What Was Your Last Impulsive Pen Acquisition?

[AmandaW]

 

 

Yes, of course, if 'reason' (or some attempt to 'rationalise' one's purchases and/or spending) is what was holding you back all those weeks, but you finally succumbed to sheer want in a moment of 'weakness'.

 

 

I am so pleased I caved in to my moment of irrational weakness.

 

Sailor calls it brown, but it's actually what I think of as sepia. A proper sepia. And a perfect match for Rohrer & Klingner Sepia (thankyou so much for the sample Smug). The range of lines to be had from this little cheapie makes it a fantastic pen for drawing and the ink colour is exactly right.

 

Edited October 14, 2020 by AmandaW

[Biber]

 

 

I am so pleased I caved in to my moment of irrational weakness.

 

Sailor calls it brown, but it's actually what I think of as sepia. A proper sepia. And a perfect match for Rohrer & Klingner Sepia (thankyou so much for the sample Smug). The range of lines to be had from this little cheapie makes it a fantastic pen for drawing and the ink colour is exactly right.

 

 

If you wouldn't mind, which Sailor Brown is that? I quite like what I see in your photo.

[A Smug Dill]

If you wouldn't mind, which Sailor Brown is that?

 

That's a Sailor 'Pearl Brown' calligraphy pen with a steel 40° Fude de Mannen nib［パールブラウン（ペン先角度 40度）］, model number 12-0132-080. The ink is not Sailor, but Rohrer & Klingner Sepia.

[maclink]

Just got a Sailor Pro Gear Slim Blue Sky with a F nib.

[Stompie]

A bunch of Jinhao with Italic nibs, some WIng Sungs and some Baoers. All from Loft Pens here in the UK. Of course, rip offs of Parker, Lamy, TWSBi but at a fraction of the price.

 

Great writers and very smooth, except 1 which needed a quick touch on micromesh and is now great!

[corniche]

 

Yes. Thank you Corniche. I actually prefer the Red Stripe to the Green Stripe. I think the green stripe is okay, I have it in m600 and m1000, but I prefer the green marble m200 more. I wish Pelikan offered Souveran models in marble finishes.

 

I hope you are also doing well.

Thank you, Tito. Yes, I wish they would offer their marbled patterns in the upper-echelon pens - they could add a little more chatoyance to justify the higher price.

 

I know they do offer "cracked ice" patterns in the upper series, but only as L.E.'s.

 

- Sean

[inkstainedruth]

Today I was poking around an antiques mall in eastern Ohio, and ended up having a green Sheaffer Touchdown (I think) follow me home.

In my defense it wasn't an expensive pen to begin with, and that boothholder was having a 20% off sale. So, with sales tax, the pen cost me a little under $13 US....

Now off to read up on Touchdowns. I have a black one already, but it was restored before I got it.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[amk]

Just got a Lamy Aion in a 70% off sale. Couldn't resist. Grabbed a load of ink too.

[johnsi02]

Don't you hate it when you see a pen on eBay and send a low ball offer just so you can tell yourself "I tried, it wasn't too be"... and the seller accepts.

Because of that there is a Monteverde Innova in black with rose gold trim coming my way. It has a 1.1 stub nib. Not expensive, but a nice looking pen and way under list price.

I am a sucker for that rose gold.

[inkstainedruth]

I've gotten several relatively inexpensive pens (Parker Vectors) that way, johnsi02. Put in an offer which was accepted and left me wondering "Should I have gone even lower on my 'best offer'?"

Of course I've also stumbled over auctions at the last minute and bid the minimum. Got a Morrison BHR ringtop a few years ago and the shipping cost more than the minimum bid did.... Trying to remember now if I did that with the sterling filigree overlay Morrison I got last winter off eBay. I have a couple of the gold-filled filigree overlay ringtops, and had wanted a sterling one to go with for a few years now. And (also last winter) after getting massively outbid on a Ciselé Parker 75, I spotted another one and bid the minimum with something like two minutes to go when I realized that NOBODY was watching that second listing but me....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[dcaesq]

Yet another Wancher Shizuku.

