Who to go to for Exotic Vintage Parker Appraisals? (Images Included)

[Andy]

Anyone know a good resource to find current appraisal rates for more exotic vintage pens? I've enjoyed having them, but it's time for some of my more unusual Parkers (including these English Streamlined Duofold Seniors and this early prototype (?) lever-filling double jewel 51) to move on to someone who will appreciate them.

 

It's almost impossible to believe that I could just physically hand these over to someone else, but that's where I find myself today.

 

Tomorrow could be different- we'll see.

 

 

[Andy]

Not even a giggle? Nobody? lol

[FarmBoy]

Send me an eMail.

T

[Carguy]

Oh my! If I had more money, I’d buy every single one of those.....especially that 51!

[FarmBoy]

We should probably discuss these for the unknowing.

 

1:  Looks like a burgundy and black Duofold but really it is more the feel of burl wood and much browner

2, 3, and 4:  These channel Pelikans all day long.

5:  Mottled hard rubber with a cable twist pattern.  Evokes Parker's earliest dropper pens from 30+ years earlier.

6: A lizard or snake skin appearance often found on European pens of the 30s.

7:  An art deco overlay on a Jade Duofold in supreme color.  Kind of reminds you of a WE Coronet

8, 9, 10, 11:  These almost make you look for Dunhill on the clips. 

 

12:  A 51 in Waterman celluloid with a lever box and 14K smooth cap.  This just channels a lawsuit!

 

Which one would you want?

 

While #12 would seem logical for me, I'd need to grab 5 first then 6.

[I-am-not-really-here]

Oh it's a battle then because 5 does it for me too, the pattern is unlike anything else in my collection.

[thx1138]

I imagine it would be physically impossible to hand these over.

Except maybe as a colour print out.

Well done.

[Andy]

 

3 hours ago, thx1138 said:

I imagine it would be physically impossible to hand these over.

Except maybe as a colour print out.

Well done.

 

Lol, thanks. :D I posted these on one of the Facebook pen groups and tried to use as much language like, "I can't see how I could physically hand these over," and "they're UNBELIEVABLY beautiful, aren't they?" and I was still getting requests for PMs to talk about prices (including from a pro who DEFINITELY should have known better).

 

Next time I ever wonder, "How can someone with a decent amount of domain knowledge ever believe [insert dumb belief here]?" I will remember this lesson here.

 

4 hours ago, FarmBoy said:

We should probably discuss these for the unknowing.

 

1:  Looks like a burgundy and black Duofold but really it is more the feel of burl wood and much browner

2, 3, and 4:  These channel Pelikans all day long.

5:  Mottled hard rubber with a cable twist pattern.  Evokes Parker's earliest dropper pens from 30+ years earlier.

6: A lizard or snake skin appearance often found on European pens of the 30s.

7:  An art deco overlay on a Jade Duofold in supreme color.  Kind of reminds you of a WE Coronet

8, 9, 10, 11:  These almost make you look for Dunhill on the clips. 

 

12:  A 51 in Waterman celluloid with a lever box and 14K smooth cap.  This just channels a lawsuit!

 

Which one would you want?

 

While #12 would seem logical for me, I'd need to grab 5 first then 6.

 

This is going to be a stretch to remember, because I think I did these back my "I want to learn Photoshop!" phase in... 2006?

 

All 11 Duofolds are clones of the pen on the left with different "skins" lifted from pics of other pens. The timing was perfect for making my "Fantasy Pens" because there were a ton of really, REALLY good photographers posting to FPN and Pentrace at the time. If I can manage to get my old computer up and running, I could probably find the source pens for all of these. (The cool part is I developed a really good system for doing these- I did a number of different series of pens. The sad part is I haven't touched PS in so long I don't think I could recreate them (not without a long re-learning curve.))

 

1: The Duofold on the far left is the only REAL pen in the picture. It is a real, "I really did own this" English Streamlined Duofold Senior (English Parkers had the best colors). No alterations save for white balance and contrast correction.

 

2-4: Obviously Pelikans. The fun part is that I only lifted the skin from one pen (a blue stripe, I think) and then changed the colors on the bindes of the other two in PS. Caps are likely lifted from another English Duofold I owned (I think...).

 

5: This is indeed lifted from an MHR cable twist Parker. If you look closely, you can see that I tried to make the edges match the raised texture of the twist. If you look REALLY closely, you can tell that I did this 15 years ago on an lower resolution monitor (jpg compression actually helps hide the flaws in my work- lol).

 

6: I won't swear to it, but I don't think I lifted this from a Peli- I think it was from a second tier English or German pen- maybe a Wyvern?

 

7: This one was definitely from a modern pen- can't remember which specifically- some gaudy, gazillion dollar 14k gold overlay with a clear (?) interior (I don't recall it being enameled). Prob a Bill Riepl pic.

 

8-11: Not Dunhill. 9-11 are Dani-Trio, and I'm 99.44% certain #8 is too. Donor pics all likely from Winedoc back when he was repping the brand. These were all $$$$ pens.

 

12: This was supposed to be the one that, if you were on the fence with the Duofolds, you KNEW this one was BS. A lever filling Parker? A lever filling 51?? A lever filling 51 with the lever box and Turquiose celluloid from a Waterman's Patrician???

 

Favorites? I'm partial to the real one (#1), mostly because I miss it and never should have sold the damned thing. Beyond that, I'm with y'all- the 51 (minus the lever box), the cable twist (I adore this look), and the lizard.

[Andy]

My avatar is a product of this period, btw- I ran a photo contest on Pentrace and asked some really good photographers at the time to donate pics people could manipulate. I lifted and tortured a number of elements to make this pic (and created a 3d model for the picture frame). Not the greatest result, but it was a definite learning process.

 

 

[VacNut]

Absolutely fabulous. Congratulations. If only there was a way take all our pens with us into our next life....