Why Do You Buy A New Fountain Pen?

[a_m]

My question is to those users of FP who have ten-fifteen good FPs of their choice and they are happy with those pens and they keep using those pens again and again.

 

Yet many of them want to have a new FP. So what prompts you to buy a new FP?

 

(My question is not to FP colletors :-)

[Betweenthelines]

Chasing the dragon.

[KBeezie]

Drug addiction...

 

Though I like to tell myself I'm just trying to find my personal preference but... yea... addiction. (probably cheaper than drugs, but not by much).

Edited November 25, 2014 by KBeezie

[ScienceChick]

Because I see a really pretty one that calls to me. I've learned to exercise a little restraint and give it some time before I pull the trigger on something; often that quick "I must have that" gives way to "Cool pen, but I can live without it." Isn't that true with many non-essential purchases?

[WaskiSquirrel]

I'm slow to buy pens, and usually talk myself out of them.

 

When I do buy a pen, it's usually either because I have a new role envisioned for it, or I envision it as a replacement for a pen I already own.

[SockAddict]

Because they won't let me take them home and play with them unless I buy them.

[JowBow]

For me, normally it's the draw of a limited edition pen. They can be hard to find or limited in number. If I like how the pen looks, the limited fact normally pushes me to buy it. I like pens that fill gaps in what I own. "Oh, I don't have an Italian pen!" Time to get a Visconti.

[pajaro]

Pens are all a little different and have different filling and writing characteristics. I think I like gadgets and I have a tendency to collect stuff. I have accumulated a couple of hundred fountain pens. They were all fascinating for a while. I don't use most of these pens very much, but every once in a while I start to use one or a few that I haven't used in a while. While it is fun to have a lot of pens, it is really a bit much to take care of them all, so I clean most of them up and set them aside.

 

Out of all of them I do have favorites that get some regular use. Several Montblanc 144s, a few Parker 51s, a few Waterman Phileas and Laureats. A couple of Parker Sonnets with extra fine nibs. A Pilot Prera fine. A couple of Esterbrook M2 and Safari pump fillers with italic nibs. An Esterbrook Phaeton fine. I like and use the Waterman Kultur Lara Croft Tombraider pens.

 

Buying these pens was a voyage of discovery, and it was a lot of fun trying out different pens. I don't use most at all, relying on a couple of Montblanc 144s bought in the 1980s and 1990s, a Parker 51 bought new in 1970 and another with a stub nib from about 2010. I have stopped buying new pens, there being no way of using all the ones I have. I think trying out new pens as gadgets was what drove buying all these pens. I find it hard to sell off the ones I don't use, because they are interesting to play with from time to time, fooling around with the filling systems and writing nonsense. I like the ones with line variation. It looks cool. Now I use fountain pens to keep a log of every medication I take, so I don't overdose or forget to take something. Sometimes I use the italics or stubs for greeting cards. For anything practical, like a grocery list, I use ballpoints like Pelikan K200, Montblanc 164R red, Parker Sonnet ballpoint or Parker Jotter.

 

I bought most pens to learn about them, but now, with all these pens, the urge is sated.

Edited November 25, 2014 by pajaro

[Betweenthelines]

Pens are all a little different and have different filling and writing characteristics. I think I like gadgets and I have a tendency to collect stuff. I have accumulated a couple of hundred fountain pens. They were all fascinating for a while. I don't use most of these pens very much, but every once in a while I start to use one or a few that I haven't used in a while. While it is fun to have a lot of pens, it is really a bit much to take care of them all, so I clean most of them up and set them aside.

 

Out of all of them I do have favorites that get some regular use. Several Montblanc 144s, a few Parker 51s, a few Waterman Phileas and Laureats. A couple of Parker Sonnets with extra fine nibs. A Pilot Prera fine. A couple of Esterbrook M2 and Safari pump fillers with italic nibs. An Esterbrook Phaeton fine. I like and use the Waterman Kultur Lara Croft Tombraider pens.

 

Buying these pens was a voyage of discovery, and it was a lot of fun trying out different pens. I don't use most at all, relying on a couple of Montblanc 144s bought in the 1980s and 1990s, a Parker 51 bought new in 1970 and another with a stub nib from about 2010. I have stopped buying new pens, there being no way of using all the ones I have. I think trying out new pens as gadgets was what drove buying all these pens. I find it hard to sell off the ones I don't use, because they are interesting to play with from time to time, fooling around with the filling systems and writing nonsense. I like the ones with line variation. It looks cool. Now I use fountain pens to keep a log of every medication I take, so I don't overdose or forget to take something. Sometimes I use the italics or stubs for greeting cards. For anything practical, like a grocery list, I use ballpoints like Pelikan K200, Montblanc 164R red, Parker Sonnet ballpoint or Parker Jotter.

 

I bought most pens to learn about them, but now, with all these pens, the urge is sated.

 

 

So you're saying when I reach 200 pens or so I'll finally be able to kick the habit. Got it.

 

Great story, thanks for sharing.

[Kuhataparunks]

Drug addiction...

 

Though I like to tell myself I'm just trying to find my personal preference but... yea... addiction. (probably cheaper than drugs, but not by much).

No.... Unless you collect exclusively MB's, viscontis, or Nakayas (in which case you're likely just elite), drug addiction is waaaaaay more expensive. Sorry if I've taken this a tad seriously ;p; alas, know a few people... Edited November 25, 2014 by Kuhataparunks

[Kuhataparunks]

Honestly because I can't keep a good pen I love. I can't tune a nib to save my life, so I depend solely on stock nibs.

I've dropped a metro before and it was ruined... So I gave it away (thank you PIF!). Same thing with pilot Penmanships, I've gone through 5 of them so far... Thank Pilot that they're so affordable (and disposable to a degree)!!!! Oh, THANK YOU pilot!!! And two more on the way.

 

So for me, every one I purchase is to actually use it... Until I drop it or something happens to it, in which case it goes into the hands of whoever is willing to tune it and keep it.

 

Why did I purchase my Custom 912 PO nib? Because it purported a hairline-fine line, and the nib design is just beautiful. But sadly my penmanships outperform it by FAR! (

[KBeezie]

No.... Unless you collect exclusively MB's, viscontis, or Nakayas (in which case you're likely just elite), drug addiction is waaaaaay more expensive. Sorry if I've taken this a tad seriously ;p; alas, know a few people...

*relatively* speaking of course.

[Jerome Tarshis]

First, although I don't have a pre-existing idea that I am trying to collect fountain pens, the fact is that I am a user who owns enough pens to think of himself, now, as a collector. I own more pens than I can frequently use.

 

One of the main reasons I will buy a new pen is to fill a gap. The most recent purchase was to replace a pen I had lost. Not the same pen, but the same general look. The one I lost wrote too narrow a line for my taste, so this one has a broad nib. The one I lost had too much shiny gold, so the one I bought has gold, but not much of it. Just trying to improve upon the previously existing situation.

 

I bought an Italix Parson's Essential partly because it had gotten so much favorable notice on FPN, but also because I'd been teaching myself to write monoline italic and was ready for an edged pen, and I could buy my Italix pen with an italic nib. Very satisfactory addition to my capabilities.

 

Another tale of compensating for a deficiency is my Cross FP story. I bought a Cross Century in a thrift shop for $5, believing I couldn't go far wrong for $5. To my astonishment I loved the way the pen felt in my hand and the way it wrote. Did not love the fact that the section tended to unscrew itself, nor the fact that the cap spun easily when the pen was capped. Sent it back to Cross for repair, thinking they'd know how to fix such trivial problems. Instead they sent me a Century II. But my love was for the earlier Century, and now I own six of them, mostly because they were so inexpensive compared with other pens I might buy. Arguably too much compensating for a void in my pen holdings, though.

 

That is sort of the way it's gone. Curiosity, plus a desire to plug a hole. I've bought two Parker 51s to come close to one I lost after writing with it for 36 years, and there is a tiny possibility that I'll buy a 51 that comes still closer to the one I lost.

[KBeezie]

Even though I have 22 Pens (was a bit more), I don't see myself as a collector. Just a novice user that may want to have several different inks available, and rotate out certain pens for the season.

[HandLikeAFist]

I have two pens now, a big sterling silver grail pen and a tiny Kaweco Sport Classic in black plastic, with the best nib I've ever found. But I saw the new Conklin in amber/red, and I love it. Waiting until the green one is released, then I'll buy one. Perfect: I'd like a light but full-sized pen, and the design looks perfect. I can't own anything badly designed; I break out. Those Conklins look good.

[Mac in Alberta]

If I knew, I could stop.

Actually, I have several nicely working pens with comfortable nibs. It is the inks that draw me. . . . the perfect blue black would be my lifetime goal.

[HandLikeAFist]

I found the green Conklin Durograph on line. Eh. Amber is really good looking. And $44 is not bad. Nibs are a (bleep)-shoot. But what the heck, I've been using my 2 pens exclusively for years.

[Tas]

I'm getting better.

Honest.

 

 

When I do buy a pen, it's usually either because I have a new role envisioned for it, or I envision it as a replacement for a pen I already own.

 

I'm kind of living by the same self imposed guidelines at the moment.

Christmas is around the corner though and I have been a very good boy . . .

[PabloAU]

So what prompts you to buy a new FP?

 

Oooh!! Shiny!!

 

Seriously though, I continue to buy pens that have something new to add to my collection (30-someting so far). I'm a user rather than a collector, but each new pen brings something different to me - be that nib size/style, material, weight, colour etc. Or at least that's how I rationalise it to myself...

[Medsen Fey]

Oooh!! Shiny!!

 

That's me.