making shoes, suits and pipes!

Hang out at your local B&M if you have one and see what catches your eye. Watch other people smoke and take note of what you think would fit you.
You could also spend some time watching YouTube videos of other people's collections and what they're smoking.
If I had one recommendation, it would be to not jump in head first on pipe acquisitions until you have an idea of what kind of shapes you like to hold, what hangs in your mouth well, etc... I bought some stuff in the beginning that I just never connected with and I had to figure out what to do with them. I'd only buy (at least in the beginning) pipes that I've actually held and examined in person. After a while, you can spot by eye what is going to be good for you, but nothing beats holding it in person.

Dude, you are on the path to ruin -- you do understand that, right?

+1 Wilson
Dollar for dollar a Savinelli is hard to beat. Great smokers. Well made, and good looking pipes.

If you've got $100 to spend, I'd go to smokingpipes.com and find a $60 estate pipe...maybe one of those Bruyere jobs they currently have...or even a meerschaum/Peterson/Stanwell/Savinelli, etc. The remaining money should be spent on a bunch of 1 or 2 oz baggies of Cornell and Diehl bulk tobaccos (currently 20% off). There's enough there to span the whole gamut of tobacco genres. Just be sure to checkout at $100 so you get the free shipping.
My $.02.
:mrgreen:

+1 with Dave. Savinelli makes a wide variety of styles and within a pretty broad pricing structure. And you always get a good pipe. Start looking there and you won't go wrong.

Also check out the pipes and accessories forum on this site. Often there are nice, affordable estate pipes for sale -- typically cleaned and ready to smoke.

If you haven't come across it yet, there's also the Free Pipe Project, ministered by Shaintiques in a lovely effort to help folks get started. I was sorely tempted to toss my name in the hat myself, but my collection seems to have grown just enough to where I disqualified myself. From the returns I've seen, they have a delightful variety of donated pipes, (expertly cleaned and restored by Shaintiques himself) and tobacco of all stripes.

Looks like a nice collection already! My taste in pipes has changed so much over the now 6 years since I started smoking a pipe.
Some folk just go on the looks, some favour a particular brand. I personally see a pipe I look the like of, have a look at the brand if I've never heard of it (ie make sure that ebay seller isn't selling an estate pipe for $200 when new it would be $50) and then check my bank account - very often I get to the last step.

I have a Peterson Churchwarden, as a matte roof fact it is the very same one that is in my avatar. It won't set you back a whole lot, but its worth the price. Like many others have said, you can't go wrong with a Peterson. However, it is always a matter of budget and taste. You're going to find some great smokes from some makers that just may not have the best reputation and you may find what YOU consider to be a lousy smoke from a reputable dealer. Its all about the journey, enjoy it!

If you watch Smoking Pipes you can pick up new Savs in the $80-$90 range.

Briarworks, go with Briarworks. They just started their classic line which is classic English shapes and they run $79-$99. The engineering on them is the same as their higher line Icarus ($100-$200), the line above it Neptune ($150-$300), and their top line Signature ($300 and up). You won't find a pipe that is engineered that well for that price in any other factory in the world. With this classic line they now have the regular classic shapes as well as shapes that are bit more artisan like.
There's also Peterson, Savinelli, Stanwell, Butz-Choquin to name a few factory makers that have solid lines that won't break the bank and still give you a good smoke.
If you're budget affords it you could get into Dunhill. They're a bit pricier, but I've heard they typically smoke really well and are very well made.
Then there's the artisan market. You can start out with carvers who are also just starting out to save some money. I will say even most newer carvers make a better engineered pipe than an entry level factory pipe, because they're paying far more attention to the details of the pipe than the factory who is mass producing as many as they can. Quality over quantity and all. Obviously as your collection grows and you're buying less pipes less often you can upgrade to some higher end pipes by more known carvers if you want to.
Another avenue is going with estates. SmokingPipes has a wonderful restoration department and are updating their estate section twice a week with new pipes. You can get some good deals there and increase your rotation/collection nicely through it.
It's a crazy world out there. To paraphrase Rick James, "PAD is an amazing drug.". Hope you're enjoying the new hobby and have found the advice everyone has given here helpful.

Great recommendations! Stanwell for sure, if you can find a Danish made one. Savinelli, Moretti etc. People love their Petersons, but with all of the quality issues over the past 6-7 years, it's become an "iffy" choice. Look for an older Pete to get a great pipe. Estates can be a good way to go, but until you're more experienced, buy from a reputable dealer like Briar Blues or Smokingpipes rather than eBay.