oddly unmoved by two new beautiful pipes I just got

[seagullplayer]

I like the second pipe, looks good to my eyes.
But I might very well be like you and find it less than wonderful in my hand.
Can't help what you don't like.
One man's crazy ex girlfriend might be another man's loving wife, just not at the same time...

 

[mso489]

...ruffles and flourishes without strong design ideas, to me.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Well, none of the above are my cuppa, but I am stodgy.

 

[bigpond]

Yep. My recent Tsuge Urushi purchase. Had been a dream pipe for years, but it doesn't smoke as well as my others and the draught hole has an odd briar/bamboo junction that causes issues. Thank god its gorgeous.

Bummer. Perhaps you can send it out and have it improved. I bet a stainless tube insert would fix the shank issue and a widening the airway throughout would improve the smoking.

 

[wlrountree]

Happened to me with my first Peterson P-lip. Had a friend's dad swear by them but really couldn't afford one at the time. Search around and found a tankard for about 50$ and loved the look of it. I've had it over 4 years and I've only smoked it 5 times and never a full smoke. But the one that really hurts is a big meerschaum that's of an eagle claw holding an egg. Saw a picture of Andrew Jacksons somewhere from a museum and said to myself I've got to have something like that. It was hard but after about 6 months I found one in my price range. Smoked two bowls and now I just look at it. Knowing the potential it has to color so beautifully if smoked breaks my heart but I did not care for the meerschaum smoking experience

 

[cosmicfolklore]

That Ardor piqued my interest. But, I am not crazy about the way the spigot makes the proportions of the stem look like it is pinched in the middle, like a fashion model from the 1890's with a wasp waste-line. But, I would suffer the wasp-ness of it, if it smoked as well as my other Ardors.

The bottom one probably wouldn't get a second glance from me. I am not a billiard inspired shape kind of guy. Funny how we all have our own aesthetics. There are people out there who even like poker shaped pipes. ::

 

[mlb55]

That's funny. I was considering those 2 exact pipes at SPC recently. When someone else (you) bought them, I got one of the others I was looking at (a Mastro de Paja). When it arrived, I didn't like it nearly as well in person as I did online, and I just mailed it back this morning.

 

[drydock]

Ha! Well, now I feel like I need to come check out the pipes you do have, mlb55, because we might have a similar aesthetic going on.
I have a prince shape Ardor that I love. Smokes great, is beautiful and the price shape works with the ninfea stem design.
The pipe I really wanted to get via SPC was a Rinaldo rustic horn--and it got bought out from my basket 'cause I wasn't fast enough. I miss that pipe, and the two that arrived just aren't doing it for me. I like to take a couple weeks to really think it through, live with them, but they're still just "meh" pipes to me. Going to send them back tomorrow and I'm sure they'll move on to good homes.