Sharing my simple joy - pictures of my pocket pens

[Chi]

just spent some time updating my data sheet for my pocket pen babies,

thought it'd be nice to share with the community.

 

Platinum

 

 

Pilot & Center(Most Right)

 

 

Sailor

 

and currently inked 

From Left to right, Pilot stainless steel (M), Sailor stainless steel (14K WG, M) Sailor (21K, F) Platinum (18K, M) Platinum (18K, M) Platinum Stainless steel etching (18K, M)

 

I rotate what I inked regularly, trying not to ink them all up at once.

 

The spread sheet I keep for all the Vintage pens in my procession, here is the pocket pen un-inked part. 

[awa54]

...so many un-inked pens, I would never be able to resist trying them all eventually!

 

In most cases the first thing I do when I receive a NOS pen is carefully peel off the sticker (if present), ink it and then spend a half hour writing with it 😄

[PithyProlix]

Wow, great collection, interestingly balanced in numbers from each of the Big 3. I love my babies too! 

 

Here's a Platinum and a Pilot on their way to me now:

 

 

[Chi]

10 hours ago, awa54 said:

...so many un-inked pens, I would never be able to resist trying them all eventually!

Ha ha ha, so true. 

I try not to ink too many pens at once, but I did tried them and see how each of them writes.

 

@PithyProlix Nice!!! I have 3 pens on their way to me. 2 from sailor, 1 from Platinum. Super excited!!!

[awa54]

15 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

Wow, great collection, interestingly balanced in numbers from each of the Big 3. I love my babies too! 

 

Here's a Platinum and a Pilot on their way to me now:

 

 

 

 

I own the exact same pen as your first picture.  Beware: the translucent red plastic these are made of is brittle compared to the standard black resin and it's prone to cracking and chipping.  Mine has a hairline crack above the nib which causes the cap to fill with ink  

 

This is a real shame, as it's an attractive pen and the resin doesn't respond well to solvent welding.

[PithyProlix]

1 hour ago, awa54 said:

 

 

I own the exact same pen as your first picture.  Beware: the translucent red plastic these are made of is brittle compared to the standard black resin and it's prone to cracking and chipping.  Mine has a hairline crack above the nib which causes the cap to fill with ink  

 

This is a real shame, as it's an attractive pen and the resin doesn't respond well to solvent welding.

 

Ah, thanks for the info. 

 

I never suspected translucent plastic! I hadn't seen that pen before and, in the pictures the seller sent, the plastic looks opaque. Plus, since the sale was a low price, I wasn't diligent about asking him questions. Richard Binder's short description of the same pen, but a light blue example, on his Japanese pocket pens page doesn't mention translucency. The translucency is interesting, though, because I cannot recall seeing translucent plastic on any Japanese pen of the era. Not that I am an experienced collector ... 

 

I will report back when it arrives.

 

 

[PithyProlix]

On 1/13/2022 at 4:29 AM, Chi said:

just spent some time updating my data sheet for my pocket pen babies,

thought it'd be nice to share with the community.

 

Platinum

 

 

Pilot & Center(Most Right)

 

 

Sailor

 

and currently inked 

From Left to right, Pilot stainless steel (M), Sailor stainless steel (14K WG, M) Sailor (21K, F) Platinum (18K, M) Platinum (18K, M) Platinum Stainless steel etching (18K, M)

 

I rotate what I inked regularly, trying not to ink them all up at once.

 

The spread sheet I keep for all the Vintage pens in my procession, here is the pocket pen un-inked part. 

 

So, any stand-out favorites? 

[awa54]

5 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

 

Ah, thanks for the info. 

 

I never suspected translucent plastic! I hadn't seen that pen before and, in the pictures the seller sent, the plastic looks opaque. Plus, since the sale was a low price, I wasn't diligent about asking him questions. Richard Binder's short description of the same pen, but a light blue example, on his Japanese pocket pens page doesn't mention translucency. The translucency is interesting, though, because I cannot recall seeing translucent plastic on any Japanese pen of the era. Not that I am an experienced collector ... 

 

I will report back when it arrives.

 

 

 

It's not fully translucent, but also not completely opaque. I only have dark red, blue and white plastics from Plat to compare it with (and the blue is significantly older), but the candy red is the least opaque of those. Compared to the maroon/dark red the difference is quite noticeable.

[PithyProlix]

6 hours ago, awa54 said:

 

It's not fully translucent, but also not completely opaque. I only have dark red, blue and white plastics from Plat to compare it with (and the blue is significantly older), but the candy red is the least opaque of those. Compared to the maroon/dark red the difference is quite noticeable.

 

Understood - somewhere between fully translucent & completely opaque. I have only one Platinum pocket pen with plastic not black - a lady pen with barrel and section in white - and it seems pretty much completely opaque, at least to me. This incoming red one is likely to come tomorrow - will be interesting to see!

[Chi]

13 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

 

So, any stand-out favorites? 

such a simple question but so hard to answer, LOL

 

This sailor is one, the nib is incredibly smooth and not stiff at all which took me by surprise. 

 

This platinum is relatively new to my collection and I really like its weight. Most pocket pens tend to be a lot lighter but the stainless steel added nice weight in your hand.

