What Pen Are You Waiting For 2019

[ScarletWoodland]

A NOS Pilot Elite with a fine nib from Speerbob on ebay. Working my way through the Japanese big three and Sailor got leapfrogged when I spotted these. I've been tempted by a pocket pen for a while now so this is a very happy, "2 birds 1 stone" purchase.

 

I received my Platinum PTL-5000 (fine nib) yesterday and we're officially an item now. Delivered from Japan in 8 days and no customs fees, woohoo!

 

I can definitely see how this isn't a pen for everyone but the feedback works really well for me as it helps control my hand. I discovered I can even write legibly on my criminally bumpy bus ride to work, because it doesn't go skidding across the page. The results with a smoother nib were hilarious

[A Smug Dill]

I received my Platinum PTL-5000 (fine nib) yesterday and we're officially an item now. Delivered from Japan in 8 days and no customs fees, woohoo!

 

The Chinese would probably call that 'double happiness'.

[Helen350]

Kaigelu 336 - M. nib. Checkered brown/Beige & Moonman M2 - M. nib.

[Honeybadgers]

The Pikachu package was on Mass drop today but was sold out. I didn’t know that nine year olds could get credit cards!

 

When I was nine I went to a pokemon tournament at a mall in Scottsdale (this was at the absolute peak of its popularity in generation 1 and the card game had just been released, around 1999 or so) I took a jurassic park themed cup from universal studios, and very carefully cut out printed pictures and stickers of pokemon and covered it. People's parents were asking my mom where they could buy one.

 

I also won the tournament. Turns out Parasect (a garbage pokemon nobody used) was the only thing that could TKO the only pokemon everyone used - mewtwo.

 

I still have all of my rare pokemon cards. I think my charizard is probably worth a few hundred bucks. I have the special pikachu edition gameboy color too.

 

I haven't really enjoyed the games since the 3rd generation, like 15 years ago. They got really stupid when they started making pokemon out of ice cream cones. I always just wanted the original 151 (maybe gen 2/3 at most) pokemon just put together with different plots and stories. The need to keep adding mountains of pokemon (there are well north of a thousand now) was what kinda killed it all for me.

 

Still, I am a die-hard fan. I don't know why, but that game/card game/TV show was just a huge part of my childhood. I remember making forts in my bunk bed with my step brother so we could play together and be able to sneakily hide the gameboy if our parents walked in at night when we were supposed to be sleeping.

 

$140 for that Lamy set (yeah they doubled the price) was just... yeah. It was stupid. I'm never going to use the pen. But I really wanted it. It's my childhood combined with my current main hobby.

Edited March 14, 2019 by Honeybadgers

[truthpil]

My Moonman Wancai pocket pen just arrived and now I get the hype. It's a fantastic little pen! I think I may even like it more than my Penbbs 471s.

[Honeybadgers]

My Moonman Wancai pocket pen just arrived and now I get the hype. It's a fantastic little pen! I think I may even like it more than my Penbbs 471s.

 

It also accepts a kaweco sport clip, FYI.

[BaronWulfraed]

OMG I did it again.

Spontaneous acquisition - Pelikan M900 Toledo.

(lacking a glyph for envy)

[aardvarkbark]

Visconti Medici with rose gold trim. I don't know how I've missed this one for so long. I like bigger pens and this is a maxi -- same as HomoSapiens maxi. I like the faceted shape of my Paragon briarwood, but it's too narrow in my large paw. I like the faceted shape of the Medici and the brown resin that somewhat mimics wood grain, which looks better with rose gold trim than the silver alternative IMO.

 

Upon receipt from Marco at Novelli it'll be off to Mike for a Japanese EF grind. Knowing that Visconti Palladium nibs are gushers (compared to my favored Delta 14k nibs), I've even purchased some Pelikan blue-black hoping to produce as fine fine line as possible.

[inkstainedruth]

After deliberating forever, I now have a Pilot Decimo on the way in medium. I couldn’t resist the idea of a clicky fountain pen!

 

I have one with a fine nib. I love it. The regular Vanishing Points were a bit too big and clunky for me but the Decimo is a perfect size.

