Newbie Pass 101

[ilikefishes]

Take-Anejo #46 found to be $8.25 on Vitola's
Put-MF Le Bejou 1922 from PUFF. These were purchased at a discount when he found out that they jipped him. So the price I paid is not the retail price. If someone has a problem with this particular put/take, I will pull it.

The problem with this P/T IMO is this particular MFLB from Puff is a "second release." The initial release was 300 boxes. Then Al released an additional 100 boxes of the same blend, but there are actually an unknown quantity available at another vendor. While no doubt these are still limited, they can be had for $172 for a box of 23 ($7.48/ea). So even if the rarity matches up, I don't think the price does. Again JMHO.

Yeah, that is what I figured. I am going to go back and make another attempt.

 

[ilikefishes]

Take-Tat Black Jar estimated at $13.00 and rare
Put-Tat Face bought at $13.00 and rare

Take-Anejo #46 found to be $8.25 on Vitola's
Put-MF Le Bejou 1922 from PUFF. These were purchased at a discount when he found out that they jipped him. So the price I paid is not the retail price. If someone has a problem with this particular put/take, I will pull it.

Take-Anejo #55 found to be $10.75 on Vitola's
Put-TAA '11 cost of $10.80

Take-Ave Maria found it to be $5.20 when purchased in a box from CI
Put-Gran Habano Corojo #5 Czar, found two sources that carry this cigar at Holt's for $5.50 a piece in a box and at Serious for $4.85 a piece in a box. So do I split the difference and call it and it comes out to $5.18

I believe Thumper took the Anejo 46, or at least that's what my notes show.

From what I have seen the TAA stick has an MSRP of $10.00

I'm not that familiar on the Le Bijou's, do they fit the rarity factor(limited release) of the Anejo?

The Puff edition was a special micro blend that was "only available" through one of the retailers here. Supposedly only 300 boxes were produced.


ETA - I'm guessing the TAA stick you are talking about is the Tat? From what I remember I think Ashton and La Aroma De Cuba also had TAA boxes.

But, the first and last look good.

Yes, you are correct. I looked back and Thumped did in fact take the #46. Damn you Thumped!
I wish I would have purchased any of the Tat TAA '11's for $10.00. I paid more than $11 for singles and $216.00 for a box through Updown in Chicago.

I will receive it tomorrow, so I will do some more research. Thanks guys.

 

[Thumper68]

Ilikefishes,
Yes I took the Anjeo # 46. Sorry

I wasn't able to find a suitable new box for the pass either. If you happen to have a 12/12/10 box you might think about replaceing the current one. It's not in two bad of shape, but is starting to show it's age.

 

[2K6TBSS]

Yes, you are correct. I looked back and Thumped did in fact take the #46. Damn you Thumped!
I wish I would have purchased any of the Tat TAA '11's for $10.00. I paid more than $11 for singles and $216.00 for a box through Updown in Chicago.

I will receive it tomorrow, so I will do some more research. Thanks guys.

SmokeInn, Birmingham Cigars, Emerson Cigars all have them listed for 198-200/box. I know that SmokeInn is really our only "trusted" source of the list, but they are the only vendors I found with pricing. I did find where Updown Cigar had the TAA listed on their site, but there was no pricing available. Birmingham Cigars is even showing that they have them in stock for 199.99, not sure if the site is up to date or not though.

This will ultimately be Jake's call, just letting you know what I found when I did my research on the sticks.

 

[BigJake6904]

The first tat trade is obviously good. The second was my fault...I have been out of town and definitely forgot to update the first post with Thumper's P/T's. It's been fixed now.

The third is dangerously close. The TAA goes for between $10 and $11 depending on whose selling (this probably has something to do with state tax variations on a 1500 box production). I know they go for about $10.40 here. Given the prices we do have (which exclude state tax for online purchasers)...regrettably I'll have to say no. It's really close, but just below that $.25 line. You are really knocking on the door though, great attempt.

 

[ilikefishes]

Ok, so I am going to try and take this Anejo again. I found the Anejo to be $10.75 on Vitola's and it is limited release production. So if I understand the way this works, can I put a Graycliff 1666 Presidente for this. I have found it to range from $12.00 on CI to $14.50 on Cigar.com. I can't find it on Serious or on Holt's or Smoke Inn. So I have no idea if this is a fair trade. I do know that Graycliffs are overpriced IMO.

I also have a Graycliff Grand Cru Presidente to put in if the 1666 is an underput. This cigar goes for $18.33 at most places I could find it.

Thanks again for letting me play. This is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.

 

[ilikefishes]

By the way, here is the pass in all it's glory.

