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I have a few old Dr. Grabow pipes and they're great smokers.. as many pipes can be.
I'm sure there's nothing special about them really.. we're not talking about a 3 Star Lee here, but when made well they smoke good enough.
I really appreciate the stem material. It's made from a softer plastic. No click clacking like you get from acrylic, and no oxidation like you get from vulcanite. Oxidation can mess up flavor, and flavor is the prize in this game.
I went to buy a new one a couple of years ago and to my surprise there was no way to pick the shape.. and many of them had some kind of leaf design carved or burned into some random place on the pipe. A random design carved into a random pipe, and you get no say in which pipe you pick.
So I thought.. Smokingpipes.com! They'll have a sensible take on the situation. The pipe pictured is the pipe you get.. you can scroll through the factory pipes and pick out the best looking grain of the bunch.
But, it turns out that even Smokingpipes had a disclaimer saying that you'll just get any random pipe... if you order a Grabow.
I think the place I finally decided to roll the dice on was Tobaccopipes.. Theirs were a few bucks cheaper. Got the pipe and it was the shape I wanted.. basically a regular billiard with a smooth finish. I believe it was a Royal Duke.
Alas, the shank was cracked and the pipe leaked at the stem due to the crack and I just couldn't live with it.. So I threw it away.
People said glue it.. and I did. But that's ragged shit. Ha! walking around smoking a glued Dr. Grabow that you just bought.. like a sucker, a chump, or some kind of trick.
I complained to Tobaccopipes and Dr. Grabow.. They didn't tell me to go kick rocks, but they didn't tell me not to either. I was pretty disappointed with the whole ordeal. Nothing was ever done to make it right.
2 years later I'm ready to give er another shot.
So my question is... Where can I buy a new Grabow and have the opportunity to pick out the shape, like a dignified person?
This is the pipe I want to buy:
I'm sure there's nothing special about them really.. we're not talking about a 3 Star Lee here, but when made well they smoke good enough.
I really appreciate the stem material. It's made from a softer plastic. No click clacking like you get from acrylic, and no oxidation like you get from vulcanite. Oxidation can mess up flavor, and flavor is the prize in this game.
I went to buy a new one a couple of years ago and to my surprise there was no way to pick the shape.. and many of them had some kind of leaf design carved or burned into some random place on the pipe. A random design carved into a random pipe, and you get no say in which pipe you pick.
So I thought.. Smokingpipes.com! They'll have a sensible take on the situation. The pipe pictured is the pipe you get.. you can scroll through the factory pipes and pick out the best looking grain of the bunch.
But, it turns out that even Smokingpipes had a disclaimer saying that you'll just get any random pipe... if you order a Grabow.
I think the place I finally decided to roll the dice on was Tobaccopipes.. Theirs were a few bucks cheaper. Got the pipe and it was the shape I wanted.. basically a regular billiard with a smooth finish. I believe it was a Royal Duke.
Alas, the shank was cracked and the pipe leaked at the stem due to the crack and I just couldn't live with it.. So I threw it away.
People said glue it.. and I did. But that's ragged shit. Ha! walking around smoking a glued Dr. Grabow that you just bought.. like a sucker, a chump, or some kind of trick.
I complained to Tobaccopipes and Dr. Grabow.. They didn't tell me to go kick rocks, but they didn't tell me not to either. I was pretty disappointed with the whole ordeal. Nothing was ever done to make it right.
2 years later I'm ready to give er another shot.
So my question is... Where can I buy a new Grabow and have the opportunity to pick out the shape, like a dignified person?
This is the pipe I want to buy:
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