What Was Your Last Impulsive Pen Acquisition?

[Doug C]

8 minutes ago, wtlh said:

I love it.  It is small enough to fit trousers pocket and index cards of the same size are available in supermarkets and stationary shops.  Great for taking odd notes, jot down ideas and preparing for talks/presentations on the go.

 

I use it to also hold business cards or other scraps of paper I want to hold on for a while, like train tickets etc.  It is quite versatile.

Love the design.  I'm thinking about getting one. 

[Misfit]

2 hours ago, wtlh said:

A custom made replica of the Kaweco Supra, with Bock #6 titanium EF nib, milled out of a solid titanium stock.  This is a one of the kind pen custom ordered to replicate my own Kaweco, and to make it lighter.   The titanium version is almost as light as a plastic pen.

 

 

Wow, and the nib matches the pen. Very cool custom order. Congratulations. 

[A Smug Dill]

2 hours ago, wtlh said:

A custom made replica of the Kaweco Supra,

 

Oh, does your pen also have a removable middle expansion section, which is what makes the Supra the model that it is?

[wtlh]

11 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

Oh, does your pen also have a removable middle expansion section, which is what makes the Supra the model that it is?

Yes 🙂

[wtlh]

1 hour ago, Doug C said:

Love the design.  I'm thinking about getting one. 

It's high quality product.  I have it as every day carry. You will not regret it.

[A Smug Dill]

1 minute ago, wtlh said:

Yes.  Everything. 

 

Bravo!

[wtlh]

30 minutes ago, Misfit said:

Wow, and the nib matches the pen. Very cool custom order. Congratulations. 

Thanks a lot, yeah the colours matched really well. I am glad that the Bock titanium nibs are matt.

[ParramattaPaul]

7 hours ago, wtlh said:

A custom made replica of the Kaweco Supra, with Bock #6 titanium EF nib, milled out of a solid titanium stock.  This is a one of the kind pen custom ordered to replicate my own Kaweco, and to make it lighter.   The titanium version is almost as light as a plastic pen.

 

 

It is  a beautiful pen.  I suspect there are others beside myself who would be interested in procuring one from whoever made it.  Can you refer us?

[A Smug Dill]

11 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

Darth Vader and Darth Maul.

 

Sigh. Too late to cancel either of them, Amazon won't let me because “it's in the shipping process” already. Oh well. Welcome to the Dark Side.

[wtlh]

1 hour ago, ParramattaPaul said:

It is  a beautiful pen.  I suspect there are others beside myself who would be interested in procuring one from whoever made it.  Can you refer us?

It was a vendor from China.  He has a small shop on Taobao.  But you need to speak/write Chinese and he doesn't ship abroad. I used a specialist international courier company whom he ships to their warehouse and they then ship the pen to me with a very reasonable shipping cost and time.  Taobao does take international credit card via Alipay, but you need an account.   There are a number of excellent craftsmen in China and their work are second to none.  Most are just one man operation.  Some of them have shops on Taobao, but majority of their work are not on display and you have to ask.  I found out about them via recommendations and reviews on Chinese internet.

 

This particular seller's shop is https://m.tb.cn/h.5nya1ru

 

His products are very reasonably priced (relatively speaking).  There is a more "famous" person whom I also use from time to time, but he is much more expensive, for example a full titanium Pelikan M400 replica costed me almost 1000 USD equivalent body only.  His parker 51 sterling silver fighter upgrade (cap and barrel) costs 500 USD.  Whereas this particular Supra replica costs only about 100 USD body only, so roughly same price as the original (if you opt for a steel nib).   But that Pelikan Replica was a much more complex pen, with trims and cap bands made out of separate intricate anodised gold titanium pieces screwed onto the main body (the way he designed how the pieces fitted together was quite clever and amazing), and a fully working full titanium piston mechanism.  And the parker pieces were all worked by hand with a hammer apparently.   This Supra was made using a CNC machine, and the design lends itself for easy manufacturing.

 

Nevertheless as I said before none of these craftsmen speak English and they only ship inside China.  You also have to be very clear about what you wanted.

 

 

[ParramattaPaul]

2 hours ago, wtlh said:

But you need to speak/write Chinese and he doesn't ship abroad

Well, that leaves me out.

[DilettanteG]

Pulled the trigger on an eBay buy it now for an EF Pelikan M200 Smoky Quartz new from Japan. I’d planned on waiting until the after Christmas for the sales, but that special edition color is getting pretty scarce at a comfortable price. Plus, I like to swap the nibs around on my m200 demos and I don’t currently have an Ef. Won’t see it for 2-3 weeks, but I’m unlikely to run out of pens.

