Best Places To Purchase New And/or Used?

[cnjackson]

Dear All,

 

I have been feeling myself drawn to MB's 146 and 149 a bit lately.

 

Could you offer me advice on where to purchase these pens--both new and used. (I think, for budget reasons, I'd prefer used, but I'd welcome information on new as well.)

 

Also--what seems to be a fair price (broadly speaking) for these pens. I've scouted around, but I see great variation in asking prices!

 

I should add that I will be attending the DC pen show in August...

 

Thanks!

 

C

[jar]

The DC show will be a great place and you'll get to try before you buy.

[jslallar]

FPN classifieds

FP classified

eBay

 

Pen show though is a good idea where you can try out what you buy

Edited June 30, 2012 by jslallar

[georges zaslavsky]

gopens.com, nibs.com and morastylos.com

[Barry Gabay]

Hello C,

 

The advice offered already is very useful. There is a fairly steady stream of 146 & 149 models available here in the classifieds. Pentrace also has lots of pens for sale. Dealers at both sites tend to be completely honest. As stated earlier, the DC show is a great place to hunt for 146s, 149s, anything you are seeking really. It's the largest pen venue in the world, and by Sunday afternoon it becomes a true buyers' market. Suppose I shouldn't say that since I'm a dealer & a buyer there, but it's true. There are retailers with new-in-the-box MB pens, as well as folks with used models in varied condition. I've bought several 149s at the DC show over the years. In fact, a couple of years ago, I bought an early 90s model Saturday afternoon and sold it at a profit Sunday morning in order to buy a 1960s-70s era 149 I had just found there. Did the same thing with a burgundy 147 Traveler years ago at the show, but don't remember what I bought with the profit from it. That's the sort of action one can expect at the DC show.

 

Quite a wild ride the past 2 weeks in C'ville, eh?

 

Have fun at the show.

Best wishes,

Barry

[FredRydr]

If you cannot wait until the show, I believe Bert Heiserman recently had more than the usual number of Monblanc piston-fillers in his display case at the Pen Haven in Kensington MD, just off the beltway. You might want to call first.

 

Fred

[Ghost Plane]

Much depends on whether you have particular nib sizes in mind. F and Ms swarm like mosquitoes. But those of us who drive the OBBs have our sources. <nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more, say no more!>

[pen jubky]

This is the place to go for online purchases:

http://www.fountainpenhospital.com/

Good luck!

Edited June 30, 2012 by pen jubky

[R S]

This is the place to go for online purchases:

http://www.fountainpenhospital.com/

Good luck!

 

Yes, FPH can meet your needs for both new and used.

[cnjackson]

The DC show will be a great place and you'll get to try before you buy.

 

Hi Jar--thanks for this! I'm looking forward to the show--and getting a lot of feedback from forum members here about how to prepare.

 

C

[cnjackson]

FPN classifieds

FP classified

eBay

 

Pen show though is a good idea where you can try out what you buy

 

Thank you, Jslallar--

 

Can you tell me what the FP classifieds are? That's clearly something different from FPN, right?

 

Chris

[cnjackson]

gopens.com, nibs.com and morastylos.com

 

Hi Georges,

 

Thank you for these references. I hadn't realized that nibs.com sells used and vintage. And gopens is pretty impressive!

 

C

[cnjackson]

Hello C,

 

The advice offered already is very useful. There is a fairly steady stream of 146 & 149 models available here in the classifieds. Pentrace also has lots of pens for sale. Dealers at both sites tend to be completely honest. As stated earlier, the DC show is a great place to hunt for 146s, 149s, anything you are seeking really. It's the largest pen venue in the world, and by Sunday afternoon it becomes a true buyers' market. Suppose I shouldn't say that since I'm a dealer & a buyer there, but it's true. There are retailers with new-in-the-box MB pens, as well as folks with used models in varied condition. I've bought several 149s at the DC show over the years. In fact, a couple of years ago, I bought an early 90s model Saturday afternoon and sold it at a profit Sunday morning in order to buy a 1960s-70s era 149 I had just found there. Did the same thing with a burgundy 147 Traveler years ago at the show, but don't remember what I bought with the profit from it. That's the sort of action one can expect at the DC show.

