What Was Your Last Impulsive Pen Acquisition?

[Bikerchick]

19 hours ago, carola said:

Contact him. Tell him what you are looking for and maybe he has something lying around he hasn´t restored yet.

I think I'll do just that, thanks! 

[Gloucesterman]

Okay, I guess my impulses got the best of me!

 

Just received three pens with another two on the way (one bought last night) and a Spencerian Writing book (bought on Saturday). Is that impulsive enough?

 

Impulse purchases include:

Conklin Endless Summer Omniflex

Pelikan 120 Blue w Fine nib

Pilot Purple Retro Metropolitan Fine nib (a gift w/ purple ink to my dental hygienist) no pict

LAMY Safari Fine nib

Jinhao 500 Red Metal FP Fine nib

 

As you might surmise, my taste in pens is somewhat eclectic!

 

[Bikerchick]

This gorgeous Parker Vacumatic. I wanted to bid on it, but I fell asleep on the couch, laptop next to me. Woke up with 18 seconds remaining.  I  quickly placed a bid, then a second one 1€ higher (I didn't want to bid a round number). I won it by..... 1€.

 

[Detman101]

Wow, nice!!!

 

[sansenri]

The Jinhao Centennial Koi just arrived.

Since the impulse buy was triggered by the urge to find a nib holder for a spare Omas nib, I immediately attempted the swap.

It fits!

I was not sure it would as the Omas nib is slightly shorter (3.2 cm) and usually is not held in place so well in collars typically for 3.5 cm nibs like the Jinhao. Fortunately however the Jinhao nib and feed were inside their collar very tight (I had to pull very hard to get them out), so the Omas nib stays put firmly. Wow, it's a great writer now! The Omas nib has great flow and is slightly bouncy.

The nib is probably worth 10 times the pen, but they are a nice couple together!

(pics soon)

[NumberSix]

Last night, I got into a bidding war in the last 20 min for a Montblanc 224 (OB) and ended up probably paying $50 too much. But I had already lost a No. 32 (OB) by $2 earlier in the evening, and I became obsessed with winning an OB nib. Then once I had won and paid for expedited shipping from Germany, I impulse grabbed a Pelikan M20 and a Lamy 25P from the same seller to go out in the same shipment. 

 

All that was after grabbing a Pilot Murex on pen_swap. Yesterday was not an inexpensive pen day for me. 

[Manalto]

3 hours ago, Bikerchick said:

This gorgeous Parker Vacumatic. I wanted to bid on it, but I fell asleep on the couch, laptop next to me. Woke up with 18 seconds remaining.  I  quickly placed a bid, then a second one 1€ higher (I didn't want to bid a round number). I won it by..... 1€.

 

 

Love it! Congratulations on scoring a beauty.

[JonSzanto]

2 hours ago, sansenri said:

The nib is probably worth 10 times the pen, but they are a nice couple together!

 

I picked up one of these as a nib host, as well (though not the Koi). If you find you have a dry-out problem (which I did), slipping a proper size o-ring inside the cap until it sits against the inner cap will make a good seal against the section and should solve that issue (as it did on my pen). I agree: it is pretty silly to have a cheap pen for a nib like this, but they are decent looking and well-built - suss out any issues and then simply have a good time with it!

[sansenri]

8 minutes ago, JonSzanto said:

 

I picked up one of these as a nib host, as well (though not the Koi). If you find you have a dry-out problem (which I did), slipping a proper size o-ring inside the cap until it sits against the inner cap will make a good seal against the section and should solve that issue (as it did on my pen). I agree: it is pretty silly to have a cheap pen for a nib like this, but they are decent looking and well-built - suss out any issues and then simply have a good time with it!

 

thanks! I was actually wondering about that, I checked that the cap does have an inner cap, but I only filled it this afternoon.

Will have to see tomorrow how it goes.

Do you recall the diameter of the o-ring you used? just in case...

 

enjoy yours too!

