Where do you set you standard for quality control?

[Jbird45]

Opinions vary, and mine isn't worth much, but here goes nothing. If a manufacturer is selling a special/limited/whatever edition it should be perfect in the function department, and damn close to it in form. That means no visible fills, no dented or loose bands, no crooked/poorly fitted stems. You know, those things that used to be referred to as basic quality pipe stuff. Save money to hit the desired price point by using nickel instead of sterling bands, or on the finish type, or whatever. Just don't sacrifice basic quality. Doing so gives the impression that your pipes aren't good. After all, if you care that little about the quality of your limited edition pipes, how little do you care about your user grade stuff; if you care that little about your user grade pipes why on earth would I pay for any of your premium pipes in a world full of trustworthy carvers and manufacturers that take pride in their product? A limited edition Pete shouldn't be an Aran with a different finish color and a limited production number.

Looking at Tobacco Pipes the cheapest Christmas pipe I saw was $104, and the cheapest Aran was $80. That's north of 25% more for the pipe, so I don't think it's unreasonable to expect the quality to be better. It doesn't really matter what that $104 represents for any of us. A price increase should equal a quality increase on the same product.

I don't know what has happened with Peterson, and I don't mean to offend any of the Peterson guys on here. Truth be told, I have more Pete's than any other single manufacturer or carver in my collection. For LE pipes I have 5 of their St. Patrick's Day pipes (2005-2009) that are flawless. The only issue I had was the year that they went to that disgusting green color that shouldn't exist in nature. It's sad to see this stuff happen.

I want to like Peterson. I really do. Their heritage and their styling appeal to me. But when I can spend $25-$30 on a basket pipe that has less flaws than a $140 pipe it's frustrating. All then vendor ever had to say is "blemishes are normal" or "the stems are hand bent, so there may be imperfections." It just makes me feel like they don't care. Especially when they said they would hand pick me a new pipe to replace the one with an obvious fill, and the one they send next is worse. I have bad luck, but not that bad.

 

[thp001]

"A limited edition Pete shouldn't be an Aran with a different finish color and a limited production number."

I agree but I mean that's basically what all the Peterson LE's pretty much are if one is honest with oneself, which is why I don't buy their Christmas/Anniversary pipes because I'm not getting anything I wouldn't get from one of their standard pipes.

A lot of Peterson's current and former issues arise from having way too many pipe ranges and finishes (smokingpipes currently lists 38 ranges of Peterson pipes) imo but they aren't issues I haven't had in other large volume makers at the low end of the price range. A few of my Savinelli's (smokingpipes currently listing 64 ranges of pipes!) having similar issues, in particular a 313 Churchwarden having a very prominent fill and a draught hole too high in the heel, that pipe was around $100 also, so you could say no excuse there, the pipe smokes fine though albeit with a bit of creative dottle manipulation required to smoke every last strand of tobacco.

I think things like stem alignment and metal band fit should be pretty much there no matter how expensive a pipe but with the briar itself that just isn't going to happen these days. The quality of briar available for volume production just isn't what it used to be, less dense, more sand holes, smaller roots, no manufacturer is going to start throwing away piles of stummels to get flawless $100 pipes.

Yeah, you can still get really good briar but in most cases you're going to be paying a lot more than the $100 range to guarantee such.

I want to like Peterson. I really do. Their heritage and their styling appeal to me. But when I can spend $25-$30 on a basket pipe that has less flaws than a $140 pipe it's frustrating. All then vendor ever had to say is "blemishes are normal" or "the stems are hand bent, so there may be imperfections." It just makes me feel like they don't care. Especially when they said they would hand pick me a new pipe to replace the one with an obvious fill, and the one they send next is worse. I have bad luck, but not that bad.

If you want to guarantee perfect briar at these prices you're better off buying from a brick and mortar rather than online. The metal band on that pipe shouldn't be dented that way but the fill honestly wouldn't bother me that much. Attached is a picture of my 302 System Standard, worse than I though because it actually has 3 fills rather than the 2 I kept thinking it had. I had to epoxy the band on as it came loose in the month or two after I got it. Yeah that's annoying but you can waste money shipping pipes back and forth or just crack on with smoking the thing and get some pleasure from it despite it's flaws. Petersons' so called Limited Editions aren't going to be big money estate pieces in the future like Dunhills or Ashtons, flawless or not.

If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with.

 

[Kentos]

The fact that Laudisi was able to purchase Peterson leads me to believe the company was having issues with profitability. Laudisi is a marketing company, not a pipe company, so you can see the way the Christmas Pipes were marketed, as well as the 2021 POTY having only 500 made selling is their forte.
A hundred dollar pipe must have razor thin margins where trashing a stummel for a sand pit when it’s already sanded and stained probably is out of the question. Same thing with a crushed band or crooked stem.

I really like the Peterson Style, but I spend A LOT of time carefully studying the pics of pipes before pulling the trigger.

 

[Borderdog]

I think there are a couple of different questions that are popping up in this thread. How things should be, and how they actually are? Given the initial question of where the line is in quality control, my response is geared towards how things should be. Unless I've misunderstood what I've read of pipe making history, blemishes in briar is what brought about sandblasted and rusticated finishes. There are other finish options for imperfections that pop up during carving, besides the smooth stained with pink filler look that Peterson favors.

There is some solid advice being given here on where to source pipes. The last Peterson I bought from one of the bigger online shops, without pictures of the actual pipe I was buying, was a meerschaum Deerstalker five years ago. Obviously meers don't have the same issues. This situation is what pushed me away from sight unseen manufactured pipes in general, and Petersons in particular. I get that the pink filler look is what you'll get for these pipes but that's not worthy of the price IMO. It's a personal thing, and that's just me.

With a little patience you can find great deals from other sources. There are some very reputable sellers on ebay that sell new and estate pipes with a dozen pictures from every angle, for less than one of these bondo pipes that are being sold as something special (edition).