Ohio Pen Show 2016!

[Vintagepens]

As far as I could tell, the show was fully sold out. A number of exhibitors left either on Saturday or early Sunday, hence the empty tables (if you arrived after their departure).

 

I also thought attendance was down this year there were a number Empty Tables and Open Spaces in the hallways where are dealers would normally set up

[hh1990]

Here is a photo of the things I purchased:

 

 

 

[hh1990]

It was clearing out earlier than I expected today, as well. Attendance was also really low today. I got a bunch of parts, a few Skylines and a small bag of Esterbrooks to restore and sell. I got just one pen for myself this time. It's a set that I passed on last year, and decided to get it this time. It does have a bit of barrel swell, but I can live with that.

 

 

Very nice!

[TheRealMikeDr]

Ended up not going today (couldn't fall asleep until unspeakable-thirty in the A.M.). Gorgeous pens, great buys you got there!

 

I think next year's show will be the Year of the Montblanc. I want one, and by golly, I'm going to get one.

 

Thanks!

 

I'm trying to resist inking them all up - rather I want to do a few at a time over the next couple months.

 

I really had my heart set on a 149 and found a half dozen of them - but the pricing was a bit higher than I wanted. Dan "The Nibsmith" had a beautiful one for the right price but it was a medium nib and I don't want anything over a western fine for a pen that I'll use on a regular basis. He offer to tweak the nib to make it write a bit thinner but I didn't want to commit to that in the event that he couldn't get it to where I want it. So my backup plan was to find a nice vintage ebonite MB which is where the 214 came into play. Not too many to choose from sadly but I'm real happy with the one I brought home.

 

So much fun - next year I may take Friday off and come up for Fri and Sat.

[inkstainedruth]

No pix yet (I was pretty wiped by the time I got home Saturday night, and today was the dreaded prior commitment that kept me away from the show the rest of Saturday, and all of Sunday ).

Most of my discretionary funds went to repairs: the Sheaffer Snorkel I picked up in the Seattle area a month or so ago (plus one belonging to a friend); the Sheaffer Balance Oversize that may have originally belonged to my husband's grandfather; and an attempt to get a late model Parkette working (it got re-sacced, but is still not taking up liquids... ).

I did make a few purchases, though: a Morrison ringtop to replace the one I lost last week, and a very sweet little Emerald Pearl Vacumatic lockdown filler. Both of those pens also got restored (although the Morrison almost ended up on life support . Plus I picked up a couple of bottles on vintage Skrip ink -- Brown and Peacock Blue.

So not a bad haul, and got to put a few more faces to names (yeah, I'm the woman from PA who apparently talks just like I write that Parker51 mentioned... ). Some glitches, some somewhat irritating conversations, some disappointments, and it looks as if I'm going to have to find a different hotel from the one I've been staying at for the show next year . But overall I had a good time. I'll try to get photos of the two new pens up in a few days.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[irrigger]

Since this was my first show, I decided to keep the purchases simple and to the point. Picked up parts for a few projects and the only pen was a TWSBI Eco with a bold nib.

[TheRealMikeDr]

My thoughts and impressions:

 

1) It was my first time attending a pen show and both my wife and I had a good time. My wife isn't really a pen person but she did purchase some gel pens and even a Pelikan Twist pen which caught her fancy!

2) All the vendors I spoke with were friendly and nice people! I was wearing my Cleveland Indians cap which caused some good natured fun with a few Cubs fans as well as other sports fans who were working the show.

3) Two of the pens I purchased needed some minor tweaks to the nibs which were handled by the vendors as I waited - some minor smoothing mostly. Very nice of them! Ryan Krausac actually swapped nibs on a pen I was looking at in an effort to find one that suited me better. The second nib won the day!

4) The vendors were all very helpful! I wish I had taken the time to get more names of the people I was speaking with.

5) The show was a bit intimidating at first - however people were all great about referring me to other vendors who may have what I was looking for.

6) Tons of vintage pens. It was really interesting to see them all live and in person. I was going to get several new and several vintage pens but ended up only getting one new and five vintage as the vintage pens were so compelling.

