A User Versus A Collector?

[corgicoupe]

I got my first pen [a Parker 51] when I graduated from grammar school in 1951. I had and lost a couple of Esterbrooks between then and now, but I bought two Sheaffer Targas in the 80s and inherited my dad's Parker 51 vacumatic in 1990. My mom gave me a Parker Duofold special edition in the early 90s to cheer me up after a divorce. Since then I found a Parker 45 in a desk somewhere, purchased another 45 earlier this year, and my daughter gave me an Aurora Tu as a gift. Of a sudden I got interested in fountain pens again. So, I asked a garage-sale-nut neighbor to keep an eye out, and he gave me a Sheaffer 350 that I re-saced and use quite regularly. Then a woodworking friend asked what else I did for hobby time and I said I liked fountain pens. He offered me two 1930s-era vacumatics, which I sent off for minor restoration. Now comes the question...

 

Who among you considers themselves a user, and what then is a collector? Is this a continuum or is there a clear line of demarcation? I have a friend who is clearly a user, and he has only one fountain pen, a DuPont. Well, he has two, but does not like the way the Montblanc writes. At the other extreme, I have read that there are those who collect but rarely use their pens, and may not even restore them, just display them.

 

If one is a user and has 10 or 12 fountain pens, and may purchase 2 or 3 more [i would like to have a Pelikan like the one I bought my wife when she completed her PhD], what is the best way to make use of this small collection? Do you have a pen that is used for a single purpose, like signing documents, and another for keeping notes in a small notebook, and another for writing letters? Or do you use one or two on an everyday basis for everything, and then swap them for another pair to be used for another month or two? Or do you have many pens filled with different inks for different purposes or moods?

 

Asone who has only considered fountain pens a hobbe for a few months, I'd like very much to hear comments and opinions from those have been doing this longer than I.

[Randal6393]

Oh, I'm definitely a user. If I can't modify it to perform better, I don't want it. And I will give away pens, sell pens, throw out bad ones -- all without much regard to the money involved.

 

A collector, on the other hand, is mainly defined by wanting pens for their increase in investment. Or, perhaps, the uniqueness of the pens. I don't really understand collecting, be it fountain pens or pocket knives. I hope people as interested in collecting as I am in using will chime in and say what they value in their pens.

 

Enjoy,

[canibanoglu]

I consider myself a user. Sure, I want to buy pretty much every pen that I like (that is to say a lot of pens) but I would never buy something if I didn't intend to use it. I couldn't ever control myself anyway.

 

I have around 20 pens, which is a modest collection compared to some other here, but most of us, despite the size of our collections, pretty much use the same approach to making sure that (nearly) all our pens get to be used. We rotate them! I personally have only 4 pens inked at a time (barring those times when I acquire a new pen), two with fine nibs, two with broader nibs. I make sure that all of them are inked with complimentary colors (red - blue, purple - orange, green - brown etc). When they run out of ink, I change pens and inks and get to enjoy all my pens. The bigger your collection, the more time it will take you to get to the same pen again. But in real world, rotation usually doesn't work like that. Some pens will become your favorites. That situation could be permanent or it could be temporary.

[OcalaFlGuy]

Accumuluser.

 

The word is Accumuluser.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/285519-how-many-pens-make-you-a-collector/

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[sargetalon]

I don't think there is a definitive line between user and collector but rather a spectrum with people falling in at multiple points along the way. I don't think they are mutually exclusive terms either and I, in fact, consider myself to be both. Sure, there are collectors who merely collect, purchasing items to store away or gaze upon either in hopes that one day there will be a greater return on the investment or just for the shear joy of collecting. I collect in the sense that I have a brand and a focus and actively am trying to acquire every pen that falls within that focus. None of those pens collected, however, are too sacred not to be used and I do use each and every one at various times. A pen is meant to be used, not stored in a drawer or to be placed on a pedestal. I think that's one of the nice thing about foutain pens. Unlike figurines or some other object of collection that serves no practical purpose (sure there may be an aesthetic one), pens, knives, and watches for example can be enjoyed in a practical sense. A collector could technically have just 5 pens if that satisfied their personal criteria whereas a user might have 12 so it is hard to put people into neatly defined boxes where x pens makes a user and y pens makes a collector.

