Jump to content

Plum...hohum...no One Cares About Those Things...


OcalaFlGuy

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 22
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • OcalaFlGuy

    5

  • Cryptos

    5

  • inkstainedruth

    4

  • pajaro

    2

And I checked way before closing for you Chrissie. Guy says nothing about outside the US shipping.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had this in my watch list, but I was on the road returning from the Chicago Pen Show and did not have a good place to pull over to bid. I would have bid, but I only need the pencil. I have a pen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

EDIT: Looks like someone was paying attention to this thread. Snapped up immediately upon re-listing. Ho-hum

Edited by Cardboard_Tube
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, it's hard to tell from the photos. In some the set definitely looks like Plum, but in others, not. The listing describes them as being from "1938" which is obviously wrong (did they even make 51s that early?) but I'm presuming that that's a typo for "1948" or that the seller didn't really do quite enough homework.... But of course I would have only been watching, not bidding, because I'm not interested in sets.

I've been trying to stay away from the Bay of Evil recently, until we finish paying off the new roof and the credit card bills from when we were in Mississippi in March. Although I *did* sort of go antiquing yesterday. And decided to check out the new location of an old-time Pittsburgh stationers after my doctor's appointment on Friday, and even though it would have been cheaper online (and I'm now completely out of quarters between the two stops) I ended up with a bottle of Pelikan Edelstein Tanzanite.... :blush:

Haven't told the husband about that, yet.... I DID tell him about the 1938 Parker Challenger, though. :rolleyes: And I was really good and said "I don't do desk sets" even though the nib on the 51 Special desk set did look really sweet.... Maybe I'll go back at some point and see if that's still there. (No finking, 'kay? And no, I'm not divulging the location either.... At least not until I really decide I have changed my mind about desk sets. And black pens. And the price....

(And yeah, it was a 51 Special -- I checked. If it had been an Aerometric I might have been making a long distance phone call to where my husband was off gaming yesterday... or saying "Honestly, I don't know how it got in the car -- it must have hitched a ride when I wasn't looking" (because "Can I keep it, it followed me home" is passé.... ;)

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."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How do you tell for sure it's a plum? What are the tell-tale signs?

 

Thanks.

 

Glenn

Well, I'm better at the tell-tale signs for it NOT being a Plummer:

1) Wrong date codes (they only made them for the 1948-1949 model year).

2) Wrong type of filler (I don't believe that they made any 51 Vacs in Plum, and 51 Specials were not introduced until 1950, according to Richard Binder's website).

3) Burgundies have reddish highlights and Plums don't; in anything other than bright daylight, Plum often appears to be black to the naked eye....

So, I'm pretty sure the Aero Demi I have *is* a Plummer (at least when compared to a Burgundy 51 Special and a Black 51 Vac, and then more recently to a late -- i.e., early 1960s, according to Ernesto Soler -- Mark II Burgundy Aero.

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."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How do you tell for sure it's a plum? What are the tell-tale signs?

 

Thanks.

 

Glenn

The couple pics where there are areas that Could be Burgundy are areas getting blasted by whatever light source he's using, artificial light confuses the Plum ID. The areas where the pen Doesn't have direct light reflections appear more Plum.

 

The 8 is for one of the two legit date codes, '48.

 

The filler is also correct with the original series filler.

 

I would say probably at least 80% likely a Plum, maybe 90% and 90% is as high a probability as I'd go on Fleabay without really good pics.

 

The seller doesn't take returns. :( If he had, I wouldn't have bothered to dicker on the BIN. I could always return them. THAT is why I suggested the $150 BIN offer. Someone indeed sent him a BIN offer, he had to change and resubmit the listing to do it officiallythrough Ebay. The idea on my $150 was that even that would be a decent deal for a *Burgundy* set. That's a "trick" to stealth Plum bidding, don't pay more than you would if it Wasnt Plum. That way you're happy no matter how it goes.

 

I suspect whoever sent in the BIN offer thought it was pretty sure a Plum too.

 

Oh and for the record, Plum Sniper Field Marshal Octatonic (member here) sent Me the listing.

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

Edited by OcalaFlGuy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not interested in sets.

 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

@ Ruth,

 

Just curious why you're not interested in sets? What I don't like about sets is, well, the pencil. Duh! They are more likely than not to be a pain in the arse.

 

Thanks.

 

Glenn

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The last two pictures clearly show that the set is burgundy.

"Don't hurry, don't worry. It's better to be late at the Golden Gate than to arrive in Hell on time."
--Sign in a bar and grill, Ormond Beach, Florida, 1960.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

@ Ruth,

 

Just curious why you're not interested in sets? What I don't like about sets is, well, the pencil. Duh! They are more likely than not to be a pain in the arse.

 

Thanks.

 

Glenn

Yeah, it's the pencil. B) I have a perfectly good Berol Turquoise lead holder. I use that when I need a pencil. Oh, yeah, and the price -- people go all ga-ga about sets, which makes them tend to be more expensive....

And there's just something that I can't quite put my finger on about sets that me on edge. Dunno why. Just not interested. Ditto for desk pens (although I almost changed my mind last weekend on a 51 Special desk set because it had a really sweet nib, and if it had been cheaper I might have really considered it...).

There are just some pens (or pen colors if I like the model otherwise) that Just Don't Do It for me. Buckskin Beige? Cocoa? Nassau Green? Keep 'em. Not interested. People go crazy for the Golden Web Vacumatics -- I think they're butt-ugly. And I know people who don't want a 51 at all -- in *any* color -- because they don't like the look of hooded nibs.

I wanted a Plummer because of the color. Not because it was rare -- just because it was pretty. I'm about 90% sure I got one. So, while I occasionally skim the 'Bay to keep my hand in -- just in case -- the odds that I'm going to actually be looking for a second one to add to the stash are pretty low.

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."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The pencils in the sets use .9mm lead, and I was able to core out some erasers. I use these pencils to do crosswords sometimes. Usually I use a pen for that, one of the few remaining uses I have for a pen at all. Generally I think the plum is OK in good light, but like all the 51 dark colors it tends to look black. The cocoa color seems sexy to me. I keep a demi set of cocoa with nice frosty caps for that reason.

 

Yes, I have modern pencils, but I do enjoy using one of those 51 pencils common in my youth to do a crossword sometimes. More fun to do them with a 51 pen..

Edited by pajaro

"Don't hurry, don't worry. It's better to be late at the Golden Gate than to arrive in Hell on time."
--Sign in a bar and grill, Ormond Beach, Florida, 1960.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guys, check this out. Is this plum? eBay # 400910852520

Hard to tell for sure. The pictures aren't great, and the listing variously describes the pen as "brown" and "black". So a definite maybe....

Half tempted to bid on it myself, but I won't because I'll feel stupid if it turns out to be black after all -- I don't need another black 51 (what with the UK made 51 Vac and the 51 Aero that in theory I bought for the husband because it's got an EF nib...).

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."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It looks promising enough to ask the seller the deciding questions, And in the order they should be asked.

 

;)

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the seller has more or less already provided the answer to the important question. Or is there another question that I am not familiar with?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33501
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26627
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...