Thompson ad in Road & Track Mag.

[lotuspete]

In the back of my July R & T is Thompson's ad for "14 Premium Handmade Cigars" for $29.95. It features Cohiba, CAO (made special for Thompson), RP Vintage 1992, Torano, Black Pearl, Punch, Partagas, etc...

My question is, how do they do it for 30 bucks? Are there some real stinkers mixed in there? It says offer good for 30 days and 1 per customer. Breaking even in order to find new customers?

Thanks.

[PerpetualNoob]

My very first online purchase was Thompson's "Gladiator 12" sampler in an aluminum travel case for $60. It wasn't a great deal, but it was OK. There wasn't any 'trash' in it, and I still use the travel case. It's perfect for fish camp. They don't have the Gladiator sampler anymore, so I don't remember exactly what was in it, but they were all big-name-brand cigars, robustos, toros, and maybe a torpedo or two. They may have fluffed out your R&T combo with some of their house brands and 'exclusives', which generally run from the unsmokably foul to the completely bland. It's hard to imagine how and why they manage to find tons and tons of tobacco that has almost no flavor at all, but they do. I know, because I bought 125 of them in a fit of poor judgment and rampant ignorance. They're good enough for mowing the yard, but that's about it. If you drop it and run over it with the mower, you're not going to be too broken up about it. I only paid an average of about $1.25 for them, so ya get what ya pay for.

[bgwvdave]

I think there house brand smokes come from the sweepings or worse

[QWKDTSN]

I am doomed... I bought a humidor kit from BargainHumidors.com last week and within 2 days got a catalog from Thompson Cigars addressed to me. I just know this is the kind of aggressive company I'm going to receive mail from for the rest of my life! I laughed out loud at how quickly I got on their mailing list and they dispatched a catalog to my door.

[PerpetualNoob]

Yeah, I get their catalogs, too, and I flip through them, but the trash barrel is between the mailbox and the house, and that plan has been working out pretty well for me, so far.

I'll say again, I have two of their Diamondback humidors, which are absolutely beautiful, and they hold humidity very, very well, in my fairly dry climate. I would buy another one of them, if I needed it.

[QWKDTSN]

Dry climate, in Anchorage?

Welllll... I suppose so. I lived in Kodiak for a little over a year and its climate was the opposite of dry, but every time I visited Anchorage the weather was quite nice!

[PerpetualNoob]

Originally Posted by QWKDTSN

Dry climate, in Anchorage?

Welllll... I suppose so. I lived in Kodiak for a little over a year and its climate was the opposite of dry, but every time I visited Anchorage the weather was quite nice!

Well, "dry", as in, low humidity. All winter it was 15-25%, and the last couple of months it has been pretty steady in the mid-40's. Even when it's cloudy, or even pouring rain, it might get up to 50-55%. I've never seen it higher than that, and that was just for a day or so.

We've already had more sunny days this Summer, than all of last Summer. It's 75 in the shade, and I'm diggin' it.

[orca99usa]

Thompson's recently started sending me catalogs again, and I haven't ordered anything from them in nearly two years. I can deal with the catalogs as long as the telemarketing calls don't start again - the reason I quit doing business with them in the first place.

[Oxman]

Most of the time Thompson's is overpriced, but they occasionally have a pretty awesome deal. The biggest issue I have is the constant phone calls pressuring you to get with a monthly shipment of their house brands.

[Cigary]

Originally Posted by Oxman

Most of the time Thompson's is overpriced, but they occasionally have a pretty awesome deal. The biggest issue I have is the constant phone calls pressuring you to get with a monthly shipment of their house brands.

Yep,,,occasionally they send out their "hook" deals to get you interested and I did that years ago with the $30 deal for 12 cigars with the aluminum travel care that was cedar lined,,,did that deal twice and the cigars were good enough. I now have 2 cases and I get their magazine but no phone calls,,,maybe it's because I gave them the wrong phone number. My apologies to the poor sap who is now getting phone calls from Thompsons.

[Acesfull]

the only things i've ever bought from thompson's were two humidors which were awesome one being my Mother of All Humidors.. i still have them but i dont buy cigars from them.. i've heard some horror stories about cigar purchases.

[jedipastor]

Originally Posted by Oxman

Most of the time Thompson's is overpriced, but they occasionally have a pretty awesome deal. The biggest issue I have is the constant phone calls pressuring you to get with a monthly shipment of their house brands.

Exactly! I'll probably never order again because of how annoying they are!

[6clicks]

I have dealt with Thompson previously and their humidor prices are very good. I did get a sampler with a 4X44 Gurkha Legend in it, a special made cheapo just for their deals. That I didn't like. I stopped dealing with them and ony received one phone call. I do get a monthly catalog which I browse. As far as anyone complaining about catalogs mustn't be dealing with CI. I get one from them about every two weeks. They all keep the catalogs flowing. That's how they do business. It's easy enough to get them to stop.