serious collectors, roll call

[juanmedusa]

I think as pipe smokers we're almost all collectors to some degree. I don't however have any kind of really specific focus in my collection. I'm really curious who here collects certain brands, shapes, country of origin, etc. aggressively and why. I'd like to keep this hardware related more so than about tobaccos. Thanks Brothers.

 

[RDPipes]

I too sir, Oh there are several of one maker here and there but, generally I buy what my eye likes. I don't think it really matters to tell you the truth. As long as you enjoy collecting pipes the way you want to.
Oh! And what makes a serious collector? The amount of pipes he has, the value of the pipes he has, or that he can't stop himself or herself from buying another and another?

 

[Brewdude]

I too sir, Oh there are several of one maker here and there but, generally I buy what my eye likes. I don't think it really matters to tell you the truth. As long as you enjoy collecting pipes the way you want to.
Oh! And what makes a serious collector? The amount of pipes he has, the value of the pipes he has, or that he can't stop himself or herself from buying another and another?

Couldn't have said it any better Ron!


Cheers,

RR

 

[riff raff]

Oh! And what makes a serious collector? The amount of pipes he has, the value of the pipes he has, or that he can't stop himself or herself from buying another and another?

I resemble that remark....

I'm into British made pipes (Ashton, James Upshall, Comoys, GBD) and generally go for Rhodesian or Bulldog shapes. I'm of Welsh descent, drive a British car and have always owned British bikes (Triumph). So, collecting British pipes appealed to me.

 

[Anonymous]

I was gonna stick a cork in it 'cause I come off as an abrasive jerk often enough as it is. But I think it would be cool if people would drive a stake through the heart of the "serious collector" meme.

It's a merchant's buzzword for people with rapacious desires, deep pockets, and a desire to walk around wearing a description they think distinguishes them from their less well-heeled/obsessive peers.

Granted, it is descriptive of a human reality that would still be there even without a term for it. So maybe the beef isn't so much for the term as for the aura people surround it with -- mostly, by suggestion (one of the many "pass-it-along" attitudes that any fancy accumulates as it goes).

There's enough consumerism & conspicuous consumption fueled by advertising as it is without us furthering it.

PS : This is NOT a rip at the guy who posted the question that started this. He was using the normal term. For, IMO, an abnormal condition.

:face:

 

[Toirtis]

I, also, am unsure just what constitutes a 'serious collector'. I have 100+ pipes, but know of many people with far larger collections, and although all of my pipes are of decent value, few are 'high-end', and none highly valuable. I also do not concentrate my collecting on any one brand or country, although most of my pipes are from the UK. I am pretty serious about my collection, if that counts.

 

[Hermit]

I'm an unserious collector.  

 

[pepesdad1]

I don't consider myself a "serious collector"...but I am serious about what I select as "my" pipe.  I prefer Comoys for the distinguished career they used to have...I'm amazed at and desire more present day artists...like Scotties, Jesse, Kirk and certainly there are more...their contribution to pipe-dom...I think is equally  important.  JMO.

 

[riff raff]

It's a merchant's buzzword for people with rapacious desires, deep pockets, and a desire to walk around wearing a description they think distinguishes them from their less well-heeled/obsessive peers.

Thankfully, I don't resemble that remark, but wouldn't mind slightly deeper pockets...

One fellow on another forum, who I would describe as a "serious" Castello collector (several hundred) has recently started to collect older Kaywoodies. Compared to Castellos, they are cheap and he is having fun acquiring and restoring the various shapes.

 

[docwatson]

Let's just designate ourselves as "collector". Or mass accumulators. LOL
I'll probably be described as the most eclectic of accumulators, anything goes when it comes to pipes, except for some of the new fangled stuff with my bunch o' pipes.
:lol!: 

 

[RDPipes]

Let's just designate ourselves as "collector". Or mass accumulators. LOL
I'll probably be described as the most eclectic of accumulators, anything goes when it comes to pipes, except for some of the new fangled stuff with my bunch o' pipes.
:lol!: 

"Mass accumulators" Doc, I think you hit the nail on the head "Ouch!" with that one.
Count me in

 

[Richard Burley]

I don't collect pipes; they collect me. Or did until recently, when I realized I was duplicating items I already had. That happens after a while. I might fall for another perfect LB or meerschaum or odd thing or other, but I do feel my PAD is in remission. If I could only stop spending hours looking at the dang things! I have a preference for the Brits, but am definitely eclectic.

