Esterbrook Ljs

[Jobesmirage]

Are the LJs harder to find? I rarely see them on sale compared to the J and SJ pens. On EBAY, the pinned (BUYITNOW) pens are also significantly more expensive (although these arent always a good indicator of price)

[pajaro]

I found the LJs to be less common. They are also more comfortable to use. The few LJs I have have some of my less common nibs in them as a result. You have to look, and be patient. Some sellers who seemed to come up with LJs seem to have disappeared. Died or moved on, retired, etc. A lot of the rest are high priced. The ones I bought were in the $20 to $25 range. Frankly, I think these pens are good curios. They are kind of interesting looking.

[Jobesmirage]

That went real dark real fast... "Died or moved on..."

 

The prices Im looking at online are almost 30 bucks or so

[inkstainedruth]

I paid $35 US for a black LJ last fall at the Ohio Pen Show. OTOH, I was buying it for the nib (a 9284 stub), so I think I got a decent deal. But you're right -- I have just one other LJ (grey mackerel with some 9xxx nib) that I picked up on eBay a couple of winters ago along with a matching grey mackerel SJ (which also had a 9xxx nib). I think I ended up paying about $20 for the pair.

I see SJs and full sized Js in the wild moderately often around the Pittsburgh area (and more when going a little farther afield). But never an LJ that I can recall offhand.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[pajaro]

In the wild? Frankly I don't find any fountain pens in the wild any more. I used to find them occasionally before these forums sprang up.

[Runnin_Ute]

I have a single LJ. It is a black Bell Systems pen with 2464 nib. (Manifold Broad )

I got it from EoC awhile back. Patience and a bit of luck gets you an LJ and SJ. J's seem more common.

[ac12]

How long have you been looking??

All pens will come and go. You can only make a statement like yours after watching for a long enough period of time, that the cycles will even out.

 

Also I have seen Esterbrooks on eBay with a picture but without a description. And it is up to you the buyer to figure out if it is a L, LJ or SJ.

 

I NEVER go by the asking/BIN pricing. They may be looking for the desperate or unknowledgeable people.

You need to look at the SOLD prices.

You also have to look at the nib that is in the pen. Certain nibs will drive up the price of the pen, simply because the nib is in high demand, not the pen.

Edited May 14, 2016 by ac12

[Jobesmirage]

How long have you been looking??

All pens will come and go. You can only make a statement like yours after watching for a long enough period of time, that the cycles will even out.

 

Also I have seen Esterbrooks on eBay with a picture but without a description. And it is up to you the buyer to figure out if it is a L, LJ or SJ.

 

I NEVER go by the asking/BIN pricing. They may be looking for the desperate or unknowledgeable people.

You need to look at the SOLD prices.

You also have to look at the nib that is in the pen. Certain nibs will drive up the price of the pen, simply because the nib is in high demand, not the pen.

 

What is the BIN pricing....

 

I have noticed recently that many sellers will label it as J even though it is an SJ or LJ and I have to ask for pen measurement (length) to determine the size. This seems like the way to go, at least in looking. I guess I should just slow down, Ive been on a little flurry esterbrook buying when all I originally wanted was 1 black LJ.

 

Now I have... 3 Js (trying to get all the general colors), 2 black SJs, and and that black LJ waiting to come back to me. Im not even sure what I've gotten myself into, ha

[pajaro]

 

What is the BIN pricing....

 

I have noticed recently that many sellers will label it as J even though it is an SJ or LJ and I have to ask for pen measurement (length) to determine the size. This seems like the way to go, at least in looking. I guess I should just slow down, Ive been on a little flurry esterbrook buying when all I originally wanted was 1 black LJ.

 

Now I have... 3 Js (trying to get all the general colors), 2 black SJs, and and that black LJ waiting to come back to me. Im not even sure what I've gotten myself into, ha

 

You are getting yourself into . . . through the looking glass. If you make yourself be patient and regularly peruse listings, you will find something you want at an attractive price. Don't get panicked into thinking these pens are rare and that you must jump on something now. Many sellers offer pens at high prices with some representation implied or stated that they are offering a premium service selling "restored" pens. It isn't difficult to restore these pens. Save the extra money. The J series pens are not worth premiums unless the nib is rare, including but not limited to, 2312, 9312, 2284, 9284, 9128, 2048, 9048, and nibs not in the 9xxx, 2xxx or 1xxx groups. After using a smorgasbord of Estie nibs, the ones I listed are the only ones I use any more. There are the 9314 and 2314 Relief nibs, but they are not worth as much, and shouldn't push the price of a pen up much to a buyer who knows these pens. .

[gweimer1]

And, while it's not drastically easier, you can also search for an icicle, which were typically LJ pens. A lot of those listings only say icicle.

