How Many Pens Do You Own?

[inkstainedruth]

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

Add one more to the inventory. When I was in the Boston area last week I went to Bromfield Pen Shop (four bottles of ink and a Clairefontaine notebook with French ruled paper) and to Bob Slate Stationers in Harvard Square (another bottle of ink and a Pilot Metropolitan Retro Pop (grey, with the herringbone design above the section) with a stub nib -- so not a horribly expensive pen, even if it would maybe have been a bit cheaper online. Oh, and a small Apica notebook, to try the paper out.

It was an expensive day (and that's not even counting train fare and a Charlie T-pass, plus food from the kiosks in South Station -- I don't think the one guy was all that happy when I said that the prices were more like an airport's food court ; but seriously, $3.75 US for a bottle of lemonade? ). But I needed it (the trip up till that point was really stressful, and the rest of the trip after that as much or more so...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[MHBru]

13 and holding... for over a year now... a Nakaya in 2019 was my last purchase. All of them are inked but some are getting less use these days. Three M800s, an M205, a Ductus, a Van Gogh, Lamy 2000, Esterbrook Estie, Lamy Aion, and the aforementioned Nakaya get the most use now.

[pajaro]

Loads.

[MBDostoevsky]

now i have started again to browse for pens

[AmandaW]

Not sure how many pens, I haven't counted. I do know there are 41 spare slots in the pen drawers I made. I'm not sure what I was thinking, but my DH said I was being realistic.

[yubaprof]

Forty and holding. Last year I finished a writing commission and used some of the money to buy a Montblanc Hemingway. It is the most I have ever spent on a pen, but I rationalized that the money did not come out of the household account. Nevertheless, I have resolved to not acquire another pen for at least two years. So I am using the Hemingway and going back through my other pens and discovering that about half of them can be sold off and not missed. That would leave me with four Montblancs (two are vintage), two Aurora Optimas, four Pelikans (one is vintage), three Sheaffer Targas (acquired many years ago, but I still enjoy them), two Deltas, three Parker 51s (also acquired a long time ago), and two Waterman Carenes. So far I have held to my resolution and I am getting ready to sell off the other twenty that just lay there taking up space.

[corgicoupe]

Certainly more than I need, but some are gifts or inheritances that will surely be kept, even if not used.

[LWW]

Not counting el cheeps, but keeper pens ... between 50 and 60,

[senzen]

41, not including a Muji missing its feed and nib (still don't know how I managed that), and a broken Concorde I may one day try to repair.

[Shaggy]

I have 12, plus 5 or 6 for sale.

[Buford]

I have 127 in total. 

 

I inventory them and keep them classified by usage or type.

• 21 are what I call collectible. I don't ink them up. I just display them in a jewelry box thing. Of these, 5 are vintage, and 9 are expensive (to me, that's between $100 and $400), and the rest are odds and ends. Basically, eye candy.
• 25 are in my Everyday Carry rotation. These are all good writers that range in value from super-cheap to <$100. The average I spend on these pens is around $45.
• 10 are disposable Pilot Varsity pens.
• The remaining 71 are cheap pens from China that don't see regular duty in the Everyday Carry category. Mostly Moonman, Jinhao, Hero, Wing Sung, Baoer and Duke. Who among us could resist buying a Duke "Uranus Fat Boy"? However, if the mood struck me I'd probably be willing to sell most of these these pens.

I only actively add to the "expensive" category, and I plan to raise the ceiling on what I spend on them. Unlike when I started (nine years ago) I'm going quality over quantity now. I also occasionally pick up a new Everyday Carry pen if I see a candidate. I no longer contribute to filling up the Orange Connex. 

[Bo Bo Olson]

120 or so....call it 100 that work....20 needing repair....and some are not worth much even if they worked....but first things first.........the old cheap ones....well one don't want to release them into the wild with broken wings...come the day.

Sooner or alter if i stop buying pens and ink...I can get them repaired.