 

 

the last one is the pilot stainless steel, it came to me as NOS but the nib is unbelievably smooth. Also you can always use convertor with pilot pocket pens which is always a bonus when ink and re-ink.

 

I always have 4-5 pocket pens with me for work and such. It's been a great joy and they do travel well on my daily commute, so far I have not encountered leakage issue. But depending on the type of inks, some of them do have hard start after a long rest overnight. Once it started, the writing would not be a problem through out the day.

[PithyProlix]

1 hour ago, Chi said:

such a simple question but so hard to answer, LOL

 

I hear you! 

 

1 hour ago, Chi said:

This platinum is relatively new to my collection and I really like its weight. Most pocket pens tend to be a lot lighter but the stainless steel added nice weight in your hand.

 

I have this same etched Platinum, but with a white gold fine, and I think I'd also say it's a stand-out. The weight does feel good and it's also just a great-performer - incredibly reliable. It a hard nib but not quite a nail and, while it doesn't have much of the characteristic Platinum feedback, it's still really nice to write with. 

 

I'll see if I can figure out some stand-out pens from what I have (at this point I have no idea which I'd pick from my Elites though!). 

[Doug C]

On 1/13/2022 at 8:03 AM, Chi said:

Ha ha ha, so true. 

I try not to ink too many pens at once, but I did tried them and see how each of them writes.

 

@PithyProlix Nice!!! I have 3 pens on their way to me. 2 from sailor, 1 from Platinum. Super excited!!!

Is the bottom pen wood or celluloid?  Beautiful. 

[Doug C]

Here are some of mine:

[Chi]

1 hour ago, Doug C said:

Is the bottom pen wood or celluloid?  Beautiful. 

 

It is a NOS 1973 Platinum Cherry wood Pocket pen in 18K medium nib, which has been on my wish/hunting list for a veryyyyy longgggg time!!! Super excited!!!

[Chi]

9 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

I'll see if I can figure out some stand-out pens from what I have (at this point I have no idea which I'd pick from my Elites though!). 

oh yeah! show them, show them : )I actually don't have many Elites, only 3 I believe, 4 if you include my elite s95, LOL.

 

I would love to get my hands on one of those ombre colorful elite but have not yet seen them on the market, only have seen pictures on other pocket pen collector's blog.

https://pocketpens.wordpress.com/2021/04/08/2021-03-31-pocket-pen-collection-record-短鋼筆收藏紀錄留影/ 

[PithyProlix]

4 minutes ago, Chi said:

oh yeah! show them, show them : )I actually don't have many Elites, only 3 I believe, 4 if you include my elite s95, LOL.

 

I would love to get my hands on one of those ombre colorful elite but have not yet seen them on the market, only have seen pictures on other pocket pen collectors' blogs.

 

I am not even aware of such an Elite. Do you have a link, please? 

 

(I bought four colorful Elite lady pocket pens a few weeks ago - ones I hadn't seen before that actually have the 'Elite' logo - and the seller sent them to the wrong person! The [expletive] recipient refused to return them - very unusual behavior for a Thai.)

[Chi]

4 minutes ago, PithyProlix said:

 

I am not even aware of such an Elite. Do you have a link, please? 

 

(I bought four colorful Elite lady pocket pens a few weeks ago - ones I hadn't seen before that actually have the 'Elite' logo - and the seller sent them to the wrong person! The [expletive] recipient refused to return them - very unusual behavior for a Thai.)

https://pocketpens.wordpress.com/2021/04/08/2021-03-31-pocket-pen-collection-record-短鋼筆收藏紀錄留影/

I have not seen detail pictures but in the article, if you see in the picture, center ish of the bottom roll has a series of very colorful Elite. My memory was not correct, they are not ombre on their own but when you have them all together, LOL.

[PithyProlix]

On 1/13/2022 at 10:03 PM, Chi said:

 

I have one of these Sailor 21k pens in fine. What is the nib size designation on the sticker of the one on the left? I don't think I have seen that before. 

[Chi]

Just now, PithyProlix said:

 

I have one of these Sailor 21k pens in fine. What is the nib size designation on the sticker of the one on the left? I don't think I have seen that before. 

 

It is ZOOM! which I am super excited about!!!!

 

I have two 21K fine in champagne body with white handle and the other in green handle. Both came to me as NOS but their nibs behave very differently. One is more springy and the other is pretty stiff/needle like.

 

I have been looking for one in Medium nib. As for the Zoom nib NOS is a very very pleasant surprise!!!

[PithyProlix]

44 minutes ago, Chi said:

https://pocketpens.wordpress.com/2021/04/08/2021-03-31-pocket-pen-collection-record-短鋼筆收藏紀錄留影/

I have not seen detail pictures but in the article, if you see in the picture, center ish of the bottom roll has a series of very colorful Elite. My memory was not correct, they are not ombre on their own but when you have them all together, LOL.

 

I have not seen any of those particularly colorful Elites in Thailand. The finish looks sort of pearlescent in the photo - interesting. 

 

None of those four Elites that got sent to the wrong person are in his collection... 

 

Neither is this other one I got recently, though, so I feel a slight bit better.