 

[BigJake6904]

Ok, so I am going to try and take this Anejo again. I found the Anejo to be $10.75 on Vitola's and it is limited release production. So if I understand the way this works, can I put a Graycliff 1666 Presidente for this. I have found it to range from $12.00 on CI to $14.50 on Cigar.com. I can't find it on Serious or on Holt's or Smoke Inn. So I have no idea if this is a fair trade. I do know that Graycliffs are overpriced IMO.

I also have a Graycliff Grand Cru Presidente to put in if the 1666 is an underput. This cigar goes for $18.33 at most places I could find it.

Thanks again for letting me play. This is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.

I'd weigh in...but I'd really like to see what some of the other first time passers think, and what their research turns up. After a bunch of teaching and comprehension, I'd love to see what some of the guys think.

 

[MrAnderson41]

I'd weigh in...but I'd really like to see what some of the other first time passers think, and what their research turns up. After a bunch of teaching and comprehension, I'd love to see what some of the guys think.

There are obviously two things to consider since we're looking at an Anejo take. The first is rarity since the Anejo is a limited production limited release cigar (released around Christmas and Father's day I believe). I honestly haven't been able to find anything on the release or production schedule for the Graycliff in question but by doing a google shopper search for them they appear to be readily available as a reasonable price.

Which brings me to the second consideration which is price. As stated above MSRP on the Anejo is $10.75. I'm not sure of exactly which sources ilikefishes used or when he checked his references but I've found them ranging in price but all around the $6-$7 range with cigar.com being the outlier priced at $9.99 (thecigarstore.com - $6.61, CI - $6.99, habanosyhermanos.com - $5.55). To determine these prices I've applied the generally accepted methodology of using the box/bundle pricing and dividing by the number of sticks in the box/bundle. I will note that something weird seems to be going on with this particular stick. That is, most sites list the MSRP for a box/bundle at around $400 but they all have a "sale" on the cigar and have it marked down to the $100 range for a box/bundle.

As far as the Grand Cru goes, again I'm not sure or production quantities or release schedule. They appear to be readily available, however the pricing on these stick does indeed seem to be around the $18 mark from the little bit of research I did.

Conclusion - I think the 1666 is definitely a no go just based on pricing alone. Even if it turned out to be rare the P/T wouldn't work because of the difference in price. The Grand Cru on the other hand could be approved because the difference in price IMHO would make up for the rarity. That being said it would be one hell of an over put on price and because of that fact I'm not sure it would be allowed in this pass since it is a newbie pass and not everyone has a $20 stick laying around to put for it. I'd also imagine if the Grand Cru turns out not to be a rare/HTF, any stick that might be put for it in the future would likely be a big time over put on rarity (since I'm not aware of too many $20 sticks that aren't also rare/HTF).

Just my $0.02.

 

[ilikefishes]

I see your points MrAnderson. I also was able to find quite a bit on the 1666. And the Grand Cru is a huge overput.

In my estimation the hardest sticks to match are the $11-$15 range. Amazingly I have tons that are worth a little less than that and a few that are above that range, but hardly anything to put in to match that price point. Then you factor in the rarity issue and it gives you a fricken headache.

 

[Tall Paul]

I agree with Mr. A! I seemed to come up with the same conclusion on the 1666. The Grand Cru is a large overput of almost $8 that seems to me to be way to much of an over put. The rarity on the Anejo is IMHO not extremly rare they are still released every year twice a year. So to me Anejo at $10.75 to the Grand Cru at $18ish is to high of an overput. I just think like Mr. A. said not to many Newbies have $20+ sticks sitting at home. This may not play fair toward the other remaining passers!

Paul

In my estimation the hardest sticks to match are the $11-$15 range. Amazingly I have tons that are worth a little less than that and a few that are above that range, but hardly anything to put in to match that price point. Then you factor in the rarity issue and it gives you a fricken headache.

I have been having the same issues in that price window!

Paul

 

[ilikefishes]

Ok, so I am going to pull that Graycliff proposal and offer one more up for discussion and then I am sending this sucker on.

Take-Opus X Perfecxion X found to be $13.00 on Vitola's

Put-Camacho Liberty 2011-I found these to range anywhere from $14.50 all the way to $16.70. There were 40,000 made so it is somewhat rare, but it only has one (1) release. So just wondering if due to the fact that it is only released once makes it a huge overput or just about right. Please let me know what you all think.

2K6 are you ready to receive this if this put/take is approved?

 

[Set-In-Stone]

Mr. A - your .o2 cents was worth every penny! I agree with you on that...

ilikefishes - I can understand the headache... I got a few myself when I hit that price range too.
Still, remember to try and have a good time with this. Try not to get too caught up on it...

