I still say, and I may be in the minority, that the new pipe smoker SHOULD venture out into the realm of the estate pipe. I knew nothing, really, about pipes when I bought this Kaywoodie. I still really know nothing about pipes, but even less then. But I scored a 1937 pipe that just needed minor repairs done to it, and I did them myself.
About a year after I got it back smoking well, I sent it to Ejames who cleaned it back to "just bought" appearances.
This pipe was originally bought, in todays costs of ~$60, in the middle of the Great Depression and right after Hitler brought the National Socialists to prominence in Germany. Todays kids could tell you nothing about either events or personages, but the pipe still smokes......