What Was Your Last Impulsive Pen Acquisition?

[enuhski]

My purple heart could not say no to this pen. My first Kaweco, too.

[mizgeorge]

2 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

OK, I did it. I don't know why or how it happened, but when I returned from dinner, somehow everything in my Cult Pens shopping basket from the past 24 hours or so all apparently dropped, even though I haven't changed the delivery destination country, or discount code applied, etc. This brought the effective price of the Pelikan M205 Moonstone down to as low as I could get from anywhere else; and so I jumped on it.

That's the problem with having an almost permanent CP shopping basket on the go...

They got me too - I just bought my first proper Sailor - the Pro Gear Slim Blue Green Nebula, with a Zoom nib. Very excited!

[mizgeorge]

25 minutes ago, enuhski said:

My purple heart could not say no to this pen. My first Kaweco, too.

That is a super pretty colour

[maclink]

52 minutes ago, enuhski said:

My purple heart could not say no to this pen. My first Kaweco, too.

Sweet!  The gold clip goes well with it too. 

[Sk33t3r]

The same thing that I mentioned in what pen I am using today, an ebonite FPR Himalaya V2. After reading a review yesterday, I found out that Fountain Pen Revolution with a storefront was just a few miles away from where I worked. I went there and bought the pen. It's been nice so far.

[sirgilbert357]

30 minutes ago, Sk33t3r said:

The same thing that I mentioned in what pen I am using today, an ebonite FPR Himalaya V2. After reading a review yesterday, I found out that Fountain Pen Revolution with a storefront was just a few miles away from where I worked. I went there and bought the pen. It's been nice so far.

 

I work about 15 or 20 mins from them. Very dangerous. I keep thinking I should go out there on my lunch someday, but I know that I'll end up buying something!

[A Smug Dill]

22 hours ago, mizgeorge said:

I just bought my first proper Sailor - the Pro Gear Slim Blue Green Nebula, with a Zoom nib. Very excited!

 

Excellent! I hope you'll love it.

 

That reminds me, I still have a brand new ‘limited edition’ (Hah!) Sailor Professional Gear Slim with Zoom nib sitting in a drawer somewhere.

 

One thing (OK, make that another thing) I don't love about Cult Pens's web shop platform since its migration in March is that I can no longer use it to follow or review what's happening with my orders, get tracking numbers from it, etc. The status of my recent order is now “Order completed” but I have not been advised of dispatch or tracking information.

[mizgeorge]

31 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

Excellent! I hope you'll love it.

 

That reminds me, I still have a brand new ‘limited edition’ (Hah!) Sailor Professional Gear Slim with Zoom nib sitting in a drawer somewhere.

 

One thing (OK, make that another thing) I don't love about Cult Pens's web shop platform since its migration in March is that I can no longer use it to follow or review what's happening with my orders, get tracking numbers from it, etc. The status of my recent order is now “Order completed” but I have not been advised of dispatch or tracking information.

And goodness me - certainly from a visual point of view, yes I do! What a very pretty colour. I will now waste quite a lot of time deciding on the perfect ink for it. I may well be back later with pictures  

 

Now, of course, I want to know what colour the one you've consigned to a drawer of shame is...

[A Smug Dill]

10 minutes ago, mizgeorge said:

Now, of course, I want to know what colour the one you've consigned to a drawer of shame is...

 

Midnight Sky. I picked it up from EndlessPens at a good price at the time; the fact that I chose a Zoom nib on it more or less set the scene/expectation of my not using it much. (I have one Sailor PROSKE, which is a Profit Standard clear demonstrator by any other name, with a Zoom nib and I rarely ever write with it.) In fact, having the Midnight Sky was the reason why I didn't pick up the Blue Green Nebula as well when that eventually came up at a similarly good <US$100 price. (That, and I didn't want to put together another US$500 order so as to qualify for free international shipping.)

