Sumgai Or... (Why I Love Miscellaneous Lots)

[penmanila]

i recently picked this lot up off ebay for $135 shipped. that doesn't sound like a sumgai find at all, and maybe it's not. i took a gamble on this bunch of pens advertised simply as "4 FOUNTAIN PENS MISC NAMES COLORS" because i saw something in it the minute it was posted, bid on it immediately, and nursed that bid for nearly a week until it closed. as i expected, one other bidder tried to snipe me in the closing seconds, but i had a much higher backup bid, and survived.

so what did i see? and was it worth it?

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll296/penmanila/KGrHqNqMFH9ywK3EiBSF3wfvUN60_58_zps328d606e.jpg

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll296/penmanila/T2eC16VzoE9s5nfFGBSF3wq5n-g60_58_zps074885c4.jpg

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll296/penmanila/T2eC16FQE9s3HCnuBSF3w9eRew60_58_zpsd2ce750c.jpg

if i'm wrong, then i'm about $100 in the hole, but even so, there are at least two other good pens there i can probably recover that investment from.

will post better pics and report more about condition, etc. when the lot arrives in a few days.

[quinden]

Is that big pen a Dunn Dreadnaught? If so, very cool

[Garageboy]

Side note, I HATE sellers who put those stupid stickers on the pen barrels

[Joe in Seattle]

The Lapis Lady Duofold?

[Penne Stilografiche]

The Lapis Lady Duofold?

It looks Jade Green to me, although I may be wrong.

[penmanila]

the duofold looks jade green (badly discolored, as usual) to me as well.

 

the prize in the lot (i'm hoping) is the dunn dreadnaught, the big pen with the bakelite barrel (yes, this was bakelite); the barrel's gone milky so that may indicate a problem, and the little red knob at the end is the more fragile casein variety, but it looks to be all there, and i'm betting that a good restorer can put it back in business.

 

for more on the dunn pen, see here:

 

http://www.richardspens.com/?page=coll/col_05.htm

[quinden]

Very cool, congratulations! I'm looking forward to your updates.

[penmanila]

the dunn dreadnaught cleaned up pretty well:

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5444/9726512369_9c0b9f2b7f_c.jpg

the bakelite barrel has discolored into (for me) a rather fetching cafe au lait, so i don't mind, especially since i can find no signs of cracking or crazing.

the nib is gorgeous, although i haven't tweaked it yet to smoothen it and improve the flow:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7435/9726511589_d91c116ae4_c.jpg

the filler mechanism actually works and is pretty smooth, although as you can see from the droplets of water on the rod, there's probably a gasket somewhere within that needs replacement.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7317/9726513197_eb1e4ff5d6_c.jpg

and then there's that odd two-part cap originally meant to protect the nib while dipping (and potentially creating a bigger mess):

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2824/9729743368_550377582f_c.jpg

the casein red plug still screws into the barrel, but it's a bit ratty and i hope someone out there remanufactures these things in sturdier plastic:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7343/9726514837_9d6583b561_c.jpg

so ii'll be keeping this for now more as a specimen than a writer, but it's practically a free pen, since i've sold two of the other pens (a wahl ringtop and a lady duofold ringtop) that came in the lot and recovered the cost of the whole lot

now from the same seller, just minutes ago, i got a new lot of miscellaneous pens (an eversharp, a salz, a moore, and i'm not sure what else) for $55. should be another interesting project.

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll296/penmanila/Misc_zps2ecc19bd.jpg

Edited September 17, 2013 by penmanila

[Centopar]

Truly you are SUMGAI. Well done; and pat yourself on the back for having the smarts to recognise what was there!