89 replies to this topic

[Nikolaos]

And a massive haul it is

[lsmith42]

This is what happens when you buy a Mont Blanc

I was smiling... leave me alone... I WAS...

[Carrie]

What a wonderful photo report. I'm so incredibly jealous, we can only dream of having anything on that sort of scale. I can't believe your pen haul either and as for those Nakayas -

[AltecGreen]

Saturday




Saturday is usually a bit busier than Friday. I got up a bit late (~8:00 am) and missed some big deals going down. The pen activities start pretty early and traders were already out in force before 8:00 am.







David Nishimura unpacks a box of goodies










While I was sleeping, the Dark Lord (aka D. Issacson) scored 50 Parker 51's including these gems. Let's just say he got a good deal. The show was really good for collectors like David. I actually noticed it too since so many of the pens on my to buy list were just there. David said this was one of the best shows in years for collectors.

A tray of Parker 51's including a mustard set with an Empire cap, a Demonstrator 51, and a flighter. Not all Parker 51's cost $50.





Sarj at work






SoCal Pen Posse






Kernan sans kilt. Kernan joined me on Friday night for the 500 ft. drive to dinner.




Greg Mckinney



Carmen and John





More pens

A nice group of Conklins



A nice trio of Conklins



Pens from the Bonhams auction





Red Mottled Waterman 20




Nassau Green Parker 51 with Empire cap. Another Parker 51 that does not cost $50.





LeBoeuf Tiger Eye





More Danitrio Maki-e

The four seasons





As usual on Saturdays, the bigger companies start to set-up and there are more modern pens.


Kenro was located on the side corridor near winedoc

Some Aurora Pen




Conway Stewart had a good presence at the show. They seem to have really good traffic and Mary was really busy during the whole show. They showed some nice pens as well has their collaboration with Metalrite









The Visconti guys were out in the front. Visconti is pretty hot right now and the Declaration of Independence pens are flying off the shelves. From comments I heard, this is one of the hotter modern pens around. People were doing comparison shopping on Sunday for the lowest edition numbers.














Greg Minuskin





Denise of Penscapes painting while running a high fever.

[kiavonne]

I really love all the pictures you took for us. You made me weep and drool on more than one.

Oh, to be able to afford that Genkai 4 Seasons set...

[PatientType]

Ricky, I've never seen so many beautiful and desirable pens. Thank you so much for taking and sharing these great pictures. But, you scare me ... were I to see all these incredible pens in person I know I'd be tempted to invest a LOT more money into pens.

[PatientType]

What is that cracked golden/yellow/brown Conway Stewart? It's beautiful! And, Brian Edison's trays of pens... I really like his larger windowed squeeze-fill models. I'm wondering how far out of my price range those Hakumin pens are ... probably way, way out...

[AltecGreen]

Saturday cont'd




At lunch time was the Norcal-Socal Pen Posse. We lost a few people to other events and poor communications but we had a great time.




Tom lusting after a Pelikan



Some of Joi's pens












I've been focusing on the more expensive pens. The less expensive pens started appearing on Saturday in anticipation for Sunday. Hey, I try to give equal time.


Fantasy Safaris



Some Esterbrooks













Of course there was TWSBI. I had heard from Pendelton Brown that Speedy was at the show so after lunch I went in search of Speedy to see what was going on with TWSBI and to put a face behind the name. Speedy was not hard to find. Speedy is a really nice guy and really enthusiastic about his products. He was there with his wife whose pen I showed in the Friday section. Speedy was demonstrating the new Vac fill and ink well.




Speedy with Vac-fil demonstrator set-up



New inkwell








Now back to expensive pens.

Here's a huge lot of vintage French pens from the Bonham's auction.











Some typical Mont Blancs hideen under glass and wrapped in plastic making for a not so good photo.






Got some 51's??




You don't see this everyday. A Caran d'Ache testing kit.

Edited by AltecGreen, 22 February 2011 - 06:15.

[AltecGreen]

Saturday cont'd


Now for some color of the show



Eddy painting








Finally organized?






I don't have one of these.





I helped Kudzu acquire one of those modified pens using a vintage dip nib. This was the pen.

My pen's cool



The pen





No Comment



The Annex




More people

Susan



Bertram Oser




Roger Cromwell




Detlef Bittner




Miroslav Tischler aka Penkala talking to Bob



Farmbaby. David probably already knows more about pens than most on FPN.







Because Sunday was the public day and the room needed to be rearranged for the table holders, the room was closed at 6 pm. So there was no late night action after dinner. However, I was invited to a dinner hosted by Roger Cromwell's mother at her house. It was a wonderful event and I want to thank Marilyn again for the invitation. The Visconti guys were also there as was one of the principals of Penworld magazine, and a retired admiral. The stories about Dante the owner of Visconti were hilarious. All in all a great and memorable evening.

[bookmanjl]

Wow! A little hard to breath looking at all of the pens. I thought I was up to attending a pen show, but I'll have to do some more training before such a trip. Maybe some day ... Meanwhile I'll enjoy pics like these and dream a little.

[ethernautrix]

ARGH!


Also, "The Dark Lord" - ha ha ha ha ha!

Also, I've only looked at the first page of photos and report, and I already need a Nakaya Intervention! *Picks up Nakaya Desk Pen kuro tamenuri, writes with it.* Ahhhhhhhhh, that's better. I think I can look at page two, now.

Thanks, Ricky, for your indepth reportage! I'm going to go take a look at your haul before I finish look at this thread. Nakayas are standing by....

[AltecGreen]

ARGH!


Also, "The Dark Lord" - ha ha ha ha ha!

