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Esterbrook And Pen Shows


spaceink

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I'm considering going to my first pen show early next year. The thing is, I likely won't be a buyer of big-ticket, pricey pens, and most Esterbrooks don't count as that.

 

I imagine most dealers will bring out their best pens for these events. I'm more interested in finding unrestored Esterbrooks and Sheaffers.

 

Would a pen show be worth it then?

Edited by spaceink
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Incorrect. There are plenty of inexpensive, affordable pens at a show. Just in Ohio I bought more than a dozen Esterbrook at $10 each by hunting for them carefully. Besides, the best part of going to a show is talking to people and learning. We can all buy pens on the internet all day long, but the chance to talk about the different pen models and companies in person is worth it. My first half dozen pen shows I only bought esterbrook.

www.esterbrook.net All Esterbrook, All the Time.
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+1. A pen show is ALWAYS worth it. Even if you don't buy a thing, You'll see all manner of vintage and modern pens; many of them truly works of art. Not to mention meeting the greatest people in the world. I used to attend the LA show all 4 days, as a seller and buyer, and for me it was a 4-day adrenaline rush. Now, I can only attend the Sunday show for a couple of hours, and don't buy a lot, but it's something I wouldn't miss.

Best Regards
Paul


“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
– Albert Einstein

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My only gripe with pen shows is they are not held often enough (close to my city, that is). I barely made the last Dallas Pen Show and I only got to stay for a short time. I am very impatiently waiting for the next one that's either in my city or close enough for me to justify attending...

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Incorrect. There are plenty of inexpensive, affordable pens at a show. Just in Ohio I bought more than a dozen Esterbrook at $10 each by hunting for them carefully. Besides, the best part of going to a show is talking to people and learning. We can all buy pens on the internet all day long, but the chance to talk about the different pen models and companies in person is worth it. My first half dozen pen shows I only bought esterbrook.

 

Amen! I just did my first pen show at the Ohio Pen Show, and everything Brian says is true. I got 4 Esterbrooks (a couple were Dollar Pens) for $12 ea, and an SJ for $1. You really do have to scour all the tables - go back over them more than once. I missed out on a bag of 15 for $150 simply because I didn't have the cash. My suggestion is to get the full week-end pass, to get in on the first opening of pen trading. You can get first dibs on some good deals there. Also, be there in the last few hours, as you can find reduced bargains from folks that want to minimize what they pack up at the end of the day.

 

I learned a lot by spending some time with people - take the sessions for some great extended knowledge - and made a few contacts. One was a guy I bought pens from on ebay who sent me an invite. I spent some time with him, and bought a nib for my Waterman in the last hour.

Edited by gweimer1
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The nice thing for me is that I live in Columbus, so no travel or hotel costs. I was running home at lunch to apply knowledge I'd gathered. Richard Binder must have gotten a laugh out of me - after taking his nib class, I went home and smoothed out a Wearever nib, just to get some practice. I brought it back for him to rate me on.

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My only gripe with pen shows is they are not held often enough (close to my city, that is). I barely made the last Dallas Pen Show and I only got to stay for a short time. I am very impatiently waiting for the next one that's either in my city or close enough for me to justify attending...

The problem is it is difficult to coordinate a show that doesn't conflict with another. When there was discussion about having the San Francisco show the week after DC, I said I wouldn't do it. There was physically no way to get back from DC and get to San Fran in time. Some shows are regional and are the week after another, but the closer to overlap you get the less chance you have of some of the "regulars" attending. There are 16 shows in 11 months (none in December) so fitting something else in that schedule would be possible, but not probable.

www.esterbrook.net All Esterbrook, All the Time.
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The problem is it is difficult to coordinate a show that doesn't conflict with another. When there was discussion about having the San Francisco show the week after DC, I said I wouldn't do it. There was physically no way to get back from DC and get to San Fran in time. Some shows are regional and are the week after another, but the closer to overlap you get the less chance you have of some of the "regulars" attending. There are 16 shows in 11 months (none in December) so fitting something else in that schedule would be possible, but not probable.

 

Sigh....I hear you...I just don't like what you're saying, LOL.

 

I'd love to be able to go to a pen show every three months or so, but that would require me to pay airfare and hotel accomodations and leave the wifey at home with the two heathen...uh er, children...so uh yeah, that's not happening...

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Ohio I believe is known as a big vintage show. I don't recall large numbers of Esties at past Miami or Atlanta shows. Except of course when the Anderson's come to Atlanta.

