It all started with a Parker Sonnet, but now it seems that vintage pens have started to become
my main theme. If you look at the picture, the only non vintage i own is 1. Pilot 742. However, the curse of the vacumatic has
struck, as the last 4 pens that i have purchased have been vacumatic. And now, the final piece, vac 51.
I was not impressed with the shape of the 51, as it didnt have the conventional fountain pen nib, but i thought i would take a chance
seeing as it is a vacumatic. When it finally arrived just now, i was amazed, it was so big in size, all the pictures on the internet have
led me to believe it was a small pen. I am very happy with the pen, its a fine nib smooth writer.
I find the vacumatic very appealing, it possesses a mechanical pump system, which appeals to the tinkerer in me.
Of the 4 vacs i have, only the 51 and the brown vac (6) is in working order. The other two needs a re sac and a nib tinkering.
But my everyday writer is the Esterbrook J. That is a great simple pen. In the mean time, enjoy the pics and i am getting back to
cleaning the 51. My collection is finally complete.


Shot with FinePix F700 at 2007-07-17

Snicker said the guy with 9 vacs and counting. Complete you say! I don't see a Burgundy Pearl in that pile!! And where is your Azure Blue!!!! Then there is the Deb size, major size, major long, standard, maxima ....... Ya know those Vac 51's came in lots of colors and all kinds of cap combinations also. You better get to work, looks like you are just getting started in you search for Vac Nirvana!!!! Have fun with your Vacs and happy hunting!

I have 3 at the moment. I hope to not get any more until I pick up another Pelikan, an 800 or 1000, which ever fits my hand better.

Click to view attachment

Plus I have to send the middle one in to have the diaphragm replaced as well.

Complete??? Ah, you tempt fate there my friend. Oh do you tempt it.

Congrats on joining the Vac club! I have 3 Parker Vacumatics and just can't get enough of the celluloid pattern. It reminds me of Manhattan at night time, circa 1940's of course. Arguably one of the most beautiful pen material compositions to come out of the pre-1950's era. Yep... if I didn't know any better, I'd say Parker was insidious about creating a collecting epidemic with their pens. So many variations that it's hard to stop with just one.

I have also started looking at Vacs recently, always liked them, but never actually bought one in the past, now I have 3 and am keeping my eyes open for more. Always avoided them because of potential repair problems, but now have the names of realiable repairers in the UK, so more inclined to buy.

Still most of us can only dream of a collection like davidi has.

*laughing out loud* and waiting for the next post on your most recent acquisition. Sooooooo many pens and so little time !!!!!!!1

et

Ahhhh, complete. You only think you're collection is complete... until something else catches your eye.

I, too, am fairly new to collecting and was bitten (primarily) by the Vacumatic bug with my favorite size being the Maxima (of course it had to be the most expensive). I now have:

- Shaeffer Balance OS (black)
- Vacumatic Azure (Major) pen/pencil set w/DJ (just repaired and will be taking to Washington pen show in hopes of trade)
- Vacumatic Silver Pearl (Major) pen/pencil set w/DJ (just repaired. Was planning to trade/sell, but Rick Horne - a.k.a. the Southern Scribe - talked me into keeping it. It's in near mint condition with the "jewelers" band instead of the ///\\\ pattern band. It's not "super rare" but he said it's the nicest he's seen in the last 20 years. It's in its box with original papers).
- Vacumatic Golden Pearl (Major) pen w/DJ (just repaired).
- Vacumatic Red (Oversize) pen w/DJ (striped jewels). Beautiful first generation pen (really fat), but it has a medium nib, so I never use it.
- Vacumatic Green (Oversize/Maxima) w/DJ (striped jewels). Extra special pen (and by far my most expensive) because it has the very rare Parker Vacumatic cap band.
- Vacumatic Azure (Maxima) SJ. My favorite pen not just because of the color, but because it has a fine/flex nib.
- Two vintage Montblancs that I bought right here on FPN Marketplace from DocNib a couple months back. (I'll be taking one to the Washington pen show in hopes of a trade).
- Two 51s. Both Vacumatics with DJ. Both black bodies. One with the Heritage (window pane) cap (another of my favorites), and the other with a custom cap that looks like watch gears.
- One modern pen... an Amber colored Pelikan demonstrator.

I'll have to post some pictures soon.

Also, I'd have a couple more Vacumatics, but I just had my first bad experience with a dealer, and he wasn't even on eBay. From what I understand, he attends a lot of shows, but trust me, I will NEVER deal with him again. And no, it WAS NOT the Southern Scribe. I'll continue to buy from the Southern Scribe on a very regular basis. I've had nothing but good surprises (namely in that I think he under-describes his pens) from Rick.

The BAD dealer was located in California. He misrepresented a pen, overcharged my card for shipping - $75 to ship a pen, I think not - claimed it was an accident, he was real busy and wasn't paying attention and swore he'd fix it when I returned him the pen, then later sent me the SAME PEN - only buffed out, but still had a chipped cap, but wasprobably hoping I wouldn't notice. He then tried to tell me that I was being too picky. Horrible experience.

As far as the "complete" statement, I thought I'd just get one or two pens. Now I have these (with a wish list about a mile long) and, please help me, I've also gotten The Fountain Pens (and pencils) of the World books (both the blue and brown ones). Now I know I'll never be done!

Best of luck in your collecting! Hope to see you at a show.

Those red three-banders always charm me ;-)

d

So far, i have resisted getting the book about parker and vacumatics and its history, right now, as i dont write as much, the "51" and vacumatic and the Estie serve my rotation purposes pretty well.
But I am sure in the future, more vacumatics will be tempting me. Yes, i agree, a blue azure should be in the collection as I have two green vacumatics
Best regards
Des

I have one french made oversize vacumatic, will buy another french vac with gold filled cap in september or october plus I am also thinking of getting a vacumatic maxima.

It is pretty, isn’t it? Glad I talked myself into buying it from you. As I said, it is a bit small, but so is a Pelikan 140 and I love mine. (Of course to me most of the world is too small. Size 14 wide shoes don’t grow on trees, you know.) The red writes very nicely, and looks spectacular in the sunlight.

Sometimes it just takes a while to realize you're infected with the vac virus.