 

[Slartibartfast]

Definitely not a collector here - just a smoker. And while I seriously enjoy my pipes I wouldn't say that there's any aspect of pipe smoking that I'm really all that serious about - it's just a pipe folks.  

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Sometimes abrasive jerkitude works, intended or not. :lol: :heart: I've been accused as such before, and it'll happen again. :mrgreen:

I collect, quite seriously, pipes that smoke well. The collection will never be complete, as I cannot have them all, but I never run out of horses to race in my stables. Horse salesmen/breeders and race fans might think I'm dealing with rented mules, but they seem to perform well for what I do. When it's a race of one, and turns out is not a race at all, I always win first place.

8)

 

[femur]

I have quite a few pipes, Italian, American, Danish and smoke them all. My Italian pipes are my favorite smokers.

 

[idbowman]

I was gonna stick a cork in it 'cause I come off as an abrasive jerk often enough as it is.

Yeah, but that's just part of your charm.

I'm about as unserious a collector as the come, though in the last two years or so I've leaning towards bulldogs as my pipe shape of choice - which is not to say that I have a lot of bulldogs; billiards (straights and bents) actually make up the largest portion of my pipe roster for now.

 

[juanmedusa]

Well, I am like most of you guys then. I seriously collect whichever pipe appeals to me the exact moment I have pipe money in my hand. I have about thirty pipes and 5 of them are Savinelli's making that my majority group but they're so varied in shape and aesthetic it's hardly a focused collection.
I put "serious" in the title but in the body of the message I was really trying to suggest focused collecting. Perhaps I should have used focused in the title also. I wasn't trying to suggest an unserious or wrong way of enjoying pipes.
I'll be reading articles on pipes and the articles seem to suggest avid focused collectors of ultra specific genres but those aren't the smokers I interact with often. So I was just curious. I read an article on old family era Barlings and it definitely suggested the focused collector. On the Monjure International website, if you follow the Ardor links there is a picture of a man, Mr. Morrison I think, that has an astounding Ardor Giants collection and it's pictured in 2006. He would be a pretty extreme example of focused collecting IMHO.
A big high five from me to anyone enthused about pipe smoking, no matter how it manifests. John

 

[Puff Daddy]

I think once you put the word Serious in the header like you did you triggered a kneejerk reaction to a buzzword that conjures up class division. "Serious" implies wealth when it precedes words like Investor or Collector. It conjures up the impression that you can only be Serious when you are throwing big money at something. Society has ingrained that into our collective psyche, that there are the Serious Big Boys, and then there's the rest of us. Naturally the rest of us tend to loathe and react negatively to the Big Boys when a comment is made that dismisses the rest of us as secondary and not "Serious" because we are not throwing big money around and calling the end result "Better Than". Your intent was innocent but your choice of phrasing hit on a negative trigger. Perhaps a better choice would have been "Who takes their collecting seriously?".

I guess anytime you begin buying more than one pipe of a certain genre, from a certain maker or of a certain style you begin collecting with a somewhat serious intent. I have collected several genres of the pipe world, including classic British pipes, Italian high grades, Danish masters, and some classic pedestrian makers like Peterson. Each time I chose to collect a few pipes from a genre I took it seriously and did my homework, even though I may have ended up only gathering a few pieces before moving on to something else. So I guess, because of my intent and the manner in which I went about it, I am a serious collector.

I know of serious collectors who specialize in Dr Grabows and Kaywoodies, and I know of serious collectors who buy pipes carved by Sixten and Teddy and Lars. I think the more serious collector is the guy who, regardless of the pipes status or monetary value, puts more thought and effort into his pursuit rather just buying it because it is what it is. Some collectors take great care to preserve their pipes in the best condition possible and some just smoke em up, charring up rims and burning through walls regardless of the cost of the pipe. The more serious collector may be a rich man or he may be a poor man, but I think it matters less "what" he collects, and more "how" he collects.

 

[RDPipes]

I think that hit the mark, very well put PD.........seriously!

 

[Idlefellow]

As the Curator of the MCUMFLU (Museum of the Completely Unrelated, Mostly Forgotten and Largely Useless) I collect a good many things, but I can't say that I'm serious about any of them.