What Was Your Last Impulsive Pen Acquisition?

[inkstainedruth]

Oh resistance is DEFINITELY futile.... 

So... as if the two pens & extra nib units at yesterday's estate sale weren't enough, I went to another one this morning (leaving my house at about 5:30 AM or so, to drive down river to the place it was, to get there before the doors opened at 7 (I think I was about 11th or 12th in line, after having to park nearly two blocks away and hike back up the hill to the house).  

And today's tally:  

 • 2 vintage Esties: a red mackerel J & a blue mackerel SJ, both with 9xxx nibs (not that I actually needed EITHER nib of course) 

 • a THIRD Snorkel desk pen (also burgundy, like the ones from a few weeks ago; not a Triumph nib this time, but it DID have a Sheaffer-stickered marble base stand with the trumpet attached

 • a red Sheaffer "cartridge pen" with a steel cap (basically a school pen) in the original (?) box and a dead cartridge in it

 • a Sheaffer "Fineline" lever filler pen with what looks like a steel nib (nib is marked "343" but I'm not sure what that means)

 • a dark green Eversharp lever filler (don't know what the model is) with a 14K nib and the original nib sticker (supposedly the nib is a "Manifold Fine") and price sticker (which says "No. 701" as well as the original price -- "$5.75 including tax")

 • an Inkograph "Ink-D-Cator" lever filler -- it's in pretty bad shape but for the price figured I'd take a risk.  

• a partial bottle of (modern) Quink Permanent Black, down in the basement.

• two beige leather (?) things that have "CROSS" stamped/engraved on the folded ends (I thought they were pen sleeves, but now not so sure.... )

The Inkograph was priced by the estate sale people at $3 US; the Sheaffer school pen and the desk pen base were marked at $5 apiece (I'm assuming the pen went with it).  Total for everything?  Eighteen bucks.  Not too shabby....   (I'm presuming the the Snorkel desk pens previously bought will also fit in the base's trumpet, but didn't want to test one of them because it clearly needs repairs -- the snorkel tube is partially extended from the feed).

Then after grabbing breakfast at an area diner chain I went into the city to see about getting some Rapido-Eze for the two pens bought at yesterday's sale, since the ONLY ink I saw at that one was Higgins (India ink ) and don't want to mess around with either of those until they're seriously flushed out....

And while I was in the vicinity of the local Dick Blick b&m store, I also stuck my head in the funky card/novelty/book/pen shop up the street from Dick Blick and got an enameled pin (someone is making pins referencing book titles, and when I saw the one for The Last Unicorn (one of my favorites since I was about 9 -- I got my falling apart paperback copy from back then autographed a number of years ago by the author, Peter. S. Beagle at a local SF con) I was immediately going "OMG! Want!  Must HAAAAVE!".  (now have to decide which fedora -- the winter one or the summer one -- it should go on -- and please DON'T anyone say "Oh, get a second one so you don't HAVE to decide..." ) I also picked up a silly thing that is apparently both a magnet and a finger puppet, from The Unemployed Philospher's Guild: a "Cthulhu" finger puppet (because my brother soooo needs something like that -- he's been a Lovecraft and general horror aficionado since he was about 10...).  

Then, on the way back to the parking lot, stuck my nose in Scribe Fine Papers (I'll have to go back there sometime later in the week or so) because I want to see if what the person in the chat window at Five Below told me was true -- that the Kaweco converters will fit in the FP/highlighter pen set a friend got me as a gag gift last Christmas will actually work, now that the store has both sizes of converters back in stock....

By the time I got home it was nearly 2:30 PM and I then had to spend time updating inventories....  And really DO need to get back to "morning pages" (which got truncated after breakfast...), and I'm going on about 5 hours sleep after having about 4 hours sleep yesterday....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Bo Bo Olson]

My wife went to the flea market.....Herlitz-Bugatti....with a B in a Coffin nib, ...company unknown. Thomas/Kaweco says Böhler used HP, and the long passed Sr. Bock didn't know who made it.