Now if we can just convince Pilot to come out with some other colors (for the longest time they only sold half the Decimo colors in the US -- and I still had get mine from Japan because I wanted the grey.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Driften]

Visconti Medici with rose gold trim. I don't know how I've missed this one for so long. I like bigger pens and this is a maxi -- same as HomoSapiens maxi. I like the faceted shape of my Paragon briarwood, but it's too narrow in my large paw. I like the faceted shape of the Medici and the brown resin that somewhat mimics wood grain, which looks better with rose gold trim than the silver alternative IMO.

 

Upon receipt from Marco at Novelli it'll be off to Mike for a Japanese EF grind. Knowing that Visconti Palladium nibs are gushers (compared to my favored Delta 14k nibs), I've even purchased some Pelikan blue-black hoping to produce as fine fine line as possible.

 

 

If you are having it reground, why don't you have them adjust it to what ever flow you prefer at the same time?

[aardvarkbark]

 

 

If you are having it reground, why don't you have them adjust it to what ever flow you prefer at the same time?

 

Excellent thought, thank you for offering it. I do intend to request that he addresses it. While researching the pen, I found a post (over on fpgeeks, I believe) by someone who purchased the pen at a show, then had Mike grind and adjust/reduce the flow while he waited, but reported that it still released more ink than he'd like, apparently due to the softness of the palladium. The dry Pelikan 4001 may not be able to offset that, but I'll be giving it a try.

[MichalK]

OMG OMG here they are !!

 

Pelikan M900 Toledo. Not planned for this year, but... Couldn't resist. The story - amazon.de prices glitches. I noticed it some time ago - as you know prices on Amazon are quite dynamic. They can change several times a day or sometimes several times in one hour. I noticed it when I added several items to the basket and did not finish shopping. next time the alert appeared on prices change. Some up some down. So I started to watch it closely and set several prices alerts for some pens. Moste of prices changes are reasonable - 10% up and down, but sometimes this happens - an over 40% price drop, only on one version (in this case nibe size broad - all other stayed at typical price..

M900 Toledo is typically for circa 1200 euro on Amazon.de - nothing unusual. I set the alert at 1000 euro - to be informed if the price ever drops below. I got this alert while driving, pulled over, checked - the price was 644 euro. It was the quickest decision ever, added to the basket (price changed to 680 E) and paid. done. It arrived today an hour ago.

 

http://gakko.pl/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/IMG_3859.jpg

 

Harley Davidson fountain Pen - a Stypen version from the nineties. It was the first fountain pen I bought myself, not received from parents. I used it on the university and then lost (both interest and pen itself). For some time I was looking for one but ebay prices for this version were absurd in most cases ($200). I bought it on polish site with classifieds - olx.pl for $20 ! Exactly what I wanted - Black, perferct shape, probably just one cartridge used. Dry ink in feed and nib cleaned quite easily, and here it is.

 

 

http://gakko.pl/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/IMG_3860.jpg

 

Still waiting for IB nib for M800 and Pelikan tray for 6 pens. Expect them on Monday or Tuesday.

[Driften]

 

Excellent thought, thank you for offering it. I do intend to request that he addresses it. While researching the pen, I found a post (over on fpgeeks, I believe) by someone who purchased the pen at a show, then had Mike grind and adjust/reduce the flow while he waited, but reported that it still released more ink than he'd like, apparently due to the softness of the palladium. The dry Pelikan 4001 may not be able to offset that, but I'll be giving it a try.

 

 

I bet you will find you will not need a dry ink after having him adjust it. I don't find the material of the nib on my three palladium nibs any different then gold nib for flow. It's all in the grind and adjustment. I hope you enjoy your pen!

[inkstainedruth]

@ MichalK -- Congrats on the Toledo. Those are so far outside my budget that I don't even look at them any more....

 

For me, it's not a pen (yet) but I have a couple of converters coming in the mail from the Bay of Evil. Hit the BiN button for a NOS Parker squeeze converter and for what looks like a Pilot Con-B converter (the seller says they're for Metropolitans). I considered buying a second one but that will wait until I actually get another Metro (possibly one with a stub nib this time) -- if I could just decide on a color.... For the Retro Pops, I either like the barrel color or the trim design. But tend not to like *both* on any given color. I don't like most of the "trims" to begin with, and of the plain ones, I don't like the gold or bronze colors, and don't need another silver color one....

