Invisible FP in eBay

[POE]

What do you think? Will people really bid on this? I like this guys auctions & how it seems like he's just talking to you in the description, but this seems like a pretty strange idea.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...y0%3D%26fvi%3D1

 

POE

[sumgaikid]

What do you think? Will people really bid on this? I like this guys auctions & how it seems like he's just talking to you in the description, but this seems like a pretty strange idea.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...y0%3D%26fvi%3D1

 

POE

 

On the one hand,from first glance it looks like he's just trying to get rid of junk pens. On the other hand,he does say that the

winner isn't going to get some "sub,4th tier junk pen". It looks promising,but I think that he might snag some novice collectors,

but not that many vintage collectors. Most collectors tend to know what they want,and may not bite.

 

John

 

[FrankB]

I just don't know. It looks interesting, and the guy does seem to know pens. :hmm1:

[PAKMAN]

From the description and answers, I believe it is a Sheaffer Snorkel Black body metal cap triumph nib. I bookmarked it so I can come back and see how I did at my guess!

 

 

[QM2]

From the description and answers, I believe it is a Sheaffer Snorkel Black body metal cap triumph nib. I bookmarked it so I can come back and see how I did at my guess!

 

I also thought that it may be a Snorkel, because he said revealing the filling mechanism would give it away. I am the one who asked the flat-top question : )

Edited June 8, 2008 by QM2

[Maja]

I just don't know. It looks interesting, and the guy does seem to know pens. :hmm1:

 

 

Interesting auction! I applaud Dennis (formerly "DWL" here on FPN) for trying something new

Don't know if we will ever find out what the pen actually was...unless someone here wins it, or he posts about it on Pentrace...

[POE]

A Snorkel was my first guess too. So a black barrel, silver colored cap, mystery filling system, non 14K rigid nib, possibly Triumph. That would be a Snorkel Sentinel right?.

 

Now that I think about it it could also possibly be something in the Parker 51/41 models. Didn't the 41's have a lined pattern on the caps & non 14K Octanium nibs? What about a Parker 45, wsn't there a Coronet model with a spiral/lined cap as well? I know that some of the pens came with steel nibs.

[POE]

Is the bidder on this one of us?

[inkdesigner]

Now that I think about it it could also possibly be something in the Parker 51/41 models. Didn't the 41's have a lined pattern on the caps & non 14K Octanium nibs? What about a Parker 45, wsn't there a Coronet model with a spiral/lined cap as well? I know that some of the pens came with steel nibs.

 

Somebody asked about the cap type and the seller stated that it is a scre-on cap. That means it can't be a pen from the Parker 41/45/51/61 series. As far as I know, all of those pens have slip-on clutch style cap.

 

I'm also thinking it is something with a Snorkel style filling mechanism. Although, now that I think about it, could it be something with a lever fill? Maybe from Wahl-Eversharp perhaps?

 

Inkdesigner

[sumgaikid]

An Eversharp Fifth Avenue or Symphony,perhaps?

 

John

[jmkeuning]

This is DWL?

 

Oh... freaking great.

 

Whoever wins this pen - if you have communication with Dennis, please ask him to either send me my pen, or give me my refund the pen that I bought, that he never delivered.

[POE]

Why not go to his auction and contact him directly?

 

What pen did you buy from him that never showed up?

 

POE

[FrankB]

Yes, I went ahead and bid on this pen just for a lark. I had zero idea it was DWL. Foot!

[Univer]

Hi,

 

Well, we know it's a pen from one of the Big Four: Sheaffer, Parker, Wahl and Waterman. We know it's got a lined metal cap, and that the cap screws on. We know it's not a flattop (can't think of a metal-capped vintage flattop, anyway.) We know that the nib is not 14K. And we know that disclosure of the filling system would more-or-less solve the mystery.

 

To my mind, that suggests a proprietary filling system clearly identified with a particular maker or model. Lever-filler (almost every manufacturer), plunger/vacuum (Sheaffer and Wahl) - those systems simply aren't unique to a specific maker. Among the Big Four, button and Vacumatic spell "Parker," but I can't call to mind a Parker model that would meet the other criteria. So for me, it comes down to one of two:

 

Sheaffer Touchdown: "Touchdown" would instantly say "Sheaffer." But the "fat" Touchdowns and TM Touchdowns were all 14K-nib pens, were they not? To the best of my knowledge, the only TD candidate would be one of the Tip-Dip Craftsman pens. About the right size, screw-on lined metal cap, Touchdown filler, steel nib. A fine writer - I've got a bunch of them - but possibly a bit too entry-level to inspire delight and excitement when the mystery is revealed to the eventual buyer. So I'm voting for...

