Hi to everyone!

I hope some of you enjoyed reading the link I posted "are you a writer or a typist" by now at least we know where we stand.

I also like to share this webiste that I just visited maybe some of you have read it already.

http://londonpenclub.com/wheredoyoufit.htm

Maybe some of you will agree that we share something in common.... we are 'COLLECTORS' of pen.


Again..., enjoy!






-----------------
Mens sana in corporae sanae

Nope. I am one of the users. (Not that my handwriting shows it, despite improvement.) I do not collect. However, I am accumulating some pens that I use.

Among others, I have a 51 aero. While I may purchase another 51, it would probably be a vac. I am not out to collect one of each color. (I hear sighs of relief ...)

Other than some weak moments in the past, I go for single examples. The exceptions are two Rotring 600s, and 3 Pelikan 2xxs.

I would say I was mostly a user with a little bit of collector and a little bit of investor for writing related things (not just fountain pens; inkwells and stuff like that). I don't think it is as clear cut as categorising people like that but I do feel that those categories are the main ones that people fit in to. I am not interested in any writing implements unless I can use them, but having said that I am not really interested in any writing implements I cannot look at, I usually want the best of both worlds (unfortunately that is not always possible, or at least it is difficult). I am definitely not interested in accumulating things for accumulations sake.

I think he left out an aspect of collector that some people have: Focus. As a collector of vintage pen (mostly captured in the wild) I am opportunistic in that I see a pen and consider whether I want it based on focus... It has to fit in a logical niche in my collection. At that point the investor kicks in and determines if the price warrants the purchase. If it is priced beyond any reasonable ratio of value to cost, I will pass on it. I don't consider a purchase as an investment for profit. I am not a dealer in pens but I won't overpay for a pen just so I can say I have it. As for being a user, I will use any pen in my collection that fits my mood, fancy and purpose at any given time.

Edit, another aspect of pen collector might be conservator. I like it very much if a pen I purchase is one I can return to usefulness. It is a big part of the pleasure of collecting vintage pens.

I'm definitely a user. I have three pens and every one is steadily employed, each and every day. Maybe that makes me an abuser. It's also about quality. When you write many pages every day, the quality of your equipment matters. Pens, ink, paper, it's the ball bearings of your machine. It can't be a $.29 special or your hand will ache.

Ben Franklin said it best, "Write something worth reading, or do something worth writing."

Now if I could only improve my handwriting so that someone other than my secretary could read it.

I, too, am definitely a user. I might have been a collector in another life.

User. Every pen I have picked up I use. Not all at the same time mind you but I put about 4 or 5 in rotation at a time. I collect to use.
PMS

User/collector. I collect in the sense that I go after a specific pen. But having obtained it, I still treat it as a pen and use it regularly. I still buy pens with the view to using them rather than getting them because that's what they are, and having got them, never use them. To me, that's a waste of money.

I agree, buying pens for the sake of owning one and not using it is a waste of money. Just like an eagle not allowed to spread its wings and soar its heights of potential.

I own three fountain pens and each have its own order of duties. My pens I behold are with me in the ups and downs and has been my constant companion. Each has a story to tell and a memory to reminisce just by looking at them. Whenever I use my pen to write or sign, a non-fountain pen user will stare in awe as if they're wondering if I just drawn a knife and ready to lunge it at them.

Well, I use them a lot and now planning to buy another pen not for the sake of keeping but to have an additional at service.


Let me rephrase my post... we are 'USERS' of what we collect or simply users. Whatever

I am, without doubt, a user. I only own two fountain pens; my Parker 45 gets daily use (abuse?), and I am eagerly waiting for my 1988 Pilot Capless to arrive so that I can get started with it (any day now). I can't imagine owning a pen and not using it - if it didn't write well or I didn't enjoy the feel of it, I would get rid of it and look for something else. The Parker 45 may not be a great FP in the grand scheme of things, but it writes so well... Hopefully the Capless will beat it!

I never understood why people don't seem to like the Parker '45'. Mine seems to work alright.

Yep, I'm a user. The article pretty much describes me. With a grand total of three pens I don't think I'm a collector, at least not avid. Purchasing as an investment would dictate, for me, not using it and I just can't buy a nice pen and not write with it.

Well, I guess I will break with the pack and say I am most definitely an investor... I went into the first paragraph thinking "there is such a huge overlap between user and collector that there is NO way you could find a niche that fits" BUT I was wrong. I have often made short term high profit purchases of pens that I have no real interest in owning except for the fleeting enjoyment of playing with it, only to sell them for a small profit and buy something else.

It does break down at some point though because there are certain pens that I will pay twice what they are worth because they are so rare and I won't get another chance for ten years to buy one.

Hmmm, I would not have guessed...

UserCollector?

Right now I seem to be in an Acquisition Mode, but it's mostly to explore and refine my tastes. I bought a lot of Heros, made some decisions about them, sent for a Waterman Kultur (yes, Melnicki---I know!), just got a Pelikano (to go with all my Pelikano Jrs.)

From here it looks as though I will settle into collecting Sheaffer NNs, and looking to acquire one or two costlier pens like a real Sailor and some form of Wet Noodle.

The Pelikano Juniors I use all the time, as my NN. You have to have a pen for each ink color, don't you? Of course you do.

User here too, but with Collector tendancies. I like a pen for what it is, usually preferring those which are very old, elegant and practical.

