Adding To The Flock

[sebastel23]

And in about a week, a brand new M600 Violet and White is going to be mine (the clarification I requested was that the pen was listed as being an F nib and the photos clearly showed the box end and the tag showed it as EF -- but I've been really happy with the EF nib on my M405 Striated Blue).

 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

i have an M600 with an EF nib, and that's the nicest EF nib in my collection. (even though I recently changed to the dark side, with a B nib ...). Congratulations to your M600.

 

cheers,

sebastian

[readytotalk]

What a gorgeous pens, congrats!

I`m in love with italic and oblique nibs, and the last experience was Pelikan 140 OM, ca. 1954. Despite years it still has a nice line variation.

Sorry for russian words in sample, "перо" is nib, "бумага" is paper and "чернила" is ink)

https://images.vfl.ru/ii/1579021777/b1ec422e/29201109_m.jpg

[DilettanteG]

I've been assembling EDC pen sets and cases this year. I was very happy to pick up this D800 W. Germany Green and Black Pencil from Adam11 here on FPN. Thanks Sasa! It's a perfect match for my M800 Green and Black W. Germany pen with a 14kt two tone medium nib.

 

 

As well as this nice old style K800 and D800 in black from eBay to add to my M800 Black FP for a set.They look quite similar to the Green and Black, but they're just engraved "Germany" so are probably a bit newer. The M800 Black has a lovely 14kt two tone fine nib.

 

 

And here they both are in their Pelikan cases.

 

[DilettanteG]

I also received the Black and Brown M800 with an IB nib and K800 as a Christmas gift from Mr. Dilettante in December, but I just bought a case for them last month.

 

 

My first monogrammed pen case. I really like that the pens loops are inset enough that the metal zipper never touches the pens. Unless you accidentally drag one along the teeth when you pull the pens out. Fortunately, that's easy to avoid.

 

[DilettanteG]

And I picked up this M400 set individually last year. This picture really doesn't do the Tortoise section justice. It's a very pretty set. The M400 is a nice size and I like the stock B nib, but the narrower girth of the D400 and K400 tend to make my hand cramp. They are small enough to fit in this late 1990s Coach pencil case though, so that's a nice bonus. As you can see, even this higher end Coach case is not nearly as well crafted as the Smythson. To be fair, the price was much lower, so that seems about right. (I bought both cases and all of the pens in them new, which bargain hunter that I am, is kind of unusual for me.)

 

 

I've got a couple of Montblanc sets as well as a very battered Sheaffer Prelude set in an equally old Levenger 4 pen case. So, I should be spoiled for choice going forward. I really want to get daily use out of my collection. This should help. (I actually started buying new sets when I ran out of refills for my Sheaffer MPI. As soon as I bought new pens, I found the refills at Pendemonium. Of coursel.)

 

So, I did a lot of buying in 2019 and so far in 2020, too. Even used on eBay and on sale new items can add up. I'm going to try abstaining from new purchases this year and I'm going to try and do some serious downsizing as well. I feel a bit guilty that my older bladder filled pens never get into the rotation anymore. It's just so much easier to buy a pen than it is to sell and ship one!

[inkstainedruth]

 

i have an M600 with an EF nib, and that's the nicest EF nib in my collection. (even though I recently changed to the dark side, with a B nib ...). Congratulations to your M600.

 

cheers,

sebastian

 

Thanks. I have an EF nib on my striated blue M405 and I like it a lot (the advantage to Pelikan is that the nibs tend to run slightly wider than you'd expect from the listing, and they also tend to run wet).

A bit nervous, since the seller did not have 100% positive feedback, but quickly answered my question clarifying the listing after getting the discount offer. And I got tracking information yesterday.

I looked over the negative feedback carefully as well as contacting the seller about the discrepancy between what was said in the description vs what the tag and box said about the nib in the photos. And it was conceded that the photos were right. The seller did seem to, in at least some cases, make good on issues the buyers had with other items with the negative feedback; none of the negative feedback seemed to have to do with pens.