 

Might I suggest at least trying Colorverse Project 002 Bluish Green for the Blue Green Nebula?

 

I'll probably end up putting something like Jacques Herbin Bleu du Minuit or Graf von Faber-Castell Midnight Blue in the Midnight Sky, although PenBBS ink no.408 is a possibility.

 

...

 

Dammit, and now an opportunity to get a new Aurora Optima with a 14K gold Italic nib for ~€300 just popped up! Must… resist…!

[sirgilbert357]

52 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

Dammit, and now an opportunity to get a new Aurora Optima with a 14K gold Italic nib for ~€300 just popped up! Must… resist…!

 

Stop online shopping, Smug!!! Step away from the computer! You can do it!

[mizgeorge]

2 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

Midnight Sky. I picked it up from EndlessPens at a good price at the time; the fact that I chose a Zoom nib on it more or less set the scene/expectation of my not using it much. (I have one Sailor PROSKE, which is a Profit Standard clear demonstrator by any other name, with a Zoom nib and I rarely ever write with it.) In fact, having the Midnight Sky was the reason why I didn't pick up the Blue Green Nebula as well when that eventually came up at a similarly good <US$100 price. (That, and I didn't want to put together another US$500 order so as to qualify for free international shipping.)

Nice looking pen - I have to say I instinctively prefer the silver trim to the gold. I'm looking forward to trying the Zoom nib - it's the only way to find out whether I like it or not.

 

2 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

Might I suggest at least trying Colorverse Project 002 Bluish Green for the Blue Green Nebula?

That's a pretty colour - but I haven't got of the expensive Colorverse inks - I find their bottle sizing baffling and they never seem to have the right sizes of the ones I like the look of. I did consider Emerald of Chivor (which has that same sheening thing going on) but decided it was too blue. I think I actually want to keep the ink fairly light, so it may be good old MB Emerald. I just haven't quite decided whether I want to lean blue or green yet! 

 

2 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

Dammit, and now an opportunity to get a new Aurora Optima with a 14K gold Italic nib for ~€300 just popped up! Must… resist…!

It just depends on the colour and vendor - especially if it means waiting for months to actually get it... Personally, I think resistance is over-rated.

[Gloucesterman]

23 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

Excellent! I hope you'll love it.

 

That reminds me, I still have a brand new ‘limited edition’ (Hah!) Sailor Professional Gear Slim with Zoom nib sitting in a drawer somewhere.

 

One thing (OK, make that another thing) I don't love about Cult Pens's web shop platform since its migration in March is that I can no longer use it to follow or review what's happening with my orders, get tracking numbers from it, etc. The status of my recent order is now “Order completed” but I have not been advised of dispatch or tracking information.

Your experience does not match any of the ones I have had with Cult Pens.

 

I have had two purchases of approximately $400.00 (in April or May and $300.00 on this past Monday (evening my time - U.S.A. east coast).

 

Received email notice that my package had shipped later Tuesday (also my time) with tracking info via DHL (the usual carrier). The notice said it would be delivered this Friday. This morning I got a text saying that it was arriving today... and it did, by about 1:30 PM. They padded it with paper rather than styrofoam peanuts which is what I prefer and usually forget to tell them.

 

Based on the email and arrival date (today) it took two days from England to the Boston, Massachusetts/New England area! And the shipping was free!!

 

Personally all my experiences with Cult Pens has been VERY positive. Of course, No Affiliation, just a well satisfied customer. (and YMMV)

 

Important edited one day later:

Just found out that what I thought were styrofoam peanuts were in fact biodegradable packing stuff. They typically re-use other packing materials first and then resort to the peanuts. That's good to know makes me appreciate their efforts and services even more.

[ParramattaPaul]

I haven't done it ---- yet, but the temptation and impulse is there.  Yard-O-Led, Viceroy Barley fountain pen.   🤔🤔🤔

[A Smug Dill]

2 hours ago, Gloucesterman said:

Your experience does not match any of the ones I have had with Cult Pens.

