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I may not have been sent on my quest for new pens by God, but I will still purchase them anyway! A throwaway Monty Python reference is always a great way to start off a thread... At the beginning of the school year, I made myself a promise to not buy another pen until 2014 (excluding my birthday and Christmas, of course). Since then, I have saved up money in hopes of pampering myself once I finally reach that time. The pen I originally had in mind (and have been working towards being able to afford) is a Visconti Homo Sapiens. This pen has been on my wish list since I started lurking on FPN in mid-July. The price tag is a hefty $560 from Fountain Pen Hospital (NYC .875% Sales Tax included, since I will be purchasing my pen in person), and I cannot conjure up this money lightly. Therefore, I want to be very careful how I spend it. As I mentioned, I've wanted this pen for a long time. I would consider this a true Grail Pen, save a few Omas and Conway Stewart pens that I am by no means able of acquiring at this moment. If I were to purchase this pen, I would be purchasing something that would be with me for the rest of my life... but there are some issues with that. Around a week ago, I started looking on the Fountain Pen Hospital website for more pens to drool over, an activity that has become a regular pastime This trip down wow-I-want-that lane caused me to think of other ways I could spend that $560. It also stirred up a lot of doubts in my mind. Do I really want a nib spewing ink all over the page? As as student, I have to use crappy paper on a fairly consistent basis. Do I really want to spend all this money on one pen... when I could buy THREE PENS? My friends are d*cks (the missing vowel is not a u), and they take my pens all the time. What if it was damaged? Of course, these thoughts are combated by the Visconti fan-boy inside of me. You're a Junior in High School, you're going to be saving up scratch money for college from this summer on. Are you ever going to put together this much money for a pen in the next 5 years again? This is your only opportunity to buy this for a very long time. Do you really need more pens? They're in a more realistic price range and could be bought easily in the future. Your pen will be made of lava. LAVA! And it's a vacuum filler... and it will last until the sun explodes... and Visconti makes the best nibs you've ever written with... You get where I'm coming from here. And so, as my fingers weaken from typing this novella, and your eyes undoubtedly flutter and become heavy from making it through such an arduous tale (unless you didn't read it all, you cheater ), I must pose the ultimate question that could have easily been asked in 200 words or less... TL;DR VERSION Should I spend my money on my muse, flame, and Grail, the Visconti Homo Sapiens, a pen I will most likely never have the chance to purchase again (until several years from now )? Or should I take a different route and purchase three other pens that would be easily obtainable in the future, but somewhat arguably a better use of the cash? (Note: The other pens I have in mind are the Pelikan M600, the Namiki Falcon, and another Kaweco Sport Classic. These will be complemented nicely by a dash of ink. At the FPH discounted prices, these pens fit the allotted budget I have made for the Homo Sapiens)