What is the main focus of your collection, if you have one? A style? A brand? An era? Everything?


I am starting to form the grounds of what I like to gather into my fold. First off I like pens that flll with their own mechanism and without the body coming apart. This means no c/c pens (they just make me wish the converter was bigger and they violate the "taking it apart to fill it" rule), no "51"s or other aerometric Parkers (not crazy about the style, and again the disassembly to fill rule). Taking the pen apart to fill it takes away from some of the nostalgia for me (nostalgia at age 26?). The only partial exception to this are eyedroppers, you can't get more old school than that.

So my Pelikan gets to stay. The Sonnet and the Ipsilon are gone. An Esterbrook has joined the ranks next to the Sheaffer NoNonsense converted to eyedropper. Vacumatics, Parkettes, and non-Duofold button fillers (can't afford a vintage Duofold) are now the Parkers of my desires. I do have my eye out for a good deal on a Sheaffer PFM (might be a budget killer). There are also the beautiful Dani EDs.

I'd be happy with a small collection of a dozen or so pens, as long as they are the right pens. Quality over quantity for me.

Hi Robert

We'd all be happy with a small collection of a dozen or so pens. Until we reach 11.

By this time we've seen a lot more pens, some of which we'd like an example. Certainly more than 1. By the time the anti-climax of 12 passes there are still 2, 3 maybe 4 that we'd like.

As 20 approaches so our boundaries become invisible as we begin to specialise in those pens that really tickle our fancy.

As the fifth colour variation of that particular model arrives through our door questions are no longer asked of ourselves. After all, two are button fillers ...


Greg

I am new to the collecting of pens...
But one thing I learned early on is to not just buy everything... of course with SWHTM looking over my shoulder that would not happen anyway...
I have a couple of Parker 51s and a nice 21 set in the box...
But I have primarily set my sites on Sheaffer TDs and Snorkels... for a couple of reasons... first I like the mechanisms and love the way they write... secondly, I can still find them for a real good price, if I am willing to do the restoration myself... this was a biggie... I decided to learn how and did not mind taking the chance of ruining one or two in the process...
As for new pens, I love my Pelikans... as much as I love the pens I make myself... so it gets tough... make a real nice pen or buy another Pelikan...
The answer depends on whether the wife is looking over my shoulder

I'd have to say unusual but inexpensive. Therefore, the Harry Potter bunch, the Speeno (oh my God how cute are they. Nice writer too). While, yes, I'd like possibly to look at some high end ones some day, I'm really really enjoying "finds".

I like.....uh.....fountain pens

Oh, you want a real answer. Hmmm, I like different kinds of filler mechanisms. I like "pretty pens" but not the kind you'd call eye candy. I like flexible nibs, cursive italic nibs.

I like shiny pens:


I like tiny pens:






I like pretty pens:





I like Esterbrooks:





I like ugly pens that write oh so well:


I like pens I will never ever be able to afford, but would love to have

I like your taste in pens Elaine. I have a Parker like your striped one.
What kind of pen was the "shiny" ringtop?

But Vacs and button fillers don't fit your here-stated foremost criterion because they come apart. You have to remove the blind cap to gain access to the plunger or button, and this is no different in principle to removing the barrel to gain access to an aerometric filler.

Is your objection based on concerns about the possibility of losing or damaging the removed part, or is it simply that you don't want to have to take an extra step preparatory to filling the pen? Unscrewing the blind cap on a Snorkel (i.e., a PFM) is also an extra step, in the sense that filling the pen begins with pulling out the Touchdown tube. What I'm headed for here is a subtle -- or not so subtle -- plug for Chilton, the pen that fathered the Touchdown and, through it, the Snorkel. My favorite Chilton is the Wing-Flow:



All kidding or badgering aside, you should collect what you want to collect, without letting anyone else tell you what you need.

Focus? Theme? Style? Brand? Ummm . . . . nope. Era - aha! Modern. Other than that, there is a subtheme of Italy in my collection along with a Bexley brand subset.

I'm with Elaine. I like fountain pens.

My collection, which has grown from five pens two years ago to more than 50 today (not counting what I bought and later sold or traded), doesn't have a particular focus.

I like Parker flighters — so I have a 45, a 61 and a Frontier, plus their Sheaffer cousins, the Targa, the Triumph Imperial, and their Chinese cousin, the Hero 100.

I like sets — so almost every FP has a pencil (and a BP if its post-1960) to go with it.

I like pens that write well — so I've become an big Esterbrook fan.