 

As one can see by the dead dried ink bottle, the black and gold pen sat in the box for one hell of a long time...filled, so it took me much of an hour to clean it. That ink would have been a very vibrant dark blue. Rex don't show up as an ink.....(There use to be two members...Chevalier and Rex....so they come up, nothing else.)

 

 Now filled with the discontinued affordable C'dA Storm, a light purple.

I listened to Stateside buyers...saying how expensive it was... Not realizing they wre paying air freight and import tax.

 

After it was discontinued I went looking for one bottle...and found the ink only cost €8.00 when Pelikan 4001 cost 3.50 or so. I cheaped out getting only four of the six bottles...and they sit there in the back of the ink drawer...

Dried flat to the back of the bottle.

Marksman......could be Pilot's, Korean sub brand, or a Korean company or even Chinese. Could be the name was freely used in Asia. Has a Parker style rubber squeeze bar filler.

An Arrow through an Oval nib marking.

An EEF nib. Western eyes.....could be Japanese EF. A nice narrow nib...and I've been looking for such lately.....coming from Broad and wider, it has taken me some 15 years to be looking for super narrow....western eyes.

Inked with Kon-peki, an ink for narrow nibs.

 

The chrome pen is an AR....noting found on that in internet. Not the deluxe fancy Japanese AR pens. Looks unused...will have to sweat with shellac a plastic part of the pen that holds the screw piston to the pen body.

..................................................

My wife has a collection of ball points and that Bugatti-Herlitz has a real good gel or hybrid no name at all Parker style ink cartridge, (I'm so out of date I have no idea which but it was for a BP ..very nice...to write with)......OMG...I'll have to buy my wife a glass topped pen box for her collection....and not hidden in the dark of a drawer.

[Jayebird]

Definitely wasn't planning on getting these just yet though my husband and I had it on the "eventually" list.

 

But then the La Flamme came out, which I immediately loved and I had a 25% off coupon. So the S.T Duponts were purchased. Black and gold will be his. Anyways... our Christmas is covered now. We gave each a test run before cleaning and stashing away.

 

And while I was at it, tossed a Nahvalur into the cart - my first one

 

 

[Misfit]

23 hours ago, Gloucesterman said:

Oh Paul, don't be so hard on yourself.

I am sure you will ketchup easily and soon as you do relish both the process AND the results!

He mustard try harder, unless it’s not an A1 time. 

[Bisquitlips]

This is a very iniquitous thread!  Very much so! I almost admitted something detrimental here.

 

You almost got me, but I got away!

 

Tee hee!

[Gloucesterman]

Pelikan M400 FP (M w some flex, two chicks cap

Pelikan M200 FP (M) two chicks cap (mint condition)

Montblanc Slim, matte black pen & pencil set very good condition

Parker 51 vacuumatic which might need work.- w/ blue diamond, gold clip, a sterling silver cap w/ a couple of small dents

Parker 21 aerometric dark green, w/ regular cap.

 

 

[awa54]

On 6/28/2024 at 9:16 AM, Arthur Pewty said:

...I suppose a CON-40 or CON-70 would work as well. 

 

CON-70 only fits in pens that have "extra" length and width inside the barrel, as well as shallow enough section threads to fully seat the mouth of the converter.

Sadly, that leaves you with the ugly but functional CON-B, the awful CON-40, the equally awful *and* discontinued CON-50, or paying extortionate prices for used or NOS CON-20s

😥

 

Personally, I just refill cartridges in any Pilot that doesn't accept the CON-70

[Arthur Pewty]

Amazon Japan is doing it again. You can get (I did) a Sailor Pro Gear with a 21K nib for $111 and a Pelikan M800 for $359 (also did), both new. Granted the Sailor isn't a large pen, but still a great price for 21K. There's a little Engrish in the Pelikan listing: "Souvelane" and "Suberane".

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0025RTHRI

https://www.amazon.com/Pelikan-Fountain-Souberane-Stripes-Genuine/dp/B09XHPHR67/

[awa54]

6 minutes ago, Arthur Pewty said:

Amazon Japan is doing it again. You can get (I did) a Sailor Pro Gear with a 21K nib for $111 and a Pelikan M800 for $359 (also did), both new. Granted the Sailor isn't a large pen, but still a great price for 21K. There's a little Engrish in the Pelikan listing: "Souvelane" and "Suberane".

