For double the money i will sell for sure. I miss some of them but there ar plenty of cool looking pipes left out there
All Your Pipes, Double Your Money; Would You?
- Thread starter mso489
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At current appraisal, there's only a few pipes I'd unload.
But my collection isn't too bad ("Bad" being "too many pipes"), so I'm pretty happy to carry my current set forward a few decades.
But my collection isn't too bad ("Bad" being "too many pipes"), so I'm pretty happy to carry my current set forward a few decades.
No, absolutely not. I'm an odd type, I started collecting pipes around age 7. A lot of the pipes I have on display are cheap, crappy old ones I bought at thrift stores back then, they'd be worth a dollar or so each but I have fond memories attached. I have the first three meerschaums I ever got, all minis: a claw which cost $15 (at age ten, I had to put it on layaway), a Cossack, and an eagle. I have pipes that were my uncle's from University, pipes my grandfather smoked, and pipes I bought for my grandfather. I have an antique meerschaum which has incredibly lifelike carving-- if it depicted a real person, I could pick them out of a photo. I have abstracts by Ismet Bekler, the likes of which I'll never find again. And I have my Holy Grail by Yanik... and an unsigned pipe which I've discovered was carved by his father. I have antique Missouri Meerschaums, one a shorter (but still extended) version of custom pipes made only for a display at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. I have a Kirsten made for the man who opened the Tinder Box where I started collecting, with his name on it.
No, I could never replace these. I don't care what they're worth.
No, I could never replace these. I don't care what they're worth.
For a number of us, the story line that goes with the pipes is far more important than the pleasure of starting over to buy new or different pipes, I think. If I wanted to advance my stable as a collection, I would have bought different pipes and maybe not smoked them. Pipes in general aren't a dependable investment, so ratcheting up the prestige of the acquisitions is beside the point, for many of us. I do understand the inclination to start over; however, it is not what I want.
I'd take the money for sure, without batting an eye.
I don't have any pipes with stories or history. I only own 1 artisan pipe and despite the fact that I like it a lot, I could live without it.
Unfortunately, double the value on all my pipes would still be less than a grand, so I wouldn't get rich by any means :lol:
I wouldn't do it. I have been offered 15-20x what I paid for some of my pipes and turned the offers down.
Not in a million years. The story behind every pipe, getting commissioned pipes, and falling in love with the feel of the stem between my teeth is a large part of what keeps me in this hobby. Even my crappy ones I don't let go of, as I learn something from each purchase, each mistake, and each bad smoke. So, maybe my initial response isn't true, maybe eventually I would feel differently, but I doubt I would ever sell a custom pipe that I had made just for me.
Easily..... I have dozens of pipes that see no use and would rebuild the collection with a ton of Baki Meers. lol
Buying the pipes has often been a fairly labored process. Even in person, I have often not bought on the first visit to the shop. Online I've visited some pipes over days or weeks. Then there are the gift pipes. Some of the pipes I've bought off-handledly, I have come to like and realize it would be difficult to track down the same pipe. I'm not a big spender. So simply buying more pipes, enjoyable as that is, is not that appealing. Sometimes I'll get back to a pipe after a few months and wonder why it's been so long.
I am not a pipe-smoker because I collect pipes as a hobby, i.e., just for the sake of having them; my pipes are for the enjoyment found in their use. Now the pipes I enjoy using are very dear to me because they smoke so well. Why would I keep a lame pipe for smoking? With these, if I had them, I would gladly part for double their value! But a good smoking pipe, I would have no reason to sell unless I was in desperate fiscal circumstances. So I'd not sell both the good and the lame; only the lame ones: which I guess means I wouldn't be willing to play this game.
"You know, I really hate my clothes."
"Hm."
"I open up my closet, there's just nothing."
From Seinfeld. I feel the same way about my pipes sometimes, but about 5-10 minutes after lighting whatever I pick, I'm happy.
In the end, I wouldn't sell. It took me 30 years to collect this menagerie of briar and cob (and, yes, even a couple in brylon); I'd never be able to repeat all the mistakes I made to achieve all the lucky accidents again. I'll probably suffer yet another attack of PAD in the near future, but I haven't bought a new pipe in a few years and if what I've got is all I'll ever have, I know I can live with them. :mrgreen:
"Hm."
"I open up my closet, there's just nothing."
From Seinfeld. I feel the same way about my pipes sometimes, but about 5-10 minutes after lighting whatever I pick, I'm happy.
In the end, I wouldn't sell. It took me 30 years to collect this menagerie of briar and cob (and, yes, even a couple in brylon); I'd never be able to repeat all the mistakes I made to achieve all the lucky accidents again. I'll probably suffer yet another attack of PAD in the near future, but I haven't bought a new pipe in a few years and if what I've got is all I'll ever have, I know I can live with them. :mrgreen:
Everyone comes at this with their own story and proclivities. By nature, some are ready to start over at the rustle of cash, and others never. That makes sense. One other reason to hang onto the pipes you have is that it takes some learning and breaking in to get pipes smoking well. Some of my pipes took a few years to reach maturity, notably a Peterson K&P author and an artisanal ball shape. They broke in but took a long time to become winners, though they eventually did. Some of that was further maturing of the pipe, but most of it was on-the-job training for me with each one. The folks who would turn 'em over in an instant likely love the chase -- I can understand that too!
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