Worst Fountain Pen Mistake?

[XP100]

Putting a Cross Aventura in my jeans pocket. Upside down.

 

My jeans will never be the same.

[OcalaFlGuy]

Hmm my mistake would be throwing out a Parker 51 back when I was much younger and thought that it was a cheapo pen.

 

Bingo!

 

Mine was, "Why would I want to use that blah blah black thing when I have these cool colors of see through Sheaffer pens?" (Black 51 Demi)

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL-and it was my Dad's

[ershen]

Buying a new Pelikan m200 with a factory Italic nib. Hard starter, skips like crazy, unreliable.

[Silas]

Two mistakes:

 

After just receiving a MB146 OBB that I had Binder do a CRISP italic on for a signature pen, and, matching it in a pocket with a Sapporo with fine point. Thought they made the perfect pair...Big Brother and Little Brother. Went to a graduation and clipped them to the inside pocket of my suitcoat...I never do that....and somehow...they were LOST. Never could find them. Two pens at the same time! Gone!

 

But...the most heartbreaking:

 

One of my favorite AP students, who loved fountain pens, graduated, and a few months later, I decided to surprise him with the gift of a NOS Burgundy, gold capped, English, Parker 51 that I had Greg Minuskin tweak a bit. I Boxed it and wrote a note about how I thought this would enhance his writing! Mailed it....it was delivered.

NEVER heard from him at all....nothing!

 

Ah, well, an acknowledgement would have been nice.

[stuartk]

Buying a new Pelikan m200 with a factory Italic nib. Hard starter, skips like crazy, unreliable.

 

You should either send it to Richard Binder to have the nib put right, or just buy a replacement nib from him. (He makes sure that any nib he sells works well before sending it out.) Buying it outright is probably much faster, BTW.

 

One of these days I want to get a 200, but I have had to cut short my pen buying for a while. :-(

 

 

(I'm sure there are other people that could tweak this nib as well as Richard does, but I've only had experience with his work.)

Edited October 18, 2011 by stuartk

[Redbarchettayyz]

I clearly haven't been at it very long, since my biggest mistakes are the few times I've forgotten to bring one of my pens to work & been stuck with a crappy company ballpoint all day! It happened again today, and I'm seriously thinking I should buy a spare bottle of Navajo Turquoise and a Lamy Safari to leave at my desk as backup.

[pajaro]

My worst fountain pen mistake was buying that second pen . . .

[Gobblecup]

Two mistakes:

 

After just receiving a MB146 OBB that I had Binder do a CRISP italic on for a signature pen, and, matching it in a pocket with a Sapporo with fine point. Thought they made the perfect pair...Big Brother and Little Brother. Went to a graduation and clipped them to the inside pocket of my suitcoat...I never do that....and somehow...they were LOST. Never could find them. Two pens at the same time! Gone!

 

But...the most heartbreaking:

 

One of my favorite AP students, who loved fountain pens, graduated, and a few months later, I decided to surprise him with the gift of a NOS Burgundy, gold capped, English, Parker 51 that I had Greg Minuskin tweak a bit. I Boxed it and wrote a note about how I thought this would enhance his writing! Mailed it....it was delivered.

NEVER heard from him at all....nothing!

 

Ah, well, an acknowledgement would have been nice.

 

It's a numbers game; try sending another one, I will be sure to acknowledge it and send a thank you note! :lol:

Edited October 18, 2011 by Gobblecup

[chrisispringles]

Leaving my broad nibbed Parker 25 in my physics class. Some f****r nicked it and destroyed it. I never found out who did it, but if I do then swift and merciless revenge will be exacted upon them. I'd had that pen for 5 years and it was buttery smooth, I've never since found a pen that writes as well as it did.

[Keye Skware]

Leaving a fountain pen catalog that listed MSRP lay around the house for my wife to find.

[PointyThings]

Leaving a fountain pen catalog that listed MSRP lay around the house for my wife to find.

 

That can play in your favor if you buy the pen at a serious discount (slightly used or a closeout): "See, honey, I picked up this $400 pen for $175!"

[dannzeman]

My worst fountain pen mistake? Buying my first one. I think you know where this goes from here.

[JonDoh]

Buying a Cross Apogee after production had been moved to China. After sending the pen back four times and it still not writing properly I finally tossed it.

[Dimitrios_P]

Worst mistake.....Sheaffer into the washer.......Sad afterwards.

[Kokonoe]

I dropped it. Luckily,it was a cheap $18 one that I had bought when I first got into FPs. Sadly, it landed vertically with the nib down. It never was the same after that.

[Dylan]

I am with Dannzeman, buying my first one......and the rest they say "is history".

 

How do I make myself feel better for spending so much money on pens........I buy another one

[Jared]

I tried to insert a cartridge with the nib against the desk. Nib bent into a curve. Luckily it was a relatively inexpensive pen, but a bad mistake.

[StephY]

Not removing my Omas 360 from my carry-on that had to be gate checked. I got home, the bag did not. While the bag did find its way home, the pen did not.

[Doug Add]

Worst ones that got away:

 

1) I did not buy an Omas Arco for a ridiculously low price because I did not have the cash at the time.

 

2) I traded a gorgeous red Marlen Ulysses because it felt too big at the time. I am sure it would be comfortable in my hand now, nearly eight years later. Alas, they never seem to be available used anywhere.

 

Worst damage done:

 

I left a MB 144 clipped in my shirt. Not only did it go through the wash, but I did not discover it while moving clothes to the dryer. Of course the pen was destroyed. It had been given to me by a friend who did not wish to be reminded of his ex-wife (she gave him the pen as a gift). The nib had been damaged, but I got it writing again. So, easy come, easy go. No big deal. The real damage was all the shirts that were destroyed by the ink being dried into them in hundreds of little spots.

[42N8TT]

1. Losing my father's P51 (still makes me cringe 29 years after the offense.)

2. Buying a P51 "Special Edition"

3. Thinking that I could get out of the DC pen show with only what I went there for.

4. The 60-pen display case would be more than big enough. :roflmho:

5. "I'll get the Vacs I want first, then maybe a few Duofolds."

6. "Desk set? Naah...I'll never use one of those."

 

Thanking the higher power that there are many more gun shows than pen shows 'round these parts....