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Has anyone else had difficulty deciding whether or not to hold onto an ink because the ink works for a pen but not for personal aesthetic value? I was lucky enough to be given the Estie Icicle pen shown below; I inked it up with a sample Robert Oster that looked close to the pen color. I am pleased with the pairing of ink color to pen color (see attached photo), but not with the ink color itself; I tend to prefer deep rather than smoky colors of my ink. Now I'm at my wits end deciding whether to keep this nice pen inked with a color that suits it, or change it to a color that suits me. I do realize this is a rather superficial problem to have, but it irks me nonetheless. Anyone else similarly torn?

Here is my newly completed Esterbrook Icicle collection! But notice the odd, pointed shape of the jewels on the silver one, both jewels are like that, with no evidence of anything ever being replaced. And to make it even more strange, there is no Esterbrook barrel imprint of any kind on the silver one. The only marking at all is the Esterbrook on the clip. ??? Anyone ever come across this before?

I'm was betting that the bad description and poor quality photos would barely get noticed. Turned out to be a good bet! I blew the photos up as I like to do in auctions that are poorly described, and instantly recognized it as a grey icicle, the only color icicle I was missing! So I laid low, and sniped it for a mere $26 (+ shipping). http://www.ebay.com/itm/SILVER-ESTERBROOK-FOUNTAIN-PEN-/151912349842?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&nma=true&si=C9YRKLUeQHhE4EBnnwxwfo1Pl5Q%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc I'll post a family photo when it arrives! I wonder what nib it has?

Appears to be a lovely Mexican made green one. This will be my first Icicle! I'm kinda excited! http://goo.gl/ed7bqV

I received some pens recently that are surely icicles, and others that look like it but may or may not be. There are some similar and some different characteristics. The first two are what seem to be standard icicles. Each have 9 distinct black vertical lines. The ones here have no imprint on the barrel, and the lever is just that. A lever on a hinge that pushes the sac directly. No metal plate, no j-bar. These are LJ size: http://i59.tinypic.com/4m3qh.jpg http://i61.tinypic.com/2lw2h6c.jpg This is SJ size, same characteristics as above but shorter and made in USA: http://i57.tinypic.com/2hnrjis.jpg http://i61.tinypic.com/33yhuu9.jpg This one I consider a quasi icicle. It looks and feels like the others, but there are many more vertical lines - about 15-25 of them depending on the angle, and the lines are much less distinct. The made in USA imprint is horizontally stamped around the barrel. It has a lever with a metal plate and no j-bar. A nice looking pen! But is it an icicle? http://i58.tinypic.com/2qb7zoj.jpg Oh, and another interesting tidbit, the section is longer than any of the others! http://i60.tinypic.com/s5b914.jpg And here's the pseudo icicle. It has 4 thick distinct black lines, and the well known marbled pattern in between them. It's J sized and also a very nice looking pen, but I think clearly not an icicle, and probably often mistaken for one. http://i58.tinypic.com/4ta8a0.jpg Anyone have some info on these or some other icicles to show? I think there were a lot made in Mexico, (or Hecho en Mexico) right?