The Mancave Gets a Make-Over (Picture Heavy ! )
Bonanzadriver
Master
in General
Hi all,
Thought I'd take a few moments and show you guys what my son Nick and I have been up to the last couple of days. Well, really yesterday that bled into today.
You may remember that I posted some pics of my pipe digs a little while back....
https://thispipelife.com/us/tpl/forum/index.php?p=/discussion/854/so-where-do-you-usually-smoke-your-pipes-or-cigars#latest
Since then I've been runnin outta room on the shelves for all of the TAD, PAD and EPRD fixes I've been receiving.
I had been noodlin around with what I could do to accommodate the ever growing pipe stable as well as room for the tobacco. I had been online looking at the various pipe cabinets and new bookcases but wow are those pipe cabinets expensive, from several hundred $$ to Thousands of $$.
I may have mentioned this a time or two in the past, but I am a very thrifty guy, the Blonde calls me CHEAP. I guess it comes from over 25 years in the car business, I just hate to pay retail price for anything.
Anyway, one night, a few weeks ago, while surfin the interweb on CL I kept seeing all of these old "Entertainment Centers" for sale that once were over $1000 or $2000 or more, now were $400 to $800. I came across one unit that was nice, 5 units in all, that had been goin down in price for several weeks. I gave the guy a call and got him down to $150.
So, yesterday, my son Nick and I hopped in a 10' Uhaul truck and drove the 1 hour north to meet the guy and buy the Entertainment Unit. When we got there we were greeted and then shown the unit, up a flight of stairs in the bonus room! This thing was enormous and the TV cabinet weighed a ton. I voiced my disappointment in the fact that he hadn't mentioned that we would have to negotiate stairs. (Being as we were gonna have to lug it up the stairs into my mancave later).
He agreed and came another $50 off. That's $100 folks. (see , told ya I was cheap)
After over 45 minutes of butt bustin we had it all down the stairs and out into the Uhaul. A little over an hour later and we were back at the casa. Then the fun began.
I'm not gonna give you a blow by blow, suffice it to say that getting the TV cabinet up those slick oak tread stairs and through the narrow landing and into my office turned out to be a herculean task. Almost an hour just for the tv cabinet alone. All in all it took 2 hours to get it all up there.
The next few hours were fun. Had some beer, Scotch and such, a few pipes and set everything up.
Enough of my bitchin, here's the results. (go to the above referenced thread for the "Befores")
Top shelf is the Esoterica shelf. So far I've been able to find 2 bags
and 1/2 tins of Margate, 1 bag of Woodbridge, 1 bag of Dorchester, 1 tin
and 9.7 oz of Penzance & several oz of Stonehaven. (I feel very
fortunate )
Corner unit and bottom shelf full of 29 large jars of C.B. Perkins
Tobacco (picked it up from a fella that bout it from a closed store)
Top shelf is some of my nicer pipes (couldn't get my 24 pipe rack to fit
up there), 2nd shelf is some of my cigar stuff, 3rd shelf is 20
something jars of various tobaccos, including several jars of 3 & 4
oz Lane samples from the TAPS expo, 4th shelf is Nicks pipe rack.
More jars and a few bags...
The five units in all their glory.
(over 10' wide)
23 or so of the modest stable...
Look at all those beautiful Bulldogs.
Finally, the desk all cleaned up and tonights briars set up for the evening tobacco medley.
Thought I'd take a few moments and show you guys what my son Nick and I have been up to the last couple of days. Well, really yesterday that bled into today.
You may remember that I posted some pics of my pipe digs a little while back....
https://thispipelife.com/us/tpl/forum/index.php?p=/discussion/854/so-where-do-you-usually-smoke-your-pipes-or-cigars#latest
Since then I've been runnin outta room on the shelves for all of the TAD, PAD and EPRD fixes I've been receiving.
I had been noodlin around with what I could do to accommodate the ever growing pipe stable as well as room for the tobacco. I had been online looking at the various pipe cabinets and new bookcases but wow are those pipe cabinets expensive, from several hundred $$ to Thousands of $$.
I may have mentioned this a time or two in the past, but I am a very thrifty guy, the Blonde calls me CHEAP. I guess it comes from over 25 years in the car business, I just hate to pay retail price for anything.
Anyway, one night, a few weeks ago, while surfin the interweb on CL I kept seeing all of these old "Entertainment Centers" for sale that once were over $1000 or $2000 or more, now were $400 to $800. I came across one unit that was nice, 5 units in all, that had been goin down in price for several weeks. I gave the guy a call and got him down to $150.
So, yesterday, my son Nick and I hopped in a 10' Uhaul truck and drove the 1 hour north to meet the guy and buy the Entertainment Unit. When we got there we were greeted and then shown the unit, up a flight of stairs in the bonus room! This thing was enormous and the TV cabinet weighed a ton. I voiced my disappointment in the fact that he hadn't mentioned that we would have to negotiate stairs. (Being as we were gonna have to lug it up the stairs into my mancave later).
He agreed and came another $50 off. That's $100 folks. (see , told ya I was cheap)
After over 45 minutes of butt bustin we had it all down the stairs and out into the Uhaul. A little over an hour later and we were back at the casa. Then the fun began.
I'm not gonna give you a blow by blow, suffice it to say that getting the TV cabinet up those slick oak tread stairs and through the narrow landing and into my office turned out to be a herculean task. Almost an hour just for the tv cabinet alone. All in all it took 2 hours to get it all up there.
