What Was Your Last Impulsive Pen Acquisition?

[TitoThePencilPimp]

Sailor KOP Ebonite M, with Sailor Jentle Black.

Lamy Emporium, with Pelikan Blue Black

[afishhunter]

Hero 329. 

It should arrive "sometime" in mid September. 😁👍

"Only" 1 to 1.5 months after I ordered it 🙄 ... (pen was under $3.⁰⁰ shipped)

If it writes as well as my two 616's, it'll be worth the wait.

[georges zaslavsky]

Bought 4 pens today:

1 × Visconti European Constitution Fountain Pen Limited Edition - Blue Resin, Piston Fill, Broad 18k Nib 

 

1 × Visconti Black Guilloche Opera Fountain Pen - Black Resin w/ GP Trim, Piston Fill, 18k Broad Nib 

1 × Conklin Nozac Wordgauge Tigereye made by Stipula

1 × Visconti Voyager Verona limited edition made for the Fountainpen Hospital

[inkstainedruth]

Parker 51 Aerometric.  I got a notification from eBay yesterday that the listing was ending soon.  Taking a gamble because I can't tell from the photos what the color actually is (I have both black and burgundy), and the seller described it as "brown"... (but it's definitely an Aero, not a 51 Vac, so not sure what color it's going to turn out to be, or if it needs work).  And there weren't a LOT of photos, so I can't tell what the nib is (guessing fine or extra fine) -- sent a message to the seller, asking, but got no answer....  But I also waited for the last 20 seconds on the clock and then bid the minimum.  

If it's actually Plum?  I've achieved a grail at a really decent price (less -- even with tax and shipping, than I paid for the Plum Demi a number of years ago).  If it isn't?  My husband said he'll take it (and hopefully will like the nib even if it's an F, and doesn't lose the cap...).  And maybe I'll be able to track down information about the name engraved on the pen, which is always something I find interesting (and if it makes a pen less desirable/expensive?  That's better for my wallet!  Hopefully it will come before the next pen club meeting.

So.  That makes five pens in the space of a week and a half....   Makes up for the recent "drought" (two on eBay and three close-ish to home at estate sales or antiques stores).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth 

[ParramattaPaul]

Not impulsive, and not yet committed, but I am contemplating the acquisition of another Onoto.

[Runnin_Ute]

On 8/27/2022 at 9:30 PM, inkstainedruth said:

Yesterday I spotted an older Pelikan in an antiques store down in the next county, for what seemed to be a decent price, and the M nib looked to be in pretty good shape.  Told my husband about it and he said I should go ahead and get it (think he was feeling guilty about having just gotten a 43" computer display for his home office because he likes having multiple screens).  So went back down to the place and bought it.  Took a look at it when I got home and the cap has the imprint/engraving which says "Pelikan 120".  Did a quick Google search when I got home, and found a photo showing the variations between iterations of the model as far as stuff like the clip, and I THINK it's one from the 1950s-1960s.  Green barrel, black cap and piston knob.  Seems to have a clear plastic piston head (very similar to the piston on the Senator (I think it's a Windsor model from the research I've done so far) I picked up last weekend at an estate sale company's warehouse sale (admittedly for WAY less than I did for the 120 -- since the Senator cost me a buck... ).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

What is the trim on the edge of the cap like? If it is beveled it is a Merz & Krell from the 70's. The 1950's version is squared off. Cap and nib threads are NOT interchangeable between the two. I have a 120 M & K, (Type II) but not a older version. Merz & Krell There is a 400NN M & K as well.

[Runnin_Ute]

End of July, first of August I bought two pens - a 1950's Sheaffer Craftsman touchdown from Ron Zorn (which has been a delight to use) and a True Writer from Levenger on their 35th anniversary sale. It was the red with gold trim and a M & F nibs. It got cancelled on me because it had been discontinued. Of course, originally they said it had been back ordered. Then over the weekend I got a email stating the order had been cancelled. So I went online and found something else I liked. Same price as the other ($35+shipping & tax) but a different colorway.  See photo. I do wish they had used silver colored trim rather than gold, but that's the way it goes sometimes.  Don't have an ETA, but hoping by Saturday, although after Monday/Labor Day is more likely.

[Paul-in-SF]

5 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

Parker 51 Aerometric.  I got a notification from eBay yesterday that the listing was ending soon.  Taking a gamble because I can't tell from the photos what the color actually is (I have both black and burgundy), and the seller described it as "brown"... (but it's definitely an Aero, not a 51 Vac, so not sure what color it's going to turn out to be, or if it needs work).  And there weren't a LOT of photos, so I can't tell what the nib is (guessing fine or extra fine) -- sent a message to the seller, asking, but got no answer....  But I also waited for the last 20 seconds on the clock and then bid the minimum.  

