Jump to content

The Matador Thread


christof

Recommended Posts

  • 4 months later...
  • Replies 318
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • kawuska

    61

  • Azuniga

    57

  • christof

    44

  • Parcival

    27

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

Nothing since August 2020?  Hmmm...

 

Someone wrote, many pages back: <I can't believe I fell upon this thread only now! Will post some pics soon....>  Likewise, myself!

 

What pen is of almost exactly the same dimensions (well, length, not girth) as a 149 (MB, of course!) and, additionally, has a nib of almost the size of a Waterman's 58?  Well...

Matador Garant 998 002.JPG

Matador Garant 998 003.JPG

Matador Garant 998 005.JPG

Matador Garant 998 008.JPG

Matador Garant 998 006.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I should never have thought twice about Matador, until pomperopero suggested a couple of years ago that I might love them, knowing of my love of vintage Pelikans -- muchas gracias, Iñaki!  Months ago, I saw this intriguing pen offered in the classified section of that famous website FPN!  I cannot remember who sold it to me and why on earth he should have conceived of parting with it; but...my gain.  (Didn't anyone else see the advertisement?)

 

At some point in its life, this nib was removed without due care and there are some mild scratches on the nib, near the tip, as you can see in one photo.  They are not severe and do not detract much from its beauty.  In the photo of the three nibs, the Waterman 58 #8 at the back is somewhat reduced by perspective, but the 149 nib shows the relative sizes perfectly well, I think.  

 

Needless to say, I <love> this pen and its enormous, flexible nib.

 

Apologies for rotten photos.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Dear "Cristobal" 😉 very happy to see you finally got this model. And what a model!! A big one amongst the biggest Matador pens.

 

I'm sure yoy adore it.

 

On 1/15/2021 at 9:03 PM, Christopher Godfrey said:

I should never have thought twice about Matador, until pomperopero suggested a couple of years ago that I might love them, knowing of my love of vintage Pelikans -- muchas gracias, Iñaki!  Months ago, I saw this intriguing pen offered in the classified section of that famous website FPN!  I cannot remember who sold it to me and why on earth he should have conceived of parting with it; but...my gain.  (Didn't anyone else see the advertisement?)

 

At some point in its life, this nib was removed without due care and there are some mild scratches on the nib, near the tip, as you can see in one photo.  They are not severe and do not detract much from its beauty.  In the photo of the three nibs, the Waterman 58 #8 at the back is somewhat reduced by perspective, but the 149 nib shows the relative sizes perfectly well, I think.  

 

Needless to say, I <love> this pen and its enormous, flexible nib.

 

Apologies for rotten photos.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
On 1/3/2017 at 2:16 PM, kawuska said:

Hello Don,

great pens!I've got faceted 962 too and it is one of the most gracious pens I have.Don'tnk that Degussa nib originally came with this pen though.Who made Matador nibs, any information about this brand?It has yet to be discovered.Maybe some dark cellar in Germany hides documentation sheets used by the house owner to wrap glass jars with jam in it?Time will tell..

My recent research on the Matador Company has convinced me that MATADOR bought nibs from DEGUSSA. (At least they did this among buying from other sources). I have proof of that (a letter from Degussa stating that Siebert&Loewen/Matador had been their customers for many years) and I have evidence from numerous MATADOR Pens which came to me with DEGUSSA nibs - I can´t believe that former owners replaced so many original nibs by Degussa nibs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 10/27/2015 at 10:00 AM, christof said:

In another thread at the photography forum, some members mentioned that it would be apreciated to have an own thread for the German brand Matador.

Matador is a somewhat unknown brand for some collectors, but there are lots of informations (specially on German board penexchange.de) if you take time for searching.

 

This thread should not content historical facts about Matador as a main topic. The idea of this thread is to show a picture or two of YOUR Matador and share the informations you have about it with us.

 

I only have a few Matadors in my own collection, but I'd like to start with this:

 

15975628535_94d360fb53_k.jpg

 

It's a Matador Express 815, probably made during the 30's (pre WWII), and is fitted with a huge #6 nib, made in New York. The really special thing about this pen is that the cap top and the mechanics as well are made of the same celluloid as the rest of the pen. I have never seen this before.

 

I also have some others, but need to do better pictures. Please feel free to jump in with your Matadors in the meantime. This will become a fun thread!

 

C.

Although Christoph - according to his opening post from 2015 - wanted this thread to be a showroom for pens I dare to post two recent findigs:

 

Here comes what is closest to a catalogue and I hope is new to the majority of you: I was lucky to get PDFs of two MATADOR-leaflets from the 1930 (as I tend to believe). The originals are still property of a descendant of the former company owner - and he would not give them away. So enjoy!

Matador_IVs_kompl.pdf Matador_VIIIs_kompl.pdf

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, yettham said:

Although Christoph - according to his opening post from 2015 - wanted this thread to be a showroom for pens I dare to post two recent findigs:

 

Here comes what is closest to a catalogue and I hope is new to the majority of you: I was lucky to get PDFs of two MATADOR-leaflets from the 1930 (as I tend to believe). The originals are still property of a descendant of the former company owner - and he would not give them away. So enjoy!

Matador_IVs_kompl.pdf 3.29 MB · 3 downloads Matador_VIIIs_kompl.pdf 6.77 MB · 3 downloads


 

What an awesome find, thank you for posting! These old adds are an excellent source of solid information. Particularly interesting are the prices, but also the advertising strategy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, yettham said:

My recent research on the Matador Company has convinced me that MATADOR bought nibs from DEGUSSA. (At least they did this among buying from other sources). I have proof of that (a letter from Degussa stating that Siebert&Loewen/Matador had been their customers for many years) and I have evidence from numerous MATADOR Pens which came to me with DEGUSSA nibs - I can´t believe that former owners replaced so many original nibs by Degussa nibs.


It’s great that you found proof for this! Degussa bought the nib factory from Osmia and kept producing excellent nibs for the industry. Many, mostly smaller, manufacturers bought their nibs from Degussa or several others like Rupp, Ruf, or Bock. They would provide the nibs with the imprint that was demanded by the buyer usually but also sold nibs with their own imprint. So, if I find a pen with a Nib with Degussa imprint, I still would assume that it’s a replacement nib because the original nibs probably had the “M” Matador imprint even if they were made by Degussa. Do you know whether or not Matador even had a nib factory?

 

On a more general note: i found so many German 1930s pens with all kinds of replacement nibs that I have to disagree with your last statement. Due to WWII there was a severe shortage of basically everything in Germany from the late 1930s on. And pens were used on an everyday all day basis. Thus, pens had to be repaired with whatever parts were available. I think I found as many older pens with newer nibs as newer pens with older nibs. And if the original branded nib was made by Degussa (or one of the other nib providers) it could be replaced easily with a non-branded nib showing the imprint of the actual producer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 4/11/2021 at 4:47 AM, yettham said:

Although Christoph - according to his opening post from 2015 - wanted this thread to be a showroom for pens I dare to post two recent findigs:

 

Here comes what is closest to a catalogue and I hope is new to the majority of you: I was lucky to get PDFs of two MATADOR-leaflets from the 1930 (as I tend to believe). The originals are still property of a descendant of the former company owner - and he would not give them away. So enjoy!

Matador_IVs_kompl.pdf 3.29 MB · 7 downloads Matador_VIIIs_kompl.pdf 6.77 MB · 7 downloads

 

All the collectors have been very generous with their contributions in this thread but your's with these pages from the catalog is on a different level. This is a first for me who have been following the brands for several years. 

Cant thank you enough!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@yettam: first thing -- welcome here!

 

Secondly, as others have said above -- brilliant!  Thanks so much.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I have just noticed, however: no price for the Garant 998...why?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 4/11/2021 at 11:47 AM, yettham said:

Although Christoph - according to his opening post from 2015 - wanted this thread to be a showroom for pens I dare to post two recent findigs:

 

Here comes what is closest to a catalogue and I hope is new to the majority of you: I was lucky to get PDFs of two MATADOR-leaflets from the 1930 (as I tend to believe). The originals are still property of a descendant of the former company owner - and he would not give them away. So enjoy!

Matador_IVs_kompl.pdf 3.29 MB · 20 downloads Matador_VIIIs_kompl.pdf 6.77 MB · 18 downloads

 

Awesome stuff. Thank you very much. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 months later...

He's already traveling to me. The big gun! It wasn't cheap and there was bad ink damage /celluloid coloring/, but still an extremely rare pen and I couldn't miss it for my collection of Duofold-like pens. Oversize Matador Ideal Gold pen with # 5 Ideal nib, 1929...

1.jpg

2.jpg

 

5.jpg

12.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Parcival Beautiful and faithful replica of Parker Duofold like pens by Matador! It’s a very interesting collection theme you have, yet not surprising at all. Early Duofolds must be the most copied model of all time. You can find virtually a copy of some sort in all early pen makes. Would you mind sharing a few examples in your collection of this theme? Must be very cool to see!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, como said:

@Parcival Beautiful and faithful replica of Parker Duofold like pens by Matador! It’s a very interesting collection theme you have, yet not surprising at all. Early Duofolds must be the most copied model of all time. You can find virtually a copy of some sort in all early pen makes. Would you mind sharing a few examples in your collection of this theme? Must be very cool to see!

There are many Duofold-like pens in Europe, mostly German and Italian, and less French. A special topic can be made for them. There are none in the United States because of the patent.

First photo - Matador 931

Second photo:

1. Uhlmann's Eterno, Italy
2. Selector 80, Netherlands
3. Azura 15, French, but probably made in Germany by Kaweco

1.jpg

10900172_1009053025775165_6030606104682560787_o.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Parcival said:

There are many Duofold-like pens in Europe, mostly German and Italian, and less French. A special topic can be made for them. There are none in the United States because of the patent.

First photo - Matador 931

Second photo:

1. Uhlmann's Eterno, Italy
2. Selector 80, Netherlands
3. Azura 15, French, but probably made in Germany by Kaweco

1.jpg

10900172_1009053025775165_6030606104682560787_o.jpg

@Parcival That first Matador is especially beautiful! Thank you very much for sharing. 👍

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 12/15/2021 at 3:18 PM, Parcival said:

He's already traveling to me. The big gun! It wasn't cheap and there was bad ink damage /celluloid coloring/, but still an extremely rare pen and I couldn't miss it for my collection of Duofold-like pens. Oversize Matador Ideal Gold pen with # 5 Ideal nib, 1929...

 Congratulations!!! 

I had never seen or heard about a duofold style Matador - love it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

I recently bought some pens at an estate sale.  The gentleman who owned the estate was from Hungry and all his pens came from his time in Hungry. I began restoring some of the pens and I came across a pen that I believe is a Matador. Or at least the nib is.  What are your opinions?


The pen has zero markings so maybe it just a cheap Hungarian but the nib is very interesting and has an M with a circle on it. Only issue is there appears to be a line through the circle which I have not seen in my Matador research. 

 

E0F2EB42-58E1-46CC-8D15-7338D410A487.jpeg

87E7368D-2C97-4C72-A4F8-AE29699E3F72.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33494
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26624
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...