I like the classics — so I have a Balance, two Duofold Jrs. and a Skyline.

I like pens that are pocket jewelry — so I have a Duofold Centennial and a Legacy 2.

And much as I try to keep my pen buying under control, there is always something else out there to catch my eye.

And that's how pen addicts are born.

I try to use breadth, low cost and writing quality as my touchstones for what to buy.

I own pens made in Japan, Germany, America and England with piston, lever, cartridge, aerometric and button fillers and the Namiki Vanishing Point currently setting the bar for price. I've got some modern and some vintage, a mix of colors, trims, sizes and materials. I am currently looking forward to adding some hard rubber to the mix.

Thankfully for me so far, my budget limits my acquisitiveness such that I don't need any help narrowing down what to collect.

As for me , i prefer Pelikan is because of its nib.

Greg,
I am pretty sure that a dozen will be a good number for me. In fact I have a tough time right now coming up with even a dozen that I really want and I think I've been to every fountain pen site on the net and seen every pen for sale on eBay recently. Twelve will do. I have so many hobbies I can't go all out in each of them.

Richard,
I don't consider removing a blind cap to be taking the pen apart. The bulk of the pen stays as it is, I've only exposed the external connection to the internal magic. I guess I sould say that I prefer pens that I don't have to remove the barrel to fill (I guess it reminds me too much of a c/c pen).

In my mind: taking a blind cap off = pen is not taken apart
taking a barrel off = pen is taken apart

It is the eyedroppers that stretch the definition in my mind, I have a tough time going that far..

My focus is really a result of hindsight - one day I just looked at my pen collection and it went: Parker, Parker, Parker, Esterbrook, Parker, Sheaffer, Parker, Parker....and so on.

Vintage Parker pens just seem to find there way to me these days - I have 4 51s, 2 Vacumatics, 1 button-filling Duofold, and a Challenger.

I also have three Sheaffers - two Snorkels and the sweetest Touchdown around.

I just recently acquired a couple Esterbrooks and an Eversharp Symphony.

So, I guess I'm into American, post-war pens. Who knew?

The shiny one is a Mabie Todd Swan with a wonderful flex nib. My green stripe Vac is a deb size and is sooo sweet. (Once you buy a pen from Dr. I watch out! He remembers what you like and puts lots of temptation in your way)

At first I went by "Ooh, it's pretty, look at how it shines." Now, it's more about utility. I like the way(s) they *write*.

I guess it is just a matter of semantics, but I don’t collect so much as I accumulate. I definitely fall on the User side of the User-Collector spectrum. I tend to find one model that catches my fancy and try to learn as much about its history as I can, but I usually don't desire more than one example of a model, and that example will be used. Currently I have a Parker “51”, 2 Parker 45s, a Pel 250 and a number of others, but those four represent my workhorses. I’m drawn to vintage, or moderns that have strong echoes of vintage pens like the Pelikans and the Filcao Columbia. And I definitely would like a Vacumatic some day.

Cheers,

Kevin
Beaker606

I have a odd accum-ulection, almost exclusively vintage. The few moderns I have are mostly vintage-like (Legacy II, Parker 51 clones, Wality ED, etc.)

I have some representative samples of 1930-1950s Parker and Sheaffers:
Parker Doufold Jr, Vacumatic, Duofold Vacumatic, 51, 61, 45
Sheaffer Balance LF, Sheaffer Balance Vacuum-filler, Crest, Triumph Vac-filler, Touchdown, TM Touchdown, Snorkel

I would like to add some earlier examples of these brands, but I am not really interested in later ones.

I have a cluster of early Waterman pens, very user-grade, from a 1901-1903 eyedropper up through the late 20s. I would love to add an 1890s example, a #7 pink, and possibly an ink-vue, but most Waterman's after the #7 don't interest me.

I have a few pens that just caught my eye - An Eversharp Skyline in Blue Modern stripe, Esterbrook transitional J, Wahl hard rubber, etc.

I like hard rubber, gold-filled overlays, and old flex nibs, which has led to a vestigal collection of some early 2nd tier companies that I have gotten interested in, mostly by chance - Eclipse, Wilrite, Good Service, Baird-North. In all of these cases, I found a nice example for a good price, either on e-bay (Eclipse, Wilrite) or at a local antique dealer (Good Service, Baird-North) and then found information on them. If I were to become a "systematic collector" these would be my focus.

