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Post by sparks on Aug 30, 2017 6:05:10 GMT -5
I have kept my eyes peeled for a couple years for a Merchant Services Special to come up that didn't wind up getting bid out of the stratosphere. Looks like it will happen again. www.ebay.com/itm/311947806562?_trksid=p2471758.m4703I put a bid in on this and didn't hit the reserve. I knew my top number limit, so I decided to bump it up. Bingo. I hit the reserve and was the high bidder... until today. Can't really justify going beyond that, especially considering the history is not verifiable. Guess I'll wait for another to come around. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2017 8:04:40 GMT -5
I have kept my eyes peeled for a couple years for a Merchant Services Special to come up that didn't wind up getting bid out of the stratosphere. Looks like it will happen again. www.ebay.com/itm/311947806562?_trksid=p2471758.m4703I put a bid in on this and didn't hit the reserve. I knew my top number limit, so I decided to bump it up. Bingo. I hit the reserve and was the high bidder... until today. Can't really justify going beyond that, especially considering the history is not verifiable. Guess I'll wait for another to come around. Interesting for sure; however, I'd have to see a picture of Bing at Del Mar smoking that one before I'd shell out anymore as well. Good call. |
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Tsal
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Post by Tsal on Aug 30, 2017 8:19:20 GMT -5
I guarantee some schmo will pay a ridiculous amount for that pipe thinking it belonged to Bing.
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Post by sparks on Aug 30, 2017 8:39:04 GMT -5
I guarantee some schmo will pay a ridiculous amount for that pipe thinking it belonged to Bing. Exactly, as in the guy that outbid me at $150. I went that high simply because of the brand and the fact that they are hard to come by, but beyond that... eh. |
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Zach
Pro Member
If you can't send money, send tobacco.
Posts: 4,040
First Name: Zach
Favorite Pipe: Too many currently, bound to change
Favorite Tobacco: Haunted Bookshop, Big 'N' Burley, Pegasus, Habana Daydream, OJK, Rum Twist, FVF, Escudo, Orlik Golden Sliced, Kendal Flake, Ennerdale
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Post by Zach on Aug 30, 2017 8:39:56 GMT -5
Wish they could be found for a reasonable price. I haven't done enough antique store shopping lately. I guess the best bet would be finding one in a place like that within a bunch of estates. Good luck.
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Post by papipeguy on Aug 30, 2017 9:09:23 GMT -5
FWIW, I don't think the price is out of line at this point. I'm sure that the next few days will see some escalation in that department.
My Basil Meadows Bing was made to the exact specifications as the Service Merchant so I'm interested to see what the price settles at as a comparison to Basil's piece.
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Post by simnettpratt on Aug 30, 2017 9:16:04 GMT -5
You know, I think I have a couple of pipes smoked by Bing Crosby. Anyone wanna buy 'em?
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Post by papipeguy on Aug 30, 2017 9:20:33 GMT -5
Cool, Dave, they'd go nicely with my Barry Fitzgerald pipes from The Quiet Man.
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Post by simnettpratt on Aug 30, 2017 9:53:52 GMT -5
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Post by trailboss on Aug 30, 2017 10:08:48 GMT -5
It is ridiculous that anyone should sell it without provenance.
"Buy the pipe, not the story"
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Zach
Pro Member
If you can't send money, send tobacco.
Posts: 4,040
First Name: Zach
Favorite Pipe: Too many currently, bound to change
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Post by Zach on Aug 30, 2017 11:09:00 GMT -5
I actually have all of Einstein's pipes except that one in that one museum. papipeguy: Except Basil's and Scottie's Bing replicas are much nicer than real Merchant's, and hell, Savinelli's Bing's Favorite line is much nicer than a Merchant Service as well. |
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Post by oldcajun123 on Aug 30, 2017 11:19:49 GMT -5
 I have Capt Ahabs pipe, caught the white whale in my shrimping net and told that SOB, give up the pipe and I'll let you go. He's a good trader, I had to also give him Baudoin and Cracklings before he gave up the pipe, could of got Ahabs wooden stump but didn't have no use for it.
