INTRODUCTION
Guys I am just like you a collector and I enjoy what I do. I go around to estate sales and Auction looking for tobacco products to collector. Among my favorite items to collect would be Zippo lighters and pipes. I’ve been collecting now for about 20 years. It started with a Zippo lighter and researching that lighter, before I knew it that one Zippo had me hooked and now I have over 50 Zippos lighters in my personal collection, and I have sold over 3 times that. I have about 20 tobacco pipes ranging from Dr Grabow to Kaywoodie and most recently waiting on the sideline to be added after I restore it a Savinelli pipe. I am a huge fan of Dr Grabow because they make solid pipes, and the factory is about hours from me.
MY ZIPPO COLLECTION
I have always been a fan of Zippo lights dating back to when I was a kid, watching my grandfather’s friend popping the top and making the flames dance, I like when he would pop the top and light it all in one move. I later life found out that he was ex-military and had served in the Vietnam war and Zippo lighters were popular in that era. I have been trying to collect ever year from 1950’s to the current year. As most of you know it’s not as easy as it seems. 1950 -1986 is extremely hard to find and when you do you have another collector paying top dollar for them, then from 1986 to current year you find that the insert and casing don’t match. In short it has been extremely difficult. However once complete I will auction the entire lot o as one piece and start all over again. The lot is just about complete, so keep your eyes out for it if you are also a collector.
MY PIPE COLLECTION
I don’t have an extensive collection of pipes as others do. The last couple of years I have been trying really hard to improve my collection. When I get pipes, I typically sell the best of the pipes, keeping the bad pipes for myself. Then what happens more time than not is I start to clean the pipe up and notice some type of surface damage that doesn’t make it worth it for me to restore it or sell it, instead I trash it. Now you see the problem and why my collection of pipes isn’t as extensive as you would think. For those of you who have done full pipe restoration you know that it can become time consuming depending on how much work is involved. So, I’ll keep working on my collection and at the same time sharing the wealth with all of you.
MY PRICING & PRODUCTS
I go to estate sales and auctions all the time looking for antique/vintage tobacco products. When I list these items for sale, they have come from some sort of auction or estate sale, that I had to pay to get. These are not items that I went into my grandfather’s attic and found and looking to make a little money from. Everything that I sell has cost me to make it available for you. I try to be fair with my pricing, so be fair with me. I am honest about everything I sale, every lighter I get in I check it out, if I don’t check it out, I’ll tell you. Every pipe I get in, I perform a basic light cleaning, unless noted in the description. If I see any flaws with the item, I will make you aware of it. I know how it feels to receive an item that doesn’t match the description. I will not do that to another person. What I do ask is that along with viewing the images, that you also read the description/condition so you are aware of any flaws you can’t see in the pictures.
CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me at vintagetobaccostore@outlook.com