what is your latest pipe purchase

[Pipe Smoker]

A few months ago I bought this Luciano squat bulldog from the Italian Estates section of SmokingPipes:

Italian Estates Luciano Smooth Bulldog (289) (B) (2013) | Buy Italian Estates Tobacco Pipes at Smokingpipes

Its condition was said to be “Lightly smoked”, but, in fact, it was unsmoked. It’s proved to be a well-made and sweet-smoking pipe with no bad features (light draw, doesn’t gurgle, etc).

Then, a couple of weeks ago, I saw this Luciano stout bulldog in the Italian Estates section of SmokingPipes:

Italian Estates Luciano Sandblasted Bulldog (Pease/Di Piazza) (2014) | Buy Italian Estates Tobacco Pipes at Smokingpipes

I bought it immediately. Bulldogs are my favorite pipe shape, and this porky puppy is nearly unique — I’d never seen one like it before. It, too, was described as “Lightly smoked”, but proved to be unsmoked. And, so far, I haven’t smoked it either.

Then, a few days ago, this Luciano stout bulldog appeared in the Italian Estates section of SmokingPipes:

Italian Estates Luciano Smooth Bulldog (Pease/Di Piazza) (2010) | Buy Italian Estates Tobacco Pipes at Smokingpipes

Also said to be “Lightly smoked”, and just like the first Luciano stout bulldog, except smooth rather than rusticated. I prefer smooth finishes, so I bought it too. If it proves to be as nice as it looks, I’ll probably return the rusticated Luciano stout bulldog. OTOH, the rusticated pipe is really nice, even though I prefer smooth finishes. What to do, what to do… maybe I ought to keep both of ‘em. You never know when you’re going to need another good stout bulldog.

Edit: The smooth stout bulldog arrived today (May 17), but, to my surprise, I like the rusticated one better. I’m going to return the smooth one.