What Was Your Last Impulsive Pen Acquisition?

[TitoThePencilPimp]

Pelikan M101N Bright Red. Fahrneys priced them to move, and I moved one right into my collection.

 

Did you regret your purchase now having it on hand? I told myself I would not buy any pens for 4 years, due to starting graduate school next year and having purchased 7 Pelikans this year. My only regret with my purchases was the m200 demonstrator. I should have purchased the blue marbled instead. However, the demonstrator will stay in my collection.

 

I was thinking of getting the m101n bright red as a graduation present. But I am not sure if it can still be had for that price a year from now , and I never seen it in person.

[inkstainedruth]

A brown lamy safari for an Embarrassing Price. Now I need to get to the post before my girlfriend

 

Embarrassing in that you overpaid? Or embarrassing that you were a sumgai?

Me, I went through my list of "want to buy" last night, in anticipation of maybe getting to the Triangle Pen Show, which has just been rescheduled for the middle of August (the husband has even agreed to go with me as long as he can retreat to the security of the hotel room if he needs to actually do work/have meetings, or if the "show" overload gets to him -- I think he's still recovering a bit from the last time he got talked into driving down to the Raleigh area 3 years ago, and I came home with TWO Parker 51 Aeros... ). And discovered that while I need to get some vintage pens repaired, including the the new to me silver filigree overlay Morrison ringtop (did I include that in my last post? I think that would make 5 since February.... ) and there are some inks I definitely want to try or get full bottles of, my current pen "want list" has shrunk a lot except for pens that I don't expect to be able to afford any time soon.... The silver filigree Morrison ringtop having been on the short list, as the Parker 75 Ciselé, the M600 Violet and White, and the Dove Grey 51 Vac I got last fall at the Ohio Pen Show.

Of course there's lots of inks I want to look at, and maybe try some different papers (not like I need another notebook any more than I need more ink, mind you). There are a few random other things I want (one of which I know I can get on eBay -- another one of the Albert Staehle illustration Carter's Ink ads with the white mother cat and her ink colored kittens). But I can't guarantee that there won't be some "Ooh, shiny!" that I didn't know existed.... Or something for a way better price than I've seen the pen running for elsewhere....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[MadAsAHatter]

This one came in the mail yesterday. Moonman M8. The nib that came with it has pretty poor ink flow. I think the tines are too close together. For now I swapped in a Jinhao nib so I could use it at work today.

[Zookie]

Ok, so I wasn't going to re-open this, but*******

I went into the local Staples on a whim (Don't usually find anything) and as I was leaving, I looked to my right and saw a bin of Pilot Varsity pens, buy 3 get 1 free.

So I did. Four pens (nice ones I might add) for 10.50 USD.

I think my impulse buy was justified!

BTW, does anyone know which of their inks goes in these?

[N1003U]

 

Did you regret your purchase now having it on hand? I told myself I would not buy any pens for 4 years, due to starting graduate school next year and having purchased 7 Pelikans this year. My only regret with my purchases was the m200 demonstrator. I should have purchased the blue marbled instead. However, the demonstrator will stay in my collection.

 

I was thinking of getting the m101n bright red as a graduation present. But I am not sure if it can still be had for that price a year from now , and I never seen it in person.

 

Unfortunately, I am at present in Germany, and my new M101N was shipped to Philadelphia (hey, free shipping!). Once I get a good look at it, and try it out, I will report on my impressions. I am sure I will like the color. My concern is that I have never had an M101N before and I do not know if I will like the style/design. OTOH, the design is very classic and basically put Pelikan on the pen-making map, so I am confident that it is a practical pen in use (Einstein was never wrong, was he? )

 

If you like the pen, the bright red seems to be for whatever reason among the less-popular M101N models (at least anecdotally seems to be not selling all that well and/or readily available for sale--if Fahrney's is offering it for a low price, I assume they are REALLY having a problem moving them), so who knows you may find it at a good price even in a year (there are still some SEs from years past that are still to be had for reasonable prices). Or, when you graduate and are ready to buy, send me a PM--maybe we can work a deal.

 

I don't generally sell my pens, but on the other hand, virtually everything I own has a price for which I am willing to give the thing up, and I have had so far nothing but excellent experiences dealing with fellow FPNers.

 

What subject are you studying, TitoThePencilPimp?

(Maybe you mentioned it before, but I either missed it or forgot.)

[TitoThePencilPimp]

 

Unfortunately, I am at present in Germany, and my new M101N was shipped to Philadelphia (hey, free shipping!). Once I get a good look at it, and try it out, I will report on my impressions. I am sure I will like the color. My concern is that I have never had an M101N before and I do not know if I will like the style/design. OTOH, the design is very classic and basically put Pelikan on the pen-making map, so I am confident that it is a practical pen in use (Einstein was never wrong, was he? )

 

If you like the pen, the bright red seems to be for whatever reason among the less-popular M101N models (at least anecdotally seems to be not selling all that well and/or readily available for sale--if Fahrney's is offering it for a low price, I assume they are REALLY having a problem moving them), so who knows you may find it at a good price even in a year (there are still some SEs from years past that are still to be had for reasonable prices). Or, when you graduate and are ready to buy, send me a PM--maybe we can work a deal.

