Decided to join today after lurking / enjoying the forum for several months.

My first interest in pens of any kind was at my first job in my high school years - my boss had a Paper Mate Contour BP and I had never seen a pen put out such a beautiful blue color before. I bought one and used it for years and years.

Later on a trip to Italy I became acquainted with FPs - I bought a Parker Vector and used it for years. Used only catridges, though. Didn't know there was any other way to use it!

Then I "stumbled" on a Waterman Expert II BP - but I didn't know what it was. I decided to find out, and discovered what it was on a.c.p.p. While doing so, I found the "Phileas" mentioned hundreds of times, with nothing but praise for its performance. I remembered how much fun it was to use the Vector and set out to get a Phileas FP with a medium nib at the local Office Max.

That was 18 months ago. I still love the Phileas - it's my favorite (I only have 2 FPs so far) and it LOVES Waterman Florida blue. I'm starting to like WM Blue-Black now; it's a different color than any BP can put out. I don't like WM Black in it, however; it looks washed out in such a wide line. Looks more black in a fine line.

My other FP is a Namiki/Pilot VP, new style, fine nib. I enjoy it, and it is very handy, but its clip annoys me sometimes. Other times I don't mind. It's heavier than the Phileas too, and for lengthy writing it's less comfortable to use.

I've enjoyed all I've read here - I look forward to my time spent here.

Eric

Hi Eric,

Welcome to FPN, and this bunch of pleasantly disturbed people!

You do realize that delurking means the end of eating very many pizzas . All your money will now go to fountain pens, ink, paper and other pen related paraphernalia .

Of course, now you have a Phileas and a VP, it is about time for a Pelikan M200, and maybe a different Waterman, like the Sérénité, or maybe a Sheaffer, or a Sailor, or a Delta, or dare I say it, a Stipula . It has to be Italian pens really, if your nick name is pizza_eater, obviously .

Kind regards, Wim

Hi Eric,

...And welcome to FPN. Wim forgot to mention that you won't have time to eat pizza, either! This can be a busy board to keep up with, but I'm sure you'll enjoy it--and learn a lot too, as we all do.

Ann

Why not eating and surfing?

I'm working on a little curried beef, pottoes, and vegetables, listening to Supertramp, and surfing.

Please don't tell my wife I can multi-task... I have her convinced that I can only do one thing at a time and then do that one thing so poorly that she won't ask me to do it again.

Welcome to FPN, Eric and thanks for delurking.

Sounds like you're off to a very good start. My first FP when I re-entered the FP world was a Phileas. Still love it so much that I have two. And if I could justify having several more Old style Phils, I would.

I don't use my VP for long writing stints but I do love it. Find it mostly comfortable even so.

But as Wim said - you'll find a lot of enablers here who might come up to you in a dark alley and flash...

a Pelikan M200.

Welcome!
K

Hi Eric, and welcome to FPN

I too have a Phileas (red marbled) and its cousin, the Kultur (orig. sold in Europe only), as well as a modern Namiki VP in red (can you tell I like the colour red? ). The VP has a customized cursive italic nib and can make the worst handwriting look good...

I'm not an ink expert but I believe Waterman Florida Blue is well-known for being a "free-flowing" ink; I like it. I know lots of people like the W'man Blue-Black as well; FPNer Wim is a fan and pen repair guy Richard Binder uses it to test pens...

Hey KCat,
Not me, no no no..! I only flash Stipula Etrurias and Waterman Edsons!

Had five in my shirt pocket on Friday, not wearing a vest, so I got some interesting comments .

Warm regards, Wim