[A Smug Dill]

11 hours ago, wtlh said:

It was a vendor from China.  He has a small shop on Taobao.  But you need to speak/write Chinese and he doesn't ship abroad. …‹snip›… This particular seller's shop is https://m.tb.cn/h.5nya1ru

 

Thanks for the link. I can put the titanium Supra clone in my shopping cart, and Taobao will “officially” ship it to Australia by air mail for CNY 48. I simply don't see any nib options other than the Bock bicolour steel M nib in the only item listing for that model, that's all. (I'm only trying to see if it's possible for Australians to order the pen without interaction with the seller; I don't want to buy the pen for myself.)

[wtlh]

1 hour ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

Thanks for the link. I can put the titanium Supra clone in my shopping cart, and Taobao will “officially” ship it to Australia by air mail for CNY 48. I simply don't see any nib options other than the Bock bicolour steel M nib in the only item listing for that model, that's all. (I'm only trying to see if it's possible for Australians to order the pen without interaction with the seller; I don't want to buy the pen for myself.)

As far as I understand the seller doesn't really offer any nib options.  I just ordered the body without a nib.   So don't rely on him for the nibs.  Treat it as a placeholder and a freebie, source the nib from a local seller.

 

If it is already in the line of offerings then there should be minimum interaction necessary.  I believe he also does a Sport clone.  

[Lam1]

17 hours ago, wtlh said:

It was a vendor from China.  He has a small shop on Taobao.  But you need to speak/write Chinese and he doesn't ship abroad. I used a specialist international courier company whom he ships to their warehouse and they then ship the pen to me with a very reasonable shipping cost and time.  Taobao does take international credit card via Alipay, but you need an account.   There are a number of excellent craftsmen in China and their work are second to none.  Most are just one man operation.  Some of them have shops on Taobao, but majority of their work are not on display and you have to ask.  I found out about them via recommendations and reviews on Chinese internet.

 

This particular seller's shop is https://m.tb.cn/h.5nya1ru

 

His products are very reasonably priced (relatively speaking).  There is a more "famous" person whom I also use from time to time, but he is much more expensive, for example a full titanium Pelikan M400 replica costed me almost 1000 USD equivalent body only.  His parker 51 sterling silver fighter upgrade (cap and barrel) costs 500 USD.  Whereas this particular Supra replica costs only about 100 USD body only, so roughly same price as the original (if you opt for a steel nib).   But that Pelikan Replica was a much more complex pen, with trims and cap bands made out of separate intricate anodised gold titanium pieces screwed onto the main body (the way he designed how the pieces fitted together was quite clever and amazing), and a fully working full titanium piston mechanism.  And the parker pieces were all worked by hand with a hammer apparently.   This Supra was made using a CNC machine, and the design lends itself for easy manufacturing.

 

Nevertheless as I said before none of these craftsmen speak English and they only ship inside China.  You also have to be very clear about what you wanted.

 

 

 

Now that you picked our curiosity, you "need" to show us some pics of that "M400"! 

 

[A Smug Dill]

3 hours ago, Lam1 said:

Now that you picked our curiosity, you "need" to show us some pics of that "M400"! 

 

He did, back in August. Check his posting history. The forum software application allows users to check that kind of thing by self-service.

[amberleadavis]

On 12/18/2023 at 9:58 AM, Doug C said:

How do you like the Mind Papers cover?

 

 

Oh, that looks nice.

[DilettanteG]

Oh dear, this is beginning to become my public confessional. Found a Pelikan M205 Olivine Medium nib, brand new, for $91 on eBay including shipping.  What can I say, I was over come by that "deal" mentality. I think I need to stop buying pens and leave some for the rest of you guys. 

[N1003U]

3 minutes ago, DilettanteG said:

Oh dear, this is beginning to become my public confessional. Found a Pelikan M205 Olivine Medium nib, brand new, for $91 on eBay including shipping.  What can I say, I was over come by that "deal" mentality. I think I need to stop buying pens and leave some for the rest of you guys. 

No worries here. I got my own Olivine a couple of years ago at a pen show for about $100 (with a very nice EF nib).

 

Après moi, le déluge!

[Misfit]

Poor @DilettanteG spent time away because of the temptation this forum provides. Now she’s on a Pelikan buying spree. That’s good taste anyway.