I suspect celluloid may come out on top here, but I may be proven wrong.
Is body material your first question when considering a pen?

You forgot one very important material and that is Ebonite!!! That has become one of my favorite right behind celluloid nitrate. Ebonite is nice an light, durable and very warm while being used!!

TNS

I'm currently enamored with Italian Celluloid (OMAS, Stipula, and Tibaldi in particular) - have yet to get an ebonite pen, but I do appreciate the pens I have with Ebonite feeds...

Woops- you're right. I knew I'd forget a few. Love those Ebonite Conway Stewarts with the engraved diamond patterns.

Forgot hard rubber as well.

And mammoth ivory.

And porcelain.

:doh:

I can't vote because the poll doesn't include an option for "No Preference." I like pens of many different materials. My No. 1 favorite pen is acrylic (which is a resin, by the way):



But close on that pen's heels is the pen that was my No. 1 favorite until I found the above pen, and this one is celluloid (which is also a resin, by the way):



And close after this one comes the one with the best flex nib, a wet-noodle XXXF (artist's nib); this one is hard rubber:



Until a couple of weeks ago, my second-in-command was this pen, made of lacquered metal:



I guess this means that body material isn't my first, or even my second or third, consideration. I will, however, reject out of hand pens that are too heavy. I don't know if you, Joe, are the maker of McLaren pens, but I have worked on two of them, and those pens (solid and very heavy, made of machined stainless steel) are far too heavy to be comfortable for anything except occasional use as signature pens. JMHO, of course.

Celluloid followed closely by the Hard Rubber/Ebonite materials. I prefer these because they feel better on my fingers and they look beautiful.

I voted for "other plastic" because I mostly do not want to have to handle metal while I'm writing. A metal barrel just bothers my hand when I'm writing with a fountain pen. So ordinary plastic is just fine as far as I'm concerned.

Perhaps what I really needed was a choice of "Don't really care as long as I don't have to feel metal rubbing on the webbing of my hand between my thumb and index finger." Yeah, let's add that for a choice.

For me weight does matter a bit. I tend to write a lot with a clip board at an angle and a heavy pen can be a real drag in fairly short order with that sort of arrangement.

I did not vote because, for me the material is not a big consideration. It really depends on what I am going to use the pen for.

I have two Waterman Hemisphere pens which are heavy for their size. The weight is not an issue as I use them at work and am never writing with them for very long. I actually enjoy the extra heft at times - it just feels good in the hand. These can be tiring for longer writing sessions becasue of the weight and "small size" (relative to my hands.)

My journaling pen, on the other hand is a Omas Ogiva which is a large, but lightweight pen. I definalty proefer a larger but lighter pen for longer writing sessions.

I also like the variety of different materials. I am not a collector by any means, and there is no real 'theme' to my pen assortment, but I have noticed that I am often attracted to a pen that is different from what I currrently own. Different material, different fillers, ect. I guess I like variety.

Jim

I voted celluloid but I also really like the resins and laminates like the old Sheaffers. I've got a burgundy/black stripe moire Merlin 33 that I can just stare at.

I'm going to have to try one of those Feather Touch XXXF nibs some day. I'll bet they're hard to find.

All Sheaffer resins and laminates from 1924 to the late 1940s are celluloid. Only after World War II did Sheaffer migrate to styrene-based plastics (which are also resins, by the way). Howzabout this Sheaffer laminate?

While I have some gorgeous celluloid pens, I find I'm more and more attracted to metal & metal/lacquer. I really enjoy feeling a bit of weight. I especially like the feel of metal sections. And I worry less about metal pens because they're not as likely to break.

Not always of course, but there seems to be more exploration of sleeker (is that a word?) form in metal pens that I find very appealing.

The only material I really avoid is wood. I don't know why exactly, just don't like wood for FP construction.

Petra

Hard rubber for me. A hugely interesting material (especially when you explain to someone that the pen they admire is made of rubber!) which feels so nice, smells natural (if you rub it with your finger - gently! - you get a nice smell of rubber).

