A lot. Murray’s era Dunhill was widely hoarded. I know one collector who had, when I visited him in late 2016, dozens of sleeves (5 tins) of Murray’s Nightcap, Royal Yacht, Elizabethan and London Mixture.
Is The Esoterica Bubble Ending Because of China?
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So, pre Danish Dunhill is the next fad. A lot of cellared product will be turning up, assuming the wife and kiddies don't toss it in the dumpster, when the current generation of hoarders starts falling off the twig.
At some point in time the fad will probably be McClelland.
This is all about "star fucking" tobaccos, not about connoisseurship.
At some point in time the fad will probably be McClelland.
This is all about "star fucking" tobaccos, not about connoisseurship.
My understanding is that possession of a large cellar of unobtainum is, in Mainland China, a status symbol. A friend has shared pictures posted on Chinese social media of some of these guys tobacco rooms crammed full, but still optimized for display with overhead flood lights, etc.
In keeping with the ultra high end pipe activity that was happening in China a few years back where gifts of ultra high end pipes were used to seal major business deals.
I agree. I'm a foreigner, naturally, but I always thought it was strange that my shipments from Wujie Township (Yilan County) Taiwan had China Post stamps. Every single one.
Just an observation. Clearly I make no presumptions where it concerns each nation's sovereignty.
Hi OP, would you tell me (in private if you wish) who said this, and on what forum? Thanks!
No he actually uses his girlfriend's address too. Same town. I don't pretend to understand it but it is what it is.
Now that it's been mentioned, I order a lot of puzzles from Japan and they have Chinese stamps and postal codes.
Just as with anything, prestige in the hobby means there are plenty of what we call "fan boys" stateside. I've seen plenty of photos reposted and reposted. Huge cellars, obvious redistribution operations. They get distributed online like photos of attractive women at parties that the poster and reposter and reposter have never been to.
The real players aren't ostentatious braggarts. You won't see a photo of a "real" cellar, because they belong to older businessmen who don't hang out trying to impress people on social media.
I took a photo of an old tin of EMP at pipe club. On top of my pipe bag (plaid). I kid you not, someone contacted me telling me that a Chinese fellow had claimed that he'd bought it. And he reposted MY photo.
?
Wonder how many of our photos on here are done that way? ?
Well Pipesmagazine forum has something to protect it from that type of thing, and that's that it is indexed. If you search a topic on Google an informative Pipesmagazine article will pop up. It wouldn't do for a status-seeker to repost photos from here only to be caught out by a reverse image search.
Still. Stranger things have happened.
It's a status symbol here too. People are always posting those pictures on Facebook, along with their pipe selfies.
Facebook is for children. Same questions repeated over and over again. "What's your profession?" .... "Desert island! What blend?" ... "Mold or plume?!"
The advantage to a forum like this is that you'll never have something as silly as two concurrent threads about which Esoterica blends are the best.
The Chinese market has absolutely not backed off of Esoterica blends but as someone else here mentioned, they are having to purchase in smaller quantities due to the current customs crackdown over there. This happens from time to time over there and eases up after awhile each time.
Someone else brought up old Murray's era Dunhill. I can't speak for other vendors but my pricing has been the same for those the last 2-3 years and purchases remain steady but in smaller amounts at a time. Again, I see that as an indicator of the current trade issue between the USA and China and the crackdown by customs over there.
Finally, some of those Chinese customers are pretty crafty. They'll still buy large amounts of product but want their packages shipped individually to half a dozen of their friends at different locations. That way they can still purchase 10 pounds of tobacco but with 6 buddies, it just looks like they're purchasing less than two pounds of tobacco apiece.
Someone else brought up old Murray's era Dunhill. I can't speak for other vendors but my pricing has been the same for those the last 2-3 years and purchases remain steady but in smaller amounts at a time. Again, I see that as an indicator of the current trade issue between the USA and China and the crackdown by customs over there.
Finally, some of those Chinese customers are pretty crafty. They'll still buy large amounts of product but want their packages shipped individually to half a dozen of their friends at different locations. That way they can still purchase 10 pounds of tobacco but with 6 buddies, it just looks like they're purchasing less than two pounds of tobacco apiece.
The big resellers have. They weren’t paying $175 a bag for Penzance and Stonehaven that retail buyers pay on your page, but would take everything. Not now.
It is a multi tiered market. Resellers who are de facto distributors, affluent collectors, many of whom frequent the Chicago show and perhaps others, and younger fan boys who try to scrape a few bags where they can as cheap as they can.
I guess you need to raise your prices on Irish Dunhill. The demand has certainly gone up. ?
Steve, I think the current trade "issue" is creating a bigger problem than just kinks in the international Esoterica pipeline. It's causing trouble for manufacturers who rely on international supply chains and our farmers who are in the export business. Big business takes a hit, but small business has a tougher time finding a workaround. On behalf of our American businesses I hope that some regulatory normalcy comes to bear soon.
It wasn’t a secret. It was Ken Byron, on PSD.
It certainly wasn't a secret to me. I know Ken Byron, aka Sean Connery, aka Fuzzy, aka Fuzzytotemz (Reddit), and his pontifical bullshit when I read it.
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