 

Quite a wild ride the past 2 weeks in C'ville, eh?

 

Have fun at the show.

Best wishes,

Barry

 

Hi Barry--Thank you for your thoughts and advice. I'm pretty sure that I won't be doing any wheeling and dealing! Maybe once I've been to a few shows and when I know more what I'm doing!

 

This makes me wonder: I think that my top target for the show is a used 146 or 149. Your post made reference to several "vintages" of the 149. For someone who mostly wants to write with this pen (not really a collector), are there things that I can and should look for?

 

Thank you for any advice you might have.

 

As for Charlottesville--you must be thinking of Teresa Sullivan debacle? I have to admit, I'm not sure what to make of it all. I'm not as closely associated with UVA as I once was. But I do come down on Sullivan's side in all this: I'm an idealist about the function of universities in our society, and the actions of the BOV were about something else.

 

Thanks again for your suggestions!

 

Chris

[cnjackson]

If you cannot wait until the show, I believe Bert Heiserman recently had more than the usual number of Monblanc piston-fillers in his display case at the Pen Haven in Kensington MD, just off the beltway. You might want to call first.

 

Fred

 

Thank you, Fred! I think I will wait till I get to the show--but I'll call Pen Haven, too.

 

C

[cnjackson]

This is the place to go for online purchases:

http://www.fountainpenhospital.com/

Good luck!

 

Thank you, Pen Jubky and RS!

 

It seems the FPH is a much-trusted shop! I've already learned a lot from looking through it!

 

C

[cnjackson]

Much depends on whether you have particular nib sizes in mind. F and Ms swarm like mosquitoes. But those of us who drive the OBBs have our sources. <nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more, say no more!>

 

Hi Ghost Plane! I had been planning on a fine or med--one of the mosquitoes!

 

But your nudges and winks make me ask--am I missing something? Would you recommend looking at obliques and Bs and BBs? (and would you share your sources?)

 

A 146 or 149 will be a substantial investment for me, and my hope is to use it as a pretty constant writer. Do you find that OBBs are good for doing lengthy writing?

 

Thank you!

 

C

[jslallar]

FPN classifieds

FP classified

eBay

 

Pen show though is a good idea where you can try out what you buy

 

Thank you, Jslallar--

 

Can you tell me what the FP classifieds are? That's clearly something different from FPN, right?

 

Chris

 

Hello Chris

 

Fountain Pen Classifieds: http://fountainpenclassifieds.com/

 

is a different but similar site, made by one of the moderators here (I foget the name) for the sole purpose of listing pens for sale / trade. You need to become a member to avail the facility. Most of the stuff is listed on both fora (say about 90% or more) but there are some exceptions too.

Edited July 2, 2012 by jslallar

[meiers]

This is the place to go for online purchases:

http://www.fountainpenhospital.com/

Good luck!

 

Yes, FPH can meet your needs for both new and used.

 

FPH is awesome!

[Truman]

Much depends on whether you have particular nib sizes in mind. F and Ms swarm like mosquitoes. But those of us who drive the OBBs have our sources. <nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more, say no more!>

 

 

This thread has been of much use to me! I currently own 2 146's and 1 149 M nib and would love to hook up with an older (80's 90's) 149 with an OB or even an OBB. Perhaps I'm dense, but could you share your source of such pens? Not catching the wink part. :embarrassed_smile: Back channel fine too!

[cnjackson]

FPN classifieds

FP classified

eBay

 

Pen show though is a good idea where you can try out what you buy

 

Thank you, Jslallar--

 

Can you tell me what the FP classifieds are? That's clearly something different from FPN, right?

 

Chris

 

Hello Chris

 

Fountain Pen Classifieds: http://fountainpenclassifieds.com/

 

is a different but similar site, made by one of the moderators here (I foget the name) for the sole purpose of listing pens for sale / trade. You need to become a member to avail the facility. Most of the stuff is listed on both fora (say about 90% or more) but there are some exceptions too.

 

Hi Jslaller! I've been exploring FP classifieds ever since you sent me the link. It's pretty terrific. I think I have a fairly good (rough) sense of what an MB 149 or 146 will go for. My heart is drifting towards the 149. Now I just need to learn something about the differences between later used models and older ones.

 

C