What Was Your Last Impulsive Pen Acquisition?

[RJS]

2 hours ago, sandy101 said:

 

Very easy- just relax the muscles and loosen the grip so the fingers are are supporting the pen. You don't need to hold it tight - the nib doesn't need pressure to write. It's not a ballpoint which needs a tighter grip to be pushed into the paper.

 

If you feel your fingers are seizing up - you are holding the pen too tight. 

 

I have a CdA Madison - which has an even smaller grip and write very comfortable with that one too. 

 

I used the resources on this site on how to hold a pen. It took a couple of weeks of concious effort to relax my grip, but eventually I got used to it.

 

 

Happy to hear you find it comfortable. My grip is correct as far as guides are concerned, but I have large hands that tend to favour a thicker section and no step down. I don't need a huge section, though - I'm comfortable with Preras and Kaweco Sports. I can't abide by slippery sections too, because of my loose grip.

[Paul-in-SF]

Two pens purchased on impulse, and they arrived today. The impulse was because I hadn't spent much on pens for a couple of months, and my unaccustomedly-large bank balance was causing me distress. I bought them from an online dealer that I trust. 

 

One is an Ancora Cielo demonstrator in medium-blue transparent resin with silver-gold vermeil trim and a Fine 18K nib. 

 

The other is a Stipula Etruria Nuda (clear) with silver trim and a 14K Broad nib. 

 

The two pens are pretty much the same size, and I have high hopes for them. 

[Gloucesterman]

15 minutes ago, Paul-in-SF said:

One is an Ancora Cielo demonstrator in medium-blue transparent resin with silver-gold vermeil trim and a Fine 18K nib.

If that's the one I am thinking of, it is slightly awesome... and I really liked their fine nibs.

ENJOY it.

[Penguincollector]

41 minutes ago, Paul-in-SF said:

Two pens purchased on impulse, and they arrived today. The impulse was because I hadn't spent much on pens for a couple of months, and my unaccustomedly-large bank balance was causing me distress. I bought them from an online dealer that I trust. 

 

One is an Ancora Cielo demonstrator in medium-blue transparent resin with silver-gold vermeil trim and a Fine 18K nib. 

 

The other is a Stipula Etruria Nuda (clear) with silver trim and a 14K Broad nib. 

 

The two pens are pretty much the same size, and I have high hopes for them. 

 

  Nice! 

[Cjtamu]

Welp. Posted previously about mother of pearl Laban I purchased from PSP Saturday. While checking order on Sunday I noticed they had a blue lacquer Waterman CF with 18K medium nib. I’m a sucker for Waterman blue lacquer. When I was browsing Saturday my wife saw me look at a Montegrappa green spaghetti Extra 1930 with EF nib I’ve been eyeballing on Pen Realm. When I bought the Laban from PSP she was afraid the Montegrappa would be next. She planned to buy it for my birthday so she pretended to go to bed and purchased it. How’s that for impulse spending?! All arrived today, my wife couldn’t wait till my birthday LOL. Have only inked and tested the Waterman so far.  Very nice writing experience with Pilot blue ink. The Laban flat top is a big pen, need to measure the barrel and section diameter. Not sure what this model is called. Similar to the Bologna. Nice 18K nib with some springiness. Looking forward to trying them all out.

[PithyProlix]

On 7/24/2024 at 2:37 PM, RJS said:

Are those vintage or modern? I unsuccessfully tried to Google them. The packaging and the styling of the pens look 40 years old, but of course it could be deliberately retro. 

 

I received it yesterday. No helpful information on the box or otherwise. Everything has a 1980s look, though. 

[Gloucesterman]

Flea market buys...

Parker 50/ Falcon w/ what looks like a fine point

Montblanc Burgundy .7mm pencil

Parker 45 set FP (w/ converter & Pencil

Parker 45 FP w/ converter

Esterbrook "J" - no cap but with an excellent working "J-bar"

 

Had to laugh though at a couple of offerings that people thought were super valuable because they have a "gold" (plated in two items) nibs.

I laugh at it and also acknowledge that my own value-blindness is, I am sure, rampant in many areas.

YMMV -

[inkstainedruth]

Hey, some local-ish office supply place (which I never heard of before a couple of weeks ago) I found online was asking $35 for a Pilot Metropolitan.  I tried to contact them (mostly to laugh and point) but their email address on the website didn't work!  Then called the number on the site and got told "We have two different email addresses!"  And I was like, "Really?  Because only found ONE on your website and when I tried to send you email it BOUNCED!"  

And yes, I made sure to call on my cell phone so I can block them from calling back.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

[JonSzanto]

I mentioned the 'impulse' buy about a week ago, in that I immediately put a snipe on a Parker Duofold Vacumatic (that isn't!) based on... well, photos that I had a hunch would eventually yield a nice pen. I very often forget to do before/after photos, and this time wanted to document some of what you can restore when it isn't actual damage. The first set of pics includes shots from the auction (top row) and the after below; the other collage I took pics at home before doing the work. Very happy to have this lovely in my Parker group, and the keen-eyed among you will note the couple of interesting variations in the pen!

