Grading & Pricing Information

This page gives information about my grading, the nomenclature you will find on my pipes, and general guidelines on my pricing. Lindner Pipes are graded from lowest to highest starting at E, and going to D, C, B, A, and AA. There are also two top-grades: Top-graded smooths are symbolized with a Dragonfly and top-graded sandblasts are symbolized with a Spider. In addition, within each grade, there is a set pricing tier stamp. Please see "Pricing" below for a full explanation of these tiers.

Sandblast Grading

The entry grade is the E grade. These pipes are always crosscut sandblasts. For someone wanting to experience my smoking qualities and engineering without breaking the bank, the E grade is a great place to start. From there, the D grade encompases radial (front-to-back) crosscut sandblasts that are craggy and well-defined, as well as off-center ringblasts or pipes that, for one reason or another, did not qualify to be a C grade.

After that, we have the C grade. The C grade is for exceptional sandblasts with great rings and nice definition. These are pieces which are well executed and superbly blasted but simply do not attain the level of perfection and character found in my "Spider" grade.

Finally, the highest sandblast grade is the “Spider” grade. These are stamped with a small spider. This grade is reserved for “the best of the best” sandblasts and partial sandblast pieces. Typically, the “Spider” grade ends up on the more artistic, creative shapes and not the classical shapes, but I have produced a small number of classical shapes which have qualified as a "Spider" graded piece.

Smooth Grading

The entry grade for smooths is the B grade smooth. These pieces typically are crosscuts with nice birdseye and well-defined grain. B grade smooths can be stained any colour from virgin/natural to high-contrast red over black and everything in between.

The A and AA grades are graded first according to quality of grain, followed by the number and size of natural flaws (e.g., sandspots). These grades are not necessarily reserved for straightgrain pieces; for example, both the Blowfish and the Pickaxe are crosscuts. Although my grading is slightly subjective, as a general rule of thumb an AA grade is going to have nicer grain than an A grade as well as fewer sandspots and better execution.

The Dragonfly is my highest grade and also my lowest production – as of September 2007, I have produced only 8 or 9 Dragonfly graded pieces. If I have any question in my mind when I am grading my pipes as to whether or not it should be a Dragonfly grade, I stamp the pipe "AA". Unlike the other grades, there is no subjectivity involved in grading a Dragonfly: Execution of the shape and graining pattern needs to be as close to perfect as humanly possible. There will be few, if any, natural flaws or sandspots. If there are any sandspots, they will be miniscule and may only be apparent with a loupe. In essence, the Dragonfly is as close to perfect as I can get at the time the pipe was made. As with the Spider, The Dragonfly is typically reserved for the more artistic, creative shapes and not for classical shapes (although, as with the Spider, this is not set in stone; I just haven’t yet produced a classic piece that deserved the “Dragonfly” stamp!)

Nomenclature

I use a couple different stamps, but all pipes are stamped with "michael lindner" and "handmade usa" in a straight line, or "michael lindner made by hand usa" in a circle. In addition, each pipe will have a grade and pricing tier stamp (my grading system was implemented in late 2001, and pricing tiers were added in September of 2007) and a year of manufacture. The Spider grade uses a small spider stamp and the Dragonfly grade uses a small dragonfly stamp. In late 2007 I will also implement a stamp to indicate a piece is considered a "Magnum" or "Double Magnum" piece; these will be stamped with a frog or a bat, respectively.

Historically, my nomenclature has changed very little, but there have been some changes. Here I will detail the changes from year to year:

2000: This is the first year I started making pipes. The first seven or eight pieces were stamped with "michael lindner made by hand" in a circle, with "united states" in a curved line coming off the circle. This gave the stamp the look of a flower, with the "united states" stamping being the stem and the words in the circle being the flower. This stamp was short-lived as it was large and very hard to work with. If you find one of these pipes, you have found something very, very rare. Soon after I started selling pipes, I changed to a "michael lindner made by hand" in a circle, with "united states" in the center of the circle. In addition to these stamps, all 2000 year pipes were stamped with "00" to indicate the year of production.

2001: I continued using the "michael lindner made by hand" in a circle, with "united states" in the center of the circle. The year code changed to "01". Late in the year, I started stamping the grade on my pipes. Only a small number of pipes from 2001 carried a grade stamp - probably less than 10.

2002: In this year, I implemented a full grading scale that I still have today, with the exception of the "Spider" grade (which didn't come along for a couple more years). The date code changed to the full year "2002" (instead of "02").

2003: I added the straight-line stamping of "michael lindner" and "handmade usa", so starting in this year, pipes could be stamped either with the round stamp or the straight line stamps. The date code remained the full year "2003". Any pieces sold through "The Piperack" also carried the logo for "The Piperack".

2004: The "Spider" grade was added and thus a spider stamp was created. Again, other nomenclature could be either circular or straight line, and the date code of "2004" was used to indicate year. The date code stamping shrank in size very slightly, as well. All other nomenclature remained the same.

