07. The St. Patrick’s Day 2014 Pipes
St. Patrick’s Day 2014 Pipe. E-tail: $93 - $110. Sandblast finish, gloss black stummel with smooth glossy Kelly green rim. Silver P stamped into ebonite F/T stem. Nickel band with shamrock wreathed by “Peterson – March 17, 2014.” Shapes: 68 (B), 69 (B), 230 (B), 221 (S) , 01 (B), 106 (B), XL90 (S), 03 (B), 107 (B), X105 (B), X220 (S)—and possibly others!* St. Patrick’s Day--Lá Fhéile Pádraig or just Paddy’s Day—is long gone, but there’s still time to get one of this year’s incredible offerings. I know they’ve been out since about mid-February, but I’m still seeing some basic questions about them, so I thought I’d put my oar in the water and say if you haven’t seen them—or added one to your Pete collection—you’re missing out on the single best year of this series since it began in 1998, hands down. In working on the Peterson book, by the way, we were able to document that the series did indeed begin in 1998—which is what most Pete Nuts have speculated—but still, it’s nice to be able to verify it. That first year’s issue featured an Irish flag tricolor acrylic band, which I’ve heard some people complain didn’t wear very well. 1998 St. Patrick’s Day 106 Billiard IAfter the first stellar year, many years of the series have simply issued Classic Lines shapes in the familiar semi-matt brown finish we see on the current Aran series, a few venturing into green matt and red/brown matt stains. Shamrock St. Patrick’s Day Stamp for 2014 By 2000 the familiar nickel band with the shamrock wreathed by “Peterson—March 17, 20--” appeared, which has been used ever since. What I finally learned, mostly by failing to pull the trigger at the right moment, is that the magic of this series has two components: the first is waiting to see the finish. Most years haven’t impressed me a lot, although 2013’s was stellar with its matt smoky walnut contrast stain. 2013 St. Patrick’s Day B58 (Courtesy Smokingpipes.com) As the B58 above (originally from the Iceberg Collection) so forcefully suggests, the second bit of magic in the series is what I wait for: what rare shapes will Peterson trickle down from its special editions and series? As early as 2000, the 1903 bowl from the original Antique Reproduction set, which came out in 1996, was issued. 2002’s D7—another no longer produced shape—was another highlight. Most years there’s something special, whether it’s something from the Sherlock Holmes series (2001, 2012) or the last hoorah of the B2, which was originally the Limited Edition / POY shape for 2002, or the Iceberg shapes from last year. Ripple Blast on a 2014 106 So what’s remarkable about the 2014 pipes isn’t a special shape that been allowed to trickle into the series, but the incredible blast and dual color finish: a variable, random blast in what one of the fellows at IPPC calls “Trinity pitch black sandblast and polished rim.” The blast is very liquid: it…