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Zach
Pro Member
If you can't send money, send tobacco.
Posts: 4,040
First Name: Zach
Favorite Pipe: Too many currently, bound to change
Favorite Tobacco: Haunted Bookshop, Big 'N' Burley, Pegasus, Habana Daydream, OJK, Rum Twist, FVF, Escudo, Orlik Golden Sliced, Kendal Flake, Ennerdale
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Post by Zach on Aug 30, 2017 12:04:10 GMT -5
It is ridiculous that anyone should sell it without provenance. "Buy the pipe, not the story" Kind of like, buy the hype and sell the news. |
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Tsal
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Post by Tsal on Aug 31, 2017 17:40:06 GMT -5
256.00 and rising!Lmao.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2017 18:38:43 GMT -5
I have Alfred Dunhill's personal pipe it says made in France so I know it is not a fake.  |
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weezell
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Post by weezell on Aug 31, 2017 19:12:14 GMT -5
Orlick Golden Sliced in a Meer...  |
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Post by sparks on Sept 1, 2017 7:35:30 GMT -5
Yep, and there is still 2 days left. As I said before, as a hard to find, classic British made pipe that is no longer in production... I can appreciate it fetching a decent amount. I'm just not sure that the current price is reasonable. Waaaaaay out of my ballpark at this point. |
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Post by crapgame on Sept 1, 2017 10:19:06 GMT -5
I have Capt Ahabs pipe, caught the white whale in my shrimping net and told that SOB, give up the pipe and I'll let you go. He's a good trader, I had to also give him Baudoin and Cracklings before he gave up the pipe, could of got Ahabs wooden stump but didn't have no use for it. Brad, Just think of the pipes you could have had carved from the stump! |
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sablebrush52
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Post by sablebrush52 on Sept 1, 2017 20:18:01 GMT -5
The seller has been on eBay for a long time and his other offerings have always been pretty good quality. So I have no reason to doubt that he believes what he's written. There's just no way to prove it, so it would be more correct to say "reputed" to have been owned by Bing Crosby. There was another shop in LA that was very popular with collectors and did a great deal of celebrity trade, Gus' Smoke Shop in Sherman Oaks.
I was a regular, mostly buying tobacco and cigars - Cubans brought in by running the blockade. One afternoon I stopped by and there were dozens of Charatan pipes spread out over the top of the rear counter. Jimmy and one of his employees were going over the pipes to figure out what they had bought. Naturally I was intrigued to see so many Charatans and asked Jimmy about them. He told me that they had bought them from WIlliam Conrad's estate and were looking them over to see which would need to be sent out for restoration and which they could just clean up in-house. He asked me if I was interested in any of them and I picked out two, one of which I gifted to JimInks last year. Now I have no papers to prove that they belonged to Conrad, but I also have no reason to doubt it. Gus' bought estates, had bought a bunch of Hitchcock's Dunhills, and weren't charging any premium because Conrad has smoked them. Back then, nobody would have cared. When they sold the pipes they just put them in the case, no "From the Collection Of The Late William Conrad" or any of that. They were just estate pipes.
Looking at the pipe in question, I'm not impressed. The line up between the shank and stem is funky, the nomenclature is almost completely buffed off, grain is nothing special, and those walls are pretty thin. Even if there were a provenance, I wouldn't be interested. It's not a great example. I certainly do understand the "collectibility" factor, but condition still matters. The two Conrad pipes that I bought were in really minty condition and well priced since they were a quick in and out for the shop. I didn't buy them because William Conrad owned them. I bought them because they were an excellent value for the money.
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Post by just ol ed on Sept 1, 2017 21:14:14 GMT -5
strange that was mentioned re:Conrad's pipes. Story I heard was most if not all were bought by the late Barry Levin back in possibly the 80s. I bought quite a few items from Barry back then, still have 9-10 of 'em. Many might recall Barry's ill begotten son Nikos (sp) who squardered all the business of cocaine/other drugs & screwd many customers in the wallet. Wonder if Nikos is still in jail. Old timers could remember that whole sordid affair.
