I like Missouri Meerschaum cob pipes well enough to recommend buying one of the series that comes with an acrylic stem, such as the Dagner, the Charlie Town, or the recent St. Pat's Day. You can get a regular MM cob pipe with the soft plastic stem for about $5 to $8, but a pipe with an acrylic stem costs about $24. I've ceased to consider them disposable or temporary. They're good for beginning smokers because they are easy to smoke, but they're good for anyone for the same reason. I'm indifferent to how classy or not they may look. If I had on a tux and I had one of my cobs, I'd smoke it without a second thought. People who bring problems with them will find something to disparage; I only seek to avoid those folks.