The next few hours were fun. Had some beer, Scotch and such, a few pipes and set everything up.
Enough of my bitchin, here's the results. (go to the above referenced thread for the "Befores")
Top shelf is the Esoterica shelf. So far I've been able to find 2 bags
and 1/2 tins of Margate, 1 bag of Woodbridge, 1 bag of Dorchester, 1 tin
and 9.7 oz of Penzance & several oz of Stonehaven. (I feel very
fortunate )
Corner unit and bottom shelf full of 29 large jars of C.B. Perkins
Tobacco (picked it up from a fella that bout it from a closed store)
Top shelf is some of my nicer pipes (couldn't get my 24 pipe rack to fit
up there), 2nd shelf is some of my cigar stuff, 3rd shelf is 20
something jars of various tobaccos, including several jars of 3 & 4
oz Lane samples from the TAPS expo, 4th shelf is Nicks pipe rack.
More jars and a few bags...
The five units in all their glory.
(over 10' wide)23 or so of the modest stable...
Look at all those beautiful Bulldogs.
Finally, the desk all cleaned up and tonights briars set up for the evening tobacco medley.
Comments
I know, it's a little bit "Show Boaty", but hey, it is highlighting the "Special Tobaccos and Pipes"
You're embarrassin me bud.
I sure didn't want to post this in a braggadocios sorta way. When I say I'm cheap I mean it. I was just stoked that I was able to create my own little corner of pipe heaven on the cheap.
With the exception of the Luciano that I won @ the TAPS show and the 2 or 3 nice pipes I've received as gifts, everything else is an estate, almost all of which were grunged up and required quite a bit of elbow grease to get in smokin shape.
As far as my Esoterica collection goes, I paid retail, $15 a tin, for the Margate and way less than what the bags are selling for on eBay on the rest. The rest of the tobacco, except for a pound or so that I received as a gift from various Pipe Pals, was purchased on sale.
As I sit up here looking at it all, I am definitely thankful and humbled by the generosity of many out there that have so eagerly offered advice on pipes and pipe restoration as well as tobacco advice.
I don't think sharing your photos is in any way being braggadocios otherwise I would have never started that Daily Briar Photoshoot thing. Members of the group are probably the only people who would appreciate the collections we've amassed over the years. And for those of us who can ... you've provided a few decorating ideas when we have the time or extra cash to create a Man Cave/Smoking Lounge of our own.
I love looking at the photos of member's pipe collections, tobacco storage units (especially the custom crafted cabinets), and tobacco cellars. That's why I joined a pipe forum. To commiserate with like-minded people. Share thoughts, photos, secret blends and pipe smoking tips they've acquired over the years.
I get the oddest looks from friends or relatives who stop by for a visit and at some point in the visit I might pull out a new pipe acquisition to show to them. First I'm met with the blank-eyed stare of the disinterested, who have no interest what-so-ever in my hobby. Then if and when I do get a response it's usually of the "why do you need so many pipes" or "oh my God ... what are you going to do with all that tobacco?" nature. Then give my wife that fake sympathetic look like ... "you poor thing ... you're husband has lost his mind". Looking at that stash of tobacco you have I'm sure many non-smokers visiting your house come away questioning your sanity as well. While on the other hand, members here may be drooling with delight, and long for the day when they too can get away from it all and take refuge in a room like that.
So note to all members ... Keep them pictures coming.
Glad you like it... I sure do.
motie, I started back into the pipe life back in October. Back then I had one pipe, my Nording Freehand Signature and one pouch of tobacco, Borkum Riff.
As I've said, the vast majority of my stable is self refurbished estate pipes, with the exception of the Luciano that I won @ TAPS, the 6 or so Dr. Grabows I picked up in Sparta and the 2 pipes I've received as gifts from MGTarheel, a good friend on a couple of other forums.
I've been fortunate enough to pick up some really sweet briars on ebay, etsy, craigslist and a couple of estate sales. I've picked up 2 Dunhills, $20 & $60, 4 Savinelli's, $10, $25 & $30 & $60, and a couple of Petersons. The rest are Grabows, Keyclubs, Yello Boles, Comoys and several other drugstore briars.
The majority of my collection is made up of Bent Bulldogs. Just got 2 in the mail this week. Love the shape of those things.
I'm on the lookout for a Horn style. Missed one on ebay a while back that was beautiful, it was an Israeli Alpha Citation.
As you may have noticed from the pictures above, the mancave didn't have much in the way of artwork.
Well, I fixed that this weekend. All of the words of encouragement here motivate me to get out there and find some Mancave Art.
The first Estate sale was the jackpot. The fella had lots of golf memorabilia, and I picked most of it up. All told I think I left there with 7 framed prints, a mirror, a surround sound system and 2 large serving plates (a fella can never have enough plates :P) For the grand total of $35 or $40.
The first two pictures here are original watercolors by my mom and sister...
Here's the rest of the mancave art upgrade...
Now I'm on the hunt for a Wooden Indian and some old tobacco tins and advertising. Oh, and a couple of leather wingback chairs.
@Bonanzadriver, if you come back with a genuine cigar Indian, and only pay $35-$50, I am going to be convinced that you went down to the crossroads at midnight!
No doubt!
Prolly will be on the wish list for a long, long time.
If you put in an ebay search for "Cigar Indian," you will find all sorts of cigar indian themed items, that would do a fantastic job dressing up a smoking room.
Here is one example that is a little pricy just for an arm, but even so you wouldn't have to give an arm and a leg.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/311903291816?ul_noapp=true