Good grief. I just bought a Big Red for $474.00 because I wasn't paying attention! Sheesh... I meant to put in a maximum bid of $300 dollars USD, but in my hurry to swap between auctions, I had a brain lapse and forgot the auction was in POUNDS! 300 click click... next auction... I have to laugh about it because otherwise I'd be rolling on the floor kicking and screaming. Alrighty then.. guess this limits my purchases for a while and a very good lesson learned... man... I hope it's a fantabulous writer... I'm not saying that some of these pens could not possibly be worth that much in stellar condition, but that is considerably more than I wanted to spend...


I'm gonna go have a drink and celebrate my idiocy.. and await my new beautiful pen... wow

Dave

I think you can retract your bid since it was a confusion between euros and dollars if you'd want to.


Kurt

That seems like a good idea. Ask the seller this and see what happens.

Thanks for the suggestion guys, and you're probably right, i probably should have, but I just can't retract a bid for my own stupid mistake. I'll just live with it. I already made payment. I've lost more in Vegas in a shorter period of time... so, I'll just keep the pen for an hundred years and it'll increase in value by then. :-) I bet I'll pay intense attention to what I'm doing in the future for sure.

edit: what is really surprising is that someone had to intentionally bid something like $470 to knock mine up so high.. Someone REALLY wanted that pen..

Well thats not so bad. You could have been paying 600 dollars+ if someone had bid 298 pounds.

Maybe it is a good RHR with large imprint, which would be worth it, I think. Any expert opinion on the value of earlier RHR duofold?

This one is celluloid, claimed to be 1927 but it has the double band cap, so IIRC, the double band began in 1928. It's a very clean pen and a decent sample from probably 1928-1930. In this condition (if represented truthfully) - I see these normally go for about $325 to $375 from reputable dealers/collectors and thus the basis for my $300 maximum bid (cough cough).

It's fine... I've slapped myself over the head a few times and now I'm okay with it.. I'm looking forward to putting it to the test.

It's actually kinda peculiar because I generally don't go for the more "pristine" vintage pens. To me the usage marks and minor flaws lend a vintage pen some history and character, plus, I'm not worried about inking and using it (which is why I collect mine.. to put more usage marks on them myself) and quite often they are phenomenal writers for a bit less money. So, this auction was a bit of a fluke for me... Perhaps this is the Destiny Pen for which everything i write will come to fruition!

Dave wins lottery,
Dave finds good unselfish woman (not needing a bicycle pump or stands all day in the front window of Macy's) who also loves pens and decorative ink spots on everything and isn't afraid of loud motorcycles.

Hey, it could happen! (Twilight Zone Music)

Dave

If you don't want it, I'll be glad to relieve it's burden from thy dainty hands...?

**Holds out hands for Duofold**

Hey now, I didn't say I didn't want it :-) wanting the pen and spending more than I really wanted to are not necessarily related. :-) Well, at least now I will have one of these that's in very good shape.. and as mentioned, it could have been worse if someone would have bid 298 pounds. :-)

Actually everything works out in the long run. I did get a great deal on a black one in excellent condition, so with the average of the two, the balance is a bit better. The scales of Pen justice tend to balance over time... now to begin drooling over one of those white marble duofolds. Always another pen on the horizon.. this must be a documented illness.. has to be..

perhaps PENicillin will will cure the PENchant... nahhhh, I think the only cure is another fix! :-)

Inkquest - Put a photo up when you get it, will you? I have a '28 Duofold and it would be great to compare condition, etc. Just had it out for a re-sacing and nib smoothing...it has one small split between the edge of the cap and the gold bands, but because of the bands, it's not getting any worse.

Tough mistake but at least you did it on a 100% classic pen that will always have decent resale value...!

Damn it! Now I have to wait until Sunday to go off to the Armadale Antiques Center and try my luck there!!

*Sulks*

Anyway, good luck with the pen, Inky. I sincerely hope you like it.

Hah! Good to see others slip up too. I once put in a bit a minute before closing time, but using a decimal KOMMA (as we do here) rather than a decimal POINT. Imagine my horror at seeing the message "Your maximum bid is $ 5250 " come up! Needless to say I won the auction. Thankfully at an ok-ish price.

Hi Dave,

Been there, done that...know exactly how you feel. Here's a good rationalization, one that works for me: It sounds like you really wanted this pen, AND you only really paid $174 more for it than you wanted. Now, I don't know your financials, but I think it's safe to assume that *most* of us who would consider spending $300+ on a pen are in the same, ahem, financial condition (or the same mental state, or maybe both!). Anyway, overpaying a couple hun isn't THAT much, it's not like you'll need to take a sub prime mortgage in order to swing it. And you really liked the pen. And they don't come along that often. So, when it comes, ink 'er up and let us know how she writes!

Heh, yes, it IS nice to hear of others making the same kinds of mistakes... Certainly in the grand scheme of things, paying a couple of hundred bucks extra for something isn't going to kill me financially, but it was one of those idiotic moments that make you say to yourself "god.. how could I have done that..."


I think this was one of those "destiny" moments.. The only way in hell I would have paid that much for a pen like this is by complete accident... and, this is the best writing vintage Parker I have ever felt... bar none... I don't have nearly the collection some of you have, but I do have quite a number of fabulous top tier writers tweaked to perfection - duofolds, vacumatics, 51's, 61's, but I must say.. this one is completely in a league of its own. It's difficult to describe. I absolutely feel I got every penny of my money's worth out of this goof up.. sometimes good things happen in very strange ways, eh??

Dave

Hi Dave,

Happy to hear it worked out. I do so love a happy ending!

-john