What Parkers Have Joined Your Collection Lately?

[NumberSix]

A couple of brand new Jotters - one FP and one Rollerball.

 

The lighting is awful, so you can't even tell that the rollerball has gold clip, while the FP has chrome (unless you click the photo to enlarge). And though I much prefer the stainless look, I wish now that I had gotten one of them in a colored barrel for easier differentiation.

 

I included a few common pens for size comparison: Pilot G2, Jotter FP (Medium), Jotter RB, Jotter BP, P45. They're on an A5 Rhodia pad.

 

I really like these little suckers. They're ridiculously light for "all metal" pens - thankfully, the black sections are plastic. While long enough to use without, they have a better weight when posted IMO. (see also P45, now that you mention it) The medium FP is smoother than my Fine P45s and surprisingly comparable to my Flighter's gold medium nib in smoothness and line width.

 

 

[NumberSix]

BTW, the Jotters have "France" engraved on the cap - unlike my 1990 Jotter Ballpoint, which has "USA" on it.

[alexwi]

I've found it very difficult to get the green colour to show correctly in a photograph though.

 

Doesn't help that the background is also colored. Put it on a white sheet of paper. That should help your camera a bit in figuring out what that "greenish thing" on the image is.

 

Don't know if it's accurate or not, but that color is lovely!

 

Alex

[NumberSix]

Won an auction on a Parker 51 Special this weekend.

 

Not a lot of info about the pen's condition - don't even know the nib size. But I don't have one, so I threw in a bid 50-cents above the minimum. I ended up being the only bidder. It was cheap enough that I won't be too sad if it turns out to be a hunk of junk. Seller seems to be a very respectable antique dealer, based on thousands of feedbacks and has already packed up my order for shipping.

 

On the flip side, I lost a bid on what looks to be a gorgeous P51 Aerometric. But I swore not to get into a bidding war on it. I was the winning bidder for days. But in the last 24 hours, as usual, several people swooped in. It sold for about $100 shipped, depending on the GBP exchange rate. If it's the condition that the words and pics show it to be, the someone should be very happy.

[inkstainedruth]

Yeah, I got sniped a few years ago on a Cordovan Brown 51 Vac, with not enough time to react -- that was with our old Internet company, and they had gotten increasingly sluggish; when they were a local company it was better, but then they got bought out by a company in IIRC Texas, and the service (and customer service) went downhill after that.

We now have FIOS for the house and have good Internet speeds again for both uploads and downloads. And only have really had trouble with the TV side of the package (that was last winter when they decided to not negotiate with a company which owned stations in a bunch of markets; for us that meant we suddenly no longer had the Pittsburgh NBC affiliate and everything associated with that (including all those NBC shows available on demand...). I ended up filing a complaint with the FCC, on the grounds that we weren't getting what we were paying for (i.e., local broadcasts). And then once it was back up, spent several hours on the phone with Tech Support because stuff was borked in general with the router box....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[NumberSix]

Yeah, I got sniped a few years ago on a Cordovan Brown 51 Vac

 

I would not say my situation was really "sniping", fortunately. It was just people bidding the price up within the last 18 hours or so. I never expected to win the pen at the price I bid (about $60 shipped from the UK), but I figured I would give it a try. Sounds like you got burned by last minute bidders and crappy internet - that's a combination out of hell.

 

I am pretty proud of myself, tbh. Historically -- read, within the last few weeks -- I have let myself get too attached and then overbid my max bid. I don't mind overpaying a little if it's something I want. But when you have double-digits worth of pending shipments at the same time, it might be a good idea to slow down.

[NumberSix]

On the plus side, my Navy Blue P21 just arrived and looks to be in terrific condition -- and that pen was a great price*. The sac definitely works. In fact, it had some ink in it; blue-black, I would guess. I water-flushed it as best I could, and it's now drying nib-down in a wad of toilet paper. I guess I should have tested the nib while it was inked up. LOL But I was already running water at that point.

 

So, fingers crossed the nib's as solid as the rest of the pen, and I will be one happy little camper.

 

 

*Actually, I don't know if it was a great price, now that I think about it. $31 shipped seems awfully cheap compared to what I have paid for most of my Parkers, even the 45s. Within the same age range, I have also paid more for Esties.

[Estycollector]

On the plus side, my Navy Blue P21 just arrived and looks to be in terrific condition -- and that pen was a great price*. The sac definitely works. In fact, it had some ink in it; blue-black, I would guess. I water-flushed it as best I could, and it's now drying nib-down in a wad of toilet paper. I guess I should have tested the nib while it was inked up. LOL But I was already running water at that point.

 

So, fingers crossed the nib's as solid as the rest of the pen, and I will be one happy little camper.

 

 

*Actually, I don't know if it was a great price, now that I think about it. $31 shipped seems awfully cheap compared to what I have paid for most of my Parkers, even the 45s. Within the same age range, I have also paid more for Esties.

 

Parker 21's have been rising steadily over the past few months. Perhaps due to us bragging on them so much...LOL!!

 

I paid $35 for a cedar blue Deluxe model that had never been inked and came in the original box. I think you did well.