7) The pricing on new pens was pretty competitive - I saw some good prices on new models. The pricing for vintage pens was higher than I anticipated but I understand why and was willing to overpay (in my mind) for several pens that I really wanted. A couple people were willing to negotiate and did come down a bit.

 

Looking forward to maybe the DC Show next year and the Ohio Show again next fall. Might do two days for Ohio if I can't make the DC Show.

 

[gryphon1911]

I was there Saturday morning.

 

My impression from a first time show goer.

 

1) I was very overwhelmed at first by the amount of everything

2) Had a bad run in with a dealer. I was looking to maybe pick up a Pelikan. I told the guy I know nothing about Pelikan pens. I saw one I liked and asked to look at it. I asked how much and he said, "25". I said, is that all, seems pretty cheap. He said, yeah, I'm cash only. I pulled out money and he said, "no - THOUSAND". I handed the pen back to him. At that point, I don't care if he meant $2500 or $25,000....I find it strange that someone would have a pen of that cost sitting in a $12 faux leather 50 pen case with everything else. He tried to apologize. I told him I'm not easily offended, but it would have been nice for him to be more clear in the future. I walked off.

3) Spent my money on a a Bexley Pen Show Special - a burnt orange hard rubber Poseidon! lovely writer, Howard Levy put in a nice wet broad nib for me. Have been writing with it Saturday night and most of Sunday! Just reinforced the fact that Howard is a great guy and I will buy more pens from him in the future.

4) I really liked the Franklin-Cristoph table. They had all kinds of sample pens there with different nibs to try. It was my first experience using a Masuyama nib. Very nice!

5) My Olympus OMD EM5 Mk II camera was mistaken by a lot of vendors there for a film camera. lol I think I spent more time talking cameras than pens at the show.

6) At one point on Saturday, the front entrance was getting jammed up by people trying to come in and people trying to get to vendor tables. Would have been nice to have a different layout to make movement a lot less congested.

7) Getting the chance to use a Pelikan M200 in person, I now realize that they might be a little too small for me. They felt good, but I'm not sure how well I'd like them for extended writing. I might need to look at something bigger in the Pelikan line.

8) My wife went as well and she ended up finding a vendor that had some really nice twist ball point pens. She is a manager at her work and thought they would make for awesome Christmas presents for her staff. I agree!

Edited November 14, 2016 by gryphon1911

[gryphon1911]

No pix yet (I was pretty wiped by the time I got home Saturday night, and today was the dreaded prior commitment that kept me away from the show the rest of Saturday, and all of Sunday ).

Most of my discretionary funds went to repairs: the Sheaffer Snorkel I picked up in the Seattle area a month or so ago (plus one belonging to a friend); the Sheaffer Balance Oversize that may have originally belonged to my husband's grandfather; and an attempt to get a late model Parkette working (it got re-sacced, but is still not taking up liquids... ).

I did make a few purchases, though: a Morrison ringtop to replace the one I lost last week, and a very sweet little Emerald Pearl Vacumatic lockdown filler. Both of those pens also got restored (although the Morrison almost ended up on life support . Plus I picked up a couple of bottles on vintage Skrip ink -- Brown and Peacock Blue.

So not a bad haul, and got to put a few more faces to names (yeah, I'm the woman from PA who apparently talks just like I write that Parker51 mentioned... ). Some glitches, some somewhat irritating conversations, some disappointments, and it looks as if I'm going to have to find a different hotel from the one I've been staying at for the show next year . But overall I had a good time. I'll try to get photos of the two new pens up in a few days.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

I recommend looking at using Airbnb. There are a lot of nice places in Columbus/Dublin area and you can probably get those for prices lower than a hotel stay.

 

Also, I think that I might have seen you, but everytime I thought I did you were already engaged in conversation with others. So perhaps I'll get to meet you in person next time!

[TheRealMikeDr]

I was there Saturday morning.

5) My Olympus OMD EM5 Mk II camera was mistaken by a lot of vendors there for a film camera. lol I think I spent more time talking cameras than pens at the show.

 

I saw a couple guys standing in the aisle talking about the camera one of them was holding on Saturday - might have been you!

 

Bummer about your experience - must have been a pretty rare Pelikan for that price. I got my Pelikan 400 (from the 50's) from Penkala Pens - they had several very nice older pens. I bought my Montblanc from them as well.