Where budget allows, I am looking to add more that I find beautiful (eg. CS Green Herringbone) or technically interesting (Conklin Crescent, Crocker Blow-filler, matchstick filler, coin-filler, Swan eyedropper with over-under feed) or have interesting history (Craig, Kraker), or a name I like (Mabie-Todd Jackdaw), etc.

And there are rare pens I would love to Sumgai, but would not pay the going rate for (Parker Golden Web, Waterman Gold Overlay, etc).

John

I like big pens. I like Cores. I like beautiful pens.

Elaine, what's the thing under the Esterbrooks?

I accumulate pens, then make room for other pens I like, without logic, rhyme or reason. I just get what I like.

The only two kinds of pens that I *really* collect are Franklins and Japanese (lacquer) ones. Franklin was a small pen company that was located in Philadelphia (my hometown). Japanese pens, well I just like 'em.
I also seem to have a bunch of vintage Montblancs and Pelikans, so maybe I collect those too. And there seem to be a lot of modern Pelikans sitting on my kitchen table right now, so I also probably collect those.

Er....anything that I see as beautiful with a 0.6mm stub nib...although I just bought a marble Swan that doesn't have a stub....so maybe just beautiful with a nib

I have a mixture of Vintage and Modern. I have to admit that I like modern more than vintage. I really have no theme per se but I do the the pen styles of:

German
Italian
Japanese

I love BROAD nibs and BROAD STUBS!!! They have to be really juicy too!! I also like medium nibs because they are great all around nibs. Broad nibs are not always appropriate for all occasions. So thats where the medium comes to play!! I have been really getting into Stubs and Music nibs lately, they add a little flair to a broad nib.

I will have to post my Bexley Stub nib, unfortunatly I do not have a picture of the nib. THis happens to be my second favorite nib in my collection.

This here happens to be my favorite nib for now. It is my Stipula 1.3 Stub nib. It is on my Etruria Ocean Blue. Big pens need big nibs!!



Here is another of my favorite specialty nibs, it is my Sailor Magellan with a 21kt Music nib. Smooth and wide down stroke while the side stroke is razor thin and equally as smooth



This is my Stipula 14kt gold Rhodium plated 1.1 Stub nib. I moved this nib from my Stipula Jerusalem to my New Stipula Etruria Nuda. Big pens need big nibs. This is not as wide as the 1.3 but this is a tad sharper and more crisp.



And Finally here is my Waterman Liaison with a broad nib that was stubbed by our very own Dillon. I bought this from a friend of mine who sent this pen to Dillon for his specialty, Italic/stub. This nib is very broad, sharp, crisp and Juicy. This is more in the way of an Italic than a stub. Wonderful writer!!




TNS

Well you may have guessed by now but my favourites are vintage Conway Stewarts.
I have a few guests in my collection though. The odd Swan, Onoto, old Parker button fillers and a few moderns.

Gary

I collect (and use) them because they look nice and write nicely!

What a timely question! I find myself seeking a personal focus and theme, as I shift from "getting the next nice pen I really want" to "building a collection". Up until recently, there was always some obvious hole in the pen box... a fine point, a piston-filler, an Italian pen, a vintage pen, a Binder nib, etc. Even just "a pretty, expensive pen" was a motivation for a while. After my first (SF) pen show, and a windfall of pens for christmas and birthday, I find myself with a pen box full of wonderful pens. And even a couple of otherwise-nice pens which aren't for me, so I'll have to gird myself for the Marketplace soon.

But "collecting", now there's a daunting concept. Once I start thinking about pens in groups rather than as singletons, the total cost (in time and money) starts to look scary.

And then there's the question of whether deliberate "theming" (as opposed to just buying what you like best right now) is valuable. Certainly there's a sense that you're more of a "real collector" if you have a defensible purpose or theme. When I talked to my wife about it, she thought the idea of needing a subtheme within fountain pens was silly: from an outside perspective, collecting fountain pens is itself already a narrow category!

I find myself oscillating between the freedom of choosing whatever looks shiniest right now, and the structure and purpose that a theme would provide. My budget and tastes seem to intersect at no more than one pen a month, so I'd like to make good decisions that I'm happy with down the road. Even my vintage vs. modern preference seems to depend on the day of the week.

Would I be happiest with a Sheaffer for each decade of the 20th century? With a rack of smooth Balances? With every color of Visconti Van Gogh? With a fountain pen from a bunch of different countries? With a "best value" collection of everybody's favourite affordable pens? Should I respect my wife's anti-Parker bias, or succumb to a 51 or Vacumatic? Is it safe to dabble in Limited Editions?