Edited May 11, 2020 by Estycollector

[NumberSix]

 

Parker 21's have been rising steadily over the past few months. Perhaps due to us bragging on them so much...LOL!!

 

I paid $35 for a cedar blue Deluxe model that had never been inked and came in the original box. I think you did well.

 

Now that I know it doesn't seem to be leaking as I thought last night, I can say that this thing is spotless. Aside from a few light scuffs on the body, it's not got any marks of wear. Even the cap has light-to-no scratching. It wasn't NOS, but it's awfully close for a 60+ yr old pen.

 

I am also not convinced this is the same pen that was in the ebay photos. This one seems to be in better condition, especially when I look closely at the nib and feed. Now I wonder if maybe the guy had several 21's in various shades of blue and decided to use the same pic for more than one auction? I can now, since if that's true, I came out ahead on the deal.

 

ETA: Forgot to add a photo.

 

Edited May 11, 2020 by NumberSix

[shamwari]

Great find! Looks beautiful! Congratulations!

[shamwari]

Is it just me, or does anyone else get tired of the Vac system? It's super cool and holds an endless amount of ink. (I have yet to run a P51 dry, even with weeks of constant use.)

 

But I figured my P51 had to be running low on this 4001 Royal Blue fill, and I thought I might like to put Serenity Blue in it for a change. What a hassle trying to clean it out! It's been a few months since I changed inks, so I had kind of forgotten.

 

It's currently sitting nibdown in a wad of thick, soft toilet paper to hopefully wick all the remaining water out.

 

One of the best writers I have yet used. But I am tempted to pass it on to someone for a good price. Ugh.

 

Am I the only one who feels like this?

 

Yes, not the easiest to flush, and having that large reservoir of a collector doesn't help. But I wouldn't like to be without my 51s (both vac and aero) or my 61s (all capillaries) so I've decided to compromise.

 

I put the inks that I'm likely to use for a long time in them, taking extra care with the inks for the 61s (although so far, touch wood, I've had no issues with the capillary fillers) and have resurrected my 45s from my school days to assist in widening my experience of inks other than blue.

 

Of course, this has somehow resulted in the 45s multiplying with 7 purchased in the last couple of weeks.

[mitto]

A few unused English 51 sets and some Quink Solve-x ink bottles.

 

 

 

[NumberSix]

More of my recent ebay binge arriving today - this one is a burgundy P45 with gold nib and squeeze converter. Sold as NOS, and I believe it. This is easily the most spotless vintage Parker I have yet purchased. The nib doesn't have the usual size marker, though. It's probably Medium, but it's definitely wetter than my other medium gold nib (in the P45 Flighter).

 

I have a gold Broad NOS nib that may be in today's mail. I'll throw it on one of my two fine P45s, and it will be interesting to compare to this nib.

 

 

 

*red P45 included for color comparison*

 

 

 

 

[NumberSix]

A few unused English 51 sets and some Quink Solve-x ink bottles.

 

Gorgeous!

 

I daresay you are set for red ink. Are you trying out any of these old bottles? Maybe Super Quink in yer fancy new 51?

[alexwi]

... this one is a burgundy P45 with gold nib and squeeze converter. Sold as NOS, and I believe it.

 

Hi, if you don't mind my asking, how much did you pay for this pen?

 

Thanks and congatulations. It is, indeed, beautiful!

 

Alex

Edited May 12, 2020 by alexwi

[NumberSix]

 

Hi, if you don't mind my asking, how much did you pay for this pen?

 

Thanks and congatulations. It is, indeed, beautiful!

 

Alex

 

$45.65 shipped -- a price I would have been thrilled to pay for the gold nib and squeeze converter, even if the pen had been used.

 

I paid more than that - $49 - for the NOS gold Broad nib, and it didn't even come with a pen. But in that case, I figured gold broad nib P45s, when I do see them, are going for that price or more. And I have a pen for the nib, anyway.

 

I may be way off in my prices. But to me this is a better pen than a Lamy Al-Star for the same $45.

[NumberSix]

Plastic P45s for me post more securely than my Flighter, purty though it is. Now that I have a nice gold nib'd plastic P45, it might be time to finally sell off my Flighter. It will be tough. It was my first Parker and my first vintage pen*. And it writes so nicely.

 

But I hate the way the cap goes flying half the time. No doubt I am just posting it badly for fear of scratching the barrel. But someone else might prefer to have it.

 

 

*What if my first vintage had been a Shaeffer? This thread might not exist. LOL

[alexwi]

 

I may be way off in my prices. But to me this is a better pen than a Lamy Al-Star for the same $45.

 

Thanks! I think that Parker's 45 is a better value than the Safari (and the All-star). I have several of both and I go back to the 45's far more than to the Safaris, which I haven't inked in several years.

 

alex

[Darcy1978]

I got a bunch of Parkers, a 45 Insignia, a 61 aerometric, two 21s, a Lady Duofold - but this is I think the piece de résistance. A triple set of the Parker 51 Signet in rolled gold. FP/BP/pencil

 

Edited May 13, 2020 by Darcy1978

[alexwi]

As much as I don't like the 51's (I can't get past the semi-invisible nib), your set looks beautiful!!

 

Enjoy!

 

alex