Olie Sylvester is an artisan pipe maker who created a line of pipes called Monstrosity Pipes. This line of pipes are not your ordinary tobacco pipes in that they are uniquely created to fit the zombie theme--disjointed, discolored, marred, scarred, asymetrical...you get the picture. I follow Olie (olieps3) on Instagram and when he started to post photos of new zombie pipes, I just had to jump on the bandwagon! Zombie #86 caught my attention so I immediately jumped over to www.oompaul.com and bought it. Here's how he described it on his website:
"Zombie #86 is a lovely and bizarre piece. With a sloping black delrin tenon and charred white acrylic stem, this one piece unit is really something. Completely affixed, this pipe does not come apart and passes a churchwarden cleaner with no problem." The dimensions of this pipe is listed here: Length = 7", Height = 2", Bowl Depth = 1.5", Bowl Span = 0.75", and Weight = 1.3 oz.
Zombie #86 is a significant number to me because it just happens to be the year that I graduated from Wagner High School, Clark Air Base, Philippines. It no longer exists thanks to the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991. To be "86'd" is to eliminate, kill or "off" someone. But in this case it's kind of related to zombies--the un-dead. I'm reaching here...I know.
This buy worked out in my favor because oompaul.com is a "preferred" vendor and my TPC (Tobacco Pipe Collectors) membership provided me with a 20% discount. Jackpot!!
When I opened the package, I immediately noticed the cream-colored canvas pipe bag. The bag has a zipper as well as a rope shoulder strap. His Monstrosity Pipes logo is printed on one side and the entire bag is dirty to give it a "distressed" appearance...perfect!
This pipe is freakin' awesome! The rustication or "marred" carvings of the reddish dyed briar is spot on :) The bottom of the bowl is slightly flat so I consider this a "Sitting Zombie" pipe. On this flat part of the bottom is Olie's "M ZOMBIE 86" stamp. The pipes shank is broken (on purpose) then affixed to the slightly bent delrin tenon with epoxy (that's my guess) to give it an oozing out of the shank appearance. I didn't realize this at first, but the "ooze" is painted/dyed red (for blood...maybe) and I discovered this when some of it had rubbed off onto my moist fingers. The delrin meets the acrylic stem which looks to me like a charred gauss wrap :) Didn't I say it is an awesome pipe?!
Anyhow, this pipe smoked well this morning with a bowl full of Davidoff's Flake Medallion. And by the way...this is a tasty tobacco & highly recommended!!
This is a fantastic zombie pipe (I can't say it enough) and Olie Sylvester is one heck of a pipe maker! I would highly recommend you add one of his reasonably priced pipes to your collection if you want something that is out of the norm. Get on the zombie bandwagon like I did and make a purchase when it is available...they sell fast!