[gryphon1911]

 

I saw a couple guys standing in the aisle talking about the camera one of them was holding on Saturday - might have been you!

 

Bummer about your experience - must have been a pretty rare Pelikan for that price. I got my Pelikan 400 (from the 50's) from Penkala Pens - they had several very nice older pens. I bought my Montblanc from them as well.

 

Might have been me!

 

I'm not going to let one person out of the hundreds there tarnish the entire event for me. Will definitely be there again next year. The difference is that I know what it is all about going into it.

 

Regarding the pen, it was a Pelikan 31? Made back in the 1970's he said. Small pocket like pen when capped. I tried finding something similar online, but no luck.

 

My take this year was to go, I had no plan, really.

 

Next year, I will have an idea before hand what I am looking for and seek out those specific things.

Edited November 14, 2016 by gryphon1911

[inkstainedruth]

 

I recommend looking at using Airbnb. There are a lot of nice places in Columbus/Dublin area and you can probably get those for prices lower than a hotel stay.

The thing that has made me avoid that option in the past is possible security issues. At a hotel, I can put the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door for the weekend, and not worry about my laptop being left out (I also keep the curtains closed). Plus, I saw a story on the news awhile back about people who had their house trashed by guests who broke in and then claimed they found the place on Airbnb (the homeowners said "Uh, no, we didn't register with them and no you BROKE IN and also left the house a disaster in the process!")

I've stayed at the same place the past 2 years with absolutely no issues, but this year was a nightmare (the first year I went to OPS I daytripped it from Pittsburgh, but I got home at 12:30 AM and was completely wiped -- and that was with ONLY going for Friday afternoon).

Yesterday morning I got a survey from Red Roof Inn asking how my stay was. I told them. In great gory detail. Yesterday evening I got an apology letter from the location owner, but I think next year I will pay a bit more and stay somewhere else.... Which means I have less money to spend at the show....

I think the worst part was that the cleaning staff had (supposedly) accidentally unplugged the phone while making the bed. That's a safety issue. What if there was a fire? Or some guest was having a heart attack? (And given that there didn't seem to be a phone book in the drawer of the nightstand where the phone was makes me wonder just how much of an "accident" it really was). I talked to the woman cleaning rooms and she was clearly not too bright. But even someone DUMB should notice when stuff is stuck to the side of the TV cabinet *in plain view* of the door and window....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[whichwatch]

I was at the show all day Friday and Saturday. I thought it was great, as this show always is. Terry does a fine job and people at this show are usually as friendly as you will find anywhere.

 

As far as my haul, it started when I found that Franklin Christoph had put out their "seconds" bins, with prices marked 30% off for their super quality items that have "flaws" no worse than the signs of usage you'll see on your new :full price item after using it for the first time. I have only seen FC sell these "seconds" at the Ohio show and not at other shows, and I can't pass them by when I see them.

 

Penvelope 13 in the no longer available boot leather:

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7B5CA27786-E1F2-4AB8-ADBA-1BBB5336E2B6%7D/origpict/oh7.JPG

 

and some of their great pads, which are really my favorites

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7B9C819CFA-BC12-422D-8310-C516BDF7C4BA%7D/origpict/oh6.JPG

 

Snake Ink? Eeeewwwww! I hate snakes! The color really doesn't look at all like the swab in The Andersons book of swabs, but it's nice enough ink in some interesting packaging and the friend I gave a sample to seems to like it.

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7B52C82139-86FA-445E-B099-1D16A7472626%7D/origpict/oh5.JPG

 

My big purchase was a Montblanc Edgar Allen Poe

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7B8580FAE1-EFD7-45D5-A2FA-D2F650272B63%7D/origpict/oh4.JPG

 

I've never been much interested in Montblanc, and last week picked up my first one, a Jules Verne, on a bit of an impulse buy because I love the color. They do make a nice pair! I wish the Poe had a broader nib than the Fine that is in it, but it certainly does write nicely!

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7B9BD255C9-15D8-413D-82AA-6491E3352503%7D/origpict/oh3.JPG

 

I had "FPN" and my screen name on my badge, but it seemed that only the dealers noticed. Hope to meet more of you next time!