[inkstainedruth]

The Striped Duofolds sure are pretty, aren't they?  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[ParramattaPaul]

1 hour ago, JonSzanto said:

I mentioned the 'impulse' buy about a week ago, in that I immediately put a snipe on a Parker Duofold Vacumatic (that isn't!) based on... well, photos that I had a hunch would eventually yield a nice pen. I very often forget to do before/after photos, and this time wanted to document some of what you can restore when it isn't actual damage. The first set of pics includes shots from the auction (top row) and the after below; the other collage I took pics at home before doing the work. Very happy to have this lovely in my Parker group, and the keen-eyed among you will note the couple of interesting variations in the pen!

"Well done that man!"  Seriously, that is great work.

[Paul-in-SF]

2 hours ago, JonSzanto said:

a Parker Duofold Vacumatic (that isn't!)

 

(Revealing ignorance) So there are vertically striped Duofolds that aren't Duovacs? Are they button fillers? Are they common? I wonder what values I have passed by because I thought on first glance that all these were Vacumatics. Oh the humanity. 

[Cjtamu]

Nice save. Thats a beauty. Looking forward to leaning more about it because I know very little about the Duofolds.

[senzen]

On 7/28/2024 at 10:06 AM, Gloucesterman said:

Flea market buys...

Parker 50/ Falcon w/ what looks like a fine point

Montblanc Burgundy .7mm pencil

Parker 45 set FP (w/ converter & Pencil

Parker 45 FP w/ converter

Esterbrook "J" - no cap but with an excellent working "J-bar"

 

Had to laugh though at a couple of offerings that people thought were super valuable because they have a "gold" (plated in two items) nibs.

I laugh at it and also acknowledge that my own value-blindness is, I am sure, rampant in many areas.

YMMV -

 

The 50 is a gorgeous pen, the only super thin pen I put up with.

[Penguincollector]

   I broke my glass pen, so I ordered a Majohn N8 dip pen/fp set. It’s a resin fountain pen that also comes with 3 different colors of glass nibs that screw in like an Osmiroid pen. I had just been planning on ordering an inexpensive glass pen, as that was what I had and I honestly loved it, but if I drop the new one, there are replacement sections available. 

[Penguincollector]

22 hours ago, JonSzanto said:

I mentioned the 'impulse' buy about a week ago, in that I immediately put a snipe on a Parker Duofold Vacumatic (that isn't!) based on... well, photos that I had a hunch would eventually yield a nice pen. I very often forget to do before/after photos, and this time wanted to document some of what you can restore when it isn't actual damage. The first set of pics includes shots from the auction (top row) and the after below; the other collage I took pics at home before doing the work. Very happy to have this lovely in my Parker group, and the keen-eyed among you will note the couple of interesting variations in the pen!

  That’s a beautiful pen! Is it a “man” Duofold?  I so want a laidtone Duofold of some sort. 

[JonSzanto]

22 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

The Striped Duofolds sure are pretty, aren't they?  

 

I've always thought precisely that! With this pen, I now have all three colors, but in three different sizes of pen and three different models. So with just three pens, I have a lot of the various aspects of the 'striped Duofold' in my collection.

 

21 hours ago, ParramattaPaul said:

"Well done that man!"  Seriously, that is great work.

 

That's very kind of you, but I'm a mere hobbyist, just working on my own pens. I stand on the shoulders of giants in the pen repair world...

 

21 hours ago, Paul-in-SF said:

(Revealing ignorance) So there are vertically striped Duofolds that aren't Duovacs? Are they button fillers? Are they common? I wonder what values I have passed by because I thought on first glance that all these were Vacumatics. 

 

To be honest, I was unaware, as well. See my last reply below.

 

19 hours ago, Cjtamu said:

Nice save. Thats a beauty. Looking forward to leaning more about it because I know very little about the Duofolds.

 

... and see below.

 

 

33 minutes ago, Penguincollector said:

  That’s a beautiful pen! Is it a “man” Duofold?  I so want a laidtone Duofold of some sort. 

 

Yes, this is - for all I can tell and research - a variant of the striped Duofold that was called the "Man". This interests me enough that I'll try to do more research in the months to come. In short, it was a lower-cost pen, with a good part of the savings being that it incorporates a button fill mechanism (they surely had plenty of parts laying around) and the tip-off is the black blind cap. Inside it is a standard Parker button system, just like the original Duofolds. I haven't checked to see what other models have a transparent window in the section. And I also want to know if there were any other pens (there must have been) that incorporated the "stacked coin" band that initially caught my eye.

 

Thank you all for your kind comments!

[Penguincollector]

16 minutes ago, JonSzanto said:

In short, it was a lower-cost pen, with a good part of the savings being that it incorporates a button fill mechanism (they surely had plenty of parts laying around) and the tip-off is the black blind cap. Inside it is a standard Parker button system, just like the original Duofolds.

 

  My little Geometric Duofold is one of these later budget Duofolds. I love that little pen- it’s what convinced me to give sacced pens another try.

[Misfit]

It was sort of impulsive. I ordered a TWSBI Classic pen in sapphire blue with a 1.1mm stub nib. Reward’s money took almost $25 off the price. 

[vicpen123]

 Monteverde tool fountain pen - just for fun. I have all the pens I am likely to want/need for writing or to satisfy my curiosity so now I can buy novelty pens that are practical to use.

 

Lat year I bought a Travelers Company brass pen. Tiny when closed but nearly full size when opened and capped. Cute.

 

Waiting for the Melbourne Pen Show in November to find more novelty pens.