Are you a true pen collector ?

[goodguy]

As I mentioned before I own about 140 pen (and it keeps growing).

I see myself as a FP collector.I use only few of my pens and the rest of them is in my cabint.

[sonia_simone]

I'm definitely a user rather than a collector. I mostly buy new pens because I am curious to know how they write.

 

I'm fascinated by folks who buy a certain brand or make in every color. Not what floats my personal boat, but it sure is nifty to see photos of those cases full of pens.

[Phthalo]

I'm not a true collector. My intent is to buy pens to use - but whether I do use them is a different story.

 

When I find the nib on a pen or the size of the pen isn't right, I am unable to part with it - it just goes into the case as part of the collection.

 

I don't like just storing all these pens though - so I have begun to get very fussy about what I buy.

[krz]

I'm not a collector, but do have a few that I keep as a collection. :blink:

[BillTheEditor]

I'm not a collector, I'm a user. Yeah. I can stop buying pens any time I want to. Yeah. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[Dawn]

Im a user. I use every pen that I own, if I dont like the way it writes then I sell it to buy one that I can write with. I only use a couple at a time so when not in rotation they are in a cabinet.

 

Dawn

[Nimrud]

I'm both. I use what I collect. That's getting difficult, with 7 fountain pens and counting, but I try to be picky about what I buy. It "helps" of course that I have expensive tastes

 

I'm on an acquisition moratorium at the moment after blowing my budget yet again ... or at least until the next "irresistible, once in a lifetime buy" comes along

[DWL]

Yes, but at the same time a resounding no...

 

I have what I consider 2 separate collections.

 

The 1100 plus Wearevers and everything else.

 

When a Wearever comes into the black hole it's hardly ever released unless I have a better one to replace it with. Yes, I use some of them (ok a hundred or so..lol) but there are some that I just don't use because they are too fragile or too hard to come by if I should happen to lose one.

 

Then there is everything else. I've got 2 50 pen cases I keep full & limit myself to this many "non Wearevers" only. I change this collection like I change my socks. If I pick up something that I enjoy I'll keep it anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of years depending on how much I like it & it's frequency of use, then sell it/trade it off for something else thats caught my eye. I get so many interesting pens across my bench it's hard to keep myself to just these 2 cases, if I didn't I would have pens coming out of my ears...lol There's no real focus to this part of my collection, just pens that catch my eye or want to try out for a while.

 

Dennis

[James P]

I think I fit into both categories somewhat. I use the vast majority of the pens I have, even the vintage ones. Nonetheless, there are several pens I have that I am keeping in "mint" condition - Although I want to use them, I just can't bring myself to do so. For instance, I have a few Bexleys - the Owners' Club (No. 004/113) in silver and a Gemstone that I keep reaching for but, at the last minute, I pull back. I also have a few demonstrator pens I collect and won't use.

 

I dunno what's wrong with me!

 

James

[French]

I use everything I own. I guess I'm not a true collector, but a semi-focused accumulator. I need to enjoy writing with the pens I own, and if I get a pen that doesn't write the way I like, I'll either put in on the marketplace or send it to a nibmeister.

 

French

[Dan Carmell]

Hmmm... I could either call myself what French did: a semi-focused accumulator, or suggest that the poll presents a false dichotomy. Maybe both are true!

 

I am a semi-focused accumulator, but I am a certain type of collector as well, if... If a collector can use every pen in the collector and thus steer clear of "mint" pens. If a collector can define the quirky limits of one's own collection. And if the Parker 45 is a pen worthy of collecting, because that's the only pen I am seriously collecting at this time.

 

best, Dan

[Johnny Appleseed]

I am forgoing the vote on this, because I don't like the implications of a "true" collector. Is there a false collector?

 

A Parker 45 is definitely a pen worth collecting. So are Wearevers, or Arnolds, or any other pen out there.

 

And you can be a collector and use every pen you collect.

 

Antonios did a poll like this a while back, which created 3 catagories. User - Accumulator - Collector. There was debate of course as to where the distinction lay.

 

On one end is the pure user who has about 8-12 pens max and uses every one - if a pen is under-utilized he tends to sell it off.

 

If you have more pens than that, unless you have a lot of pens with specialized calligraphy nibs, you generally are getting them for more reasons than their pure use - even if you may use them. This is where the accumulator starts.

 

Where is the line between accumulator and collector? A much harder line to draw. One line was that you can enjoy owning a pen that you don't intend to use. I also think that a collecting focus makes the distinction between collector and accumulator - you have some rational for collecting what you do, as opposed to "It looks pretty" or "it writes well" or "I like it".

