Mastercraft briar pipes?

[wharfrathoss]

i picked up an estate pipe at my local B&M yesterday marked "Mastercraft" over "hand made" over "Algerian briar"-does anyone have any info on this brand?-it's a straight billiard w/deep craggy rustification, no stem marking-TIA for your help

[Cheeto]

I did a google search, the only thing that came up was this thread hah. It sounds like a 2nd pipe to me. Because of a small flaw or two some pipe manufactures will release their not so perfect pipes under a different name for a cheaper price. Doesn't make them a bad buy though. I have a bent apple 2nd, says "mitchell Thomas" "Made in England". One of the best smokers I have actually.

[Kayak_Rat]

Check Smokers Forums. It seems I remember one of them being a fan.....maybe even a collector.

[OilMan]

I dont really know anything about them, but I have been looking for one. Just because I own a MasterCraft ski boat. Just thought it would be a cool thing to have.

[wharfrathoss]

thanks for the tips guys-a BOTB on SF filled me in-made a while back by the same company that produces Dr. Grabow's, somewhere in between the company being sold a few times-it's giving a nice cool smoke so far-cleaned the inside, may work on the outside this wkend

[The Pirate]

Marxman pipes were made by Bob Marx in New York. Bob was a marketing genius and really promoted his pipes, many sold mail order ala Wally Frank pipes They were made, I believe, from the early forties to ? (not really sure at all. Many of his pipes were clones of the Tracy Mincer Custombilt with the same rough, craggy look. Others were more of the everyday classic style.
I have a modest collection of Marxman pipes. My favorites are the HUGE Jumbo. These were large and uniquely carved pipes Some of my Jumbos are over 7" long and have gigantic bowls. If you look on the Briar Blues site, Mike has about 18 of them for sale.
All of my Marxman pipes are excellent smokers to date, and they are pretty moderately priced on Ebay auctions.
Ken

[The Pirate]

ooops...sorry I misread the post. It is supposed to be Mastercraft and I wrote about Marxman...sorry
Ken

[wharfrathoss]

shoot, no apology necessary ken-i, for one, enjoy learning about pipes, no matter what thread it's in!

minor update:still haven't gotten to full bowls w/this one yet, but it's smoking like a champ-no gurgle, cool smoke, & lighter than most of my bent pipes, easy to clench (a bonus for me)-price was real reasonable too, $13-i'd advise grabbing one if ya happen to see it-if ya don't like it, give me a PM & i'll take

[The Pirate]

I do have 5 Mastercrafts. They go for cheap on Ebay. They are fine smokers. The only thing I know about the company is that Bing Crosby had a financial interest in Mastercraft pipes and he was often seen in their advertisemrnts.
Ken

[wharfrathoss]

here's the link i was given for anyone interested:

http://www.smokeshopmag.com/0406/signals.htm