In about 3 hours from now I will know whether the pen I bid on will be mine. Another one, for which I plinked the minimum bid yesterday, just for giggles, is currently going to someone else for a whopping 50¢ more. Kinda want the pen, but not enough to bid higher, which is why I didn't put a maximum on it. Somebody may be getting a sweet deal.... Just not me, today. At least not on that pen....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[BaronWulfraed]

Well... After it was mentioned in another thread I just ordered an Opus 88 OMAR (normally I don't touch steel nibs at this price point -- anyone sell a compatible gold nib <G>). Felt a broad nib/eyedropper might be suited for the shimmer inks I have.

[inkstainedruth]

Well, I won the auction for the first pen I mentioned earlier: A Parker Vector "Shrek 'Puss in Boots'" pen.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/PARKER-VECTOR-SHREK-FOUNTAIN-PEN-new-/382828876134?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&nma=true&si=4g7ileVuJXKZpUMIfOfm%252FifYy%252Bg%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc

(Sorry, I can't figure out how to get the original listing URL without all the extraneous stuff, and I can't figure out how to turn a screenshot into one of the exceptable image formats on here).

Yes, it's silly. No, I don't care that it's silly -- in fact, I wanted it because it's silly. It amused the heck out of me.

When I first saw the original movie, and realized that they had Antonio Banderas doing the voice, I just absolutely cracked up. And said to my husband, "OMG -- it's CAPITANO" (the Spanish Captain character from Comedia del Arte). Brilliant casting on somebody's part. And when I was randomly wandering through eBay recently and saw that Parker had made "Shrek" themed Vectors -- and that they had "Puss in Boot" as one option -- just had to have it. And nobody else did, so I got it for the minimum....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[AGxM]

Arrived today

 

[Driften]

Arrived today

 

 

 

Congrats nice pen!

[BaronWulfraed]

You people are a bad influence...

 

Besides the pre-ordered Aurora Ipsilon Quadra silver/black, and the Opus 88 OMAR... I now have two of the Ranga group buy pens commissioned:

 

Bamboo grass green C/C 18K M

4C crimson red C/C titanium F

[inkstainedruth]

You people are a bad influence...

 

Besides the pre-ordered Aurora Ipsilon Quadra silver/black, and the Opus 88 OMAR... I now have two of the Ranga group buy pens commissioned:

 

Bamboo grass green C/C 18K M

4C crimson red C/C titanium F

 

Hah! Didn't you get the warning when you first signed up about how we are all shameless enablers on here? My bad....

I'll admit that that snake clip on the pen that AGxM left me cold.... I'm not as bad as the woman who lived next door to my husband when he was a kid (he and her sons caught a bunch of baby garden snakes and took them home; *his* mom said "That's nice -- put them in the garden so they'll eat bugs..." but his friends' mom wouldn't go out the front door for two months...). Really, I'm not. But I'm not overly keen on them either (bad memories of getting taken to a reptile farm in the Finger Lakes as a kid and being kind of grossed out by the show where some guy was "milking " a rattlesnake for its venom).

In other words...

 

Not in the mail, but today I picked up an Osmiroid calligraphy pen at an estate sale for around a buck, and a Parker 45 in an antiques shop for I think $3 US (in both cases, I think ended up paying less for the stuff I was getting -- as well as the pens -- over what I had expected.... Haven't looked the Osmiroid over too carefully yet (not sure what type of fill system it has, and the nib looks... odd... in that there seem to be small holes -- one on each side -- in addition to the main one at the slit). The 45 has a lot of weird looking white stuff on the section, and it has a steel nib marked on the unit assembly underside as "X" -- but it has a squeeze converter on it! So if it turns out the rest the pen is toast, I've got the converter and the rest can be a parts pen (oh, were it only this easy and inexpensive to find converters for the Sheaffer Skripserts... )

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth