No pictures, as I dropped the pens off with the repair person I use ("The Southern Scribe") as he was at the show, but I'll come back and post some pics once I have them back repaired, restored, and correct.

Today, I managed to find a vendor of Montblancs that had two Parker 51s. He knew what he had, but they just weren't his thing so I think that I did well on the prices.

First find was a first year in Cordovan with a perfect wedding band cap. Now, before you get too excited, the barrel was split. Good news for me on two fronts... 1- He sold it to me at a very good price as a parts pen and 2 - I found a different person who is almost positive he has a correct cordovan barrel I'm picking up at a fair price. Everything but the barrel was excellent. Cap, blind cap, tassies, correct aluminum jewels and all the right markings on the blind cap, clip, etc. Needless to say, I'm thrilled that it looks like I'll be getting into this pen for about half of what I see them selling for.

Second was a first year set with sterling "lined" caps. Somewhere along the lines, it was repaired with a plastic pump mechanism instead of the speedline filler unit, but everything else was perfect. The caps are dent free and still have all their rhodium plating, and both are just in really nice shape. I almost brought this set home, but I decided since I got into it right, that I'd curb my enthusiasm and I'd go ahead and spend a little extra to make it all correct by replacing the filler unit with a speedline. Should have both sets back in a few weeks.

I don't mean to brag. I'm just terribly excited. I can't wait to get them back and once I do, I'll post some pictures.

BTW - this was my first show and besides being quite overwhelmed, it was a great experience. I met many of the people I've corresponded with here in the past and some very knowledgeable and helpful people. I had hoped to make a couple of trades, but instead just made several purchases (MUCH more than I planned, but what a blast). I even was offered pretty good money for some of my not-for-sale pens, and the money offered made me feel much better about what I've been paying. A great experience that I highly recommend.

BOOOOO!!! You stink! I would have bought both first! I wish I was there

Oh yeah... one more noteworthy post.

I had a DJ 51 with a cap that I was less than pleased with. I spoke with a few people dealing in parts or repairs looking to pick up a replacement cap (BTW - I learned that a Vac pen and Aero cap may be interchangeable as far as the pens go, but are quite different in that a blue diamond cap does not fit well on an aero cap, but that's another story).

Well, I found one repair guy that had a few caps... First he offered me what appeared to be a very nice GF cap for $20. My clip's blue diamond was actually in better shape so he went to switch the clips for me and a huge ding was discovered under the old clip. Needless to say, I no longer wanted the cap. Then I noticed a squigly/wavy line cap. I knew this was a bit more rare, and he wanted $75 for it. Probably a fair price, but I wasn't sure and, frankly, I'm not that fond of the cap.

Then I noticed a perfect, dent free, sterling cap with all its rhodium plating still on it. A very nice cap. Perhaps not as rare as the squigly cap, but I find the sterling caps prettier (personal preference). He charged me $50, and now that the cap is replaced, my DJ is almost perfect.

Almost, you ask? Well, upon closer inspection (with a loop) I found an unexpected surprise. Mind you, this was a pen I picked up kind of by accident in a past trade and the (old) GF cap was a dented mess. The surprise... the tassie is solid 14K, just like on my 51 with an heirloom cap (of course that one's pocket clip is also 14K). So now what to do.

I'll probably replace the tassie with a GF to make the pen "correct" (I don't think sterling pens came with solid gold pocket clips, even if I could find one) and save this 14K tassie. Maybe one day I'll luck out and find an Empire cap either by itself or on a pen missing the tassie, but because the pen will need a tassie, I'll pick it up at a steal. Hey, a guy can dream, can't he?

George: Believe me, I know the feeling. I saw some great deals going between others that were just quicker on the draw. Believe it or not, I saw one dealer dump what appeared to be just a bunch of part pens on a table and said "$5 per piece." He didn't care if you swapped caps around, or tried to assemble a bunch of parts to make a more complete pen, he just wanted the stuff gone. I couldn't even get close to the table it was so crowded and I saw one guy who walked away with three perfectly good aero 51s ($15 TOTAL!). Most stuff may have been parts, but obviously if you could get close enough to go through it, there were some complete pens as well.

I truly believe that the ONLY reason I got these two first years was that since the dealer had primarily MontBlancs, most non-MB collectors were walking right past him. I don't know how they caught my eye, but I even showed them to another dealer two tables away who couldn't believe the prices I paid!

Rick Horne (a.k.a. - The Southern Scribe - who also does my repairs) also assured me when I dropped them off to him that I got a good deal. He said even after repairs he suspects they will be worth twice what I paid.

Finally, some redemption!!

ooh, oooh, if we get to brag about Parker finds, how about mine?

A 1932 Parker Golden Arrow stubby set in silver pearl with great color and strong imprints. Also a stubby Vacuum Filler era (1933) poencil in red (still need the pen).

And a Oversize black Vacumatic set from 1939 (late!!), with the same longitudinal stripes as the first year OS black Vacs. Very cool, very curious piece.

Oh and I got some boring Pelikans.

close inspection always a good thing

d

close inspection always a good thing

d
[/quote]

NOW FOR THE SAKE OF FULL DISCLOSURE...

I must give David the credit here. He's the one who found this for me AND suggested I set it aside and save it for if I ever find an empire cap! Thanks, again, David!

Nice guy, that Dr. Isaacson... and, man, does he have some nice pens!

My pleasure.

Enjoyed our meeting greatly.

regards

Hows the show David? Best show ever to come upon this earth, and im not there? I feel horrible

PS David, look at this. Looks like Stevie got some of his own medicine on that Red Giant on ebay:

On Aug-11-07 at 15:52:26 PDT, seller added the following information:
This will be my final addition to the description of this pen. I was informed today, of all of the wonderful and nasty comments on PENTRACE made about me and the facts about this pen. As for Mr. Overburg, do not worry, he will be blocked from bidding on this pen. Perhaps, he thought he could buy it cheap. I don't know nor do I care. As for all of those that supported me and my reputation I Thank You so much. Yes, I am from Nebraska, corn fed and all of that. But, one thing for sure. I do not lie! Mr. Overbury's comments regarding what I said are untrue. His exaggerations are pitiful. His first letter to me was full of insults and constant reference to my very poor pictures. I replied to his message with facts. This wonderful old pen is guaranteed to be OLD. Of course, if you find it not true your money will be refunded, but we are confident this is unlikely to occur. I have been selling on ebay for 12 years. My first account and still operating account was under heebeeshebee. Why not check out my feedback there too.