Another Misleading eBay Offering

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paulfg

Lifer
Feb 21, 2016
1,573
2,951
Corfu Greece
I have a Peterson Tanganyika (Amboseli) meerschaum systems pipe with hallmarked (1976) silver.

Nording owned Manx pipes which made pipes sold under their own label as well as quite a few other brands including Barling.

I think the vendor asking $349.99 for an African meer either doesn't know the market, or is hoping for a total novice to come along and be taken in by his hype.

The Amboseli mine shut up shop some time ago, but they are hardly rare
you could probably pick up the same stummel with another name on the ferrule for under $100
 
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ssjones

Moderator
Staff member
May 11, 2011
18,426
11,327
Maryland
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Ebay seller "DeadMansPipes" really knows his stuff and is unlikely to make a rookie listing error. He's slowly becoming one of the premier pipe sellers on Ebay.
 

Duck

Can't Leave
Aug 28, 2021
439
2,339
Edinburgh
I think the vendor asking $349.99 for an African meer either doesn't know the market, or is hoping for a total novice to come along and be taken in by his hype.

The Amboseli mine shut up shop some time ago, but they are hardly rare
Unsmoked Kiko Townsmans are going for between forty and fifty pounds. I know that because I've been the second placed bidder on three of them in the last month.
 

ashdigger

Lifer
Jul 30, 2016
11,382
70,079
60
Vegas Baby!!!
Ebay seller "DeadMansPipes" really knows his stuff and is unlikely to make a rookie listing error. He's slowly becoming one of the premier pipe sellers on Ebay.
There are two DeadMansPipes. Extremely similar names. One operated out of California and the other the UK. This above listing is the Uk. The California guy is absolutely awesome. The UK guy is a mixed bag of rocks.
 
A meer made to look exactly like briar... this would cause me to pause and have to think about the reasons I was buying a meerschaum to begin with. Am I buying it because it smokes better than a briar? Am I wanting a meer for the beauty in the way that it colors as you smoke it?
A pipe that looks like a briar but is way more fragile doesn't appeal to me at all, in that I don't prefer meer as a material to begin with. I like meerschaum as a pipe material. But, I don't like it better than briar.
I don't even like those meers than have designs and patterns carved into them.

So, I'm not sure who these pipes are made to market to. Guys who absolutely hate the aroma of warmed briar, but don't like the way the meers color? I'm really confused with this. But, I am just as easily confused when someone moves my remote control.
 

alaskanpiper

Enabler in Chief
May 23, 2019
9,370
42,530
Alaska
I'm not sure who these pipes are made to market to.
For people who like meers. And also briar. Or perhaps for the guy that wants to show his friends and say "See this beautiful rusticated briar from Peterson? It's actually meerschaum!"

leo-meme-face-mask-1834.jpg
 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,439
109,345
Am I buying it because it smokes better than a briar? Am I wanting a meer for the beauty in the way that it colors as you smoke it
African meerschaum is quite a bit different than its Turkish counterpart. It's heavy, dense, and really doesn't color well if at all. Most of the time an African meer had a calcined rim or is completely pre-colored to make it more attractive.
 

irishearl

Lifer
Aug 2, 2016
2,157
3,807
Kansas
African meerschaum is quite a bit different than its Turkish counterpart. It's heavy, dense, and really doesn't color well if at all. Most of the time an African meer had a calcined rim or is completely pre-colored to make it more attractive.
My African Peterson meer hasn't colored quite to my liking. Started out white of course and small sections have developed a honey color which I like. But the ridges turned a very dark ash gray.
 
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ssjones

Moderator
Staff member
May 11, 2011
18,426
11,327
Maryland
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There are two DeadMansPipes. Extremely similar names. One operated out of California and the other the UK. This above listing is the Uk. The California guy is absolutely awesome. The UK guy is a mixed bag of rocks.
I didn't know that there were two. Todd Becker, the US version, is a great vendor who really knows his pipes.