I've seen several supposedly "matching" eight ball desk sets (two maroon sets, two brown sets, and one grey set). In each case, the pen (though the same color as the base) was darker than the base. Is this typical of the colored 8 ball sets? At first, I thought that the pens and bases were mismatched, but I have yet to see any where the pen and base are of the same shade.

I'd like to know too. I want an 8 ball desk set too.

Another question along these lines...Were the pen and the 8 ball always the same color (green/green, grey/grey) or was a black pen sometimes paired with a colored base?

Answer to the desk set color questions; yes a gray base came with a darker gray pen, a maroon came with a darker maroon pen etc. The only oddity is most white bases I've seen came with black or gray pens. Often you see colored desk sets with black pens but that's because the only replacement solid colored pens you could get came in black.

Later series desk sets seem to have a better matching pen/ base combo...

Adam

On the colors - they were not exactly matched. The most common pen color was Black and it could be had with any of the base colors. One could buy sets, bases, pens or even replacement tapers so there isn't a right or a wrong on and Esterbrook Desk Set. That said, they do tend to look nice when the match. An old stationary store near me has about 30 or so NOS 116s in all sorts of combinations--in case you are interested, at the asking price they are not really for sale.

Some day I'll dig out the pile of desk pens, I like the bandless version. They came in the standard marbled colors of the J series. If anyone has a blue one I'm missing that one....

Todd

Okay, I would never in a million years disagree with Todd because I know he knows his stuff... BUT I will say that virtually all advertising depicting any of the colored desk sets depicts the color matched sets. NOW I'm sure that sets exist with other combinations even in NOS packaging but the catalog versions of these sets show a paticular colored SET not a particular color base and a particular colored pen. If they did then it would be proof that any color base could be ordered in a SET with any colored pen, but on the NOS tags there is only one color designation suggesting for instance that a 116-Q is a Gray set and comes with a gray pen.

My point on the black pens was not very clear and but this is what I was getting at; people did not buy these things from Esterbrook any more than people today by Sheaffers from Fort Madision Ia, oops bad example. We do not buy our pens direct from manufacturers and neither did out parents. The majority of Esterbrook sets and replacement pens came from stationary and office supply stores, few of which would carry every colored variation with every color of taper and so on. People bought black pens because they were widely available and worked with every colored base. I'm not suggesting that correct color or alternate color tapers were not available just that they were not readily available and people tended not to go searching for them beyond the local shop.

Having said all that, most of us intend to use our sets anyway so by all means mix and match and know that you are in good company, your parents did too.

Adam