 

I don't generally sell my pens, but on the other hand, virtually everything I own has a price for which I am willing to give the thing up, and I have had so far nothing but excellent experiences dealing with fellow FPNers.

 

What subject are you studying, TitoThePencilPimp?

(Maybe you mentioned it before, but I either missed it or forgot.)

 

Hey. Great to know. Maybe someday I will own your personal M600 Turquoise.

 

I am studying Mathematics (pure) with a minor in Physics. A bit bummed, since I petitioned the Dean of Natural Sciences at my school to allow me to swap some lower division science electives for upper division science courses. Ie., Intro chemistry, and 2 other science courses. This would have allowed me to turn my physics minor into a major. Since I took upper division physics courses as my electives, and I am 3 units short of the major. I would add the extra 3 physics classes, but time conflict with classes prevents me doing so.

 

Im practically done with my undergraduate studies, since those remaining 3 classes will be easy and is what typically Freshman their first semester.

Edited June 17, 2020 by TitoThePencilPimp

[bayindirh]

A Kaweco Skyline Sport Grey is just shipped today.

I love that little pens. I can use them unposted and small ink capacity means I waste less ink if I can't use it for whatever reason and need to flush before emptying.

 

Oh, and they write nice.

[N1003U]

 

Hey. Great to know. Maybe someday I will own your personal M600 Turquoise.

 

I am studying Mathematics (pure) with a minor in Physics. A bit bummed, since I petitioned the Dean of Natural Sciences at my school to allow me to swap some lower division science electives for upper division science courses. Ie., Intro chemistry, and 2 other science courses. This would have allowed me to turn my physics minor into a major. Since I took upper division physics courses as my electives, and I am 3 units short of the major. I would add the extra 3 physics classes, but time conflict with classes prevents me doing so.

 

Im practically done with my undergraduate studies, since those remaining 3 classes will be easy and is what typically Freshman their first semester.

 

Under current circumstances, I think my price to let go of that turquoise M600 is higher than the price for which you could buy one elsewhere, but as implied above, nearly everything with me is negotiable. Your odds are probably better with the red M101N, but on the other hand, I haven't seen it in person yet. I might just like it.

 

Technically speaking, I am much more of an applied geek, so I belong in that sense amongst the somewhat lower life forms (more Leonard Hofstadter than Sheldon Cooper), but nevertheless somewhat geeky. I studied engineering and I typically learn only enough math to be able to solve the practical problem at hand.

 

It is heartening that you seem to be developing an affinity for Pelikans. Keep up the good work!

[JulieParadise]

Impulse buy, here I come! This one arrived today: A lovely Montblanc Masterpiece 142 from the 1950s with a smooth fine nib. It is the finer sibling (or the international cousin?) to the Montblanc Meisterstück 142 BB I already had. With my new shiny came a red leather zipper case from Montblanc and probably home of the Masterpiece for the last decades.

 

[basterma]

Whether your pen is a fake or not, Sonnets are famous for having over-sized vent holes that cause the pens to dry-out. There are several threads on here in which members discuss ways to fix the drying-out problem (by blocking-up those vent holes).

 

The bad design is not attributable to any EU regulation.

If oversized vent holes were stipulated by any such thing, then every pen made by Parker would have them. As would every pen made by Waterman. And LAMY. And Pelikan, Montblanc, Faber Castell, Aurora, Diplomat, Visconti, etc etc.

Those other pens don’t have the same over-sized vent holes. Not even all Parkers have them. So their presence can not be required by any regulation, whether at national level or at EU level.

 

In the case of the Sonnet, the bad design of the vent holes is just an example of bad design.

 

I do confess though to being surprised that Parker have never fixed the flaw. The pens have been in production since 1994, and their design has been ‘refreshed’ a few times since then. I would have expected the company to use one of those ‘refreshes’ as an opportunity to fix the design flaw in the caps.

Maybe Parker don’t think that it is sufficiently negatively-impactful on sales of the Sonnet to justify the cost to the company of fixing it? Which is a shame IMO. I like the appearance of the Sonnet, and also the size of the pen (I own three Frontiers, which are very, very similar), but I have seen so many complaints about the Sonnet drying-out that I won’t buy one.

Thanks. It just seems sad that Parker descended to this level of design.

[PAKMAN]

Platinum Curidas

[TitoThePencilPimp]

 

Under current circumstances, I think my price to let go of that turquoise M600 is higher than the price for which you could buy one elsewhere, but as implied above, nearly everything with me is negotiable. Your odds are probably better with the red M101N, but on the other hand, I haven't seen it in person yet. I might just like it.

 

Technically speaking, I am much more of an applied geek, so I belong in that sense amongst the somewhat lower life forms (more Leonard Hofstadter than Sheldon Cooper), but nevertheless somewhat geeky. I studied engineering and I typically learn only enough math to be able to solve the practical problem at hand.

 

It is heartening that you seem to be developing an affinity for Pelikans. Keep up the good work!

 

Not at all. Engineering is both as fun and equally challenging as Mathematics. Thanks for the kind words.