[Ernst Bitterman]

I really like Bruce's neologism, but I'd agree with the spectrum idea; I was going to speak of Venn diagrams with a lot of overlap if that hadn't come up. There are some pen collectors, the ultraviolet (if not x-ray) end of the spectrum that wouldn't like the idea of a pen getting inked any more than a comic collector of a certain stripe could envision taking the book out of the mylar.

 

Some, as noted directly above, have a very specific focus and hold hard to it, but (sensibly) use the pens. Some have more diffuse focus, but there is a focus and I think that's where taking up the title "collector" stems from-- having some set of criteria into which the collected item fits.

 

For example, I'm a collector in as much as I'm trying in a haphazard way to get my hands on one of every numbered pen Parker made from the "51" onward. I'm an accumuluser, because I also have apart from that a stupid, V'ger-ish notion of getting some kind of contact with every fountain pen ever (I justify it as being for my site and thus to help others with understanding and identifying what they've got, but it's more of a psychosis than a philanthropy).

 

The low infra-red of the the spectrum is likely hoarding; take in loads of pens, full of intentions to do something with them, but they get no more use than the high-end stuff of Vaulted Collectors because they just got onto midden of pens while the sufferer goes out to find some more.

 

So, I asked a garage-sale-nut neighbor to keep an eye out, and he gave me a Sheaffer 350 that I re-saced and use quite regularly

 

 

Oh, how I love having a friend of this sort! The lapis 1927 Duofold was a gift because it cost her less than $5. Remain on good terms!

[domnortheast]

I don't think there is a definitive line between user and collector but rather a spectrum with people falling in at multiple points along the way. I don't think they are mutually exclusive terms either and I, in fact, consider myself to be both. Sure, there are collectors who merely collect, purchasing items to store away or gaze upon either in hopes that one day there will be a greater return on the investment or just for the shear joy of collecting. I collect in the sense that I have a brand and a focus and actively am trying to acquire every pen that falls within that focus. None of those pens collected, however, are too sacred not to be used and I do use each and every one at various times. A pen is meant to be used, not stored in a drawer or to be placed on a pedestal. I think that's one of the nice thing about foutain pens. Unlike figurines or some other object of collection that serves no practical purpose (sure there may be an aesthetic one), pens, knives, and watches for example can be enjoyed in a practical sense. A collector could technically have just 5 pens if that satisfied their personal criteria whereas a user might have 12 so it is hard to put people into neatly defined boxes where x pens makes a user and y pens makes a collector.

 

[thatotherguy1]

Accumuluser.

 

The word is Accumuluser.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/285519-how-many-pens-make-you-a-collector/

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

That's me. I have a small but growing collection of pens and inks (up to five pens, 2 full bottles of ink, seven unused samples and I've used seventeen inks from samples, along with some cartridges). I'm interested both in the act of writing and the design of pens, so when I buy a pen it gets used. Sometimes a pen doesn't get used as much as others, but they do all get used at one point or another, and I always have at least one proper pen inked (and some ballpoints for bad paper/rough use/loaning/better water resistance until I decide to get a bottle of Noodler's Black). Right now I have all five inked and they are all getting use.

[tmenyc]

Bruce, I also love the term...like Ultrasonicate, it both fits and sounds right.

 

I'm in both camps -- although not by nature an accumulator, it's really hard to get so hooked on a hobby and all of the trappings of restoration, buying and selling without some accumulation. Even for me -- accumulating 45 pens, of which 15 or so won't be used regularly if ever, for a host of reasons, ranging from (to add a few Brucely Capitalizations) Curiosity (Good Life from China in the '60's), Gift from Someone (Jinhao Zhuge Liang brought back as present from China), Not Worth Selling but Interesting (NOS Wearever Pennant), Not Worth Selling Until They're All Gone Sometime in The Next Century (Reform 1745), a couple of nice No-Names, and Too Fragile to Use Regularly (tiny yellow Waltham)...the list goes on for about 15 pens. So while I can't really deny collecting, but won't fully enjoy the hobby unless I have to actually decide which of my pens are ready to come off the bench and play when someone needs a break, from now on I will cheerfully say I'm Accumulusing.

