Demonstrator Festival 2014

[damonism]

That's awesome.

 

I actually got my first demonstrator today — a TWSBI 580 Diamond.

 

My collection also has some rules, but it's not quite a strict. My main one is I don't do gold (gold coloured, anyway, can have a silver coloured gold nib). I fear I'm about to violate this rule, however, as I have my eye on an Italix Parson's Essential. So maybe they're more "guidelines" than "rules" :-)

[kenshiro]

How about the Herbin Eyedropper - not sure if it hits all the criteria!

 

Looks fantastic, congratulations!

Thanks! I'd not seen that one before... It'd work if it didn't have a solid cap =\.

 

Fantastic! Have they all been used? If not, which ones have / haven't been?

The ones that haven't been used are the very limited edition pen-store collaborations (Hougado, Usagi Lumiere) and the Stipula Etruria Nuda which I had a hell of a time finding and serendipitously got pre-sale from Gary Lehrer.

 

Conklin Mark Twain crescent-filler?

 

Gorgeous collection! Love the case, too!

I love the Conklin, but the nib is two-tone.

[Bigeddie]

The Herbin eyedropper comes in three variants, two solid caps, one clear demonstratior. Not heard great things on performance though

[de_pen_dent]

Very impressive collection - absolutely amazing.

 

Chapeau!

[arrScott]

Most impressive!

[kenshiro]

The Herbin eyedropper comes in three variants, two solid caps, one clear demonstratior. Not heard great things on performance though

So it is! I'll check it out further, thanks!

[kpyeoman]

Thanks for posting this -- you have a very cool and impressive collection! I'm also partial to demos with rhodium trim, so this was good eye candy! It's also an exceptionally good resource for those interested in knowing/seeing what clear demo options are available out there (in addition to the standard ones usually discussed).

 

A couple of questions:

 

1. How long have you owned most of these pens for? Do you write with them on a regular basis, or are they mainly for display purposes (I noted that you have several with tags still and you mentioned EDC pens)?

 

2. Do you own any just for the reasons of collection completeness (i.e., are there pens that you wouldn't have bought otherwise as general users)?

 

3. How have the pens held up over time? I'm particularly interested to know if any have "yellowed" or experienced any discolouration that I've seen with some demonstrators (it looks like the 1911 L demo yellows at the threads over time...)?

 

4. Which are your favorites and why?

 

Again, my thanks! This made my day when I first saw it yesterday.

[saskia_madding]

I dreamed of the Hougado one last night, and it is definitely no longer available. <sigh> I both love and hate this thread!

[kenshiro]

Thanks for posting this -- you have a very cool and impressive collection! I'm also partial to demos with rhodium trim, so this was good eye candy! It's also an exceptionally good resource for those interested in knowing/seeing what clear demo options are available out there (in addition to the standard ones usually discussed).

 

A couple of questions:

 

1. How long have you owned most of these pens for? Do you write with them on a regular basis, or are they mainly for display purposes (I noted that you have several with tags still and you mentioned EDC pens)?

 

2. Do you own any just for the reasons of collection completeness (i.e., are there pens that you wouldn't have bought otherwise as general users)?

 

3. How have the pens held up over time? I'm particularly interested to know if any have "yellowed" or experienced any discolouration that I've seen with some demonstrators (it looks like the 1911 L demo yellows at the threads over time...)?

 

4. Which are your favorites and why?

 

Again, my thanks! This made my day when I first saw it yesterday.

1. It's been an ongoing collection, starting perhaps 5 years ago with a burst recently as for some reason over the last 12 months there have been a lot of them available on the Japanese primary and secondary market in particular.

 

2. There are several that I own for collection completeness, mostly the cheapies like the FountainPenRevolution ones (both of which came with damage) and the Dollar. My rule has been to keep three in rotation at any given time, one blue/black, one green, one red for annotations. Generally I try to put them in the ultrasonic after they've done two complete fills worth of duty (which goes more quickly for the blue/black than the others naturally) and they go back in the box. The ones with tags are not unused, I just put the tags back on because I happen to have them (I have the boxes for most somewhere as well). Interestingly, one that I thought I was buying for completeness' sake (and was an absolute chore to find) was the Pilot Petit1 Noncolor, which is, as it turns out, an absolutely terrific pocket pen.

 

3. Most of my pens are quite young with the exception of the two Omas examples. As you can see, the cellulose resin of the Ogiva in particular yellows quite a bit with age, which is probably going to be true of the 360 as well. I've not really had any discoloration issues with the PMMA or other pure plastics, but only time will tell. If they do start to discolor, I'll probably have to move them to an opaque box, but I know that acrylic, at least is color stable for decades.

 

4. I think my favorite workhorse is actually the TWSBI Mini, which is light enough that I can write multiple pages front and back and not have noticeable hand fatigue, something that's not true of most of the pens. I like the Petit1 as mentioned as well. All the Viscontis have lovely nibs - I also used the Van Gogh Mini for quite a while as a travel pen. I have the Franklin-Christoph earmarked as up next for a blue/black fill - looking forward to trying out the Masuyama nib.

 

Glad you enjoyed the collection (which I've just found out is missing a pen!)

 

I dreamed of the Hougado one last night, and it is definitely no longer available. <sigh> I both love and hate this thread!

[saskia_madding]

Please keep me in the loop if you hear of another Hougado demo on the secondary market! Or primary for the matter.

[parnesh]

Please keep me in the loop if you hear of another Hougado demo on the secondary market! Or primary for the matter.

 

 

You can buy a gold trimmed one from them directly. Can't seem to find a link now but saw it a week ago.

[kenshiro]

 

 

You can buy a gold trimmed one from them directly. Can't seem to find a link now but saw it a week ago.

The link is here for the gold trim. Personally I don't particularly like the effect, but it is in stock.

[Lince]

WOW this is the most impressive demonstrator collection I have ever seen.

Congratulations,

and thanks for sharing.

[hharry]

Absolute fabulous! A great theme! Love it that despite the limitations or regulations you have succeeded in collecting a very very nice collection.

[saskia_madding]

I am not a huge fan of demo with gold trim. I have bent on this rule for the custom 823, but I don't tend to like most other ones. I will keep dreaming of the hougado with silver. <sigh!>

[a m a r g o]

Amazing collection! Thank you for sharing...

[kenshiro]

http://i.imgur.com/JQoqbfp.jpg

And once again the family is complete! Thanks for the heads up Bigeddie!

[Calamus plasticus]

Wonderful collection!

May I suggest one you're missing?

The Sheaffer Nononsense demonstrator.

You can see mine here:

 

http://www.relojes-especiales.com/foros/estilograficas/nononsense-demonstrator-eyedropper-256169/

 

Unfortunately mine was discolored from being in storage a long time, but It was originally transparent.

Perhaps you can source one with no discoloration.

Regards!

[OakIris]

WOW! I am very impressed by and, yes, envious of, your collection. No way I could ever have such a collection of expensive pens, let alone all of those yummy demonstrators, but it is certainly nice to see them!

 

I have a total of 3 demonstrators, all relatively inexpensive (or just plain cheap when compared to the majority of your pens,) and only two of them would meet your criteria - a TWSBI Mini, Stipula Passaporto and a Fantasy Parker 51 Vacumatic Demonstrator made by Ariel Kullock.

 

I would love to have one or two more but in the meantime, I can drool over the photos of the unobtainable demonstrators in your collection. Thank you for sharing your splendid collection with us.

 

Holly

[Federalist Pens]

WOW! What a collection!

 

Love the case as well.... great stuff!