 

Yes, I really enjoy Pelikan pens. Have not branched into many other companies, except for Sailor and a few Kawecos. Love the design aesthetics of Pelikan, even if the styling is a bit more conservative in regards to other pen manufactures. A quality product at a reasonable price. Maintenance is low too. I had left my m200 Green Marbled (my first Pelikan) inked and unused for 7 months. Wrote without any issues on the first stroke. Im not that careless with pens, but I had thought I lost the pen.

 

Moreover, I mainly used wooden pencils since grade school. But as I started to get deeper and deeper into my studies. I was using 2 wooden pencils every week. An average cost of $10 dollars a week. And cannot be reused.

[Vladpu]

Sorry to slightly change the topic, but the worst pen transaction of mine was to SELL an absolutely perfect Parker Senior Moderne Black and Pearl. I still miss it.

[N1003U]

Moreover, I mainly used wooden pencils since grade school. But as I started to get deeper and deeper into my studies. I was using 2 wooden pencils every week. An average cost of $10 dollars a week. And cannot be reused.

Wow, thats $5 per pencil. Those must be some wooden pencils! A quick internet search finds me a pack of 30 #2 Ticonderogas for $6.99, which seems enough for a whole semester.

[inkstainedruth]

Ok, so I wasn't going to re-open this, but*******

I went into the local Staples on a whim (Don't usually find anything) and as I was leaving, I looked to my right and saw a bin of Pilot Varsity pens, buy 3 get 1 free.

So I did. Four pens (nice ones I might add) for 10.50 USD.

I think my impulse buy was justified!

BTW, does anyone know which of their inks goes in these?

 

Unfortunately, I think that the ink in Varsities is a specific exclusive to the line formula (which is too bad, because the Varisity blue ink is a gorgeous color).

There is supposed to be a way to take them apart so they can be refilled with regular fountain pen ink. I used to have a link to a video online on how to do it, but never actually tried it.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[essayfaire]

It's sooooo easy to get distracted by "ooh, shiny"....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

I'm getting better about this; I now have a page in my journal entitled "Pondering Purchases". Only if something stays on the list for a while do I actually buy the thing. Sometimes additional research leads me to buy something better that I wouldn't have known about nor bought had I spent the money on the first shiny thing. Plus a get to use a different color ink on each line to make the items I'm pondering easily decipherable!

 

[jmccarty3]

Some time ago, I had requested a notice from a dealer in the event that a Pilot Custom Urushi in Vermilion with a Medium-Fine nib became available. Well, the notice finally came today. This is a hard-to-find specimen, and it completes my set of vermilion urushi Pilot/Namikis (No. 50, Yukari Royale, Custom Urushi, and 845), so I overlooked the price and ordered it. This could become my everyday pen at work.

[mana]

I do not actually know, as a dabbling collector, if I have nothing but impulsive acquisitions. Or should it be compulsive ones instead... Anyway, two of the latest ones were a Pelikan 100N and a 400, both with to die for earlier 14k BB nibs. I mean, I could just drop all purchasing efforts and be happy with those (and the rest of the flock, I have pens for several lifetimes already) but... no. Do not think so.

 

At this rate my nieces and nephews are all going to inherit wonderful curated mini-collections (or maybe even not so mini) of vintage Pelikans when I kick the bucket. I just have to cultivate in them an appreciation for them, starting with writing letters to each and every one every now and then, something that I used to do with my aunt from my mother's side when I was in the army. Sadly that habbit dropped when I went to college... need to do better.

[N1003U]

I do not actually know, as a dabbling collector, if I have nothing but impulsive acquisitions. Or should it be compulsive ones instead... Anyway, two of the latest ones were a Pelikan 100N and a 400, both with to die for earlier 14k BB nibs. I mean, I could just drop all purchasing efforts and be happy with those (and the rest of the flock, I have pens for several lifetimes already) but... no. Do not think so.

 

At this rate my nieces and nephews are all going to inherit wonderful curated mini-collections (or maybe even not so mini) of vintage Pelikans when I kick the bucket. I just have to cultivate in them an appreciation for them, starting with writing letters to each and every one every now and then, something that I used to do with my aunt from my mother's side when I was in the army. Sadly that habbit dropped when I went to college... need to do better.

 

I hope you successful with your attempts to inspire the next generation. Though my hoard collection of pens is modest, I have had the good fortune to infect a couple of family members in the next generation with the fountain pen disease. I think my pens will be in good hands when the time comes (but not just yet! ).

 

As for latest impulse buys, I just picked up a Pelikan M200 in gold marbled, and another M200 in classic black.

 

My sense is though, that my recent acquisition phase is waning, and I am becoming a lot less impulsive (I can say no). I now have about as many pens as I can reasonably manage, and I am not interested in drawers full of stuff that rarely or never gets used. Going forward most of my acquisitions are likely to be replacements for items passed on to others, replacements, or gifts.

[como]

That sounds like great excuses for buying new pens, impulsively or not "Since I gave away that precious Lamy Safari, don't you think that I should replenish by getting a Montblanc?!"

...Going forward most of my acquisitions are likely to be replacements for items passed on to others, replacements, or gifts.