 

[MrAnderson41]

Ok, so I am going to pull that Graycliff proposal and offer one more up for discussion and then I am sending this sucker on.

Take-Opus X Perfecxion X found to be $13.00 on Vitola's

Put-Camacho Liberty 2011-I found these to range anywhere from $14.50 all the way to $16.70. There were 40,000 made so it is somewhat rare, but it only has one (1) release. So just wondering if due to the fact that it is only released once makes it a huge overput or just about right. Please let me know what you all think.

2K6 are you ready to receive this if this put/take is approved?

I can definately feel you're pain on that $10.00 price range. When it was my turn I really wanted to try that DC Maximus but the only stick I had in the $10.00 price range was the Opus X Petit Lancero which I really hated to give up, but I wanted to try the DC more than I wanted to keep the Opus.

As far as your proposed put goes this time, I have absolutely no idea on this one. The over put on price isn't as bad as last time. However, I just have no clue how the rarity stacks up.

 

[2K6TBSS]

Ok, so I am going to pull that Graycliff proposal and offer one more up for discussion and then I am sending this sucker on.

Take-Opus X Perfecxion X found to be $13.00 on Vitola's

Put-Camacho Liberty 2011-I found these to range anywhere from $14.50 all the way to $16.70. There were 40,000 made so it is somewhat rare, but it only has one (1) release. So just wondering if due to the fact that it is only released once makes it a huge overput or just about right. Please let me know what you all think.

2K6 are you ready to receive this if this put/take is approved?

Mr. A - That was some great research you did there.

The Opus/Liberty transaction looks a lot better to me. IMO the rarity factor would match well, as the Liberty is a one-time release. The over-put isn't a huge jump, which wouldn't price out some of us that are left in the pass.

I would say that one is good.

Yes, I am ready to receive when you are ready to send.

 

[BigJake6904]

Ok, so I am going to pull that Graycliff proposal and offer one more up for discussion and then I am sending this sucker on.

Take-Opus X Perfecxion X found to be $13.00 on Vitola's

Put-Camacho Liberty 2011-I found these to range anywhere from $14.50 all the way to $16.70. There were 40,000 made so it is somewhat rare, but it only has one (1) release. So just wondering if due to the fact that it is only released once makes it a huge overput or just about right. Please let me know what you all think.

2K6 are you ready to receive this if this put/take is approved?

Mr. A - That was some great research you did there.

The Opus/Liberty transaction looks a lot better to me. IMO the rarity factor would match well, as the Liberty is a one-time release. The over-put isn't a huge jump, which wouldn't price out some of us that are left in the pass.

I would say that one is good.

Yes, I am ready to receive when you are ready to send.

Great assessment! See...you guys are learning something!

The trade for the Camacho is good to go. Just for records...can you post your final P/T's?

 

[ilikefishes]

Ok, so I am going to pull that Graycliff proposal and offer one more up for discussion and then I am sending this sucker on.

Take-Opus X Perfecxion X found to be $13.00 on Vitola's

Put-Camacho Liberty 2011-I found these to range anywhere from $14.50 all the way to $16.70. There were 40,000 made so it is somewhat rare, but it only has one (1) release. So just wondering if due to the fact that it is only released once makes it a huge overput or just about right. Please let me know what you all think.

2K6 are you ready to receive this if this put/take is approved?

Mr. A - That was some great research you did there.

The Opus/Liberty transaction looks a lot better to me. IMO the rarity factor would match well, as the Liberty is a one-time release. The over-put isn't a huge jump, which wouldn't price out some of us that are left in the pass.

I would say that one is good.

Yes, I am ready to receive when you are ready to send.

Great assessment! See...you guys are learning something!

The trade for the Camacho is good to go. Just for records...can you post your final P/T's?

Yeah, but since it is the weekend I am letting it rest in my humidor. I might still try and take 1 other, but if not here is my p/T's.

Take-Tat jar
Put-Tat face

Take-Ave Maria
Put-Gran HABANO Czar #5

Take-Opus X Perfecxion X
Put-Camacho 2011 Liberty

 

[BigJake6904]

Sounds good. I believe PO's are closed on Monday as it is...so just let me know.

 

[ilikefishes]

Then this will go out Tuesday.

 

[ilikefishes]

Ilikefishes,
Yes I took the Anjeo # 46. Sorry

I wasn't able to find a suitable new box for the pass either. If you happen to have a 12/12/10 box you might think about replaceing the current one. It's not in two bad of shape, but is starting to show it's age.

Boxes are something I have no problem acquiring. I found a very durable.box to finish this beast out. This will hit the PO on Tuesday.