2005: During this year, all of my stamps were lost by UPS when I was shipping them to use in Yuma. Everything was replaced, but there were some slight changes. The circular stamp was made smaller, and "united states" was dropped in favour of "usa". The Dragonfly and Spider stamps shrank slightly. The date code changed, of course, to "2005". The straight-line stamps remained unchanged. I dropped using "The Piperack" logo stamp this year as well, as I implemented a trade-in policy with all my dealers.

2006: The only change to nomenclature was to reflect the year: "2006".

2007: Nomenclature remained the same until August 2007, when pricing tier stamping was added. This stamping is a circled number (1, 2, 3, etc) and indicates a price point within the grades. The year stamp changed to "2007". The addition of two stamps to indicate "Magnum" or "Double Magnum" were added: a "frog" stamp to indicate "Magnums" and a "bat" stamp to indicate "Double Magnums".

Pricing

The pricing of my pipes follows a tiered scale. The pricing is spaced out and there is no longer any overlap between grades. In other words, the highest price A grade will always be less expensive than the lowest priced AA grade, and so on. Grades E through A have three pricing tiers. Grade AA has four pricing tiers, while the Spider and Dragonfly grades have five pricing tiers. In addition, both the Spider and the Dragonfly have a top-tier and these are priced "per piece". These represent the "best of the best" and I will be fortunate indeed if I make even one of these every few years.

The pricing tiers are there to distinguish between things like complexity of shape (a simple A Grade billiard might be a first tier pipe [A1] while an A Grade blowfish would be a third tier pipe [A3], for example) as well as adornments and add-ons (a D grade billiard with an ivory inlay would be graded "D2" while the same billiard with no inlay at all would be graded a "D1", for example.) The thing to remember is that as far as the quality of the grain and the quality of the engineering, pipes within a grade are identical. The pricing tier is there to account for things like the absence or presence of natural sandspots, the complexity of the shape, the addition of adornments such as bamboo or ivory, and so on. In other words, that A1 Billiard is going to have the same quality of grain and level of engineering as that A3 Blowfish. The reason they're priced differently is because a Blowfish is a much more complex shape that takes two or three times as long to complete.

Here are the pricing tiers for standard size pieces. Most of my pipes are approximately a group 4 size, but this pricing can encompass anything from a small group 1-sized pipe to a larger group 6 piece (based on Dunhill sizing). Larger than this and it falls into "Magnum" or "Double Magnum" pricing, which is shown below.

E1 Grade: $345
E2 Grade: $395
E3 Grade: $445

D1 Grade: $465
D2 Grade: $515
D3 Grade: $565

C1 Grade: $595
C2 Grade: $645
C3 Grade: $695

B1 Grade: $725
B2 Grade: $775
B3 Grade: $825

A1 Grade: $850
A2 Grade: $950
A3 Grade: $1050

AA1 Grade: $1100
AA2 Grade: $1250
AA3 Grade: $1400
AA4 Grade: $1550

Spider1 Grade: $750
Spider2 Grade: $900
Spider3 Grade: $1050
Spider4 Grade: $1200
Spider5 Grade: $1350
Spider0 Grade: Per Piece, starting at $1500

Dragonfly1 Grade: $1800
Dragonfly2 Grade: $2300
Dragonfly3 Grade: $2900
Dragonfly4 Grade: $3600
Dragonfly5 Grade: $4400
Dragonfly0 Grade: Per Piece, starting at $5500

Magnum and Double Magnum pricing is higher and is based on size (although as you get into the upper grades, the complexity of the shape is taken into account as well). Based on the classic billiard, I define a pipe as a "Magnum" as being at least 6 3/4" long, having a bowl that is at least 2 1/2" tall, at least 1 7/8" across, and at least a 7/8" tobacco chamber diameter, while a Double Magnum is defined as being at least 8" long, having a bowl that is at least 3 1/4" tall, at least 2 1/8" across, with a chamber at least 1" across and 2 3/4" deep. These are rough guidelines; and are based on the billiard shape. There may be exceptions: Certain shapes, such as a bent bulldog, might be shorter or squatter or what-not, or a Canadian might have a slightly smaller bowl than listed above but have a particularly long shank. Here are the pricing tiers for Magnums:

E1 Magnum: $600
E2 Magnum: $675
E3 Magnum: $750
E4 Double Magnum: Per Piece, starting at $900

D1 Magnum: $700
D2 Magnum: $775
D3 Magnum: $850
D4 Double Magnum: Per Piece, starting at $1050

C1 Magnum: $800
C2 Magnum: $875
C3 Magnum: $950
C4 Double Magnum: Per Piece, starting at $1200

B1 Magnum: $900
B2 Magnum: $1000
B3 Magnum: $1100
B4 Double Magnum: Per Piece, starting at $1400

A1 Magnum: $1200
A2 Magnum: $1350
A3 Magnum: $1500
A4 Double Magnum: Per Piece, starting at $1800

AA1 Magnum: $1600
AA2 Magnum: $1800
AA3 Magnum: $2000
AA4 Magnum: $2200
AA5 Double Magnum: Per Piece, starting at $2500

Spider Magnum: Per Piece, starting at $1200
Spider Double Magnum: Per Piece, starting at $1700

Dragonfly Magnum: Per Piece, starting at $2800
Dragonfly Double Magnum: Per Piece, starting at $4300

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