The Washington D.c. Supershow...

[Michael_V]

Great show again.

 

Made it on Saturday and spent all day there. Glad I did as I wasn't able to make it on Sunday.

 

What a great friendly bunch in this hobby. I spent some time with Pendleton as he repaired my Duofold (thanks PB!) and I ended up adding a TWSBI with a butter stub to my collection. Also found a nice Parker 75 with double broad oblique nib and a boxed Sheaffer Targa with matte black finish (1003 model?).

 

I hope to be there all weekend next year.

 

Cheers.

 

Michael

[MyDarnSnakeLegs]

You ended up with that stub, huh? I liked it, but I'd just bought a 540 before I said hi to PB. It was a really nice nib.

[mrcharlie]

Mike, thank you for doing the letter writing seminar. I've only recently restarted to mail letters and cards after a couple decades of not, and it was good to put some thought into what it is I'm doing and hear the ideas of others, especially someone who has put creative and organized thought into it.

 

I didn't talk to many people as I'm mostly pretty shy, but it was cool to see all the vintage pens I'd only ever seen as pictures, to meet the various internet vendors I've ordered from, to be able to handle a Mina vs an extended Mina at the Edison table, and see all the wares from vendors and restorers I didn't already know about. The show sponsor swag bag from being there early on Sunday was a sweet surprise, especially the 15ml PR bottle and the 70ml bottle of Stupula Calamo.

 

I've just moved to this area so it was great to find out about the stores and restorers in this area.

 

There were many tables with many brands of ink, but I never found anyone selling Waterman bottles, and I wanted to get some Mysterious Blue (Blue Black) while I was there. I thought that was strange.

 

I'd never before been to a pen show so even though I didn't have much money for shopping this weekend it was a nice show.

[GClef]

Even though I made no pen purchases, I STILL managed to "add" yet another pen to the collection, with parts and tools bought from the show. SHEESH!!

[Godots_Pen]

Hey! Gclef! Thanks for coming yesterday! It seemed you and Marta had a great time talking.

 

Let's be in touch. I just got back from rehearsal and the new singer is sounding better and better.

[TrinityTam]

Does anybody who went to the show have the website of the gentleman who made the gorgeous exotic wood pen boxes? They were at the first table in the smaller ballroom across from the Sailor nib testing station. I took their business card but managed to misplace it. Thanks in advance for your help!

[Mill_Burray]

I had a great time. It was my first show and I was blown away. I posted a link to photos in this forum.

[Keely]

Does anybody who went to the show have the website of the gentleman who made the gorgeous exotic wood pen boxes?

The table was Ray Jones Woodcrafts.

[Jared]

Impressive show. I was there briefly on Thursday, Friday, and most of the day on Saturday.

 

The Good:

- More filled tables this year than recent years. Either the economy is improving or more folks are interested in FPs.

- The usual mix of excellent vendors and repair/customization experts, with some impressive new displays.

- A new hotel lobby design made it easier for folks to check in to the show.

- Bottle of Stipula Calamo ink provided in the generous gift bag!

 

The Bad:

- Parking was overflow. On a hot day, it was unpleasant for some to walk some distance to the hotel.

- New lobby design decreased the size of the ink testing table, which is now only 2/3 the size of times past. Missing were many significant brands which were there last year--Diamine, Montblanc, Rohrer & Klingner, Omas, etc.

- Table layout caused some congestion, though perhaps it was meant to route folks through a maze of vendors.

- Lists for some folks were filled within minutes - if you didn't get your name on Richard Binder & Ron Zorn's list within the first 5-10 minutes of opening, you had no chance of them seeing your pen that day (fortunately, I got on the list).

 

In all, I rather enjoyed myself.

[jbc0531]

I had a blast (Thurs through Sat), but I'll second the ink table being a slight disappointment. From what I remember, they had full lines of Visconti, Conway Stewart, Omas, Waterman, Sheaffer, and most Private Reserve, as well as some Noodlers. A lot of the bottles looked old. For example, there were a lot of swisher inks, and some discontinued colors of Noodlers. Not really helpful if you cant get the ink anymore. There were a few bottles of Sailor ink, one bottle Of iroshizuku, and a single bottle of rohrer and klingner alt Bordeaux.

That's not to say I didn't have fun with it.

[MyDarnSnakeLegs]

Yeah, the ink table was not all I had hoped it would be. We didn't go over there until later in the day on Saturday, and a lot of the labels were so inky that we could hardly tell what they were. That black plastic also kinda left us worried that we were going to set our hands in ink the whole time or brush against it and get ink on our shorts. Maybe a white plastic would be less worrisome next year.

[Mags]

I had a great time. It was my first show and I was blown away. I posted a link to photos in this forum.

Thanks for uploading the photos. They all just made me want to come out and attend next year.

[Mill_Burray]

My acquisitions from the show:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7120/7779533774_67054bf3f0.jpg

TWSBI Diamond 540 M - Amber; TWSBI Diamond 540 F - Sapphire; TWSBI Micarta 803 M; Noodler's Konrad Flex Nib - Smoke; 1987 Apple Parker Vector F;

[Mill_Burray]

1340246261[/url]' post='2380701']

Definitely planning to be there on Saturday! It's only 30 miles (or 1-2 hours in DC time) from my house to Tyson's Corner!

 

Haha, DC time! I know the feeling. One time, it took me 1.5 hours to go one traffic light at Tyson's Corner.

[jonveley]

Well, the first day at work after a big show is always .. blah. Janet and I stayed in DC Sunday night and spent yesterday driving home (with stops), pulling in around 8:30 in the evening. Was up until midnight fixing pencils and getting ready for the week ahead.

 

Today's article at Leadhead's features my big find, purchased from Rick Fernandez on the last day of the show (just when I thought I was getting out of there with a little money left in my pocket).

 

Previous show-related posts:

Last Friday: Eastward Ho! Our trip to DC is always filled with fun stops.

Saturday: On arrival, Joe Nemecek and I conclude a deal we've been planning since the Raleigh show in June, involving two Parker vest pocket bridge sets.

Sunday: Joe displays his Victorian pencil collection of more than 350 pieces at the show.

Monday: Leadhead's Tread: full DC show report.

 

Link to the blog is just below -

[Ray-Vigo]

I went Sunday, so much had already been sold by then, but the show was still good. I ended up with a nice Vacumatic and some parts for various projects I have going.