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2023 BL LE pipe cost

How much are you willing to pay for the 2023 LE pipe

  • $100-$200

    Votes: 6 23.1%
  • $200-$300

    Votes: 8 30.8%
  • $300-$400

    Votes: 9 34.6%
  • $400-$500

    Votes: 2 7.7%
  • $500 plus

    Votes: 1 3.8%

  • Total voters
    26
  • Poll closed .
I concede your point, something unique is fine, perhaps a style not usually done by the artist in question? I'm hoping that some year we might see a Zulu. I think I've had my fill of stubby pipes, no matter how well they are made, and they all have been fine smokers.
I enjoy having the pipe as a product of the tastes of the member who worked on it, but I'm with you on the Zulu shape. Along similar lines a Cutty with an interesting stem material could be neat as well.
My only thought on that is why? You pick a maker that is known for one thing and ask him to do something completely different? I would argue to find a maker that specializes in what is required.
Having 1 of twenty-something of the only (insert shape here) ever carved by so and so, does add some uniqueness to the pipe. That said, I tend to agree with you. A part of me always thought we'd missed the boat by not having his Hexagon Calabash as one of the Tinsky pipes.
 
I concede your point, something unique is fine, perhaps a style not usually done by the artist in question? I'm hoping that some year we might see a Zulu.
I think a Zulu would be a great shape. As to the rest, there's ways to do the LE without departing from traditional shapes. A crossed razor and pipe on the bowl or something. A bowl that is rusticated to look like a brush. Of course such detail would drive the price up some.
 

Hirsute

Used to have fun with Commander Yellow Pantyhose
There’s usually a conversation that takes place between the coordinator and the maker. Part of the reasons we’ve been able to have really top notch pipe makers make pipes for us at a price below what they normally would charge is that the maker helps select a shape they can make affordably and repeatedly (which kind of rules out haxagonal calabashes and the like, and also tends to focus on the conversation on a shape they’re known for), and some makers have cut us a better deal when we prepay so they don’t have to go out of pocket for a bunch of materials.

There’s always a tension between doing what one person thinks would be cool, and getting a pipe that will appeal to many of the members at a price point that’s reachable for many members, while also looking back at the pipes we’ve done previously to make sure it’s not a repeat or very similar.
 
There’s usually a conversation that takes place between the coordinator and the maker. Part of the reasons we’ve been able to have really top notch pipe makers make pipes for us at a price below what they normally would charge is that the maker helps select a shape they can make affordably and repeatedly (which kind of rules out haxagonal calabashes and the like, and also tends to focus on the conversation on a shape they’re known for), and some makers have cut us a better deal when we prepay so they don’t have to go out of pocket for a bunch of materials.

There’s always a tension between doing what one person thinks would be cool, and getting a pipe that will appeal to many of the members at a price point that’s reachable for many members, while also looking back at the pipes we’ve done previously to make sure it’s not a repeat or very similar.
So you're saying it's easy. :lol:

Seriously, I appreciate the hard work you and all of the others have put in to these over the years. These pipes are true treasures, and some of my favorites.
 

Kentos

B&B's Dr. Doolittle.
Staff member
While every coordinator of the yearly pipe wants everyone to like it, and therefore buy it, when I did it I was offered sage advice from prior gents. Simply design a pipe that you would like to have personally. I think we have had very diverse selections of pipes so far, and I like that. The pipes are an extension of the coordinator, from Micah’s paneled Billiard, to Price’s Ball, to Mike H’s canted Bulldog, etc, as well as the artisan carver.

That being said it was definitely a little nerve wracking on the first day of sales wondering if anyone would like my offering.
 
I see a lot of love for zulus here, but I am in the minority I guess, because I have never been fond of the shape. I do like the looks of it, so a couple have ended up on my pipe rack over the years, but something about that forward canted bowl just doesn't do it for me as a smoking implement, so those pipes have found their way into other Brown Leafers homes.
 

Isaac

B&B Tease-in-Residence
I see a lot of love for zulus here, but I am in the minority I guess, because I have never been fond of the shape. I do like the looks of it, so a couple have ended up on my pipe rack over the years, but something about that forward canted bowl just doesn't do it for me as a smoking implement, so those pipes have found their way into other Brown Leafers homes.

Never really cared for them myself. Don’t usually see custom makers producing the shape either.
 

luvmysuper

My elbows leak
Staff member
I see a lot of love for zulus here, but I am in the minority I guess, because I have never been fond of the shape. I do like the looks of it, so a couple have ended up on my pipe rack over the years, but something about that forward canted bowl just doesn't do it for me as a smoking implement, so those pipes have found their way into other Brown Leafers homes.
That's kind of how I feel about it.
I'm not denigrating the taste of those who like them, want them, or have them, they're just not a favorite style to me.
I mean, the true Zulu is odd enough, it's supposed to have a shank that is 90 degrees to the bowl, and just the stem is bent, but most makers now days are exaggerating that angle by also increasing the angle of the shank and bowl.
Pretty soon you'll see Zulus that are just Chris Morgan Briar cigars with the bowl pointing straight ahead out of your mouth. :lol1:
 
There seems to be quite a bit of variation within the Zulu category. This is the general shape I'm attracted to personally.
Screenshot_20221109-055542~2.png
 

nortac

"Can't Raise an Eyebrow"
No problem, I have a couple of Zulus, see POTD, but mine are rather petite. I’d like one full size like the average bent Dublin.
 
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Whisky

ATF. I use all three.
Staff member
I’m leaving the poll open for another 24hrs. Thanks to everyone that has replied.
 
Speaking only for myself, the shape of the LE is almost secondary. The one I have smokes so wonderfully, and I see others pop up on the POTD thread enough that I'm assuming they do as well. And then to be part of a group buy with such good people, I like this little club. Not to say shape or material isn't important, it is. But the importance pales in comparison to these factors and it is easy less important than other pipes in my little collection.
 
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