Frenchy
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Just Sayin' HeyBeen a Grabow collector for quite awhile. I actually started collectin' 'cause I was teachin' myself how to restore pipes and I could buy a ton a' Grabows on ebay for next to nothin'. So I bought lots of 'em to see how close to new I could make 'em look. When I'd cleaned up the first bunch they looked so good I kept 'em. That's when I started collectin'. I guess I have somewhere close to 200 a' the rascals. Hell it was easy, nobody else wanted 'em. Then I found out how well they smoked and I was hooked on Grabows! Anyhow, good to see yiz.
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drbridges
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Hey, Frenchy! I've purchased some pipes from you.
Think I even talked to you several years ago when I was first trying to sort out all of these many Dr. Grabow pipes. That's what helped me get started in this.
There were so many names and styles called Dr. Grabow, and I couldn't make sense of it all. I remember you being most helpful, especially about the special order RJR Dr. Grabow pipes.
Welcome aboard!
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Sir Duke
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Same Here Frenchy...Welcome.
They are fun to collect because of the relative inexpense as compared to performance.
I love a beat up ole Grabow, and it loves me!
Mind if I post the pics of your Freehand?
That is a Rockin' pipe, I don't care who made it Grabow or Gretta Garbo, that pipe is kickin' !!!
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Frenchy
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Re: Same Here Frenchy... | Duke wrote: | Welcome.
They are fun to collect because of the relative inexpense as compared to performance.
I love a beat up ole Grabow, and it loves me!
Mind if I post the pics of your Freehand?
That is a Rockin' pipe, I don't care who made it Grabow or Gretta Garbo, that pipe is kickin' !!! |
Sure Duke post the pics buddy.
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Sir Duke
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Sure Duke post the pics buddy. No sooner said than Done
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LokoMac8
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Re: Dr. Grabow UNIQUE | Sir Duke wrote: | Mind if I post the pics of your Freehand?
That is a Rockin' pipe, I don't care who made it Grabow or Gretta Garbo, that pipe is kickin' !!! |
I have tried to buy one of these several times on eBay, but always got outbid. Now I haven't seen one in quite a while!
My friend, an employee at Dr. Grabow, seen the picture you posted of Frenchy's fine pipe and told me, " . . . Grabow Unique. One of your croneys has one although I don't think he realizes it." He said in 1966 they only had 18 of them left. He also added that the top of the Grabow line was $7.50. Unique was $35.00. He continued, "Unique was the first effort by a US manufacturer to make a freehand."
I don't remember what the UNIQUEs I bid on went for in the end, probably not very much but I sort of had the idea back then that if I paid over ten to fifteen dollars for an old pipe, it was too much! At any rate, I am sort of hesitant to put this info about how rare they are in the Forum as I still don't have one and this single post may spark a bidding frenzy on the next one that appears, but alas, DUTY comes before my personal pleasure and gain. I started out passing the word about Dr. Grabow pipes and sharing information, and save for a CURRENT auction or deal I am working on, I'm going to continue to post what I know for others to enjoy.
By the way, Frenchy, of the three or four UNIQUEs that I have seen, yours is by far the best looking of them! I've got about 400 Dr. Grabows and I don't have a UNIQUE -- what kind of collector am I?
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LokoMac8
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Re: Dr. Grabow UNIQUE | LokoMac8 wrote: |
I have tried to buy one of these several times on eBay, but always got outbid. Now I haven't seen one in quite a while! |
I looked in my digital "archives" and find that I have pictures of at least five different Dr. Grabow UNIQUE pipes. The more interesting of those (not the best looking necessarily), was one offered with a plastic gift case -- photo of which I attach.
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