 

I've been to Atlanta about 4 times, Mijama once. (Even a pen show is Barely a good enough reason for the interplanetary travel to Mijama. :rolleyes: )

 

I've never bought a pen at a show. I go for the grinds Baybee. :P I've probably come home with 12 new pens that I already owned after having them ground. And that's worth every mile of the 700 mile round trip.

 

And then there's the fun with fellow pen peeps. Atlanta has a meet n' greet the Friday evening of the show and a pretty well attended Saturday evening meet for dinner. Dinner with Pendelton Brown is worth the 700 mile trip by itself. (The Saturday evening dinner started with Pendleton and me.)

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

 

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What about Philadelphia? That's the one I'm considering. Inexpensive vintage tables kind of show?

 

I will have to take a train to get there and so can likely do only one day. I will not know anyone at all, being something of a newbie, and so will have less of a reunion feel for me.

 

But am keenly interested if it's not a Montblah showroom.

Edited by spaceink
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What about Philadelphia? That's the one I'm considering. Inexpensive vintage tables kind of show?

Philly is a decent size show. You have to look at all shows, there will be inexpensive pens at every show. If people only brought $1000 overlays, nobody would sell anything.

www.esterbrook.net All Esterbrook, All the Time.
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Spaceink: By all means go and put on some sort of badge that identifies you either by name or FPN name and don't be shy about talking to the other pen people and the vendors then by the next show you will have the reunion feeling. Pen people are among the most friendly and outgoing people you will ever have a chance to be around. So go and get started.

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FPN name tag (if I had such a thing), Shark fin, pair of antlers, whatever it takes...

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

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spaceink if you're serious, and follow through, you've just had those that know Esterbrook prepping you for success.

You've got some time to gather info, start a list of what you're looking for, And make those basics known.. it's possible pen folks might keep you in mind when they find beginner parts pens perfect for tinkering, though it's also important that you develop an eye for the hunt. Bruce might give pointers there too. It's been interesting seeing him from first inquiries > avoiding the "C-word" : ) to regular well-worded contributions.

(hope I said That well, end of a Long week).

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Just a week or so ago, I had a pretty good chuckle reading my two threads on my first Estie restore. (Search Estieville for "Green Monster")

 

This was when I was askeered to pull a J-bar. :lol:

 

Twasn't THAT long ago...

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

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Not going to wear antlers, but an FPN name tag, maybe. Hope to meet other Estie fans there, if I do go.

 

Would at least be cool to meet the names I've seen floating around here: Richard Binder, Ron Zorn, etc.

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I've now been to DCSS twice and Ohio Pen Show twice. I wish I could go to either or both for the entire weekend, but they tend to be up against non pen-related activities (in fact, for DCSS, I have to go home from vacation early, which I feel bad about -- I go camping and that leaves the people I camp with stuck with doing a lot of camp breakdown, especially since they're helping my husband and me drop the tent and load vehicles.

I had planned to be really good at Ohio this year (on a fairly tight budget) and not really do shopping. The discretionary funds were really mostly earmarked for repairs and parts. But circumstances intervened and I did manage to have a bit of shopping spree on Saturday morning before having to leave in the early afternoon: a few notebooks and pads, a couple of government surplus full size sheets of blotter paper, and a lovely little Vac Shadow Wave that I had had my eye on the previous afternoon -- just in case....

Okay, it was a bit more than an Estie. Make that several Esties put together.... :rolleyes:

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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one other thing to note, sometimes you don't know what you're looking for. You might think you do, but you don't. Case in point, my second Chicago pen show I had decided I wanted an eyedropper filled esterbrook, one of the ones pictures in Paul Hoban's book, maed by Wirt (although I didn't know that detail at the time). I new they were black, flat top, typical hard rubber eyedroppers, but there were so many. I asked at every table. And let me tell you, 99% of people have no idea there is an eyedropper with an esterbrook imprint. I quickly learned the correct way to phrase what I was looking for to avoid people showing me every eyedropper and every esterbrook they had. I was about to give up when I went to this one table, asked, "do you have any eyedroppers marked Esterbrook", and the guy said "no, but so-and-so over there does, ask him" in slow motion I hurried over to his table, he was working with some other people so I proceeded to look for this mythical rare black flat top eyedropper but could not find one. I asked, and sure enough he had one, but it wasn't anything like I had ever seen before, it was mottled hard rubber, and a taper cap. Had I not asked, I would have missed out on what is perhaps the most significant Esterbrook in my collection to date. You've got to ask, don't be shy, everyone else there was new at one point too. :)

www.esterbrook.net All Esterbrook, All the Time.
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