What Was Your Last Impulsive Pen Acquisition?

[SLinkster]

22 minutes ago, Misfit said:

I think I saw the same price. Then, in weakness, I ordered it, using $16.94 in credit card rewards to lower the price. I hope I like the size as I’ve never held a Lilliput. 

It's very twee, but hefty since it's brass. I'm still deciding what to ink mine with. So many choices...

[AmandaW]

Impulsive purchase of three Pilot Plumix this morning... for the nibs. Their medium italic is the best I have found for everyday italic, so I had best have a few spares, was the thinking. Stacking discounts meant getting kinda getting one free as well as qualifying for free international shipping.

 

It doesn't mean I have given up find a really nice italic pen some day.

[Karmachanic]

2 hours ago, AmandaW said:

It doesn't mean I have given up find a really nice italic pen some day

 

Upgrade them to a Wing Sung 698 in the interim

[AmandaW]

1 minute ago, Karmachanic said:

 

Upgrade them to a Wing Sung 698

Hmmm... one of them is going in a black Wing Sung 3003, cos I like the orange one I fitted with a CM so much.

[Karmachanic]

1 minute ago, AmandaW said:

one of them is going in a black Wing Sung 3003,

 

Very thoughtful of Wing Sung to make pens with Pilot feeds!

[inkstainedruth]

On 4/13/2024 at 2:56 AM, SLinkster said:

Kaweco Lilliput fireblue. I spotted it on Amazon for an amazing price. Ordered two and put one in the "Christmas is coming" fix box. 

 

Now I'm trying to decide what to ink it with. So many choices...

I keep looking at the Lilliput Fireblue, but the price and potential weight for its size (yeah, I know -- metal pen) keep me from taking the plunge.  

There's a part of me that wonders what would happen if I bought a plain brass one and then took it to a metalsmith (I know a few) and have them do the torch work (I suspect a lot of them would know how to do the work without doing any damage (such as heat deformation) to the barrel and cap.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[mizgeorge]

I tried really(ish) hard to hold out, but today I caved in and bought the Kaweco piston filler in a BB. I'll be interested to see how it stacks up against my various vintage versions.

[Misfit]

I was looking on eBay at a pen I was watching. Then I looked at the seller’s other items. There was a Conklin Endura that looked like the current Duragraph cracked ice. The color is called Smokey Grey. But this pen is all one color, even the section. It has what looks like a gold glitter crescent Moon above the clip. And it was $35 starting bid. It had four minutes to go, so I bid on it. Won, as the only bidder. Research shows the pen came out in 2010. I wasn’t buying pens back then. No idea on the nib size. Likely not a stub nib. 

[ruby.monkey]

For me it was a NOS Pelikan Level L5 set with a 14ct broad nib. Hard to resist, so I didn't.

[Penguincollector]

  I found a lonely reddish Cross Solo M at a vintage store by my dentist’s office. I wasn’t going in to look for pens, there was a little penguin figurine in the window and I saw ithe pen on the way to the register.  It’s my first non Century I or II Cross. It’s reminiscent of my Pilot Lucina  in the way the plastic feels in my hand, not necessarily the shape but the materials and build quality. It’s a nice little pen. It had a half full Cross Blue cartridge installed. 

[txomsy]

On 4/15/2024 at 12:32 AM, inkstainedruth said:

I keep looking at the Lilliput Fireblue, but the price and potential weight for its size (yeah, I know -- metal pen) keep me from taking the plunge.  

There's a part of me that wonders what would happen if I bought a plain brass one and then took it to a metalsmith (I know a few) and have them do the torch work (I suspect a lot of them would know how to do the work without doing any damage (such as heat deformation) to the barrel and cap.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Don't take my word for it, but I believe the Kaweco Liliput Fireblue is not made of brass, but of steel. I think it is steel that turns this rainbow colors when torched. I do not know if brass would do the same.

 

I have also thought about it. Specially as the steel one is cheaper. I lack a torch though and I am saving up for the piston AL Sport.

[carola]

11 hours ago, txomsy said:

Don't take my word for it, but I believe the Kaweco Liliput Fireblue is not made of brass, but of steel. I think it is steel that turns this rainbow colors when torched. I do not know if brass would do the same.

