What Was Your Last Impulsive Pen Acquisition?

[sirgilbert357]

12 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

80%-life crisis, perhaps? Or I already dislike my Pelikan M815 Metal-Striped pen (with an F nib I ended up regrinding myself, just to make the lines it put down narrow enough to be usable) enough, so I wanted to make it even more not-to-my-tastes in a fitting way? Or perhaps just because it's not a common nib, and even less commonly offered at the discount I got (as a personal offer, not part of a list of items on sale).

 

We're talking about impulsive and unnecessary spending here, right?

 

If you end up hating it, instead of stuffing it in a drawer and never letting it see the light of day again, I'd be willing to discuss payment to take it off your hands. Just saying...

 

And yeah, every dollar spent on pens is unnecessary, but to buy something you actively and consciously KNOW you will not like, appreciate or use is very uncommon, LOL....so, I just *had* to ask. 😄

[NDTK]

mines a rubbish one. a lanbitou twist. bought on impulse because I was curious. 

[NgunnawalJack]

5 Baoer 388 from AliE. I’ll probably keep 1 and give the others to deserving students who express an interest in FPs. Rare though they maybe as we mostly use pencils.

[A Smug Dill]

On 8/23/2021 at 6:30 AM, Bikerchick said:

I've read that a lot of Sailor nibs - and I'm not sure if that'll extend to the nib on this pen - are renowned for their considerable amount of feedback. I much prefer nibs with a bit of tooth over ones that are glassy smooth. 

What are the nibs on the models you mentioned like and why do people seem to have such a love/hate relationship with them? There seems to be no in-between. 

 

I don't think any description I can give will do them justice.

 

A few hours ago, I was testing my new (and first, and will most likely be my only) Platinum President pen which had just arrived in the past 48 hours. It has a 18K gold UEF nib, and I wanted desperately to see what it's like and how it performs, including in comparison to some of the finest nibs among what I already had: a 14K gold UEF nib on a Platinum #3776 Century; the 14K gold EF nib on my Platinum Vicoh PTL-5000A; and the 14K gold EF nib on one of my several Sailor Promenade pens. While I was at it, I also wrote with some of the other currently inked gold-nibbed Sailor pens.

 

While the Platinum President's and #3776's UEF nibs (and F nibs, of which I have ten or so) are hard and precise, (figuratively speaking, and not that they physically puncture paper) like good, strong and sharp leatherwork needles that took a lot of work to fashion them right in that way, Sailor's gold nibs are more… robust and responsive. Not that the 14K gold nibs aren't hard; they are, and even have the H in the nib type marking (e.g. H-EF) to designate exactly that. But you can tease a substantial range of visibly different ink marks and line widths out of a Sailor nib, and get it to produce what you want reliably and repeatably, once you've learnt how to handle it.

 

There is kinaesthetic feedback; some would say (and I have said it myself) pencil-like feedback, but then it'd be akin to feedback from a H grade pencil shaped to have a very sharp point; if you press hard(er) onto the page it will dig into the substrate, but if you're sketching with a light hand, the pencil will just move along the paper with very little friction. You'll hear it too, the way you'd hear a pencil against paper. But it is neither a prerequisite nor inevitable that there is friction and sound, for the Sailor gold nib to lay ink down.

 

It's like driving a well-tuned high-performance vehicle; you'll feel and hear every little thing, to tell you what you want to know about the machine and the road surface beneath it, when you assert control to get what you want it to do precisely. It will rumble or roar in response when you put a carefully considered amount of pressure on the pedal, but it's also capable of cruising smoothly with barely a purr. If you turn a sharp corner expertly, you'll feel every millisecond of the experience as the machine performs for you, without throwing its weight around in a way that upsets its balance. But you have to learn and get used to how the thing works, how responsive it is to precise and perhaps subtle changes in pressure, angle and orientation that are only in your control, and what it feels like and how it sounds when it does certain things for you.

 

Throw someone who is accustomed to driving either a safe family sedan or a loud muscle car in the driver seat of a Lamborghini, and they'd be in for a rude shock. Those who just want to get from A to B with a vehicle may not want to invest in scaling the learning curve.

 

The nibs on the Sailor Profit Jr and Lecoule pens are perfectly competent, but they're cheap and relatively flimsy pieces of metal that just don't give that feeling of robustness the 1911-imprinted nibs do.

[Bikerchick]

3 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

I don't think any description I can give will do them justice.

Justice or not, your eloquent description makes me want to go out and try a Sailor with a gold nib!

[sirgilbert357]

5 hours ago, Bikerchick said:

Justice or not, your eloquent description makes me want to go out and try a Sailor with a gold nib!

 

His description mostly aligns with my experience (brand new 1911 Large Stormy Sea), but only AFTER I fixed it. Originally, mine was beyond toothy and caught the paper on certain strokes. On certain paper, it would scrape fibers off the page and feel very scratchy. This was a nib that had been tuned by a pro nibmeister too. He might have been having an off day...or he held the pen at a very different angle. Either way, mine was like a brittle, terrible pencil with jagged, broken lead, LOL.

 

I hated that pen for a long time. I resolved to sell it and even wondered if it had been tuned at all. I took out my loupe a few days ago and carefully studied the nib from every angle and decided it needed some work. It took about 10 mins, but after getting it to write smoothly, I fell in love with the nib and I've been using it daily since. And NOW I can see why people love Sailor nibs. And a really well-tuned nib allows you to appreciate other things about the pen...when this pen wrote poorly, I never really appreciated just how excellent the balance and weight is. It is very light and the balance makes it feel nimble and precise. And I actually enjoy the sound the pen makes now. It just used to be a sharp, grating pencil on paper sound -- like it was clawing out each letter or something. Now it just glides across the paper and the sound is about half as loud, but very "clean" and smooth. Hard to explain...

[Sybarite]

On 8/24/2021 at 7:34 PM, A Smug Dill said:

 

80%-life crisis, perhaps? Or I already dislike my Pelikan M815 Metal-Striped pen (with an F nib I ended up regrinding myself, just to make the lines it put down narrow enough to be usable) enough, so I wanted to make it even more not-to-my-tastes in a fitting way? Or perhaps just because it's not a common nib, and even less commonly offered at the discount I got (as a personal offer, not part of a list of items on sale).

 

We're talking about impulsive and unnecessary spending here, right?

Oh I love my815!
I bought it on a whim because  it looked so good ( a bit like my Pieider Carbon) , and it was only available in EF. But I’m so glad it came like that. It's become my daily workhorse.

[Carguy]

I just picked up a Sheaffer Lifetime. The body was beat up but it has a gold stub nib and once polished, it looked nicer. The nib is just a dream. I’m always amazed at Sheaffer nibs even though I have limited experience with them, I haven’t had one not to like yet!

[maclink]

Right after trying a Scribo and returning it, I’ve bought myself a couple Platinum Plaisirs. These will be for my permanent ink experiments. 

[A Smug Dill]

On 8/24/2021 at 7:33 PM, maclink said:

But yes, it's a tad uncharacteristic for you to be getting yourself a BB nib.

 

These should be my last entries in this thread for a looong while:

• My fifth Sailor Promenade, this one in Shining Blue. Considering that there were only four different colourways for that model, it means I have multiple units of at least one of the colourways. I've decided (too late, to my chargin) that the Sailor Promenade is superior to the Platinum #3776 Century, at least for my purposes and preferences.
• A Sailor Profit Standard in ivory, with a medium-sized 14K gold Music nib. Not a huge discount on this pen, but I simply felt like getting one. Impulsive, right?
• A Platinum #3776 Century ‘Black in Black’ (i.e. in plain but very slightly translucent black with gold trim) with a Music nib, at nearly 40% off the retailer's regular list price. Considering that it's effectively a model PNBM-20000, with a tax-inclusive MSRP of ¥22000 in the domestic Japanese market, I paid somewhat less than half of that. Yes, once again, a big enough discount is enough to make me overlook all the things I don't think is first-rate or best-suited to my tastes, just to give it a try.
• A couple of HongDian N1 and an A3, three more Kaco Edge with the gold-coloured Schmidt nibs (but with Kaco scrollwork, and not the normal Schmidt scrollwork that appears on the nibs on the Moonman M100 and M200), and a couple of (italic) F-nibbed Pilot Pluminix pens. Rats and mice stuff, but they do add up to the equivalent of the price for an entry-level gold-nibbed Sailor pen.