[trdsf]

Next year, we really should pre-arrange a meetup. I can definitely recommend a few eateries.

[TheRealMikeDr]

I was at the show all day Friday and Saturday. I thought it was great, as this show always is. Terry does a fine job and people at this show are usually as friendly as you will find anywhere.

 

As far as my haul, it started when I found that Franklin Christoph had put out their "seconds" bins, with prices marked 30% off for their super quality items that have "flaws" no worse than the signs of usage you'll see on your new :full price item after using it for the first time. I have only seen FC sell these "seconds" at the Ohio show and not at other shows, and I can't pass them by when I see them.

 

Penvelope 13 in the no longer available boot leather:

 

 

 

and some of their great pads, which are really my favorites

 

 

 

Snake Ink? Eeeewwwww! I hate snakes! The color really doesn't look at all like the swab in The Andersons book of swabs, but it's nice enough ink in some interesting packaging and the friend I gave a sample to seems to like it.

 

 

 

My big purchase was a Montblanc Edgar Allen Poe

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7B8580FAE1-EFD7-45D5-A2FA-D2F650272B63%7D/origpict/oh4.JPG

 

I've never been much interested in Montblanc, and last week picked up my first one, a Jules Verne, on a bit of an impulse buy because I love the color. They do make a nice pair! I wish the Poe had a broader nib than the Fine that is in it, but it certainly does write nicely!

 

 

 

I had "FPN" and my screen name on my badge, but it seemed that only the dealers noticed. Hope to meet more of you next time!

 

That is a beautiful pen - congrats!

[inkstainedruth]

Next year, we really should pre-arrange a meetup. I can definitely recommend a few eateries.

 

Well, I did my usual on Thursday night of eating at the Panera near my hotel (almost walking distance, but I'm not going to be walking along a multilane road at night... ). And Friday night I went to the pizza party. Although I may try to drop Terry a line before next year asking for something to drink that is non-caffeinated and NOT Sprite... I tried the "cranberry flavored" one and, well, it had a bit of cranberry flavor, but that was mostly masked by the Sprite flavor....

The first couple of years I only did the day passes, but that doesn't get you in until 1 PM on Friday. And because most of my discretionary funds were going towards repairs, I needed to be able to get signed up ASAP (I was #7 on Ron Zorn's table and didn't get the call until 4:30 PM ; wanted him to look at another pen or two Saturday morning but I was going to be #6 and couldn't wait around because I couldn't stay all day, much as I would have liked to). And his wasn't the only table I where was having work done.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Nikolaos]

We actually just moved to Columbus Ohio from Shanghai and I was really looking forward to the show. I almost exclusively collect vintage Japanese pens so I was not expecting to find anything really interesting there....and I didn't . We drove to the show on Saturday. I thought everyone was very friendly and really enjoyed seeing so many people visiting and exhibiting.

 

We ended up buying a really nice Parker 51 store display case from the 1950s which now houses a a part of my collection. We transformed a corner of our living room into a a nice "pen space"

 

http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/rr109/nikolaos_photos/parker%20display%201_zps1yqxk3he.jpg

 

http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/rr109/nikolaos_photos/parker%20display%20light%20on_zpsxtf2v38z.jpg

 

NIkos

Edited November 16, 2016 by Nikolaos

[gweimer1]

^^^^That is really cool! And probably bigger than my kitchen...

[Parker51]

Nikolaos thank you for sharing your pictures. They link to your other pictures on photo bucket and so I understand why you did not find anything of interest, you already have a large number of very beautiful pens. While I saw some Vintage Japanese pens at the show, none were as nice as yours.

Coming from Shanghai Columbus must seem quite quaint, but it does have its positives. I hope you have a prosperous time while you are here.

[Nikolaos]

Gweimer & Parker51 thank you very much for your comments. The link to the photo bucket has a lot of photos. Most of the pens are still in my collection , but some are gone also. I haven't updated photobucket for a few years.

 

I am trying to adjust to living in Columbus, which is actually a pretty nice city, just way more compact and laid back compared to Shanghai. For sure it's slowly growing on me.

 

If you all have a pen club that meets from time to time, do let me know cause I would love to join!

 

Thanks again for your warm welcome,

 

 

Nikos