POY – Limited Edition

(Pocket Jar PSA: See end of post) UPDATE: 8/8 8:56pm CDT. Just a word of thanks to SPC for the incredible staggered roll-out of the POY and the great interface in loading and checking out. So many PGs are very happy tonight--hope you'll pass our collective thanks to everyone at SPC and in Dublin! For those still looking, might be worthwhile, as Nevatitude says, to check back every so often in case the finish you're looking for shows up!     Terracotta X160 under Patent illustration in 1906 catalog Pete Geeks look forward to summer with great expectation, as it sees the debut of the new Pipe of the Year. This year we’re in for a real treat, the X160, an amazing shape and exacting reproduction of the original from the Patent era. Here’s what you need to know about the drop: US DROP: Per Andy Wike at Laudisi, “Peterson’s highly anticipated Pipe of the Year 2023 retails at 6:00 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, August 8th.” US Pete Geeks might remember there’s a drop in Dublin as well: EUROPEAN DROP: Per Adam O’Neill at Smokingpipes.eu, “PotY 2023 for SPE will drop Tuesday the 8th of August 10:00 IST and will have Heritage, Terracotta, Ebony, Rusticated, Sandblasted plus Natural, Rusticated Silver Cap and PSB Rua.” US Rua and Rusticated Silver Cap devotees looking for the harder-to-get finishes, take note! Finishes at SPC will certainly include  Rusticated, Sandblasted, Heritage and Terracotta in good number. As in previous years, I’m guessing there won’t be a lot of Terracottas.  There will be Ebony, Naturals and a few Rua PSBs as well, at least for those who are early to the party.  I know that a very few Supreme Sandblasted and Supreme smooths have been made (and are seen in the new “All Pipes Considered” video) and some diligent souls will be adding those to their rotations as well (Bob? are you listening?). Finishes at SPEu should be the same as in the US, although where the Supreme, Supreme Sandblast and Rusticated Silver Caps will land, I don't know. If you’re after one of these more exotic rarities, see the “Tips & Tricks” below. There is a great post already up at The Daily Reader at SPC from Chuck Stanion on the new release as well as an episode of “All Pipes Considered” with Sykes Wilford and Josh Burgess, so do check those out and leave them a word of thanks in the comments. These two work really hard for us. Rusticated (Boy, I like this look) Tips & Tricks: I’ve heard that good results can be obtained at the time of drop by being on the Peterson page before the drop time and refreshing the page until you see the “Pipe of the Year 2023” in the sidebar on the left of the page. It appears well before you'll get an email announcing availability. Doing this will save you the frustration of going through 8 or 10 pages of new pages until you hit…