Importanlty for me though is that, in my experience, the old pens seem to come to life with use. The black seems to deepen and begin to shine as if the pen appreciates the attention. I also like the fact that the chased patterns are machined rather than merely moulded and that the finished product is the result of a great deal of care and working.

I have a couple BCHR pens, the best finish is on an 'Empress' which was another of my 99p eb*y tricks and has a beautiful, crisp, wavy chased pattern in deep shiny black and is a delight to hold.


Greg

I have to agree with Richard. (It's been known to happen )My favorite pens come in all sorts of materials. I did vote celluloid however. There is just something "warm" about the feel of my Columbus Academia. It could be psychological.

BTW, Richard that HR flexy is unbelievably beautiful.

I'm another one with no strong preferences when it comes to materials. Body material is not the first question when considering a pen, that would be nib size as I would generally avoid pens with nibs that are Medium and broader, unless of course the other factors like the feel and appearance of the pen are outstanding for me, in which case I would probably get it regardless of the nib size.

For current purposes the, since my last 3 pens have been metal ones, that's what I'll go for here.


raf.

Love celluloid but voted for metal.

No need to be bling-bling metal.
Simple smooth surface or subtle barley corn/pin stripes/greek key patterns would do. Loving Sterling pens lately and they will last longer than kt-gold and celluloid pens.

Celluloid pens may craze or shrink over time.
I am a practical person afterall, I guess ????

As for solid gold pens, that's nice but not affordable to me.

I like pens made of vegetal resin. (I only have three pens, and I think that's what theyr're made of.)

I put celluloid because I just love the feel of my Wall Street LE, but shape and fit to my hand are more important to me. The large piston filling Aurora 88 I find to fit my hand better than any pen I've ever held, and its resin/plastic. By the way, I've heard that problems are possible, but has anyone had any problems with celluloid?

i have a soft spot for metal pens, such as Flighters, so i went for metal :ph34r:

I voted for celluloid, mostly because I love the look. Nothing else has the same deep colors, or the marbled/mottled look that I love.

Of course, I also like other plastics, like Sheaffer TouchDowns and Snorkels, and I absolutely whatever plastic Esterbrooks are made of.

I like the look of Parker's Flighters, and they're just about the only metal pens I like, just because I really prefer a lighter pen. Most of the brass/laquer pens are just too heavy to be comfortable for me, considering nearly 15 years of turning wrenches for a living has caused my hands to age beyond their years.

Tom

I'm curious--how does celluloid hold up over time? Will it inevitably disintegrate, or does it depend on the type, or the storage?

Could someone let me know the difference in feel from celluloid versus resin? Would one be heavier of shinier than the other?
Thank you.

I really like celluloid and resin the most. All of the most colorful pens that I have seen are made from these materials. Now if I could just win the lottery, so I could give them a good home.

I voted a mixture. I like celluloids and resins for their colours, especially the marbled ones. I like polished ebonite for its warmth and texture. I'm beginning to see the attraction of lacquered pens, although not the ornate painted ones, but something like a plain urushi or tame-nuri looks really beautiful.

Instead of 'metal' there should have been different options such as: steel, brass, silver or gold. My prefrerence is sterling silver, ideally vermeil. There is nothing quite like the luxury of sterling silver, especially when gilded! I wish there were more vermeil pens.

Metal! Metal! Metal! Metal!

Chrome is my first choice, to be specific.

And I like it to be HEAVY, too. And I don't even LISTEN to heavy metal (much less other music; I dunno, call me what you will -- as my friends have regarding this topic -- but, music just doesn't resonate with me. But, I digress), heh.

My tiny, miniscule experience is that celluloid feels lighter, warmer, and more "organic". But light/heavy is hard to judge - comparing materials require intuitively compensating for the size and shape of the pen, not to mention the thickness of materials. And I'd imagine the exact formula for each material varies quite a lot, and hence the properties.

Celluloid is wonderful and strange - it looks like glass, but feels like a grainless wood or bone.