301. SPECIAL BULLETIN: Christmas Commemorative 2022 Comin’ Down the Chimney Tuesday, 9/13, 6pm ET
Rev. 9/11/2022 PPN / CPG PIPE UPDATE Thanks to all the Pete Geeks who made the CPGs' PPN 2022 pipe a reality and to the K&P production team Glen Whelan, Sykes Wilford and Jonathan Fields who did all the heavy lifting to make it come true. Production began this past Friday, September 9th. Alternates—this is your notification that, as of now, all the slots are filled. I’m sure there will be at least a few who don’t claim their pipes in early November, at which time I will begin reaching out to some of you to see if you remain interested. CPGS and Pete Geeks—If you were notified as CONFIRMED in an email from me, you’ll receive another email with the information to complete checkout for your pipe through SPC or SPEu. K&P said they were very happy with the project, so I'm hoping we can do this again, perhaps as soon as next year. The 2022 Christmas Pipe is almost here! Per a Prominent K&P Elf at Smokingpipes.com: “These will go live next Tuesday, September 13th at 6:00 p.m. ET.” I could wish Christmas were nearly here as well, but we’ll have to wait nearly another four months for that blessed event. In the meantime, K&P has been cooking up Yuletide goodies in their new Deansgrange kitchen that will help pass the time. Math isn't my strong suit, but I think there may be as many as sixty different combinations of classic copper mountings and the dark red chocolate stain on both Heritage and Rusticated finishes. Very exciting is K&P's very first copper spigot, the brainchild of Glen Whelan, to whom my hat is off. It's simply stunning.* There are four configurations of the 2022 Christmas commemorative across most of the Classic Range shapes: (1) Heritage (spigot), (2) Heritage (army mount), Rusticated (spigot) and Rusticated (army mount). Spigot Rustication Spigot Heritage Army Rustication Army Heritage Shapes include 03, 05, 103, 104, 106, 124, 127, 128, 221, 230, 304, 306, 406, 408, 6, 606, 65, 68, 69, 701, 80s, 85, 87, 999, B10, B42, D17, X105, XL02, XL11 and XL90. It appears that it’s the smaller shapes that will have the AB or tapered army mount. Two caught my eye with their seriously “Patent” bends, a 230 and a 304: For fans of Patent-style AB bends I’m a sucker for the copper / dark brown combination, first seen on last year’s amazing SH Christmas pipes, and to see some of my favorite shapes in army mounts and copper spigot mounts—well, I expect you know how I’m feeling just about now. As far as the color of the Heritage stain goes, here’s an outdoor-light example for those who don’t companion this finish or haven’t seen it in person: The 124 AB. Note that slight "Irish Bend," fellas. It's the Real Deal for Irish pipes, where straight is always just a little bent. While SPC’s studio lighting turns up the cinnamon and hues making the stain look…