 

Sheaffer Snorkel: Like "Touchdown," the word "Snorkel" eliminates all doubt about the maker's identity. OK. so the pen in question features a Snorkel filler, lined metal screw-on cap (excludes the PFM), non-14K nib. Sounds like a Snorkel Clipper to me (PdAg Triumph nib). The seller is perfectly right - no-one would feel "cheated" getting this nib instead of the 14K version. (Note that the Special and the Statesman, the only other PdAg non-PFM Snorkels, are excluded by virtue of having plastic caps.)

 

Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Hope we find out the answer!

 

Cheers,

 

Jon

[jmkeuning]

Why not go to his auction and contact him directly?

 

What pen did you buy from him that never showed up?

 

POE

 

I've done that. I even won the Paypal dispute and he will not respond to any of his emails.

 

The reason that I don't do it through the auction is that I do not think you can use an existing auction to harass a seller about an unrelated and off-ebay transaction.

[johnboz]

This is an interesting auction. Sounds like y'all have it narrowed down to a Sheaffer. I might have to bid just to see what it is!

[POE]

It looks like he's added some more information on the pen. What do you think Univer. Still the same pen? 18 Hours to go. He said he'll post the answer on his message board.

 

POE

[POE]

You were really close Univer. He's added the pics on his message board.

 

http://thefountainpencommunity.activeboard...opicID=18115966

 

Looks like a Snorkel Sentinel with a Palladium nib. Nice buy. Did one of us win it?

 

POE

[Univer]

Hey there,

 

Oops, sorry - I completely lost track of this auction, and I missed your posts, POE.

 

I hate to disagree with the seller of the pen in question, but there's no such thing as a Sentinel with a PdAg nib. The Snorkel Sentinel is a 14K nib pen. A Snorkel with a stainless-and-gold-filled cap and a PdAg nib is...a Clipper.

 

Not that I'm suggesting a deliberate misstatement. Lots of people associate that cap style with the Sentinel model; others, for no apparent reason, seem to think that any Snorkel or TD with a metal cap is a Crest (those had gold-filled caps).

 

So, with due respect to the seller, I think I win the Kewpie Doll. Or something. In any event, the high bidder won himself something: a very nice pen indeed.

 

I do love a mystery. (I knew reading all that Dorothy Sayers would pay off in the end.)

 

Cheers,

 

Jon

Edited June 16, 2008 by Univer

[POE]

Hey there,

 

Oops, sorry - I completely lost track of this auction, and I missed your posts, POE.

 

I hate to disagree with the seller of the pen in question, but there's no such thing as a Sentinel with a PdAg nib. The Snorkel Sentinel is a 14K nib pen. A Snorkel with a stainless-and-gold-filled cap and a PdAg nib is...a Clipper.

 

Not that I'm suggesting a deliberate misstatement. Lots of people associate that cap style with the Sentinel model; others, for no apparent reason, seem to think that any Snorkel or TD with a metal cap is a Crest (those had gold-filled caps).

 

So, with due respect to the seller, I think I win the Kewpie Doll. Or something. In any event, the high bidder won himself something: a very nice pen indeed.

 

I do love a mystery. (I knew reading all that Dorothy Sayers would pay off in the end.)

 

Cheers,

 

Jon

 

Thats ok.

 

I don't know if you saw it or not, but at the endof the listing. He added this a couple of days before the auction finished off.

 

"I was doing a bit more research on the pen & I was reminded that the nib is a replacement for the original 14K. The non 14K nib is from a pen in the same model family as the mystery pen. To be 100% honest, most folks ("general" users) wouldn't know it was the wrong nib for this particular pen, it's one of those bits of minutae that a collector would focus on. If you take my meaning."

 

Looking at Richard B's site it shows a Sentinel and a Clipper are the same pen except one has a 14K and the other a PDAG nib. Is that right? So to make this a Sentinel again all it needs is the PDAG swapped out for a 14K nib?

 

I'm in agreement with you Jon. That is a great pen for $32. I might have to bid if he does this again.

 

HAGD!

POE