Unsmoked 19th Century Barling's Value?

[weezell]

Wanted a wooden template.

Condor my Brother, lets find someone who has one of those 3D printers! Bingo, problem solved...

 

[pitchfork]

More antique pipe bidding insanity. 1896 BBB with amber stem: $565.
This one was nice (I was interested), but I wouldn't have paid over $200. Wow.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Very-Nice-Vtg-Antique-1896-BBB-Diamond-Shank-Bulldog-W-Sterlinf-Band-amp-Amber-Stem-/331300857752?

 

[condorlover1]

Some of the old stuff is getting a little on the pricey side. I saw some idiot on Oi Vay pay $300 for a meerschaum straw, thats the 'cutty' with a longer stem without the case. Thankfully that was an aberration and not a trend otherwise I could swap my entire collection for pretty decent house in Florida. If you stick to the plain pipes with amber stems and a half way decent case you can still get change out of $60.00. I had been looking around for a decent clean briar 'cutty' for a couple of years that could be sent over to Turkey so I could have 5 or 6 pipes made with two for me and the rest as gifts. It is only after I found www.pipesmagazine.com that I was able through Kevin's good offices to locate a source of excellent carvers who would do a professional job for me. What is even more amusing is I had a pipe just like that one on Oi Vay when I was younger that was returned with my Uncle Bert's personal effects when he was killed at Thiepval near the Somme in the First World War. I used to smoke it and I believe it was confiscated from me when I was at boarding school and vanished onto a shelf in the head masters study never to be seen again!

 

[sablebrush52]

The bid history on the BBB is interesting and follows a familiar pattern. The auction proceeds in a modest fashion, with the bid price really pretty low leading into the final moments. Then, the snipers attack, all shooting at each other, this time 4 of them. Two collide in the stratosphere setting this high ending price. Of the four snipers, two appear to be collectors, neither American. The other two are what I refer to as generalists. A generalist is someone who just buys all manner of crap, lots of it. And the winner may be the generalissimo of generalists with 114985 credited trades. This is someone who's life IS eBay. And this guy buys all kinds of crap, not a pipe collector, not making a knowledgeable bid, just an acolyte to eBay. The other stratospheric dive bomber appears to be a pipe collector, just not an intelligent one. The two bids come in at well over $500, each made with the intent of topping the other suspected snipers. Great deal for the seller. Stupid strategy for the bidders, at least from a monetary standpoint.