[JotterAddict62]

As it was raining this morning [ any colder it would have been snowing ] I scrap the idea of doing yard work again and took a 35 mile round trip to an auction.

It was advertised in the listing Parker Pen, I had to go. For the high price of $5 I picked up a P51 special [ blue ]. There was a Sheaffer FP and a Fineline pencil that sold in a lot for $7.50 which I did not bid on, however I did offer $5 for the pair to the man and took those home as well. Not a bad morning in the rain .

Edited October 18, 2020 by JotterAddict62

[A Smug Dill]

Aurora 8^"88^" Giove. The price is right, and the AUD-USD exchange rate is moderately favourable at the moment, so it intercepted my planned purchases from my favourite European retailer and captured that piece of my 'budget' (and then some!) instead. And a few cheap(er) pens to pad the order and make the free international shipping threshold.

[Ink Stained Wretch]

When was my last impulsive pen purchase? A few hours ago!

 

On offer on Flea-Bay was a bundle of three student-type fountain pens.They were listed as Stypen X-pens, but the caps were solid plastic and so exactly like the old Stypen Ergo-Plume fountain pens. The last time I bought some Stypen X-pens I got the unpleasant surprise of finding that the X-pen has a cap with a big hole that the clip attaches to. I suppose that may be a "feature" rather than a flaw, a feature based on the idea that toddlers will be able to breathe though the cap if necessary (they really can't).

 

I hadn't shopped on Flea-Bay in years. I just happened to look there last night. The auction was due to end in less than three hours. I hemmed and hawed and wanted to stay on the wagon. I put in a bid at the minimum, as the first bidder, and ended up winning the pens.

 

Anyway, when I bought my first Stypen Ergo-Plume fountain pen close to the turn of the millennium it had cost me $8+. A few hours ago I got three fountain pens exactly like it for $7.62 each. Well, good for me.

 

Before last night I had thought that I was going to stay on the wagon permanently. But now I'm already looking at something else up there. Strange how that happens.

 

 

I've fallen off that wagon yet again .

[N1003U]

HaHa! Send us a photo of the pens lined up, will ya?

 

Just to follow up: I finally made it back the the USA, and I unpacked the booty last night.

Very impulsive, indeed.

All Pelikans were purchased sight unseen, while all Lamy's were checked out in person then shipped directly to the USA (avoiding local VAT).

 

Below, my 2020 stimulus package for the German export economy:

 

 

Left to right, lower: K800, D800, M800 in Green-Black (all W.Germany models), M605 Dark Blue, M605 Stresemann, M400 Blue-Black, M200 in Black, M200 Gold Marble-White (note: I'd really like to see the Gold Marble in black resin), M101 Red, M300 in Green-Black, M140 in Green-Black.

 

Top to bottom, upper: Lamy Studio in Piano Black, Lamy Sudio ballpoint in Olivine, Lamy Studio Ballpoint in Terracotta, Lam Safari in Umbra, Lamy Safari in Red, and a Lamy Safari in Violet.

 

The W.Germany K/D/M 800 set was purchased from a friendly FPNer, and I am very pleased with them. The Dark Blue M605 was also supplied by a (different, but equally pleasant and friendly) FPNer. The rest were purchased new from authorized dealers.

 

There was also a ceramic white Pelikan pen display stand (the type with the hole in the beak for the pen).

 

 

These should be enough to keep me busy during the cold, dark winter.

[maclink]

Impressive N1003U! Thanks for sharing.

 

I see that you're a Pelikan fan. I recently got one of the M101N's and my wife has 'commandeered' it saying it's perfect for her, and I have to agree. I've decidedly parted with it. The M800 is my personal favourite of the Pelikans, i.e., the perfect size.

 

I just got myself a Karas Kustom Decograph, full macrolon with all-black finish. It came with an EF Titanium nib. I'm really impressed with the workmanship with this pen. Really well built and with a very well tuned nib. It's a great writer.

[N1003U]

Impressive N1003U! Thanks for sharing.

 

I see that you're a Pelikan fan. I recently got one of the M101N's and my wife has 'commandeered' it saying it's perfect for her, and I have to agree. I've decidedly parted with it. The M800 is my personal favourite of the Pelikans, i.e., the perfect size.

 

I just got myself a Karas Kustom Decograph, full macrolon with all-black finish. It came with an EF Titanium nib. I'm really impressed with the workmanship with this pen. Really well built and with a very well tuned nib. It's a great writer.

 

Interestingly, my sister is a huge Pilot and Platinum fan. Maybe the genetic component of taste in pens is weak...

 

I work in the copper metal industry on occasion, and I have my eye on a solid copper Ink V2. One day I will pull the trigger, but today is not that day, and tomorrow doesn't look good either. Maybe next year. I wonder if they would make me one with a brass clip...

 

P.S. I overlooked a Black Brown Pelikan K800 that was also in my current purchases. That is the missing fourth ballpoint (which forms a set with my M800, though I like the Burnt Orange K800 with the Brown-Black M800 as part of my autumnal wardrobe (see my current avatar).

[maclink]

 

Interestingly, my sister is a huge Pilot and Platinum fan. Maybe the genetic component of taste in pens is weak...

 

I work in the copper metal industry on occasion, and I have my eye on a solid copper Ink V2. One day I will pull the trigger, but today is not that day, and tomorrow doesn't look good either. Maybe next year. I wonder if they would make me one with a brass clip...

 

P.S. I overlooked a Black Brown Pelikan K800 that was also in my current purchases. That is the missing fourth ballpoint (which forms a set with my M800, though I like the Burnt Orange K800 with the Brown-Black M800 as part of my autumnal wardrobe (see my current avatar).

 

I happen to have a full copper KK Ink. That's a seriously heavy pen and THE reason why it's in storage at the moment and taken out only for demo purposes on what it is to try a heavy pen. Another good use for it would be to keep it under your pillow if you are worried about an intruder or to carry it in your jeans pocket for self defense.

[inkfade]

I've also found that to be the case of VPs vs. Decimos. Unfortunately, the VPs come in a much wider variety of colors and finishes. And when I got my Decimo, I had to get one from an eBay seller in Japan because Pilot's "marketing" department won't sell the grey in the US (and at the time they weren't selling the dark blue either, which would have been my second choice.

If I ever do get a dark blue, I was considering getting a B nib (mine has a lovely writing F). So I'd be interested in what you think of the B nib on yours is when you get it.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Sorry for the late reply, I just now came back to this thread.

 

I am disappointed with my Decimo. The nib is ok, though it did require a little smoothing out of the box. The pen, however, is too slick for me to use for long periods of time. The metal is so slippery that I can't even write one sentence without my fingers slipping down the body towards the nib, no matter how I hold the pen. Think I will eventually sell it, as life is too short to have pens I won't use in my collection.

 

Here is a nib comparison:

 

 

So after the disappointment of the Decimo, I have purchased the Sailor 1911L Simply Black with a zoom nib. I owned a Sailor Pro Gear Slim with a broad nib at one point and the nib was not at all what I was expecting. Thin and scratchy if not held at the exactly correct angle. I've read the zoom is smoother and juicier and much broader, so here's to hoping so. Ordered from Cult Pens with an additional 10% off for being in the USA.

Edited November 1, 2020 by inkfade

[DrDebG]

Earlier this week, I decided to commemorate finally having shoulder surgery by purchasing a new pen. Since I don't know of any Las Vegas pen makers (that is where I had the surgery done with a world renown shoulder reconstruction specialist), I went to the next closest - Karas Kustom of Mesa, Arizona.

 

Actually, I have nothing but good things about their pens. I opted for the Karas Colors Al Decograph Special Release - which is a beautiful red and grey colored aluminum. Generally, I am not a huge fan of aluminum pens, but this is really nice. It is not highly polished, and tends more towards a matte finish. The section, while metal, has a bit of texture to it so my fingers do not slip at all. The weight is very nice - right around 34 gms. It is a cartridge/converter but that is fine with me.

 

I paired it with a 1.1mm stub nib which is smooth with just a touch of feedback. Right now, I have Sailor Manyo Konagi in it which I absolutely love.

 

The Karas Kustom people were very easy to deal with. The website worked very well, and the pen was immediately sent out and I got it two days later.

 

I am very pleased with my purchase.