Family Photos Of Your Flock - Please Add Yours!

[stoen]

5 hours ago, tacitus said:

They are in chronological order from left to right (1929-1944).

Fantastic 100-flock. The 29 & 30 look outstanding and superb! It must be a great find getting such two scarce pens in such a good condition!

Congrats!

[tacitus]

15 hours ago, stoen said:

Fantastic 100-flock. The 29 & 30 look outstanding and superb! It must be a great find getting such two scarce pens in such a good condition!

Congrats!

Thank you, stoen.

They are exceptional pens among my 100 flock.

[stoen]

2 hours ago, tacitus said:

Thank you, stoen.

They are exceptional pens among my 100 flock.

 They are exceptional indeed. It must have taken quite a bit of research and restoration knowledge collecting such a flock.

My #100 flock is much smaller and not that comprehensive, by far.

Yet, each of the pens has a character of its own as writer and I'm doing my best in keeping them in perfect working condition. Years are (L to R):

1931, 1933, 1935, 1937, 1938.

 

 

[Bikerchick]

On 3/3/2021 at 3:14 PM, tacitus said:

I also renewed my flock of 100s.

They are in chronological order from left to right (1929-1944).

 

How I wish I could take beautiful photos like christof!

 

 

I will comment on each pen point by point within days. 

 

I believe flocks in this thread are answers to "Why Pelikan?" thread. 

 

2 hours ago, stoen said:

 They are exceptional indeed. It must have taken quite a bit of research and restoration knowledge collecting such a flock.

My #100 flock is much smaller and not that comprehensive, by far.

Yet, each of the pens has a character of its own as writer and I'm doing my best in keeping them in perfect working condition. Years are (L to R):

1931, 1933, 1935, 1937, 1938.

 

 

 

Both these flocks are very impressive!

I must say, Pelikans from that era were a bit of an acquired taste for me, but now I love them. My 100N is one of my favorite Pelikans. 

Both your flocks look like they're in immaculate condition. Well done, you two. 
Stoen, that second one from the right is especially beautiful, but then, I have a soft spot for brown marbled/tortoise Pelikans. And is the first one on the left a honey yellow one?

 

Earlier this week, I was keeping an eye on a bidding that was about to end. Out of curiosity, really, because I knew it would go for much, MUCH higher than I was willing to spend. Look at this beauty. Does this look like it's been in a box for the last 80 to 90 years or what?

[mana]

I never got into Pelikan 100 etc. because by the time I thought they might be nice they had mostly gone so high in prices and scarce (well, the collectible ones at least) that I really do consider it a train missed unless I suddenly win a lottery or something

 

Fortunately there were and still are other ones, like the 100N and 400, that are more readily available and can even be found, with a bit of hunting and luck, somewhat affordably in good to great shape. The numbers of those have started to dwindle though with prices going up during the last few years but yeah... bargains and finds are still out there (or at least that is what I want to believe).

But I do have to say, it has been really wonderful to see all of the old birds, especially the more rare ones like all of the Pelikan 100 etc. displayed here more recently. Very nice!

[mana]

On 3/3/2021 at 5:04 PM, Bikerchick said:

About a month ago, I bought a beautiful 400 in tortoise brown from a seller on a Dutch secondhand site. After a bit of a delivery nightmare (in all my enthusiasm, I had forgotten to ask the seller to send the package with track & trace and it took a week for the mailman to find my home), the pen and its pencil brethren arrived in the state he had described: mint.  When I caught another listing from the same man a week later, for a beautiful green marbled 100 and a grey marbled 100N, I jumped at the occasion without a moment's hesitation. They looked in really lovely condition too and the price was more than democratic. I jokingly asked the seller "if he had any other Pelikans lying around", maybe I could save him a trip or two to the post office. 

As it turned out, the seller was this really sweet, very eloquent 85-year old man who was selling off his entire collection because his own children had no interest in fountain pens whatsoever. The Pelikans, his darlings, were the last to go. The bulk of them was going to a friend, a fellow pen collector, but he was willing to give me a peek at all the doubles he had, to see if there was anything interesting among them.

Oh, was there ever.

And so, my dear fellow Pelikans aficionados, these little beauties were delivered to me today. 

 

 

It's Christmas, but in March! 

Yowzah! What a lucky, lucky find. Nice! If you would be so kind, could you post these to the "Adding to the flock" thread also?

 

[Bikerchick]

3 minutes ago, mana said:

Yowzah! What a lucky, lucky find. Nice! If you would be so kind, could you post these to the "Adding to the flock" thread also?

 

Consider it done!

Am I allowed to just copy/paste? 

[stoen]

On 3/4/2021 at 5:03 PM, Bikerchick said:

Earlier this week, I was keeping an eye on a bidding that was about to end. Out of curiosity, really, because I knew it would go for much, MUCH higher than I was willing to spend. Look at this beauty. Does this look like it's been in a box for the last 80 to 90 years or what?

Hello,

Thanks for the compliments about my humble flock.

 

I had a correspondence with the seller of the black pen. He also had a yellow-greyish binde #100 pen on the sale, which was kind of more difficult to date, because of having been made of parts from slightly different years.

The black one, is however easier to date (1931/32) and looks more consistent. Whoever has kept it stored wherever, they seem to have done a good job.

 

Many of pre-war #100 pens have suffered war damage and poor repair.

 

Pens in such condition are very likely to sell at a premium price, although I feel there’s something exaggerated about it. The barrels are missing the expected reinforcement ring...

 

I have one rule of thumb: never buy pens going for 250+ EUR without testing them in person. Sticking to this simple rule has kept me happy for so far.

😊

 

As for the brown pen, thanks for liking it, I've posted another picture in the Adding To The Flock 2019-2020-2021 thread, page 47.

[mana]

1 hour ago, Bikerchick said:

Consider it done!

Am I allowed to just copy/paste? 

Yeah, naturally, whatever works for you.

[Bikerchick]

2 hours ago, stoen said:

As for the brown pen, thanks for liking it, I've posted another picture in the Adding To The Flock 2019-2020-2021 thread, page 47.

I had a look at it there, it really is stunning. It's been on my "Pelikans to look out for"-list for a while, though I have to admit that list is only getting longer and longer. 

I'm hoping that some day, I'll be on a flea market and I'll stumble across a brown Magnum Emege and/or a 101N brown striped tortoise being sold by someone who found them in their grandma's desk drawer and is selling them without knowing what they are. I may actually be able to afford them then. 

[inkstainedruth]

8 hours ago, stoen said:

 They are exceptional indeed. It must have taken quite a bit of research and restoration knowledge collecting such a flock.

My #100 flock is much smaller and not that comprehensive, by far.

Yet, each of the pens has a character of its own as writer and I'm doing my best in keeping them in perfect working condition. Years are (L to R):

1931, 1933, 1935, 1937, 1938.

 

 

Wow!  Those are beautiful, especially the yellow and red (tortoise?) ones.

I made the mistake a couple of years ago at a pen show -- I went to a talk that Rick Propas and Janet Wright did on collecting vintage Pelikans, and now I really want a 100.  I just can't freaking afford one.  And now you've given me two additional colors to lust after besides the blue binde.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Madeline]

Thank you for sharing these beauties (made more lovely still by the story behind them).  And the detail on those zippers!  One can almost sense the soul of the artisan who made these things.

[Bikerchick]

1 hour ago, Madeline said:

Thank you for sharing these beauties (made more lovely still by the story behind them).

Thank you, Madeline, I'm honored to share them with you.

 

1 hour ago, Madeline said:

And the detail on those zippers!  One can almost sense the soul of the artisan who made these things.

I agree. It amazes me that they took the time and effort to turn such a minute detail into a tiny yet intricate little work of art.

[Madeline]

49 minutes ago, Bikerchick said:

Thank you, Madeline, I'm honored to share them with you.

 

I agree. It amazes me that they took the time and effort to turn such a minute detail into a tiny yet intricate little work of art.

 

It is a reminder to me to take greater care in the things that I do.  How remarkable to me that these small wondrous things can withstand the ages, coming to us through time, along with the beauty and patina of age.  Thank you for that!

[Bikerchick]

On 3/5/2021 at 11:53 PM, Madeline said:

How remarkable to me that these small wondrous things can withstand the ages, coming to us through time, along with the beauty and patina of age

I think a lot of the credit here goes out to Frans, the man who sold them to me. These Pelikans and their cases really were his pride and joy. 

[tacitus]

On 3/5/2021 at 1:03 AM, Bikerchick said:

Earlier this week, I was keeping an eye on a bidding that was about to end. Out of curiosity, really, because I knew it would go for much, MUCH higher than I was willing to spend. Look at this beauty. Does this look like it's been in a box for the last 80 to 90 years or what?

 

Congratulations!

I also once kept an eye on it. For the "financial" reason, I gave it up.😝

 

IMO, If not inked and kept from sunlight in the box, ink window would be green transparent. I will post the good sample later. Anyway brown ink window matches black body with no flaw😘. I feel how carefully previous owner(s) handled it.

[Croma]

Hello:

The last addition was a couple of M200: M200 Gold Marbled (2019) and M200 Brown Marbled (2017).

 

 

[stoen]

7 hours ago, tacitus said:

IMO, If not inked and kept from sunlight in the box, ink window would be green transparent.

This is true for cellulose acetate (late thirties barrels). For celluloid barrels (most of the thirties period) things stand a bit differently:

• not inked celluloid barrel is honey yellow AFAIK - I’ve come across few NOS 100s of early 30s.
• they’re prone to ink staining in the following pattern: black and old iron gall inks stain it to brown, blue/violet/cyan inks to shades of green
• no matter, inked or not, celluloid releases camphor (its essential compound), shrinking up to 1-2% over a period of 70+ years, making it more brittle than devised
• experience of some of the NOS owners shows that such pens shelved for 80+ years show more celluloid crazing signs (around the piston threading) than those lightly used and treated with care.

As for those two 900+$ eBay #100 pens (both of which have been bought by the same bidder, NB! - let’s take a closer look at the bidding history 🙂), there’s one thing looking suspect about them:

- mint condition of their barrels at the piston threading and lack of brass reinforcement rings isn’t likely. There used to be a 1930/32 series of ringless celluloid-barreled 100s, but I’ve seen none of them having survived. It is not unlikely that barrels on these pens might have been replaced later, during a major servicing or restoration procedure.

 

Anyway, the price does reflect what someone is willing to spend, rather than an item’s fair value.

🙂

 

 

 

[stoen]

On 3/4/2021 at 11:14 PM, inkstainedruth said:

Wow!  Those are beautiful, especially the yellow and red (tortoise?) ones.

 

Thanks for the compliment. The 1931 yellow is rather undocumented so far, but the other one is, I believe “officially called” brown marbled and here’s some documentation on this variation:

 

https://www.pelikan-collectibles.com/en/Pelikan/Models/Historic-Pens/100/index.html

 

[eerestis]

Here's an update of the family picture. Can you spot the Frankenpelikans?