I like some colored stems, but blue doesn't whet my appetite for tobacco so much. I do like that particular rustication. Rustication either works for me or it doesn't, and that does.
The lack of a Christmas color scheme is notable. But I'd want a holiday pipe that can be smoked any time, so that doesn't bother me much. I have a green stain pipe and one or two reddish stems, and a reddish stain or two, so that's covered.
We've already received a Christmas holiday catalog from The Met (The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC), so merchants are planning ahead. People are wanting to think about brisk winter weather.