I don't tend to buy *new* pens on eBay, so I'm sort of in uncharted waters (the other times were from a Japanese seller with 100% positive feedback and from Rolf Thiel at Missing Pens (and in both cases I would not hesitate to order from either again if the price was good on what I wanted.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: Huh. Just looked up the seller's location (Burley, Idaho). The city (although I wouldn't call something with a population small -- about 2000 people more than the town I live in; and I used to live in Framingham, MA which is about 70,000 people and ISN'T a city) is about halfway between Boise and Salt Lake City, and if I was in a super weird mood someday -- and had the time -- I could maybe drive straight across US 30 from just south of here to get to the place....

Edited February 6, 2020 by inkstainedruth

[BillH]

Quite nice! You've been busy. Well done.

[DilettanteG]

Quite nice! You've been busy. Well done.

 

Not sure if this is for me too, but thanks. I think that I've actually only bought a few inexpensive pens (a Noodler's Dixie and a second Pilot Parallel set) since 2010. Then, I came back to FPN and promptly went bananas.

 

I'm tempted to pick up a Violet 600 set, too, but I can't really justify it with my Cities and Places collection already to hand. I guess I'll just have to live vicariously thru Inkstainedruth.

[inkstainedruth]

Well, if you have Piccadilly Circus or Athens I'll have to live vicariously through you....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[DilettanteG]

Well, if you have Piccadilly Circus or Athens I'll have to live vicariously through you....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

That sounds fair. Here you go:

 

[BillH]

 

Not sure if this is for me too, but thanks. I think that I've actually only bought a few inexpensive pens (a Noodler's Dixie and a second Pilot Parallel set) since 2010. Then, I came back to FPN and promptly went bananas.

 

I'm tempted to pick up a Violet 600 set, too, but I can't really justify it with my Cities and Places collection already to hand. I guess I'll just have to live vicariously thru Inkstainedruth.

 

 

Yes, that was to you. Pictures make a thread more alive. FPN will do that to a budget, as many of us here will testify.

 

And again, well done on the M6xx's as well.

[DilettanteG]

 

 

Yes, that was to you. Pictures make a thread more alive. FPN will do that to a budget, as many of us here will testify.

 

And again, well done on the M6xx's as well.

 

Aw, thanks. The M620 set took me 15 years, but now they’re my favorite pens. I’m trying hard not to succumb to the desire to add the M640 set, but I’m going to try to go to all the places in cities in the M620 series and photograph each pen at their namesake and I am trying to put my money into that instead of more pens. I’m still in the planning stages, but I think San Francisco, New York, Picadilly Circus, and Place de la Concorde are first stops on the list. Wish me luck! It might take me another 15 years.

[BillH]

Visit every city, eh? Never thought of that. I must be content with the pens.

 

Now, I also collect MB WE's, and have read at least one work of each one... does that count?

[DilettanteG]

Visit every city, eh? Never thought of that. I must be content with the pens.

 

Now, I also collect MB WE's, and have read at least one work of each one... does that count?

 

That totally counts. It's why I have a Conklin Crescent Mark Twain LE which is currently out for repairs along with three of my Bexley Sheherazades. (I haven't gotten thru all of 1001 Arabian Nights yet, so that's something else to look forward to.)

 

Happily sitting at home with my nose in a book ensconced in a comfy chair and a drink at my elbow is more my speed. However, I fell in love with the concept of the Grand Tour at an impressionable age and would like to do it before I'm too ancient and decrepit to drag myself all over the planet. #bucketlist!

[N1003U]

 

I'm tempted to pick up a Violet 600 set, too, but I can't really justify it with my Cities and Places collection already to hand. I guess I'll just have to live vicariously thru Inkstainedruth.

 

 

Just in case you need more inspiration/temptation:

 

[DilettanteG]

 

 

Just in case you need more inspiration/temptation:

 

 

Must. Resist...

[N1003U]

 

Must. Resist...

If it makes you feel better, I am resisting the urge to buy a brown-black K800 that will create another set for me...

