Another 'plum' Investigation! Help Identify The Color Of This Parker 51!

[JotterAddict62]

Now my niece will graduate from Northwestern University and a while back I asked her if she like the 51 Plum that I have and she said it was to dark for her as a NWU Wildcat color. So I'm thinking on picking up a Kullock 51 pearly violet hood & barrel and put one together for her. I even told her she can pick out any pen set that I have. [[ OH NOOO !! ]] I wonder what she'll pick and I can not say no. I tell her she is my favorite niece and her replay is; I'm you only niece..

[pajaro]

Noticed the latest Plumathon? The bidders in this are engaging in a mini bidding war, back and forth. Really. This is so five years ago. You would think that these people would realize that a generally better strategy would be to snipe the auction either manually or with a snipe program or service. A snipe bid is like a bid at a sealed bids auction. You don't show your hand until the last. There's nothing dishonorable about this, no matter how mad you have gotten to have had your old-fashioned bid trumped in the last seconds of the auction. Bidding wars are not to the advantage of the bidders. They are, however, to the amusement of the spectators who can laugh their butt off at the foolishness of the ones bidding in hissy-fits. This becomes somehow more enjoyable in the case of Plum 51 auctions. Find it and enjoy.

[OcalaFlGuy]

1 bidder is a single digit wonder, the other just 21.

 

 

They'll both be wearing a bullet just behind the ear at the end.

 

They'll figure it out one of these days or just die old and decrepit whining in forums here about how much Fleabay sucks.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[inkstainedruth]

I am outstanding in my field,

 

 

 

 

 

 

the Southwest corner of the back 40.

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

So someone should or should not hit a line drive or a pop fly in your direction?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[pajaro]

1 bidder is a single digit wonder, the other just 21.

 

 

They'll both be wearing a bullet just behind the ear at the end.

 

They'll figure it out one of these days or just die old and decrepit whining in forums here about how much Fleabay sucks.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

 

So true. Currently watching the fate of a snipe as two n00bs, bigtime zeroes, piddly keep raising each other. I don't know if it's worth a shot.

[mitto]

With all these 'is this a Plum' threads popping up and turning positive, I'm beginning to wonder if they are really rare...

I agree. Let it be a plum or a burgundy. What is the difference?

[pajaro]

I don't think the plum is rare. It's just not as common as other aerometric colors. While it was only made for two years, those two years were years during which a lot of 51s were made. So, if a 51 fountain pen in a common color in fine condition is worth $75-$100, then a plum colored 51 fountain pen about ten percent as common, maybe, as a normal color, should be worth what, about $200 in the same condition? A rare pen would be considerably less common. I am just guessing at the plums being ten percent as common as more frequently found colors. That guess could be way off. I sought a plum 51 pen for years, and did not find them coming up for sale very often in the 1980s, 1990s and the first years of this century. Consider that many of these plum pens might be hitting the market as a result of elders dying off and pens being mined from estate sales. So, these pens might seem common now for a few years and then disappear into collections again for some time.

[T1Love]

Pajaro, your post contradicts itself in the first two sentences. Plums are a rare color and are uncommon as they were only made for two years thus making the quantity limited altogether. Burgandy's were made for 24 years which ultimately means there would be more productions numbers.

[pajaro]

Pajaro, your post contradicts itself in the first two sentences. Plums are a rare color and are uncommon as they were only made for two years thus making the quantity limited altogether. Burgandy's were made for 24 years which ultimately means there would be more productions numbers.

 

If you look into the quantities made by year, you will find the 1948 and 1949 were years when millions of 51s were made. As time went on and people switched to ballpoints the quantity of 51 pens made per year dropped off. So, where is the contradiction?

 

Sure, they made a keck of a lot more burgundy pens. "Burgandy?" You have been getting bad example from ebay misspellers.

 

Plum was made during the hayday years of 51 production. I have never seen an authorative figure for plum production, but I would wild guess it as twenty thousand plus. I would not consider that rare. A production of a hundred I would consider rare. Look at the number of plum 51s surfacing. You people are often posting about a 51 offering on ebay that someone thinks is a plum 51. The prices of plum 51s seem to go between $200 and about $420 that I once saw realized for an NOS full sized plum 51 in a box. There are many other 51s sold at higher prices. So, in order not to run afoul of the smarties who will slap you down if you say the plums are rare, I put them as uncommon, which I believe is plausible.

[T1Love]

Fair enough. Why is the T1 FP considered rare when we know only 104,000 were made?

[FarmBoy]

Fair enough. Why is the T1 FP considered rare when we know only 104,000 were made?

Most of them are broken and Parker likely never sold all of them that were made. Also T1s are not rare.

[T1Love]

T1's not rare!! Next you'll tell me that cats and dogs are living together !! How about mint T1's?

[FarmBoy]

T1's not rare!! Next you'll tell me that cats and dogs are living together !! How about mint T1's?

 

[T1Love]

Lol!!

[OcalaFlGuy]

Fair enough. Why is the T1 FP considered rare when we know only 104,000 were made?

 

Most of them are broken and Parker likely never sold all of them that were made. Also T1s are not rare.

 

I thought I heard that Parker tried to get the T1's back, if so, that would account for why so few of the original large number are "available".

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[OcalaFlGuy]

IMO, there is another Fact that trumps the Plum being sold in 2 years where The Other Color's sales were brisk.

 

The Fact Is, they Discontinued the color. That it itself is somewhat rare for them to do with their flagship pens. It's Blatantly Publicly Admitting that you were Absolutely Clueless in that one color's respect when it came to your companies idea of what would be a popular color or not.

 

I have heard that the sales numbers for Plums were Abysmal. THAT is why it was discontinued and I think The Discontinuing was no small event in importance in itself.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[pajaro]

IMO, there is another Fact that trumps the Plum being sold in 2 years where The Other Color's sales were brisk.

 

The Fact Is, they Discontinued the color. That it itself is somewhat rare for them to do with their flagship pens. It's Blatantly Publicly Admitting that you were Absolutely Clueless in that one color's respect when it came to your companies idea of what would be a popular color or not.

 

I have heard that the sales numbers for Plums were Abysmal. THAT is why it was discontinued and I think The Discontinuing was no small event in importance in itself.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

 

I didn't know that the plum sales were abysmal.

 

The color of 51 I like most is midnight blue (aero color). I am indifferent to plum, now that I have one and can see it up close. The Cedar blue is as blah as is the teal. And the burgundy (USA). And the grays. And the blacks. I find it hard to see why they sold any other than midnight blue and cocoa. I foresee disparagement on the horizon.

[FarmBoy]

 

I didn't know that the plum sales were abysmal.

 

The color of 51 I like most is midnight blue (aero color). I am indifferent to plum, now that I have one and can see it up close. The Cedar blue is as blah as is the teal. And the burgundy (USA). And the grays. And the blacks. I find it hard to see why they sold any other than midnight blue and cocoa. I foresee disparagement on the horizon.

Clearly a complicated issue. I'm partial to Black. I think it is because they come with gold but it may be these are all really Plum, they cost about the same.

Edited August 1, 2015 by FarmBoy

[mitto]

I've seen that link -- the problem is that color-wise, my pen falls, IMO, somewhere in between.... Sigh. Maybe I'm just being OCD about it. After all, what matters is that it's a 51 with a gold-filled cap, and that I got it for a good price (with free shipping) -- and that every OTHER 51 on Ebay that weekend was either more expensive, not as nice, or both.

I suspect that I will just have to take it to a show with me the next time I have the time and funds and just sort of "shop it around", trying to compare it vs. known teal or midnight blue pens at different tables. As opposed to my Plummer -- which I'm pretty certain is *not* burgundy in disguise....

 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Ruth, the teal blue comes in more than one shade. There are the greenish as well the more bluesh ones. You can see here the differnce. Pen 1 from left is the midnight blue while pen 4 and 5 are two very different shades of the teal. The rest are there just to give company. But since you own a plum, you can locate where the plum is in the picture. To give you a hint (lol) pen 1 from right is plain black.

Edited April 10, 2016 by mitto

[inkstainedruth]

Mitto, the fourth pen from the left in your photo looks pretty much like my Teal 51. Are you sure the one next to it isn't some flavor of green? (Mind, I'm not sure what the "green" 51s are like, but then, green is a color that doesn't much interest me).

The one that gets me scratching my head is Cocoa. IMO it's a hideous color, but people go all ga-ga over it because it's so "rare".... Personally I just don't see the fascination with it.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth