What Was Your Last Impulsive Pen Acquisition?

[Mercian]

4 hours ago, Gloucesterman said:

Many printers are relatively inexpensive because the manufacturers make their real profit/money on the proprietary ink cartridges which you are forced to purchase.

Buying one’s ink in cartridges is always the most-expensive way to buy it - and this ‘enhanced profitability’ for the vendor is a main driver of the tendency of major companies to use proprietary formats for cartridges.

 

See also disposable razor blades.

[Mercian]

Anyway, getting back on-topic…

 

The other day I impulsively ordered Yet Another Lamy Safari.

I already own four, and a Vista, and I don’t even think that they are ‘pretty’ - but I found one on the Bay of Evil that appeared to be one of the 2018 ‘all-black’ ones, for sale at less than the RRP of a new Safari.

 

If it turns out to actually be a ‘Charcoal’/‘Umbra’ when it gets here, I shall be disappointed, as I already own one of those. But I’ll only be out a few quid, and I could always keep it in the car’s glove-box (with an unopened cartridge), as an ‘Emergency FP’ 😉

[inkstainedruth]

1 hour ago, Mercian said:

Should anyone like to know of a typeface that embodies such distinctions, I have for many years used ‘Palatino’ and/or ‘Palatino Linotype’ for personal/work product.

I'm also a great fan of "Palatino", and have been since I took a typography class in college.  

For really fancy stuff (like for headers) I like University Roman Bold (used it on our wedding invitations, just because I could ).  And when I was taking a Women's Entrepreurship class a few years ago, I used one that I unfortunately can't get easily on my laptop for the Power Point presentation I was supposed to do -- forget the name of the font, but it was one of those very Art-Nouveau style ones that was used on posters a lot during that time period.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[essayfaire]

8 hours ago, Gloucesterman said:

using the Arial font uses 40% more ink than other fonts when one actually prints out pages. The printer companies win because you use more ink; you lose because it costs more for that ink.

I will reference this the next time my family harasses me for my ink-buying habits.  I usually change out of Arial, ergo I can buy more Iro!

[AmandaW]

I ordered a pen. It's been a while... Pure FOMO. A 2021 Lamy Safari Terra Red with fine nib, it's the orange one with black nib and trim. I got the green one - called Savannah, I think - back then.

 

Why now? There's an old terracotta bird bath outside the window and very early this morning there was a little family of New Holland Honey Eaters taking their time over their bath. Totally delightful to watch them play. I was using a FP to write my journal and then thinking about the old terracotta and wondered if I could still get the Terra...

[A Smug Dill]

7 minutes ago, AmandaW said:

A 2021 Lamy Safari Terra Red with fine nib, it's the orange one with black nib and trim.

 

Sounds lovely! 😄

[AmandaW]

After months of calmly avoiding pen stores the dam broke...

 

This morning I received a marketing newsletter showing the new TWSBI Eco-T Royal Jade - green with rose gold plated nib and trim. I didn't even know it was coming and somehow confirmed the purchase within minutes of the email arriving. I think that counts as impulsive. I LOVE the coated TWSBI nibs because I find them smooth (already have the white Eco with F nib and a Black with a 1.1mm), but it was the rose gold fitting inside the Royal Jade that did it. And a 15ml Iroshizuku Shin-ryoku to go in it.

 

That's it. Not looking any more. Though in my defense, I didn't go looking, it came and got me.

[A Smug Dill]

2 minutes ago, AmandaW said:

That's it.

 

That's it?!

[AmandaW]

1 minute ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

That's it?!

 

OK, possibly not.

[A Smug Dill]

1 minute ago, AmandaW said:

OK, possibly not.

 

In spite of being kinda broke right now (after ordering three pens from Amazon Japan very late in 2022), and having no great love for either brass fountain pens or demonstrators myself, I find myself tempted by the Asvine P30 offered at ‘a good price’. Hmmm.

[essayfaire]

If the dam broke I suspect there will be more of a flood...

[DrDebG]

I am a negotiator - that's what I do. And today, I negotiated to purchase a Montblanc 221 with a medium nib and a Montblanc 22 with a fine nib.  I love these older Montblanc piston fillers, and wanted another 221.  Well the 22 became the "icing" on the cake.  I got them both for an amazing price.  Now I just have to wait for them to get here.  

 

Oh, yeah - a few days ago,  I found a brand new Pentel Lancelot fountain pen at a thrift store.  I purchased it for $1.00.  It writes absolutely perfectly.  

[AmandaW]

1 hour ago, essayfaire said:

If the dam broke I suspect there will be more of a flood...

 

Could be right. I just discovered the Jinhao 82 while catching up what I've been missing. Lots of pretty colours there.

[TitoThePencilPimp]

On 1/9/2023 at 5:33 PM, essayfaire said:

using the Arial font uses 40% more ink than other fonts when one actually prints out pages. The printer companies win because you use more ink; you lose because it costs more for that ink.

Maybe this is the reason that at university, students are required to use Times New Roman?

[Misfit]

On 1/10/2023 at 1:50 AM, AmandaW said:

I ordered a pen. It's been a while... Pure FOMO. A 2021 Lamy Safari Terra Red with fine nib, it's the orange one with black nib and trim. I got the green one - called Savannah, I think - back then.

 

Why now? There's an old terracotta bird bath outside the window and very early this morning there was a little family of New Holland Honey Eaters taking their time over their bath. Totally delightful to watch them play. I was using a FP to write my journal and then thinking about the old terracotta and wondered if I could still get the Terra...

Both of the pen colors are nice. I have them. I love the image of the birds at the bird bath. Glad to see you posting again. The only pens I’ve bought this year are customizable multi pens. 

[PithyProlix]

Re: fonts. Check out the free, open source IBM Plex - serif, sans serif, and mono spaced plus a few non-Latin scripts and others in development. Yes, it is IBM's corporate signature font but no one will notice unless you tell them. I have no idea how efficient it is with ink when printing.

 

[Paul-in-SF]

Very impulsive, and just a day or two after I "decided" that I would try to buy no more than one pen per month this year (this is already my 2nd pen in January).

 

In Market Watch there is a thread about two online watch stores selling Visconti pens at very low prices. I saw a new Opera Silver Dust yesterday for under $300 (about 34% of the original online discounted price, or 27% of the original full price) and after checking a few other sites I decided to take a chance and ordered it. Today the price on the same site has gone up to nearly $700. Now, I'm not in this hobby even remotely for the money, but getting a bargain like that frankly makes me chuckle a little (assuming all is as advertised and once the pen is in my hands). 

[Gloucesterman]

18 hours ago, TitoThePencilPimp said:

Maybe this is the reason that at university, students are required to use Times New Roman?

I also recall reading that Times New Roman was among the easiest fonts to read (especially quickly).

[inkstainedruth]

19 hours ago, TitoThePencilPimp said:

Maybe this is the reason that at university, students are required to use Times New Roman?

Oh that would have just driven me absolutely bonkers!  I usually describe Times New Roman as "boring -- but with serifs...."  As opposed to the Helvetica family of fonts -- which are just "boring".... 

Of course I'm sufficiently old that college papers were typed on a portable typewriter.  I think that's why that -- when I think a poem I've written is good enough to MAYBE send out for possible publication and type it into a file for something faintly resembling "posterity" -- I tend to use Courier (which apparently is no longer an option in Pages ) or the next best things -- American Typewriter or Courier New (although not overly enamored of Courier New, since it's sort of pale looking...).  Yeah, it's a nostalgia thing....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Penguincollector]

I bought this Sheaffer yesterday. I need to spend less time online, I wanted to take a buying break but it only lasted for about a week.