 

Numbers alone are not the issue, in my eyes. I think you could have a collection that consists of a few pens, especially if they are really obscure brands. A collection of 10 Triads would be a heck of a collection requiring a couple of years and a lot of work (and money) to put together. I consider myself to be collecting Baird-North pens, though at this point I have one pen and one nib & section.

 

I am a collector of a few 2nd tier brands, and have an accumulation of others. For the pens I collect, I try to research the history, I buy ephemera (empty boxes, ads, catalogs, etc.), I want to keep track of the models and options. I may keep a pen that is nearly identical to another because it has a slightly different end-cap or trim ring. I also may buy just a nib or nib and section, with the thought that I will later get a pen to go with it, but also because it offers clues to the maker, or is an example of a certain patent, or is just so darn scarce. I use nearly every one of my pens, though it is possible that I might find one that is I was not willing to ink up - and probably would not ink up a truly uninked pen from before the 30s.

 

To make another distinction - I have mint, stickered pens for the brands I collect, and I keep the stickers on them (though I still use them, if very carefully) - but I would not get a stickered pen as part of my "accumulation".

 

John

Edited August 15, 2006 by Johnny Appleseed

[Titivillus]

As I mentioned before I own about 140 pen (and it keeps growing).

I see myself as a FP collector.I use only few of my pens and the rest of them is in my cabint.

I hate :blink: threads like this because it forces a person to put themself in one of two categories.

 

For me there is a wide spectrum between a "pure" collector and a "pure" user.

 

 

I think of myself as closer to user than collector but I do have some pens that I have never inked or rarely ink.

 

 

K

[goodguy]

My question was maybe misunderstood so let me ask it at the spirit in was intended.

 

Do you see YOURSELF as a true pen collector or just buys pens cause you like writing with them.

 

The term COLLECTOR is for YOU to decide.NOT numbers or a certain maker/model.

[Judybug]

No, I am definitely not a collector. I live to see the ink flow from the nib onto paper!

 

Judybug

[Roger W.]

Not sure we need a poll to verify that most board members are users vs. collectors - not that there is anything wrong with that...

 

Roger W.

[kissing]

I'm a user...for now I use all my pens...but it's gradually growing.

 

I'm buying them with saved up weekly pocket money, which isnt that much.

[Johnny Appleseed]

From Kurt

I think of myself as closer to user than collector but I do have some pens that I have never inked or rarely ink.

 

And this is from someone who back in May wrote:

 

I buy pens because I enjoy writing with a fountain pen. I use mostly modern pens but do have some inexpensive vintage pens that no one would think are important. I use all of my pens, filling each with whatever ink strikes my fancy at the time.

 

Which just goes to show you that the division is even more arbitrary, almost nobody fits in one end or the other, and there is a lot of drifting around in the middle.

 

From Roger W.

Not sure we need a poll to verify that most board members are users vs. collectors - not that there is anything wrong with that...

 

Yes, but this poll is skewed so that most of the accumu-lectors in the middle would put themselves in the user category. I think Antonios asks the question better with this poll:

USER-ACCUMULATOR-COLLECTOR

 

From Goodguy

My question was maybe misunderstood so let me ask it at the spirit in was intended.

 

You asked a controversial question which can get into some heated discussion. The whole (in my opinion false) dichotomy of user vs. collector gets into some heated debates about restoration practices, inking un-inked pens, accusations of elitism, etc. For a little background on some of the debate, check out a few of these links. There are more out there as well, and even more heated debates in other forums. So if the response has a little more emotion than you expect, it's because there is a lot of history to the question.

 

John

 

 

Do you ink all the pens you own ?

 

Why do you "collect" pens ?

 

To ink or not to ink, ... and what to do with the sticker ...

 

Hypothetical Question here - You find a rare pen, Keep it or Sell it?

 

Suggestions for Sid's magic reblackening potion...

[StanSoph]

I collect them to use them. I shoot all my guns, drive all my cars and play my Classical music on vinyl, life is to short not to use stuff. Yeah, stuff.

[Margana]

I'm not a collector, I'm a user.  Yeah. I can stop buying pens any time I want to.  Yeah. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

Anyone who can quote lyrics from a Collin Raye song is okay by me.

 

All of my pens were purchased for use - not to look pretty in a case or be tucked in a drawer for occasional viewing. Its mostly about the nib and the fit in my hand so I've got some in rather ordinary condition that nevertheless suit me extremely well. That's not the sort of thing a non-fountain-pen-person would understand but I know you folks do.