 

Tim

Edited March 4, 2015 by tmenyc

[corgicoupe]

Thanks very much for the thoughtful answers. That helps. I, too, have one that will not see much use because it's rather delicate: a gold plated Waterman Ideal 0552.

[Freddy]

For your consideration two interesting essay's on this subject.....Personally

I go both ways.....

 

Pen Collector vs Pen User by David Issacson

http://www.(bleep).com/website/peneducationuser.htm

 

Mint Vintage Pens: Preserve 'Em or Ink 'Em up? Richard Binder

with opposing viewpoint by Don Fluckinger

http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref/misc/mint_pens.htm

 

^Fred

[corgicoupe]

Both articles help. Thanks.

[FountainPages]

My collection amounts to eight maximum. I struggle to use this much kit but I do manage to use them all.

[jordanjay29]

Accumuluser.

 

The word is Accumuluser.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/285519-how-many-pens-make-you-a-collector/

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

 

Thank you for giving me a label I can be proud of. *changes member title*

[Sasha Royale]

If you write with a fountain pen, you are a user.

If you get yourself a pen for reason other than as a "back-up" for the above,

you are a collector. We allow you to be both. No additional membership fee.

[mike.jane]

I'd be called an Accumuluser as well, but even more I consider myself an enthusiast.

I have more pens than I really need. So I'm not just a user. If I were, I'd have maybe two pens, both solid performers, using two different colors of inks, and maybe also having two different line widths (F and M probably). that would be it.

Obviously I'm not a collector either. As a collector I'd try to accumulate a large collection, do it with an interest in greatest value for money spend and I'd have to try and keep my collection in as pristine condition as possible. That would mean not using my pens, (or careful light use of already-used items at best)

 

So I'm an enthusiast, using or playing with my pens makes me happy, so that is why I have a few more than I 'need' (Same as with countless other things. I think most people e.g. have much more items of clothing than they 'need') I enjoy writing with them, mixing my own inks, adjusting feeds and things, polishing at times, explaining what FPs are, and why they are great, giving beginner-friendly pens away to people around me. Oh and hanging out here, and in stores. Trying out pens that currently I'd rather not spend THAt much on.

 

Bonus content: That's why right now I like Indian made pens best. I feel they play right into the sentiment I tried to describe.

It's like this: Dear customer,

We hope you'll get great use out of this pen that we made with good looks but not too much nonsense. And if not, there's always ways to hack it to your desired performance and we encourage you to experience it this way. Cool? Cool. Love Your friend India.

P.S.: And if you really can't get it right, well it wasn't THAT expensive either, so you could try another one.

[jordanjay29]

Bonus content: That's why right now I like Indian made pens best. I feel they play right into the sentiment I tried to describe.

It's like this: Dear customer,

We hope you'll get great use out of this pen that we made with good looks but not too much nonsense. And if not, there's always ways to hack it to your desired performance and we encourage you to experience it this way. Cool? Cool. Love Your friend India.

P.S.: And if you really can't get it right, well it wasn't THAT expensive either, so you could try another one.

 

Somehow, Indian pens seem to lie in that sweet spot between poor quality* Chinese pens and entry-level Western/Japanese pens. They make for a nice bunch of experimental pens without being such a gamble at quality.

 

*I wouldn't place the higher-quality Chinese pens like the Hero 100 in this definition.

[tmenyc]

No additional membership fee.

 

Really? I have to apply for a refund!

 

Tim

[peterg]

I accumulate and use. If it is an unused old pen I leave it in that state because there will be no more.

If it has been used I use/ repair it and find any excuse to write with it (usually just scribbling notes on scrap paper).

 

Currently I 44 pens sitting around waiting to be used ranging from a 1910ish Charles Lett syringe pen to a couple of 1960's Parker Victories MkV with Uniques being the largest representative brand followed by Parkers

[Buzz_130]

I don't see the need for the discussion to be either/or. The "versus" is an unnecessary split. We can be both at the same time or selective on each individual pen.

 

I use all of the pens I have, and I enjoy the feel and writing style of each one I own.

 

Buzz