If it's actually Plum?  I've achieved a grail at a really decent price (less -- even with tax and shipping, than I paid for the Plum Demi a number of years ago).  If it isn't?  My husband said he'll take it (and hopefully will like the nib even if it's an F, and doesn't lose the cap...).  And maybe I'll be able to track down information about the name engraved on the pen, which is always something I find interesting (and if it makes a pen less desirable/expensive?  That's better for my wallet!  Hopefully it will come before the next pen club meeting.

So.  That makes five pens in the space of a week and a half....   Makes up for the recent "drought" (two on eBay and three close-ish to home at estate sales or antiques stores).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth 

 

Yeah, I think I saw that listing. Actually the seller had two virtually identical pens listed, both poorly photographed. I considered doing what you did, but I passed. Good luck with the pen, at least it will get a good home if you don't need it. 

[AgedAndFine]

On 8/25/2022 at 8:21 AM, Gloucesterman said:

If, by chance, you are ill, it sounds as if you have enough resources to write your own prescription for  healing or at least document your healing process in a journal.

 

Meanwhile feel good and enjoy the positive aspects of your "illness".

 

BTW, I once dated a Schneider coed. It was back in the 70's. Kim Schneider from Buffalo. I wonder what happened to her?

Guess she is no longer a coed!

 

That's precisely what I have been doing, documenting my illness (not just with fountain pens but with other, more worrisome, items like sports cars, watches, phono cartridges and records) in a journal.  However,  its been slow going due to changing of pens and ink colors every two sentences which, in itself, is possibly another illness.  

 

BTW, you did the right thing getting rid of the Scheider coed.   The ones I received  were very cute (so I can understand why young people may get led astray by the looks).  However, their character and soul I found lacking.  Fortunately, they were easier to palm off on the young men in my office than the more mature looking Sailor Procolor 500.

[JonSzanto]

This wasn't technically impulsive but I moved quickly! 

I've been home for a couple days from the 2022 San Francisco Pen Show. I had decided one purchase would be a pen from Ian Schon (Schon Dsgn) with a companion nib ground by Gena of Custom Nib Studio. I didn't want there to be a sell-out of his pens and I was looking for one of the newer "full size" models, so his table was my first real stop on the first day.

Shown below is this lovely, an anodized aluminum pen that is in (IIRC) the Galaxy finish. The nib is a Naganata Togi grind, and while it is a finer nib than I usually write with, it is impeccable, and rewards my patience (as a left-hander, it is more of a challenge). Very happy with the pen, and to support two fine artisans breaking big in the new pen world.

 

[inkstainedruth]

23 hours ago, Runnin_Ute said:

What is the trim on the edge of the cap like? If it is beveled it is a Merz & Krell from the 70's. The 1950's version is squared off. Cap and nib threads are NOT interchangeable between the two. I have a 120 M & K, (Type II) but not a older version. Merz & Krell There is a 400NN M & K as well.

It's not beveled. And the feed has the channels running along it lengthwise, not across the width of it (which I've seen on older style feeds in general from various brands).  Good to know that the caps are not interchangeable between the older pens and the Merz & Krell produced ones from the 70s.  Which makes me really think it's an earlier model.

What threw me, though, is that the imprint on the cap band (as for the Senator I bought the previous weekend) is that BOTH say "Germany" and NOT "West Germany".  I would have expected that to be a post-reunification marking.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[inkstainedruth]

22 hours ago, Paul-in-SF said:

 

Yeah, I think I saw that listing. Actually the seller had two virtually identical pens listed, both poorly photographed. I considered doing what you did, but I passed. Good luck with the pen, at least it will get a good home if you don't need it. 

Well, there appear to be complications.  Mostly from eBay (not the seller -- at least I don't think so).  There was some sort of glitch in getting the bid to go in (which didn't make sense, because AFAIK I was the only bidder).  Then there was a problem with PayPal, and I had to pay with a credit card (which caused yet ANOTHER glitch and I got some weird error message) while I was on PayPal's site trying to prove who I was and then fighting with them to get anyone to even answer me.  Ended up having to call them because their site tried to boot me off due to "inactivity" (well is it MY fault they can't hire enough people to work their chat window?).  Ended up speaking to a supervisor, who said HIS boss doesn't have access to phones (say WHAAAAA?) and also that he had no way to contact their IT department.... 🤬🤬  

Then today?  Got email late morning from the seller, saying he hadn't gotten his money from eBay (who of course claimed OTHERWISE.  I had already dealt with three DIFFERENT people in eBay's chat window YESTERDAY, to make sure that they KNEW that it was a one-time use of that card and I did NOT want them keeping it on file.  Not sure I got through to them.  In the meantime, I got the confirmation notice in my inbox that the payment had gone through....  

Or so I thought....

Late this morning, I got a message from the seller saying that he HADN'T been paid.  I spent most of the next five and a half HOURS in 2 or 3 MORE chat windows -- plus TWO callbacks from eBay.  I had tried to reply to the seller and that message didn't go through (an IT fail, because I got some OTHER weird error message in the process).  And then dealt with I think ten or eleven people in the various chat windows and callbacks because the seller said that eBay was hard to call (well, they CERTAINLY don't make it easy on their website (another IT fail). 🤬 I had TWO supervisors in various chat windows decide they didn't want to deal with me and kept claiming they COULDN'T contact the seller and that yes, he HAD been paid (getting it out of his eBay account was apparently HIS problem, NOT theirs. 

So I'm hoping the pen is worth it after all this aggravation.  My husband said he'll take it if I don't like it.  At least I got it for the minimum bid (plus tax and shipping) -- and (presuming the seller DOES figure out how to access the payment) it SHOULD ship by Saturday....

Just for curiosity's sake, I looked to see what else the seller had (mostly watches and other random stuff -- also a Parker 41.  If it hadn't been the color of mine I would have thought about getting that....

Of course my husband ALSO said that I should get out of the house tomorrow just to relax....  It had already been a stressful morning -- the oil change at the mechanic's down the hill took over 2 hours because he was swamped; and he STILL hasn't heard back from the claims adjuster about the minivan because he can't source the parts for ANYTHING like what the adjuster claimed.  AND he told me he called one place, and the person he talked to said the adjuster had NEVER talked to him and had no idea what my guy was talking about....   And then this evening I had a zoom meeting to attend (but at least it was only about an hour, which was good because I had a massive headache by then.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[OldTravelingShoe]

6 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

Well, there appear to be complications.  Mostly from eBay (not the seller -- at least I don't think so).  There was some sort of glitch in getting the bid to go in (which didn't make sense, because AFAIK I was the only bidder).  Then there was a problem with PayPal, and I had to pay with a credit card (which caused yet ANOTHER glitch and I got some weird error message) while I was on PayPal's site trying to prove who I was and then fighting with them to get anyone to even answer me.  Ended up having to call them because their site tried to boot me off due to "inactivity" (well is it MY fault they can't hire enough people to work their chat window?).  Ended up speaking to a supervisor, who said HIS boss doesn't have access to phones (say WHAAAAA?) and also that he had no way to contact their IT department.... 🤬🤬  

Then today?  Got email late morning from the seller, saying he hadn't gotten his money from eBay (who of course claimed OTHERWISE.  I had already dealt with three DIFFERENT people in eBay's chat window YESTERDAY, to make sure that they KNEW that it was a one-time use of that card and I did NOT want them keeping it on file.  Not sure I got through to them.  In the meantime, I got the confirmation notice in my inbox that the payment had gone through....  

Or so I thought....

Late this morning, I got a message from the seller saying that he HADN'T been paid.  I spent most of the next five and a half HOURS in 2 or 3 MORE chat windows -- plus TWO callbacks from eBay.  I had tried to reply to the seller and that message didn't go through (an IT fail, because I got some OTHER weird error message in the process).  And then dealt with I think ten or eleven people in the various chat windows and callbacks because the seller said that eBay was hard to call (well, they CERTAINLY don't make it easy on their website (another IT fail). 🤬 I had TWO supervisors in various chat windows decide they didn't want to deal with me and kept claiming they COULDN'T contact the seller and that yes, he HAD been paid (getting it out of his eBay account was apparently HIS problem, NOT theirs. 

So I'm hoping the pen is worth it after all this aggravation.  My husband said he'll take it if I don't like it.  At least I got it for the minimum bid (plus tax and shipping) -- and (presuming the seller DOES figure out how to access the payment) it SHOULD ship by Saturday....

Just for curiosity's sake, I looked to see what else the seller had (mostly watches and other random stuff -- also a Parker 41.  If it hadn't been the color of mine I would have thought about getting that....

Of course my husband ALSO said that I should get out of the house tomorrow just to relax....  It had already been a stressful morning -- the oil change at the mechanic's down the hill took over 2 hours because he was swamped; and he STILL hasn't heard back from the claims adjuster about the minivan because he can't source the parts for ANYTHING like what the adjuster claimed.  AND he told me he called one place, and the person he talked to said the adjuster had NEVER talked to him and had no idea what my guy was talking about....   And then this evening I had a zoom meeting to attend (but at least it was only about an hour, which was good because I had a massive headache by then.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

This is what I call 'making the pen your own'. After so much struggle, it is decidedly yours and not just some object that happened to fall into your shopping cart. Congratulations on your acquisition, @inkstainedruth! 

[BinaEliora]

My very recent impulsive purchase, recent as in today, are two mechanical pencils. Ever since I bought the Pelikan 400 set (1950s), which includes the 450 pencil (1.1mm leads) I love writing with the pencil. I have modern mechanical pencils (drafting pens) with different lead sizes, but they are somehow not the same. Maybe it is the thick vintage lead. There are the pens:

• Waterman's Red Ripple Mechanical Pencil from the 1920s
• Wahl Decoband Mechanical Pencil from the 1930s in Brazilian Green with Gold Trim

Both pens take 1.1mm leads, which I have plenty of. Now I have to wait...

[inkstainedruth]

@OldTravelingShoeThanks, but I don't have the pen yet.  I did hear from the seller today, and the seller has figured out how to access the online account, so in theory the pen will be shipped tomorrow.  The seller still isn't sure what color the pen is (I'm hoping for Plum but expecting it's going to turn out to be Burgundy).  My husband said he'll take it if it isn't Plum.  

I'm now wondering if I will be able to find any information about the prior owner -- the name was engraved on the barrel -- sometimes I can and sometimes I can't.  I always find it interesting (and if it makes the pen less expensive -- as in the "c-worders" turn up their nose at it -- that's just better for my bottom line... ).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

[essayfaire]

On 9/1/2022 at 4:43 PM, JonSzanto said:

This wasn't technically impulsive but I moved quickly! 

I've been home for a couple days from the 2022 San Francisco Pen Show. I had decided one purchase would be a pen from Ian Schon (Schon Dsgn) with a companion nib ground by Gena of Custom Nib Studio. I didn't want there to be a sell-out of his pens and I was looking for one of the newer "full size" models, so his table was my first real stop on the first day.

Shown below is this lovely, an anodized aluminum pen that is in (IIRC) the Galaxy finish. The nib is a Naganata Togi grind, and while it is a finer nib than I usually write with, it is impeccable, and rewards my patience (as a left-hander, it is more of a challenge). Very happy with the pen, and to support two fine artisans breaking big in the new pen world.

 

This looks so fun! It looks in no way impulsive.  Enjoy!

[essayfaire]

I am not supposed to be impulsively buying pens anymore.

 

Alas, I was taking advantage of holiday discounts to pre-order the annual Inkvent calendar(NOT impulsive), and couldn't resist.  I can't even blame it on padding for shipping as the calendar is well above the free shipping minimum.

 

I decided to pick up another Diplomat Magnum demonstrator in a lovely shade of blue.  I like these as tester pens, they're very honest.  I ordered a B as my former B seems to have a slight crack in the feed and is therefore drying out very easily.  I did get a good deal, and the pen will be used for shimmer/sheen (I don't have many pens that can handle such things), but it was completely impulsive.

 

Oops.

[amberleadavis]

48 minutes ago, essayfaire said:

I am not supposed to be impulsively buying pens anymore.

 

Alas, I was taking advantage of holiday discounts to pre-order the annual Inkvent calendar(NOT impulsive), and couldn't resist.  I can't even blame it on padding for shipping as the calendar is well above the free shipping minimum.

 

I decided to pick up another Diplomat Magnum demonstrator in a lovely shade of blue.  I like these as tester pens, they're very honest.  I ordered a B as my former B seems to have a slight crack in the feed and is therefore drying out very easily.  I did get a good deal, and the pen will be used for shimmer/sheen (I don't have many pens that can handle such things), but it was completely impulsive.

 

Oops.

 

 

Good for you! 

 

Inky-Enabler

[Misfit]

On 8/31/2022 at 1:16 PM, georges zaslavsky said:

Bought 4 pens today:

1 × Visconti European Constitution Fountain Pen Limited Edition - Blue Resin, Piston Fill, Broad 18k Nib 

 

1 × Visconti Black Guilloche Opera Fountain Pen - Black Resin w/ GP Trim, Piston Fill, 18k Broad Nib 

1 × Conklin Nozac Wordgauge Tigereye made by Stipula

1 × Visconti Voyager Verona limited edition made for the Fountainpen Hospital

Wowza, and enjoy those Visconti pens. I’ve been happy with mine. 

[carola]

On 9/2/2022 at 3:05 AM, inkstainedruth said:

It's not beveled. And the feed has the channels running along it lengthwise, not across the width of it (which I've seen on older style feeds in general from various brands).  Good to know that the caps are not interchangeable between the older pens and the Merz & Krell produced ones from the 70s.  Which makes me really think it's an earlier model.

What threw me, though, is that the imprint on the cap band (as for the Senator I bought the previous weekend) is that BOTH say "Germany" and NOT "West Germany".  I would have expected that to be a post-reunification marking.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

My Pelikan 400s from the 1950s don´t have any markings on the cap band at all, the 400N wears the imprint "Pelikan 400" and the cap bands of the 400NNs say "Pelikan 400 Germany".

 

The only pens that wear the imprint "W.-Germany" are the Pelikans made from 1982 to around 1989/1990. Afterwards it´s "Germany" again.

 

Don´t know about the Merz & Krell, I don´t own any of those.