[JonSzanto]

54 minutes ago, sansenri said:

Do you recall the diameter of the o-ring you used? just in case...

 

I'm pretty certain it would be an 11mm. I took it from a big assortment box and don't remember, but without pulling it out of the cap, I measured across the front width of the section and that is what would match up. I try to get it generally in place in the cap, and then snug it in by screwing the barrel in place. The section will push it up against the inner cap and then it will stay there. I've done this with two of the Jinhao Cents.

[sansenri]

OK, if it does have drying out problems I'll give that a go, thanks!

[Bikerchick]

2 hours ago, Manalto said:

 

Love it! Congratulations on scoring a beauty.

Thanks James.

I just messaged that eBay seller Carola mentioned about the Skyline. Fingers crossed! 

[Bikerchick]

5 hours ago, Detman101 said:

Wow, nice!!!

 

I'm not sure if that was directed at me, but if it was: thank you, Detman!

[Detman101]

3 hours ago, Bikerchick said:

I'm not sure if that was directed at me, but if it was: thank you, Detman!

👍
One day, I too will own one of those beautiful pens.

[Chinchy]

I impulse bought a supposedly unused Ban Ei eyedropper from Yahoo JP auction...  Now I have to wait for my other auctions to end to get everything sent at once.... 

[inkstainedruth]

13 hours ago, Gloucesterman said:

As you might surmise, my taste in pens is somewhat eclectic!

Hmmm.  Does it say something that I have some of the same models (but not necessarily the same color or nib width)?  I wasn't, for instance, able to get the M120 Iconic Blue in anything but an M because I got it at a pen show a few years ago and M was all the dealer had left (I almost bought a Pro-Gear Slim and had taken it over to the next table, which had better lighting, and when I went back to the first table spotted the M120 and it was ALL OVER™!   And the most recent acquisition was an F-nibbed Safari (a used but in good condition 2006 French Blue, for not much more than a normal new one would cost retail); anyone know offhand whether that color originally came with a black nib like the Dark Lilac?  Or was that the choice of the seller?  Not that I mind, but I'm now curious -- the only ones I've ever seen for sale before were NOS ones on the Bay of Evil and I just was balking at the prices....  I mean, yeah, it's a great color combo (love the color and the red clip just sets it off nicely; and yeah, it's now a "collectible" -- but really, it's JUST a Safari when push come to shove, and I could NOT bring myself to pay 3-4 times what a new one cost; especially when I paid regular retail prices for both the Dark Lilac and last year's Violet SE). 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Teterman2005]

Took a risk on a Sheaffer balance the other day, two blurry eBay photos and a vague description of “writes good” or something like that.  I had just lost another auction so this was a booby prize that I was sweating just a few minutes after clicking buy-it-now.

 

Two or three weeks later (so long I almost forgot about it) and I can only say WOW!!  Got a nice long/slender mid-30s red-veined pearl with decent color and a very nice shine, no brassing, no nicks or marks, nib in perfect condition, writes very smooth, etc....

 

Only had to hide it from my wife for a couple of days before I fessed up 😜

[Teterman2005]

Here’s a pic

[Bikerchick]

56 minutes ago, Teterman2005 said:

Here’s a pic

Wow. That is absolutely gorgeous. Congrats! 
I have a soft spot for Sheaffer Balance pens. The second version was the very first pen with a gold nib that I ever got, for Christmas, from my SO, who passed away in a car accident three years later.  Needless to say someone could offer me 100,000,000 for it and I still wouldn't sell it. 

[Teterman2005]

Thanks Bikerchick!  Sorry for your loss, but you have a priceless artifact to remember them by, which is very special.
 

BTW, I love your signature, I probably need to get some therapy over on the “money-pit-obsession” thread .... basically I could post every pen I buy in this thread because I don’t “need” a bunch of vintage pens and I freak out pretty much every time I bid on a pen or click buy-it-now.  Then I find another one I just gotta have 😜