Barry was a wonderful person, a square shooter in bizness. He & Bob Hamlin made many trips to Italy & the Castello factory. Hamline bought mostly new, Levin more estates. Somebody else might chip in & correct some of my possible mistakes. Barry died in early 40s. Another died too young craftsman...Steve Weiner, 'bout same age.
Ed (Duncan)
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sablebrush52
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Post by sablebrush52 on Sept 2, 2017 3:14:29 GMT -5
strange that was mentioned re:Conrad's pipes. Story I heard was most if not all were bought by the late Barry Levin back in possibly the 80s. I bought quite a few items from Barry back then, still have 9-10 of 'em. Many might recall Barry's ill begotten son Nikos (sp) who squardered all the business of cocaine/other drugs & screwd many customers in the wallet. Wonder if Nikos is still in jail. Old timers could remember that whole sordid affair. Barry was a wonderful person, a square shooter in bizness. He & Bob Hamlin made many trips to Italy & the Castello factory. Hamline bought mostly new, Levin more estates. Somebody else might chip in & correct some of my possible mistakes. Barry died in early 40s. Another died too young craftsman...Steve Weiner, 'bout same age. Ed (Duncan) It's always possible that Conrad sold some of his collection to Levin, but Conrad didn't pass until 1994, which is around the time that I bought these pipes. Conrad had hundreds of Charatan pipes. I remember hearing that he owned some astronomical figure, like 600 pipes. Certainly plenty to go around. |
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Post by haebar on Sept 2, 2017 7:06:03 GMT -5
strange that was mentioned re:Conrad's pipes. Story I heard was most if not all were bought by the late Barry Levin back in possibly the 80s. I bought quite a few items from Barry back then, still have 9-10 of 'em. Many might recall Barry's ill begotten son Nikos (sp) who squardered all the business of cocaine/other drugs & screwd many customers in the wallet. Wonder if Nikos is still in jail. Old timers could remember that whole sordid affair. Barry was a wonderful person, a square shooter in bizness. He & Bob Hamlin made many trips to Italy & the Castello factory. Hamline bought mostly new, Levin more estates. Somebody else might chip in & correct some of my possible mistakes. Barry died in early 40s. Another died too young craftsman...Steve Weiner, 'bout same age. Ed (Duncan) I bought a bunch of pipes from Nikos in the mid 90's and he always treated me fairly. Was fortunate to not be involved in the dealings that followed. That's a shame that he squandered such an opportunity to become an icon in the pipe world. With Barry's legacy he was all set to carry on the family business. Those were the days before the internet took off and Barry (and Nikos) would send out lists with photographs to people on the mailing list. I'm sure there was quite an investment in just the photographs alone, not to mention mailing out all the letters. When the letters came out, there was a mad scramble to call in and get the pipes you wanted. Makes me wonder how we ever got along without the internet... Lol |
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Post by trailboss on Sept 2, 2017 12:49:35 GMT -5
If I could modify my statement earlier, I would say that the seller obviously lets the buyer know that it is a word of mouth on it being Bing's, so there is nothing shady about it. It would be interesting to see how much it would go for with provenance...of course back when Bing gave away pipes, or his estate was sold off, people may not have thought about what we look at with the benefit of hindsight.
Saw an update:
I sold one of my M1 Garand's to fund a Colt LE 6920 SOCOM, I should have kept that rifle and just worked more overtime for the new rifle...I know how he feels.
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Post by trailboss on Sept 2, 2017 13:03:51 GMT -5
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I have Capt Ahabs pipe, caught the white whale in my shrimping net and told that SOB, give up the pipe and I'll let you go. He's a good trader, I had to also give him Baudoin and Cracklings before he gave up the pipe, could of got Ahabs wooden stump but didn't have no use for it.