Rather than lose interest with pens bought I tend to become more interested, if the purchase was a good one. I have bought 2 or 3 old HR pens in search a flexy nib. They weren't good buys, my interest in them has waned mainly becuase I won't be using them. An old CS 200 bought a while ago has seen lots of work on the nib and attempts to stabilise a crack in the cap but it fulfils my wishes, ie very old, elegant and is becoming more and more of a pleasure to use. My interest has increased aboundingly, but mainly because of that pleasure in use rather than pleasure in having.

I love pens that work well but that are also interesting/beautiful in their own right. I have not bought a modern pen for a long time.

Greg

I am a Collecuser.

Nowadays I'm strictly a user. Last winter I was a collector - now I have three dozen pens, and use a bunch of them regularly. And they (almost) all work.

I have a Parker 45 that I don't use because it has a very narrow sweet spot. But there's a lot of people who love their parker 45s. 'Tis a fine pen to those that love em.

Newbie user.....I've always like nice(ish) pens, having had a few of the classic cross pen/pencil sets in the past. For Christmas this year, somebody gave me a Moleskine which started me down the path of finding the right use for the notebook and the right pen to write with. Along the way, I sort of "discovered" fountain pens. Having always thought they were cool, I started with a Pilot Varsity, moving onto a Lamy Safari (which I love), now awaiting a Romet Pisa, and will probably follow up with another nicer pen later this year. I don't really know what the allure is, but my interest is certainly building toward obsession. Of course, finding this site hasn't helped

I didn't read the article, but skimming the comments, I think I'll be safe saying... I'm a collector by default. I don't consider myself a collector, per se, but considering how many fine pens I have (still fewer than 50)... I'd have to say that's a collection, especially since I have only about a dozen in rotation at any time (up from three or four a few months ago, thanks FPN!).

Collector and user. I write with all of them, but sometimes I buy on impulse.

I hope I do not fit. I just do not like categories. If anything, I consider myself a "pen person." I use every pen I have, and I buy pens to use them. I also have a lot of pens, but Ihave been at this pen stuff for 50 years. And I do some impulse buying.

I think the author is wrong in relating impulse buying to the collector framne of mind. I am a collector and user, and I coldly calculate whether or not I want a specific pen, and why. It may be because it fits into an empty niche in my collection, either a back-up or a new one I don't already own, and/or it may be something that I think I will enjoy writing with. 'Impulse' to me implies a sudden attraction that one indulges without proper consideration, and I don't think that necessarily applies, though in some cases that sort of motivation may pertain.

I impulse-buy but have a spending cap per pen on that.

I'm a bit of both. I use almost every pen that I own, but my recent rotation list now has 27 pens in it; takes a while to get through it, by which time I've added more pens.

Just my $.02,
Ron

Interesting article and a good question to all of us. I started using fountain pens to improve my writing and purchased Lamy Safaris and all their nibs. With those I found that I liked medium to broad italic and music nibs the best, so that's what I continued purchasing and use regularly. I fell in love with Sheaffer's OS Balance pens and collected a few, including one with a wet noodle nib (an oxymoron?). So does that make me a user/collector?

I guess I'm more a user, now, though I definitely started as collector. I'm maybe 60/40 in favor of user right now. Yes, I still have a ways to go.

I hadn't initially planned on throwing out every bp, rb, and gel writer in my possesion, but it certainly hit that point, and rather quickly to boot. I have 30+ pens, now. A few of the earlier pens were impulse buys, but cheap ones. Then I bought more inexpensive pens trying to find what nib and feel of the pen suited me, not the other way around. Can't really "fit" me into a specific category.

I am definitely not an investor, as I rarely part with my pens, even if they aren't in daily use or turned out to be something I didn't care for. Once in awhile, a pen may go to another as a gift, but I'm not playing the pen market.

I found I like vintage pens, too. I just like the look and feel of some of them. So far, my vintage pens write quite well. I just don't use them every day.

My daily work rotation has 6 permanent pens: 5 VP's and one Pelikan M600. I've found that I like the way these pens write, I find them a joy to write with, and I just plain like them. Yes, I have VP's in assorted colors. So what? They all have a different bulletproof ink in them. I like a little color variety in pen and ink. I also prefer bulletproof inks, but I do indulge in a bit of other "color" now and again. I have my favorite pens and my favorite inks and I'm always wanting pens that make me feel good with my writing. My permanent home rotation includes a Phileas for general notes and reminders, and my three Bexley pens which I've decided are untoppable for my journal writing. My Bexley's, VP's and Pelikans are all good on general correspondence (snail mailings).

Now, I look at the nib and the overall writing experience before I plunge into another purchase. I want to enjoy the nib most, but I also want pleasing looks to my eye, and a good fit to my hand. My only real "collector" urge right now is for the Filcao Ladybug pen. If it seems a nice FP and it's associated with ladybugs, it will definitely be on the acquire list, simply for sentimental reasons. Hopefully, it will write well, too.

I consider myself a user, wondering if I'm headed down the collector trail. I doubt it, though, as I want to use the pens I acquire. I have five fountain pens, all of which I use, although I primarily only use two regularly (the Van Goghs). I suspect that I'll continue to acquire, and possibly get rid of some as I develop a taste for certain pens. It appears I'm developing a taste for Italian pens. So, I may in a sense be collecting Italian pens, but it's only pens that I know I'll use.

After reading the responses and the article, I wrote what turned into a long disertation about the categories, then I read the responses again and can say I agree with FrankB.

Neat thread. I'd say I'm a user, and despite my aspirations of one day being able to get "free pens" by becoming an investor, I know deep down it will never happen - I can't get rid of anything, much less a fountain pen.