The market, and only the market, in the long term, determines who is a maker bad, good and superior pipes. Admittedly, in the case of artists, musicians and, yes, pipe manufacturers some customers can be led astray, at least for a while. Fads aside, consumers determine, through their spending, who or what is worth their money.
A new pipe smoker would do well to learn before spending moneys on pipes. "Caveat emptor" is still a phrase worth remembering. It applies to buying cars, homes, fur coats, toilets, pistols, cereal, eggs, underwear, etc. The alternative is to get a very liberal return guarantee on any purchase. This is particularly true when contemplating spending what is personally a large sum of cash for a pipe.
Worth remembering is that there are pipe smokers who do not see the pipe as art and are only in the market for a "pipe." They want something that isn't ugly, holds a bit of tobacco and delivers smoke to the mouth. There is a market for the so called "turd" pipe obviously. I suppose each of us has a personal definition of what is or isn't a turd pipe. Many here consider certain marques to be turd pipes. Many here, see themselves to be the final arbiters as to what is or is not an acceptable pipe.
This thread reminds me of the dog chasing its tail. We've caught the tail once or twice but, we will return again and again to the chase simply because it is amusing to do so. If we do not overstep Kevin's boundaries this thread could go on and on. In a sense while my count will go up . . . I will become deeply saddened.