Trip Report – D.C. Pen Show 2007

It may be best if I start the report with a brief description of my first pen show, D.C. 2006: I walked around in a daze, overwhelmed by the sheer number and variety of pens. After a day of inspecting, talking to dealers and feeling like I was over my head, I walked out of the show with a Pilot Vanishing Point, a 4-color pencil and a headache. I was dazed and confused.

Fast forward to this past weekend. Marilyn & I were better prepared and spent Saturday night at the Sheraton to allow us two days of more relaxed pen shopping. I prepared a shopping list of needs and wants so that I would be better prepared to hunt rather than wander as I did last year.

The results are as follows: We had a delightful time, met some really nice people, found a number of things on my list, and no headache.

Saturday started out like last year with a lack of focus on my part due to the large number of pens to see. I regained focus later in the day. Sunday was a good day spent hunting.

There were new pens on display. OMAS had their new Bologna and 360 for viewing. The Bologna is pretty, and the 360 doesn’t look much like the original. The biggest change seems to be with the cap, which is sort (but not quite) flat-topped in contrast to the tapered cap of the earlier 360.

Prices on new pens were better than expected for items on my list. It seemed that a lot of new Pelikans were 50% off. I picked up a Grand Place for just under $200. I also found a Sailor Sapporo at a good price ($105). The Sailor folks kindly gave me a free bottle of ink and nib tuning by Mr. Nagahara. The pens are now inked and in my shirt pocket. I’m going to like both of them.

On the vintage side, we picked up a striped Parker Duofold. This pen has the smoothest nib, even better than the Sailor Sapporo. We later picked up a matching pencil from the same dealer.

I found & bought a Parker Vacumatic (green Debutant) that was in the possession of a former submarine sailor. We swapped a couple of stories from our bygone days at Sub Base New London.

Marilyn is the negotiator in our marriage and does far better than I when it comes to closing a deal. She found a celluloid OMAS paragon (1930 size) at what we believe to be an excellent price. While it is a beauty, it does not perform like our other OMAS pens. It does ok, just not what we have come to expectexpect from an OMAS.

Marilyn added a new Pelikan 400 to her collection. She also found a recent LeBoeuf (a Greg Norman model) at Deb Kinney’s table. This is her second of this brand and both are excellent pens.

I have an OMAS Extra with a broad nib that writes very well, but is far too broad for my liking. Deb Kinney ground the nib to write a fine line. It now writes as nicely as before with a line that I like. It will get a lot more use in the future. Deb has been recommended in these pages before and I didn’t hesitate to seek her help. She did a really nice job in a very short time.

The ink testing was a nice feature of the show, with lots of sample bottles to choose from. Unfortunately, we purchased a bottle of one orange ink that tested well at the tables, but had a decidedly un-orange (green) tone to it when we tried it at home.

The Sheraton was nice with a courteous staff. Our room was nice, especially with the pen show discount. Our only surprise was the price of breakfast. This could be a sign that we don’t get out very often, but paying almost $18 per person for a breakfast buffet seemed a little high. We could have bought a lot more ink with that $$$.

All in all, the show was a lot of fun. I have had a ‘pen fix’ that should last for quite a while. For those who have not attended a pen show, try one sometime.

Craig

Thanks for the report, Craig. I was a bit dazed and confused at my first show in Portland (back in 2004)...and that's a considerably smaller show than DC's!