Also, I've only looked at the first page of photos and report, and I already need a Nakaya Intervention! *Picks up Nakaya Desk Pen kuro tamenuri, writes with it.* Ahhhhhhhhh, that's better. I think I can look at page two, now.

Thanks, Ricky, for your indepth reportage! I'm going to go take a look at your haul before I finish look at this thread. Nakayas are standing by....

The Dark Lord was rather pleasant. He knew me by my first name. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

Loren and I have a ton of stories for Saturday. I can't repeat some of that stuff here.

[AltecGreen]

Sunday




Sunday as always is the public day which means the crowds will be in mass. I thought the show for the most part was better this year than the last. The fact that the east coast contingent were not snowed in like last year helped. I expected a good turnout for Sunday. It was even better when the skies parted and the weather returned to the normal awesome SoCal weather. I got up early to capture the action as the dealers set-up for the crowds.




Early morning scene

empty halls



the registration desk



Ready backdrops



Getting Ready










Inside the room













Last minute calm

Kevin and Sarj



Pendelton Brown and Mark





Shu-Jen of Taccia



Tom Cheng



Speedy



Evil Pen Purveyor and his English Counterpart



Frances



Bjor's finally organized



Readying the swag

[AltecGreen]

Sunday cont'd



The Line


The desk


The first person in line



The line grows







Around the first corner






It's 10:00!














Here they come

[AltecGreen]

Sunday cont'd


Sunday Pen action

At this point, I'll give the remaining Pen Show snippets.


Pendelton Brown


The Brown Family



Got Maki-e?




An incredible vintage Parker eyedropper. Wow!



Roger and Steven Overbury




Jotter Madness





parker 51 Cartier version (another Parker 51 that does not cost $50)




vintage Sailor ink




The return of Sailor


Interesting Sailor pens


Sailor nib test kit




Sailor is back. Looks like Ito-ya is trying to figure things out. They did bring a nib kit so people can try the various Sailor nibs. Not sure if the reps know enough yet. I held my tongue at the show.



Carmen and son



Montegrappa cufflinks-Like MB, I like their cufflinks more than the pens



Ali and Fraser




I apologize to Kenro and all Omas retailers. But it should be called the leftover.




Bryant's new toy




Speedy demonstrates new vac-fil for Kudzu





David Oscarson in full costume



The Aurora version of the Barracuda




Sakura Rose





Arnie



Come closer






Mary Burke busy at work



The best display of the Declaration of Independence pen. Bryant nailed this one.





That's all folks. That pretty much sums up the 2011 LA Pen Show. It seems the show was healthier than last year (at least for the vintage guys). A lot of vintage pens were moving and I know some big deals got done. It was a great show for me as I checked off a lot of the pens on my list. As always the show was a blast. I can't reiterate the fact that the best part of the show comes from the camaraderie and interactions between people rather than just the pens. The time spent in the show room after hours hanging out with the 'usual suspects' looking at parts, talking about pens and collecting is the reason you go to the show. It was my second LA show and it was good to see the same people each year and build those relationships.

Highlights:

1) Dinner with Roger's mom
2) Watching videos with the Dark Lord
3) 'The ecology of the Jotter Collecor'
4) Watch Rita Carbon sell pens under Ron's tutelage
5) driving 500 ft. to dinner
6) Norcal-Socal pen Posse
7) The Omas Lucens
8) meeting new and old friends

My usual advice for people wanting to go the LA show or any other show. Even if you don't collect vintage pens, try to go on the traders if the show has them. It may seem there is not much traffic but that is a good thing. You can talk to people at length and learn a lot about pens. Bring money and lots of it. I had to go to the plan C budget but it allowed me to pick up a couple of really rare pens. Remember that the show does not necessarily end at the official hours. Pen stuff goes on late at night. We were watching Youtube videos with the Dark Lord at Pendelton's table until well past midnight.


I plan to cover the LA show again next year. I will also cover the San Francisco show later this year. That will be my local show and I have some influence on the show. Expect some Pen Posse madness at the show. I think we may get our own Pen Posse area at the SF show.

Edited by AltecGreen, 22 February 2011 - 06:06.

[Siv]

Oh...my...god...

I don't think my wallet, marriage and sanity could cope with a pen show like that.

Edited by Siv, 22 February 2011 - 02:21.

[AltecGreen]

What is that cracked golden/yellow/brown Conway Stewart? It's beautiful! And, Brian Edison's trays of pens... I really like his larger windowed squeeze-fill models. I'm wondering how far out of my price range those Hakumin pens are ... probably way, way out...

Which CS pen? The one without the engraving seems to be a Finesse, a new European model. Although the color at the pen show is not one of the standard colors. The one with the engraving is a new LE. The engraving is done by a gunsmith.

Brian will be sending the Pen Posse some pens to show off at a pen posse. We were not able to get this done before the show. It will happen soon. I need to get back to Brian to iron out the details.

I think Ernest has prices for his pens on his site.

[Bronze]

Altec, thank you for bringing the LA Pen Show across the atlantic and into my living room!

I really need to attend a pen show some day.

[PacificCoastPen]

Thanks for a comprehensive photo collection. I didn't buy any pens but I have four 'new' pens. I smoothed three with some micromesh (that I got there) and refitted a sac on a Waterman Ideal that I found locally. Plus, 5 bottles of ink.

I am very pleased to say that with a very light touch and writing a sentence several times on the wet mesh has rendered two slightly toothy pens to very very smooth writers now...the third is much much better than pre treatment. (I have never smoothed any nibs before.)

[Thornton]

Thanks for letting us live vicariously through you. It looks like it was a great show.