 

Are you able to see the tracking number for either recent order on Cult Pens's web shop platform (in 

 

Are you able to retrieve the details of the order/transaction, such as what are the items in it, how much you paid for each item, the delivery method and delivery charges applied, etc. under Recent Orders in your account?

 

 

I wasn't talking about the speed of delivery. Global-e did notify me overnight, while I slept, that my order was dispatched, and additionally DHL started sending me notifications independently for the shipment. But Cult Pens used to dispatch more promptly, have more of a handle of where things are at with an order and could better deal with it when issues arise, and provided more information to the customer on the web shop platform, prior to the March 2021 changes.

 

 

Edited June 18, 2021 by A Smug Dill
added screenshot

[JonSzanto]

Both the USPS and eBay catch a lot of flack, but this is pretty amazing: I purchased this set on late Tuesday morning, and they arrived mid-day today. Remarkable, just like the condition of the items!

[mizgeorge]

8 minutes ago, JonSzanto said:

Both the USPS and eBay catch a lot of flack, but this is pretty amazing: I purchased this set on late Tuesday morning, and they arrived mid-day today. Remarkable, just like the condition of the items!

Goodness! They're a completely different colour to the seller images! I was expecting something much paler from the previous pic. 

Just lovely though. And the little case is proper icing on the cake with extra sprinkles and probably one of those whizzy candles too

[A Smug Dill]

10 hours ago, mizgeorge said:

It just depends on the colour and vendor - especially if it means waiting for months to actually get it...

 

You got which retailer I was alluding to. 😏  It's the Aurora Optima O' Sole Mio I've been eyeing for several months, on and off, until maybe late in 2019 when I started buying a lot of Aurora piston-fillers at awesome prices (mainly) elsewhere, then topped up with a bunch of c/c-filled Ipsilon and Tu pens as well; and since the O' Sole Mio never dropped to a comparable price point, I've sorta left it off my list of pens to watch for the past year or so.

[JonSzanto]

42 minutes ago, mizgeorge said:

Goodness! They're a completely different colour to the seller images! I was expecting something much paler from the previous pic.

 

Well, look... All I can do is take available-light photos with my camera. I can't guarantee accuracy, they might be a *bit* deeper in hue in my photo, now looking at them under desk lamp light. Anyway, the unexposed areas of the plastic (under cap threads, pulling off pencil top) don't show any dividing line between dark/light, so the pens don't seem to have faded from exposure. I have a hunch these were kept very well, likely in a drawer. The case is only plastic but I've rarely seen something this old that looks brand new, still supple and clean. A well cared for item, I'll treat it the same.

[sirgilbert357]

10 hours ago, JonSzanto said:

Both the USPS and eBay catch a lot of flack, but this is pretty amazing: I purchased this set on late Tuesday morning, and they arrived mid-day today. Remarkable, just like the condition of the items!

 

Holy (bleep), you did SOOO good on that!!! I can't believe you only paid FOURTEEN bucks for that!! Those look incredible. I love the blue color.

 

That poor seller had no idea what they had. 

[Gloucesterman]

11 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

Are you able to see the tracking number for either recent order on Cult Pens's web shop platform (in 

 

Are you able to retrieve the details of the order/transaction, such as what are the items in it, how much you paid for each item, the delivery method and delivery charges applied, etc. under Recent Orders in your account?

 

 

I wasn't talking about the speed of delivery. Global-e did notify me overnight, while I slept, that my order was dispatched, and additionally DHL started sending me notifications independently for the shipment. But Cult Pens used to dispatch more promptly, have more of a handle of where things are at with an order and could better deal with it when issues arise, and provided more information to the customer on the web shop platform, prior to the March 2021 changes.

 

 

In response to your question, Yes, the attached receipt did include an itemized list of what I purchased and included individual and total pricing (including sales tax) and shipping (which was free for this order).