In the long term, I'm sure I'll work it out. Relax, Christopher! Fountain pens are going to be around for a while. :-)

I don't think I have a collection, more of a group of pens that I like to write with. I've bought and sold about 100 pens and right now have around a dozen that I like and use. There is no underlying theme except that I like each and every one.

kurt h

Well, when I started my FP rebirth about a year ago, I oscillated between moderns and vintages (sometimes this even happened within a week!!) as I slowly read more info and saw more pics. All the while, I was really on the lookout for my "perfect" pen more than trying to focus on anything in particular.

I think I have finally found it in the Sheaffer PFM, so lately I have been trying to focus on that. :doh:

I used to be very easily tempted by seeing pens I've not seen before or reading excellent reviews, but somehow I've chilled out a bit - my temptation management has improved greatly, it seems. I'm sure later on that I'll buy other pens, but for now, I think I'm happy with my direction.

I don't collect so much as accumulate. All of my pens are of a modern era. The only part that comes close to collecting is that I like threes of things, brands, models, colors, etc., though some brands and even some models have more than just three, like four Bexley Grandes and nine DaniTrios. Mostly, I just buy pens that interest me, provided I can afford it at the time they are available.

I don't think my current pen collection could be called that in the true sense of the word. It's quite an eclectic mix of brands, styles, etc. For a while, I was leaning towards building a mini-collection of Parker Sonnets but I'm holding off on that right now. I really want to put a lot of thought, effort, and fiscal foresight into my next pen purchase. For instance: I could buy one or two "cheap" pens like Sheaffer Agios or Preludes that attract my eye; or I could buy a slightly more expensive pen like a lacquered Sonnet or a Pelikan 200/400 or Namiki Vanishing Point...or I could save up my money and splurge on something REALLY nice like:
1. A Pelikan Place de la Concorde
2. That orange Pelikan 300 with the high price tag to make up for its miniaturization
3. A Pelikan Piazza Navona (?)
4. An Aurora Optima
and so on...name a pen in the $200-400 range and it would be considered for this category.

I have one piston-filler and one lever-filler [vintage Mabie Todd] in my collection but I'd like to branch out from converter/cartridge fillers. My $5 Sheaffer calligraphy pen now has a "push button" converter which is nice. Hence, the interest in pens with self-fillers like the Pelikans and Aurora listed above. Color-wise, I LOVE purple, pink and blue. When I can't get the first 2, I'll choose blue. I usually choose that over red as well, but I do have 2 red pens in my collection. If it looks pretty and writes well, then sign me up.

I only have one vintage pen so far because I just don't have enough knowledge of the field to really make any inroads. I have no desire to start sifting through Ebay for vintage pens so that's a setback too.

Hi,

Thin pens, Small pens, and school pens. I would be selling my school pen collection soon, but not here. Maybe some of the kids I teach might like a few...

Dillon

My stable of pens is mostly a mish-mash. I have a dozen or so vintage pens, a couple old Parkers my 1st pen a Scheaffer Snorkel including a handful of Esterbrooks.

My modern pens have been bought with utility in mind as I wanted to keep as many inked up as I could (provided they performed well for drawing). Many Rotring Cores, a few Dukes, an old piston reform that works great, several Heros, a couple Wality's.

I'm rethinking that strategy; as many of you already know it's too darn much maintenance.

I admire Pelikans. I had one years ago that I liked real well so that would be one I'd like to get.

I like the older looking pens the best probably, maybe slightly more mechanical than they need to be and a bit Deco, like the Visconti's. Richards black Visconti reminds me of a "Vincent Black Shadow" motorcycle of a few decades back.

I love how well the Esterbrooks write and I like the whole nib wardrobe thing. I also like the sleekness of the Danitrio Ebonite pens.

Actually, I suppose I just like them all.

My pen collection has some sort of theme, it begins with the letter P
Pelikan various sizes vintages, Parker mostly 51's some Vacs, four Aurora's, Two Signums, Two Omas, one Visconti Van Gogh Maxi, Two Delta, and one Stipula Duetto.
There is a pattern there sort of.

Bill

Elaine,

I still want that silver & red veined "Treasure" of yours. I've been searching for one & still just cant come acros one. Wouldn't it be much happier among it's many brothers, sisters & distant cousins here at casa del Wearever? LOL, You just let me know when it wants to find a new home. (grin)

Dennis

Hi,

Elaine, YOU are really going to finish me off.

Really nice pens--all my size.


Dillon