How Many Pens Do You Own?

[sirgilbert357]

At present:

 

15 pens (Shaeffer, Montblanc, Pelikan, Pilot, Parker, Platinum, Kanilea, Sailor, Nakaya, Namiki, Hakase)

2 pens due next month

2 pens due next year

1 pen might be due short/longer term pending stock/production at Namiki

2 pens firmly planned but for longer term

2 pens loosely planned

2 pens to be seen irl first

 

That would bring the total to 26, but for one pen due next year I will sell another, so I arrive at 25, and that is still one too many as I would really like to try to keep my collection at 24 (the capacity of my collection box), so I have a dilemma to solve.

 

 

Just wear a shirt with a pocket. 24 in the box, one with you. Done.

[sirgilbert357]

I am now up to 16. Five of those are cheap beaters though. And I have duplicates of two of the beaters. I really could get rid of a few and not miss them at all. And I need to because my pen box only holds 11.

 

If I get a nice Christmas bonus, I have plans to purchase a pen in my grail material, Omas Arco brown. After that, I might actually shrink the collection a bit...

[inkstainedruth]

I don't think I want to count how many I have at this point. I've acquired 8 this year alone. And I can't even use most of them until they get fixed (although in my defense, one of them -- some as yet to be identified Waterman with the lever broken off -- I didn't buy).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[brokenclay]

I'm trying to reduce the collection, or rather cull it - I own pens I don't love, and there are pens out there that I want.

 

I gave 2 away a couple of weeks ago, but they came back...

[cll]

When I look at my collection, I do feel kind of guilty for having so many. Yet there are still more pens that I would to add to my collection......

[Carguy]

I am out of slots in my two pen chests, so that just means I need another one with drawers!

[PAKMAN]

You got that right! lol

[roguico]

I have about 190 Parker fountain pens, 46 are 75s and Premier 75s, the rest are model 15, 17, 19, 21, 41, 45, 51, 61, 85, 88, 95, 180, classic and arrow, plus some model 35 and some that seems to be from the 35 family which are called FL2 in France. A few Insignia and Sonnets, one Titanium Premier, a few Vectors, one burgundy Frontier and a Red Beta.

One first generation gold plated Montblanc Noblesse, one very nice stainless steel Platinum etched all over with a very nice swirly pattern whose name I don’t know, the nib is 14K white gold.

Additionally I have some nice ballpoint pens and some mechanical pens, noteworthy are a gold plated and lacked H. Stern ballpoint pen I bought at the factory in Ipanema (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) many years ago and thick and heavy cooper pen brought from Chile and received as a gift.

I think I went crazy because I bought almost all of them in the last 18 months. I have them in three very large display cases with drawers.

Also, I have a box with tools I am only starting to know how to use them.

There many favorites but I’m specially fond of my Parker 61 Rainbow Heritage with the long cap, just like the one I used in high school and got stolen, a pen that I got from my father and gave me a lot of memories. The other one is my Parker 75 sterling silver Cicelé that I received as a high school graduation present.

[JotterAddict62]

The pens are not the problem, it is the storage of the pens. Where to put them.....

[ParramattaPaul]

The pens are not the problem, it is the storage of the pens. Where to put them.....

No, that's not the problem either. The real problem is which one to use if one can only carry and use only one for the day.

[como]

You got that right! lol

[Paul-in-SF]

The real secret is to avoid pens made in a large variety of colors. Then that whole "collect 'em all" instinct has a natural limit.

 

I never had that instinct until I recently got involved with Parker 51s. Oy. I had one storage drawer with Parkers and Sheaffers. I had to move the Sheaffers to another drawer. There's still one color I have my eye out for, but I'm mostly done. Oh yeah, and then there's the Wahl-Eversharp Pacemakers, but there are only 5 colors and they don't come around very often, so that one's mostly aspirational.

[loganrah]

One more today...

[inkstainedruth]

No, that's not the problem either. The real problem is which one to use if one can only carry and use only one for the day.

Who says you can only carry/use just one for the day? That's what pen cases and sleeves are for! Not to mention shirt pockets. And the occasional neckline....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[sirgilbert357]

No, that's not the problem either. The real problem is which one to use if one can only carry and use only one for the day.

 

 

Lack of usage is one thing that keeps me from owning more. I am pragmatic by nature and I feel wasteful if I have a bunch of something "just because", and it isn't getting used. Carrying 4 pens with me in a single day just because makes me feel more like I am forcing myself to use them...I have no "need" to carry so many with me.

 

I decided a long time ago to limit myself to only 20 pens. This makes the hobby much more enjoyable for me and also forces me to carefully consider each purchase. As time goes on, I find myself wanting fewer pens and I think I'll actually be shrinking the collection soon. We'll see. Its about quality over quantity for me at this point, even if I have to save for a year or two to get the next pen I want...

[wspohn]

I believe that I have just over 400 pens but haven't made a habit of counting. Have only bought one this year - when you have a large number of pens, you run out of specimens that you want/need and slow almost to a stop. I am pretty sure that if you graphed any collector's progress you would have a huge bump at the beginning of their collecting activity, then slowly tapering off to nearly zero.

[ParramattaPaul]

I'd have to count, but the short answer is two more after now than I had on Friday.

Edited September 6, 2020 by ParramattaPaul

[JotterAddict62]

I don't think I want to count how many I have at this point. I've acquired 8 this year alone. And I can't even use most of them until they get fixed (although in my defense, one of them -- some as yet to be identified Waterman with the lever broken off -- I didn't buy).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

I'll come over to help with inventory, then you can help me.

[inkfade]

11, 10 of which get used.

 

Lamy 2000

Delta Unica

Lamy Safari Dark Lilac

Lamy Safari Dark Lilac

Lamy Safari All Black

Lamy Safari All Black

Lamy Safari Candy Violet

Lamy Safari Candy Violet

Lamy Safari White

Lamy LX Marron

Nemosine Singularity

 

The Nemosine was my very first fp, purchased in 2013. It still works great and served me exclusively for years before I delved further into the hobby, but the lip of the cap cracked and completely disintegrated a long time ago. Since it was the gateway to my wonderful journey with fountain pens, I retired it with full honors.

 

I am not counting the other dozen fountain pens I have tucked away in a box, listed currently for sale. My collection used to be close to 40, and I have thankfully culled it down to about 10. Am thinking about selling the back ups of my Lamy Safari LEs and I do plan to purchase the Parker 51 Deluxe when it is released in February. As long as my collection stays around 10 (or even less, hopefully), I'll be happy.

[maclink]

I just inked up my Faber-Castell Ondoro. Hadn't done so in years! So I do eventually go back to pens that I haven't used for a long time. It's a nice experience since I often forget what writing with them was like and it's a new experience then anyway since it would be influenced by my fountain pen experiences since last using it. It makes me appreciate my older pens more or at times, less.

 

I just did a quick count and I'm now at about 60 pens and I felt it was a LOT but I've discovered after reading some of this thread, that it's all relative.