[mizgeorge]

19 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

These should be my last entries in this thread for a looong while:

• My fifth Sailor Promenade, this one in Shining Blue. Considering that there were only four different colourways for that model, it means I have multiple units of at least one of the colourways. I've decided (too late, to my chargin) that the Sailor Promenade is superior to the Platinum #3776 Century, at least for my purposes and preferences.
• A Sailor Profit Standard in ivory, with a medium-sized 14K gold Music nib. Not a huge discount on this pen, but I simply felt like getting one. Impulsive, right?
• A Platinum #3776 Century ‘Black in Black’ (i.e. in plain but very slightly translucent black with gold trim) with a Music nib, at nearly 40% off the retailer's regular list price. Considering that it's effectively a model PNBM-20000, with a tax-inclusive MSRP of ¥22000 in the domestic Japanese market, I paid somewhat less than half of that. Yes, once again, a big enough discount is enough to make me overlook all the things I don't think is first-rate or best-suited to my tastes, just to give it a try.
• A couple of HongDian N1 and an A3, three more Kaco Edge with the gold-coloured Schmidt nibs (but with Kaco scrollwork, and not the normal Schmidt scrollwork that appears on the nibs on the Moonman M100 and M200), and a couple of (italic) F-nibbed Pilot Pluminix pens. Rats and mice stuff, but they do add up to the equivalent of the price for an entry-level gold-nibbed Sailor pen.

And when do we say Happy Birthday?

[A Smug Dill]

4 minutes ago, mizgeorge said:

And when do we say Happy Birthday?

 

When we're out of lockdown here in New South Wales? 😷 All weddings and birthdays have been suspended, although funerals can still take place right now.

[sirgilbert357]

4 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

These should be my last entries in this thread for a looong while:

 

LMAO. I'd bet my next paycheck you can't make it a month without buying more pens. Probably more than 5, even...

[A Smug Dill]

1 hour ago, sirgilbert357 said:

I'd bet my next paycheck you can't make it a month without buying more pens.

 

My wife just told me to accept your bet and wager my pay cheque; someone has to help pay for my month-long shopping spree that just ended, if I'm not working. 😈

[inkstainedruth]

I had lousy luck at an estate sale this afternoon -- the Sheaffer set I had wanted to look at disappeared in the first 15 minutes into someone else's possession.  Then got stuck behind various slowpokes on the way home, and then killed some time in an antiques and collectibles store that had no fountain pens either (when I say the best of their selection was a Wearever mini sized BP and pencil set... ).  But I had interesting conversations with both the store owner and another customer.  Then had to stop at the grocery store on the way home to get milk and pick up what turned out to be the wrong prescription.  So when I got home and found that an eBay seller had made an offer, I was going "Yeah, why not -- sounds good!"  So I've got a dark blue/navy blue Parker Vector enroute for a great price.  And then I need to make a decision -- because then I got an even BETTER offer from another vendor on another one (and I need to make a decision about that second one really soon...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Paul-in-SF]

At the first day of the SF Pen Show today I couldn't find much that rang my chimes (except for things that were way out of my current budget) but I did get a Franklin-Christoff 65 in an unusual finish, and put a fine SIG nib in it. I was too tired when I got home to try it out yet. Maybe tomorrow. 

[NumberSix]

I just ordered a Parker 61 Flighter on pen_swap. 

 

I have owned one P61 cap filler before now. It was a beautiful pen, but nothing I could do would make it write. I swore off the cap filler 61 from then on. 

 

Until today.

 

I am giving it one more chance because this flighter version looks so dang good; my 45 flighter will look great alongside it.

[inkstainedruth]

Well, at midnight I decided not to wait any longer -- and the second Vector is now on my way as well.  

Okay, yeah, I'm doomed.  And may have to get a zipper case just for the Vectors at some point -- and once I get the antique dental cabinet fixed up, they may end up having their own drawer....

OTOH, even with tax and shipping I got two pens for under $24 US.  Well, plus the cost of converters....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

[N1003U]

32 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

Well, at midnight I decided not to wait any longer -- and the second Vector is now on my way as well.  

Okay, yeah, I'm doomed.  And may have to get a zipper case just for the Vectors at some point -- and once I get the antique dental cabinet fixed up, they may end up having their own drawer....

OTOH, even with tax and shipping I got two pens for under $24 US.  Well, plus the cost of converters....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

How is the dental cabinet coming along?

[gweimer1]

Not  exactly an impulse buy, but I did manage to win 100+ pens at an estate auction this week.  There were MAYBE 6 vintage pens in the bunch, and I was the only one who noticed the Parker 51 Plum...yes, it became mine.   They were in a hurry, so sold by the lot, cases and all.  I have 14 Rotring pens, and a full case of modern pens, including 10 or so Acme Studios pens.
Does anyone have any experience with Acme?  I have to pens with broken threads on the inner cap, and need replacements.   In the meantime, here's a few shots of what I have.  I'm keeping a few, including a Caran D'Ache Ecridor, a Bexley, a Rotring Millenium, and the Retro 51 leather FPH limited edition.  I actually let a binder of Sheaffer and Waterman pens go to another bidder.