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0025RTHRI

https://www.amazon.com/Pelikan-Fountain-Souberane-Stripes-Genuine/dp/B09XHPHR67/

 

 

Bunches of the limited/JDM colorways on Profit Jr. and Lecoule as well, for either side of $25!  I bought several of these when they were current at $30-$45.

Several Saporro/Pro Gear slim models from $60-$80 as well, with 14k nibs.

[Gloucesterman]

15 minutes ago, awa54 said:

 

 

Bunches of the limited/JDM colorways on Profit Jr. and Lecoule as well, for either side of $25!  I bought several of these when they were current at $30-$45.

Several Saporro/Pro Gear slim models from $60-$80 as well, with 14k nibs.

Is this one a Sailor "King of Pens" or just wordplay (aka marketing to fool you into buying something it isn't?

eBay link

[awa54]

29 minutes ago, Gloucesterman said:

Is this one a Sailor "King of Pens" or just wordplay (aka marketing to fool you into buying something it isn't?

eBay link

 

 

it's this:

 

https://en.sailor.co.jp/product/11-6001/

[Arthur Pewty]

27 minutes ago, Gloucesterman said:

Is this one a Sailor "King of Pens" or just wordplay (aka marketing to fool you into buying something it isn't?

eBay link

It's the real deal. I bought one in April, and the nib is amazing.

[Cjtamu]

Y’all are a bad influence. Last round of impulse spending below, came in Friday and Saturday. Too much reading on here and found a few things I wanted to try. Waterman Man 100, Medium in olive wood. What was listed as a Man 200, but I believe is actually a Gentleman, Fine nib. Very similar in size to my DuPont Montparnasse. Then the absolutely Lilliputian Merlins. The 33 is mine and the Merlina is for my wife. Everything inked up today with Waterman Intense Black. I can’t believe how well those tiny pens write! I see more in our future. The Man 100 nib is excellent. Jury still out on the Gentleman, flow isn’t all it should be. Going to let the feed saturate overnight but the nib might need a little tuning.

[sandy101]

Check the nib collar on the Gentleman. The nib collar on mine had rotted away, which affected the ink flow. It had a tiny crack in it, but eventually crumbled. I suspect the previous owner was using registrar's ink in it. 

 

Hopefully, you've just got to flush out any dried ink ink.

[Cjtamu]

Thanks for the tip. Flushed with water before filling and it was pretty clean. If it’s not right tomorrow I’ll soak it for a bit, and if that doesn’t work I’ll try a cartridge just to make sure the Waterman converter I installed isn’t the culprit. Fortunately I purchased from someone more than capable of repairing and/or tuning the nib. 

[Topgunbai]

Karas Kustoms Ultem Decograph

[awa54]

The Great Amazon Japan Sailor blowout "forced" me to order a Pro Gear Slim mini in Ayur blue (long since gone from us sellers).  😭

[inkstainedruth]

Pretty pen!  How does the size of the Pro Gear Slim Minis compare to the standard Pro Gear Slim?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[awa54]

5 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

Pretty pen!  How does the size of the Pro Gear Slim Minis compare to the standard Pro Gear Slim?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

 

AFAIK, they're identical with the exception of the mini having a shorter barrel. The mini is cartridge only.

 

The original version of the mini had a threaded barrel base, so that the cap could be screwed on for ultra-secure posting, but that was discontinued ...probably due to clip position in post not being adjustable?

[inkstainedruth]

Oh, cartridge only?  Bummer.  That would be a deal breaker for me....

I have a couple of Pro Gear Slims and like them a lot (although now wishing I'd gotten them with with the nibs swapped from what I ordered -- I like the MF nib on the Loch Ness Monster but the barrel & cap color of the Wicked Witch of the West (which has a "music" nib in it) better.

Well, at least now that they're out of warranty I don't have to be as careful about what ink to put in them....  (Honestly, the Wicked Witch pen should be YELLOW.... )

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth