Parker 51 Midnight Blue Aero

[Carguy]

In looking at some older posts today, it seems that there is some thought that a midnight blue aerometric 51 is somewhat difficult to find. I did not think this was the case as it was for a cedar blue Vac 51. If this is the case, can anyone please post a quick photo of the two colors here to show the difference between midnight blue and whatever the more common aerometric blue variant is?

 

Thanks!

[TheRedBeard]

May it help?

 

[Carguy]

It did help, and it confirmed what I thought….I have several, but didn’t realize they were more difficult to find.

[Mr Gutsy]

It's a bit of an oddity, given the darker blue colour is more dominant in pens produced by Parker today - for some reason midnight blue wasn't produced or sold in as much quantities as the teal. It's uncommon like Forrest Green/Cocoa 51s. 

 

I often feel when you look at ebay listings or private sellers that you trip over teal blue/black 51s all the time. 

[Sheptonian]

In case it helps here are four blue P51s. Reading from left to right they are midnight blue x2, cedar blue, and teal blue. 

 

 

[Carguy]

It always seemed to me that I had a harder time finding my Teal that any darker blue….

[inkstainedruth]

I actually did find it harder to get Midnight Blue than even my Plum Demi (my first one was a Teal Aero).  I got lucky on finding the two Cedar Blue 51 Vacs in the wild (one in a booth at an area antiques mall, with a third tier brand cap on it; the other in a small place outside Fairmont, WV).  The Midnight Blue I got from Brian English the second year I went to the Triangle Pen Show, just over 4 years ago at this point (I also got my most expensive 51, the UK production Navy Grey Aero with the OB nib at that show in the Saturday night auction).

When I started the 51 hunt, Midnight Blue and Plum were the colors I wanted the most; I got lucky on bluffing the competition on eBay on the Plummer that my maximum bid was higher than it actually was, and while I upped that amount a couple of times over the course of the week, I never got outbid.  And the hammer price was in between the first and second max bids (go figure).  Full size Plum 51s tended to be more than I could afford, but the Midnight Blue ones on eBay at the time were almost last pricy, as I recall.  

Of course once I got my Midnight Blue, I stopped looking for another one, so don't know what prices are like now.  

I did a quick search the other night on eBay for sets (in various colors) for curiosity's sake -- there was an estate auction Saturday (some guy that apparently on some TV "picker" show) which had a NOS 51 set with the original boxes and the pen & pencil still in plastic wrap.  But I decided to not go because I didn't want to drive an hour in the dark to go stand in line another two hours, trying to guess which of the three (!) entrances to the place would take me to the correct room, all for what I didn't want: a set (if I want a pencil I'll use my Berol Turquoise or Stadler-Mars lead holders); NOS (I want pens to use -- not to put in a display case!); and they  looked from the photos to be Navy Grey (have, don't like the color enough to want more, and betting the nib on mine, being an OB, is more interesting anyway).  So I let myself sleep in.  And then will go to the next Steel City Nibs meeting in a couple of weeks and go, "So... which one of yinz got that, and how much did it set you back?  Oh, and did it turn out to actually BE Navy Gray, like I thought?" 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Carguy]

Here is my collection of the blues, gray, and greens….there’s also a Cocoa Demi that has never been inked and a Forest Green one that has. If Classified Ads ever come back soon, these 2 will be passed for sale, a bit too small for my big hands.

[Emver]

Carguy, that's just greedy!   I suggest that you send half of those 51s to me.

[Carguy]

I agree that it’s greedy but at least it’s not like some folks here…..I don’t have 623 blue ones! 😂🤣😂

[inkstainedruth]

You still have more than me -- I have one Teal Blue Aero, one Midnight Blue Aero, and two Cedar Blue 51 Vacs (one with a rolled gold cap).  Plus the one Forest Green Aero.

I do have I think three or four black 51s (plus a black 51 Special) but one is earmarked for my husband.  Assuming of course he ever gets around to flushing the Vanishing Point I found in the wild for a third of the price of a new one, and then ordered a Decimo for myself (because it seemed more cost effective to get the nib size he wanted and swap the assemblies out) that is....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Carguy]

8 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

You still have more than me -- I have one Teal Blue Aero, one Midnight Blue Aero, and two Cedar Blue 51 Vacs (one with a rolled gold cap).  Plus the one Forest Green Aero.

I do have I think three or four black 51s (plus a black 51 Special) but one is earmarked for my husband.  Assuming of course he ever gets around to flushing the Vanishing Point I found in the wild for a third of the price of a new one, and then ordered a Decimo for myself (because it seemed more cost effective to get the nib size he wanted and swap the assemblies out) that is....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Welll…that’s not the drawer with the OTHER colors I have…..oops 😇 but I only have two trays…maybe

[corniche]

Hi all,

 

It's ironic that I have all the rare colors... forest green, cocoa, etc, but cant find midnight blue Custom set.

 

Nice collection, Carguy.

 

- Sean 

 

[Carguy]

As I said on another thread, I seem to have all of the “normal” colors but only one black DJ and I want all the other DJ colors, but can’t afford what they go for.

 

I would, however, pass on all the DJ models in favor of a MKIII Vista Blue….