Long story short version. Gifted my MIL a beautiful Monteverde fountain pen a couple of Christmases ago. My wife saw the Golden Beryl Pelikan M200 while we were buying the pen for her mother so I gifted that to her the same Xmas. That’s how I discovered what a joy a fountain pen is to write with, and this past Christmas my wife gifted me a Laban Formosa. Loved it, thought maybe we needed a few more. Anything both beautiful and functional is right up my alley. Remembered going into a great pen store in Houston a few times as a kid, recalled my father was their NCR rep. Ran a search for store in Houston and Dromgoole’s came up. That was it! Drove into Houston and down the rabbit hole we went. As with other things I collect I found I was drawn to older models. Found this site when researching a turn of this century Pelikan M400 with 2 chicks nib I purchased and again researching what I think is a circa 1970’s MB 146. Fantastic pens, both. Have certainly purchased more than our fair share of new pens as well, but there’s something satisfying about getting a great old tool and allowing it to continue writing its story. I’ve become a big fan of both Pilot and Pelikan but have others we love as well. Depending on perspective I’m either fortunate or cursed to have a wife who shares these hobbies with me. Fortunate from our perspective, cursed from that of our financial planners! Learned a ton from this site during previous research, seemed like a great group of folks, so here I am. Looking forward to learning more and contributing when I’m able.