 

I have also thought about it. Specially as the steel one is cheaper. I lack a torch though and I am saving up for the piston AL Sport.

 

You are absolutely right. The Fireblue pens (I have a Supra Fireblue, which is basically the same pen) are made from stainless steel. It´s the same effect you see on the front part of motorcycle exhaust pipes. 😁

[inkstainedruth]

19 hours ago, Penguincollector said:

  I found a lonely reddish Cross Solo M at a vintage store by my dentist’s office. I wasn’t going in to look for pens, there was a little penguin figurine in the window and I saw ithe pen on the way to the register.  It’s my first non Century I or II Cross. It’s reminiscent of my Pilot Lucina  in the way the plastic feels in my hand, not necessarily the shape but the materials and build quality. It’s a nice little pen. It had a half full Cross Blue cartridge installed. 

I have a couple of Cross Solos.  They're nice pens.  The first one (Red, F nib) was from an estate sale of a friend of mine who had died suddenly, and (once I figured out which style converter to get for it) is a nice writer (and is a nice memento of my friend).  Then I picked up a light blue one (B nib) a few years ago at OPS (when they still were at the old site).  Keep hoping that someday I'll luck into a yellow one and a purple one (by the time I got back to the table where I got the blue Solo, it was the only one the guy had left).

I remember reading somewhere that they were made for Cross in Japan but don't remember now if by Pilot or Sailor.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Gloucesterman]

19 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

I have a couple of Cross Solos.  They're nice pens.  The first one (Red, F nib) was from an estate sale of a friend of mine who had died suddenly, and (once I figured out which style converter to get for it) is a nice writer (and is a nice memento of my friend).  Then I picked up a light blue one (B nib) a few years ago at OPS (when they still were at the old site).  Keep hoping that someday I'll luck into a yellow one and a purple one (by the time I got back to the table where I got the blue Solo, it was the only one the guy had left).

I remember reading somewhere that they were made for Cross in Japan but don't remember now if by Pilot or Sailor.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

IIRC, it was Sailor. People used to comment that the nibs were especially good because they were Sailor nibs.

[Penguincollector]

5 hours ago, Gloucesterman said:

IIRC, it was Sailor. People used to comment that the nibs were especially good because they were Sailor nibs.

  I have a Sheaffer by Sailor, so a Cross would make sense. I have found a thread here on Solos that claim it was Namiki, but no real information to back that up. It seems like there may be a few variations on the Solo theme. Snap cap, screw cap, a Radiance model that is very similar as well. Some say Japan and some say nothing about origin. Mine is a screw cap no country of origin one.

 

@inkstainedruth, it is a good pen, I think I will keep an eye out for a blue one. If the yellow or purple are seen, I will totally let you know. 
 

[pucipatas]

A couldn’t-beat-the-price TWSBI swipe. It’ll be my first TWSBI. 

[Gloucesterman]

12 hours ago, Penguincollector said:

  I have a Sheaffer by Sailor, so a Cross would make sense. I have found a thread here on Solos that claim it was Namiki, but no real information to back that up. It seems like there may be a few variations on the Solo theme. Snap cap, screw cap, a Radiance model that is very similar as well. Some say Japan and some say nothing about origin. Mine is a screw cap no country of origin one.

 

@inkstainedruth, it is a good pen, I think I will keep an eye out for a blue one. If the yellow or purple are seen, I will totally let you know. 
 

As much as I would like to pick up a few, if they don't have a converter with them, I am not really that interested.

In general it's getting to the point where buying anything other than a generic international converter is a relatively expensive expenditure.

Just mho, of course.

[Penguincollector]

9 minutes ago, Gloucesterman said:

As much as I would like to pick up a few, if they don't have a converter with them, I am not really that interested.

In general it's getting to the point where buying anything other than a generic international converter is a relatively expensive expenditure.

Just mho, of course.

  Oh, I have plenty of converters for just about any pen, so that’s not really a problem. 

[irrigger]

Not a fountain pen, but the Lamy 2000 Multi pen to pair with my Lamy 2000 FP.

[Doug C]

Another Cypress.  I'm hooked.