I have been a member for a while just monitoring the posts. It's time to take the plunge and post.

My first pen was a Shaeffer cartridge pen back in the 60"s. I put a lot of miles on that pen in high school and college. It was retired many years ago but I recently cleaned it and found that it still works fine. It currently resides in my Day Planner. My second pen is a Hero I was given back in the late 80's. It was presentation from a Chinese business delegation. I tried it out but at the time I was really into computers and thought that writing by hand was passe. It is a tolerable writer but has developed a leak around the nib. It is retired until I can fix it.

I received my third pen, a Parker Rialto last year. Again the pen was a presentation, but this time from a Chinese company. I found an old bottle of Skrip black ink that is at least 40 years old. I am something of a packrat. I fired up this pen with a converter and I found that I liked fountain pens. I had forgotten how much I liked putting thoughts down on paper. It is a bit theraputic. This pen piqued my curiosity. I then made the mistake of looking for information on fountain pens on the internet. Who knew. I am hooked.

I am now the proud owner of more fountain pens. Based on a modest budget I first purchased a Lamy Safari and was very suprised at how well it performed. I then discovered Pelikan. I bought three (M215, Future and Pelikano). I discovered Rotring (Core) and I bought four. My grandchildren love the Rotring Core for its clunky looks. I gave one to each of them. There appears to be no end in sight. I am now looking for something for my daughter. She likes green. I am thinking of getting her a Romet Europa. Fortunately my modest budget keeps me somewhat in control.

A big Howdy from Texas.
Enjoy the site

Welcome to FPN. And, thus it begins. LOL It sounds like you've made some great buys of late. I'm sure after you read here for a bit, you'll find other pens to lust after.

Welcome! So glad you worked up the gumption (sp?) to post. Sounds like you're off to a terrific start!

--Lorie

Welcome to the forums, lots of interesting stuff to keep you occupied for hours.

Looks like you are starting to build a collection, you don't need huge amounts of money (but it helps), in some ways a more modest budget means you consider your purchases more carefully so tend not to make impulse buys (often also known as mistakes).

Just off to Google Romet Europa (not a name I'm familiar with).

Actually these pens look quite nice, the Europa reminds me of my Retro Scriptmaster, the Asia series look quite nice as well.*

Andy

Edited to add comments*

Welcome to FPN.

Hey Wylie- Welcome to FPN!!!!!
Look around the forum, and I bet you will find a lot of interesting stuff. Me, I am more a user than a collector. I am now trying to improve my penmanship, and I love writing writing snail mail letters to friends I have made on this forum.