[DilettanteG]

Not to be an enabler (though I obviously am about to be,) but I resisted buying the brown tortoise back in 2013 and it's been climbing in price since. So, this time I pulled the trigger. I'm kinda tempted to do the same with that cool purple set. Instead I'm inventorying my collection. That generally kills the urge to splurge.

[N1003U]

Not to be an enabler (though I obviously am about to be,) but I resisted buying the brown tortoise back in 2013 and it's been climbing in price since. So, this time I pulled the trigger. I'm kinda tempted to do the same with that cool purple set. Instead I'm inventorying my collection. That generally kills the urge to splurge.

 

 

Based on general market prices of past limited editions, I would say that many have been successful.

 

Sometimes when I do inventory, I am reminded things are missing. I have returned to this this passion obsession hobby fairly recently, and I am also a big fan of the M6xx (DilettanteG, I suspect you can relate). One set of M6xxs that I really like are the white pens (for those of you in warm climates, the turquoise-white or white transparent works really well with a seersucker suit, and that tortoise, well, it's ALWAYS appropriate ). I have all the white ones now, except for the pink pen, and that always creates a conundrum for me.

 

Do I keep searching for one at a lower price, or do I break down and pay the current extortion demands to get one?...so far I have resisted, and the search has been fun. I don't know how may are actually selling at the crazy prices people are asking for the Pink Pen (there are many to be found, but the asking prices are high, so it's hard to know where the market really settles), but for now, collection or not, I just can't convince myself to pay what is currently being asked.

 

But the "urge to splurge" is definitely there. Oh yea. It's there. I am not a penaholic, I am a junkie. Penaholics go to meetings. One day, a pink-white M600 will enter my flock, and if possible, a pink-white K600 to go with it.

 

The Violet Pen is still out there at decent prices from a couple of European dealers, but I took no chances this time and bought while the buying was good (as well as another one for my brother-in-law, who is a giant FC Aue fan (hint: team colors are lilac and white). I paid late in 2019 only a few euros more than the regular price for open stock (green, black, blue, red) M6xxs, but I also sense the inventory is starting to dwindle.

[DilettanteG]

 

 

Based on general market prices of past limited editions, I would say that many have been successful.

 

Sometimes when I do inventory, I am reminded things are missing. I have returned to this this passion obsession hobby fairly recently, and I am also a big fan of the M6xx (DilettanteG, I suspect you can relate). One set of M6xxs that I really like are the white pens (for those of you in warm climates, the turquoise-white or white transparent works really well with a seersucker suit, and that tortoise, well, it's ALWAYS appropriate ). I have all the white ones now, except for the pink pen, and that always creates a conundrum for me.

 

Do I keep searching for one at a lower price, or do I break down and pay the current extortion demands to get one?...so far I have resisted, and the search has been fun. I don't know how may are actually selling at the crazy prices people are asking for the Pink Pen (there are many to be found, but the asking prices are high, so it's hard to know where the market really settles), but for now, collection or not, I just can't convince myself to pay what is currently being asked.

 

But the "urge to splurge" is definitely there. Oh yea. It's there. I am not a penaholic, I am a junkie. Penaholics go to meetings. One day, a pink-white M600 will enter my flock, and if possible, a pink-white K600 to go with it.

 

The Violet Pen is still out there at decent prices from a couple of European dealers, but I took no chances this time and bought while the buying was good (as well as another one for my brother-in-law, who is a giant FC Aue fan (hint: team colors are lilac and white). I paid late in 2019 only a few euros more than the regular price for open stock (green, black, blue, red) M6xxs, but I also sense the inventory is starting to dwindle.

 

A big me too to pretty much everything you just said. I am a “complete-ist” collector by nature and always find myself coveting the whole set of whatever I collect. It’s why I have so many orange inks, even though Noodler’s Apache Sunset is the one I grab 90% of the time.

 

I have to keep asking myself, “will this really change/improve my life in any noticeable way? The struggle is real!