Please Tell Us Your Collecting Focus

[cigrmaster]

I would like to know what you collect and how many pipes you own. I know some of you guys have massive collections and I would also like to know how many pipes you have. I am really wanting to hear from peck, fish, foggy, Bradley and others I know who have some seriously large collections. Do some of you guys with big collections have no clue as to how many you have? If you don't know I need you to count them so I can some day aspire to be like some of you.
I personally find it pretty cool when people have more than 40 pipes and up to hundreds of pipes. Do you guys have specific collecting ideas i.e do you collect certain factories, certain artisans, certain shapes and so on. I know sabble collects Barling's, Al aka ssjones collects a certain style of bulldogs and all from English factories, foggy loves his Dunhill's and so on. I believe that many of the new members would find these collections fascinating like I do, so please let us know more about your collections.
For myself, I collect No. American artisan pipes and have 37 of those so far. I collect shapes like Dublins, Apples, Rhodesians, Billiards, Lovats, Brandy's, Calabash and Cherrywood. I collect group 4-5 sized pipes that I believe will smoke my flakes really well. So let's hear from you guys and if you want to post pictures of some of your favorites, that would be great as I always love looking at awesome looking pipes.

 

[framitz]

I have 19 lane or earlier charlatans some early castellos Celsius caminetto radicle a few du hills savinellis total about 127. Shel

 

[huntertrw]

An even 80...at least to-date, and almost all estate pipes . My focus is on British briar, but others have wended their way into the collection as well. My favorite shape is the apple, followed by the billiard.
So many pipes, so little time!

 

[framitz]

I hate the spell corrector shel

 

[elbert]

They don't know how many they have, Harris :nana:

 

[wyfbane]

Ok. So I have ADD. This leads to a generally unorganized approach to most things I do... Including my pipes.
I started with a Grabow Grand Duke in Afghanistan, that I still smoke at work.
Then I got a Peterson "Bic Lighter" edition 03, A Stanwell bent dublin, and a Savinelli Autograph Prince. And I was off to the races.
I have a vague checklist of stuff I wanted as I collected: Dunhill (check), Gourd Calabash (check), Kirsten (Check). The more I researched and the more I perused ebay the more I liked old american pipes. Faves: Linkman Grabows, Pre-50 Kaywoodies, and Tom Howards. Nevertheless, I have Mastercraft, Sterncrest, Weber, Whitehall, etc.
I ALSO love Italian pipes. I just have a slight thing against too many Sav's. Sav's are like the starbucks of pipes. A lot of them are great, but they are just everywhere. So I started looking for (and buying) Don Carlos, Cavicchi, Radice, Ser Jacobo, and Ardor.
Then I moved back to English pipes and fell in love... with Charatans. I love Charatan pipes. Smoke so well, and so handsome. I have several now but nothing like Shel's collection. I still managed to pick up more Dunhills too. I have 7 now of each.
I then started looking for shapes that made me happy. This started when I acquired my 7th dunhill, the cool cavelier shape.
I then scored my best pipe to date, an XL Duca Morta Dublin (With Italian Flair!) with a green cumberland stem. I now have 3 mortas (2 by Duca) and want to round out a 7 day set.
I have over $160 pipes and have shifted towards Italian and American Handmades as my focus, tho I will still go for Dunhills and Charatans as they cross a certain pricepoint.
I also decided that N. American guys need love too. I got my first Rad, Cooke, Layton, DeJarnett, and T West and knew I needed more of those, too.
My latest scores include my Lee Von Erck full spiral tulip (masterpiece) and a Davorin morta horn.
See? Told you I was all over the place. :crying:

 

[peckinpahhombre]

To be honest, I am not sure how many I have. I need to do an inventory. One day I will get around to it.
My primary focus is on Artisan carvers, though I do also acquire the odd Castello.
My collection is small time compared to fish and Cajun and others, but it's a work in progress.

 

[tslex]

As I wrote onceabout another useful tool, I don't really "collect" in the usual sense of that word. Those thoughts are here:

Suburban Sheepdog
I don't -- or at least I try not to -- own anything that doesn't have at least a regular use. I've got about 25 pipes, and that is my net acquisition after more than 35 years of pipe smoking -- over the span of which time I suppose I HAVE owned perhaps twice that many all told. If I look at a pipe and think, "nah, I don't want to smoke that anymore," it finds another home. Not that some pipes aren't more favored. Not that some pipes don't go unsmoked for a while. But the goal is never to collect for it's own sake. (As for shapes, I do love traditional pipes, with a special fondness for bent bulldogs. You won't fund any lovats, or lumbermen or Liverpools. For reasons of heritage I will always look twice at a Peterson, and about 1/3 of my pipes were made in the land of my people. So I suppose that's a "focus" of sorts.)
Now I admire the guys who do collect in a meaningful way. The best collectors verge into the realm of scholarship, and really are a benefit to the whole community. I always think of Neill Archer Roan's dedication to Comoys Bleu Riband pipes. He probably has the best collection in the world and can tell you more about the marque than anyone. I can appreciate that collectors appreciate collecting. It's just not me.

 

[rigmedic1]

I have 99 pipes. Some of my pipes are from my early days: One M&M corncob, a Dr. Grabow Viscount Author, and a Dr. Grabow Starfire pick-ax. I have given a number of pipes away over the years.
I have 14 Edwards pipes, my first pipe collection.
Started collecting Danish freehand pipes in the 80's, have a half dozen of those. I still love the style.
I began collecting Petersons in 2005. Then I started picking up the odd maker here and there: a Barling, a Charatan, a Savinelli, a Dunhill, a Quatrocchoci, etc. I have different system pipes, experimenting with those, such as a Bartlett, Peterson dry system, filter pipes, etc.
Decided it would be fun to try different artisans: So far, a Mark Tinsky, Randy Wiley, Trevor Talbert and a Chris Askwith. Also different materials: Clay, briar, meerschaum, rosewood, olivewood, strawberrywood. I will be adding a Golden Morta to my stable this year, pipe number 100.
Guess you could say my focus is unfocused.

 

[huntertrw]

"I need to do an inventory."
For that he may need to hire the same international accounting firm which keeps track of his tobacco cellar!

 

[mso489]

I have more than 80 pipes, but compared to scores of real collectors on Forums, my stable is homespun. I seem to go for variety -- in shapes, nations of origin, price levels but only up to a modest point. I'm limited to briars and cobs, with one clay, and a set of four (if I count correctly) pipes made of Mountain Laurel by one specific N.C. carver.To say more about my "collection" would be vainglory, but I find it intensely interesting and specific to my tastes. I could explain what attracted me to each pipe and why it has remained while others have been culled and traded off. The limitations of my own stable in no way limits my appreciation of other collections, whether of high end artisanal pipes, meerschaum, historical estate pipes, collector U.S. factory pipes, and so on.

 

[dermotfahy]

I have 46, plus a grab box full of cobs. Mostly I collect by the "I like that" method, although I do keep an eye out for pre-1981 GBD's (especially Prehistorics), old 4-digit Kaywoodies, any Goedewaagen clays, and Custombilts. I have a few Comoy's, Savinelli's, and Peterson's. The rest of my pipes are mostly billiards and pots of assorted makes.

 

[warren]

I understand you are looking for specifics, can't help. I collect only grand smoking pipes in conservative shapes with stems bent to some degree. Over the years I've only found 23 which meet my standards. Not counting cobs of course. These, for me, are an entirely different animal; I consider them to be disposables.
My briars and meers are not looked upon as a collection in the serious sense of the word, they are more a bunch of pipes I enjoy, that I have collected over the years.

 

[gloucesterman]

My collection comes in two parts, the early years where any decent pipe was a valuable addition and the later collection which is entirely focused on Rhodies & Dogs, both English and Italian Artisan. I've never done an inventory so I haven't a clue as to the actual number except to say it's probably around sixty pipes. But I have "pack rat" tendencies and never part with any of them. I still have the first basket pipe I bought. It's probably more fill than briar but it's still part of the collection. Each pipe is part of the story, with its own set of memories attached. I never really thought of them in terms of how many. It was more why I had each one or what I learned because I had a specific pipe. I guess I'd say each pipe was a mile stone in the journey. The older ones are a trip down "Memory Lane", the newer ones the result of the experience.

 

[northernneil]

The focus of my collection revolves around shape and country of origin. I love small, classic shapes, so naturally I am drawn to French Manufacturers. I also love the beauty of the grain briar provides, so I also tend to collect Italian Pipes.
My favorite shapes would be apple / prince, billiard family and rhodesian / bulldog.
I do not like estate pipes and prefer to buy all my pipes unsmoked. There is just something about smoking that first bowl of tobacco in a new pipe, and experience the process of it becoming "mine", that I cannot get enough of.
Honestly, my collection is very unfocused at the moment, but I feel I am getting a good base to start with :puffpipe:

 

[Sjmiller CPG]

Still relatively new to the pipe scene. Have a few Yello Boles which I have found to be good smokers at a cheap price on Ebay, a couple of Savanellis, one a new "second" I found at an online pipe store and a new one I got for half price on Amazon. A few others were affordable (on a fixed income here) pipes that caught my eye for one reason or another.
In regards to a focus, I have one but no pipes that fit into it yet. Would like to get a seven day set of Disney World pipes. Had the best times there when my sister's two boys were young. They are the closest I'll ever get to having my children of my own. It would be nice to remember those times every time I lit a bowl in one of the pipes. They are well past the age of wanting to hang out with Unc and Mickey Mouse now. One just moved in with his girlfriend and the other just started his first job.

 

[lordofthepiperings]

I have about 37 pipes. The collection is a hodge podge of shapes and makers. I do plan on focusing mainly on Peterson, Icarus/Neptune, and artisan carvers from now on. Right now I just turned 30, so I have plenty of years ahead of me to build up my collection.

 

[cigrmaster]

Great responses guys, keep em coming. I noticed that northernneil likes all his pipes to be new, is anyone else like that or are the rest of you guys like me where you also buy a lot of estate pipes. I just counted and I have 18 new out of the 37 No American artisan pipes that I own. 15 of my new pipes are Rad Davis's and one is a Brian Ruthenberg, one is a Zack Hamric and one is a Trevor Talbert Ligne Bretagne Collector. I would rather buy estate as I really love getting a great deal on those. The only reason I have so many new ones is because they were Rad Davis pipes and they fit under my price threshold, and I just got addicted to buying his pipes, new or estate. As much as I hate that Rad retired, my pocket is thanking him as I had a hard time saying no everytime he posted a new pipe.
peck, you have been saying you are going to take an inventory for the last year plus and you still haven't done it. I swear, you are even lazier than me, which is really hard to do. lol

 

[jpmcwjr]

Hah! I am 71 and have about the same number—30-something—pipes I smoke. Not quite as much time to go big!
I started with a dozen pipes I had smoked in college, and have added a dozen and half new pipes and a handful of estate pipes. I hope to add one of each of the major players, probably estate pipes. Barling is my favorite, and I have one I got new 45 years ago, another one got lost or stolen. I have four meers, three of them smokable, but in need of minor repairs. The fourth is a well seasoned and colored antique which I will not try to fire up.
I have one freehand, a Danish, and it's a fine smoker, but I am very traditional with shapes and smooth finishes, though I've just got a Savinelli bent billiard and a Rossi straight billiard that are rusticated. I like bulldog, Canadian, and billiard in about that order,but am looking for a nice old apple. Probably leaning more to bents than straights.

 

[pruss]

Harris, great topic! Thanks for bringing it up.
I am still refining my collection; a process that, by necessity, has been put on hold since the birth of my daughter. I just don't have the time to buy, refurb and sell estate pipes to feed my PAD.
My collection today is about 40 pipes, but I have another fifty to sixty in the shop waiting to be cleaned up and converted into PAD and TAD money.
Since I returned to pipes I've begun to narrow down, refine if you will, the types of pipe I buy for my own collection. I am a little divergent, in that I like slightly bent Rhodesians & Bulldogs but equally like Canadians & Lumbermen. From a manufacturer's point of view I am equally enamoured of early 20th century factory pipes, mostly English although I'm a sucker for KB&B and LHS pipes, and also current era artisan carvers. I also really enjoy group one or group two sized billiards for short smokes. From a finish perspective I enjoy smooths and blasts, but struggle with rusticated pipes. The rustication has to be something special for me to be captivated by it.
I am currently aspiring to collect a Bulldog or Rhodesian, as well as a Canadian or Lumbermen from many of today's top carvers. I am really enjoying the process of tweaking and refining my collection, as I explore new carvers, factories and shapes.
I did a collection update post back in April, it's here if you want to see pics of where the collection is vs. where it was about 2 years ago. http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/taking-stock-full-collection-pic
-- Pat