[pajaro]

"Icicle" stated in a listing usually will mean a higher price than an ordinary LJ. I noted the prices Icicles usually fetched and avoided them. The icicles are sort of pin striped, with the dark stripes wide apart. It is a different look from the typical J series pen. Some like them. You should scope out some icicle listings on ebay. You might like them.

[ac12]

 

 

What is the BIN pricing....

 

I have noticed recently that many sellers will label it as J even though it is an SJ or LJ and I have to ask for pen measurement (length) to determine the size. This seems like the way to go, at least in looking. I guess I should just slow down, Ive been on a little flurry esterbrook buying when all I originally wanted was 1 black LJ.

 

Now I have... 3 Js (trying to get all the general colors), 2 black SJs, and and that black LJ waiting to come back to me. Im not even sure what I've gotten myself into, ha

 

 

BIN = Buy It Now

 

Well they are all part of the "J series" of pens; J, LJ and SJ. So they can be called Js, but they are not the specific J model. Yes confusing. Which is why you have to look carefully at the pix and ask questions. And don't wait till the last day to ask questions, because sometimes people don't respond fast enough for you to make a decision, before the time runs out on the listing.

Edited May 26, 2016 by ac12

[Jobesmirage]

  

 

BIN = Buy It Now

 

Well they are all part of the "J series" of pens; J, LJ and SJ. So they can be called Js, but they are not the specific J model. Yes confusing. Which is why you have to look carefully at the pix and ask questions. And don't wait till the last day to ask questions, because sometimes people don't respond fast enough for you to make a decision, before the time runs out on the listing.

Yeah Ive found that with EBAY purchases sometimes even when I ask the answers.. are not correct which is why Im sitting here with an SJ, ha. Not that its not a fantastic writer and great pen to use.

[pajaro]

Some of the sellers don't know the ins and outs of what they are selling. Their write-ups and their answers are often based on incomplete or no knowledge, but they are learning as they go along. It's easy to be judgemental about their lack of knowledge, but they buy a bunch of stuff, often from estates, and they try to figure out what they have gotten. When I was buying a lot of pens I would sometimes get one with a problem or an incorrect description that I couldn't see from pics. In every case the sellers refunded, except in one case, where the pen was scarce enough that I sucked it up.

[inkstainedruth]

In the wild? Frankly I don't find any fountain pens in the wild any more. I used to find them occasionally before these forums sprang up.

 

Ironically, I have seen more Esties in the wild in the past two years than in the two years before that. Mind you, some were priced at more than I wanted to pay. And I have still gotten more on eBay than in the wild. But one of the blue J pens, the black SJ with the 9128 nib, and the root beer SJ were all found in the wild, along with my first Estie, from about 3 years ago (black SJ with 1555 nib). All within about a hour's drive of where I live. And I've turned down a number of others for various reasons -- mostly either for being IMO overpriced, or because they had nibs I already had). Oh, and a dip pen set (currently lost in my house ) on the original card, which I picked up at a place a block or two from Bromfield's Pen Shop a couple of Christmases ago.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: To the best of my knowledge, though, I don't recall any that I could identify as LJs -- the ones I've seen have invariably been Js, Trannys, or SJs.

Edited May 26, 2016 by inkstainedruth

[AAAndrew]

I just picked up a copper LJ for a decent price.

 

Oh, and Ruth, when you say a dip pen set on the original card, are you talking about Esterbrook?

[pajaro]

A lot of the pens you find in antique stores and in other local venues probably come from estate sales. The person who runs an estate sale will usually sell off the unsold items to an antique or secondhand dealer. Pens we are interested in coming on the market probably depends on the owners becoming defunct. Most people probably don't perceive that old fountain pens might have value. At an estate sale recently there was a bunch of old pens from the 1950s or so, Scripto fountain pens, some others, and they had them all for a dollar. I passed, because I don't want any more of that junk. The person I know who worked at the estate sale told me they threw them away. So, that can happen too.

 

I used to find the odd Parker 51 new in its box at garage sales. I think the generation who received items like that as gifts has passed, generally. Fountain pens appearing in estate and garage sales now are probably the former property of some very old people. I have seen a lot of junky ballpoints at estate sales, though, and the estate sales feed the antique stores.

Edited June 16, 2016 by pajaro

[inkstainedruth]

I just picked up a copper LJ for a decent price.

 

Oh, and Ruth, when you say a dip pen set on the original card, are you talking about Esterbrook?

 

Yup.

Of course at the moment I don't know where in the house it is....

For that matter, I seem to be minus a couple of cake pans. Naturally in different sizes. I found *one* Wilton's 8" round and one 9" round....

This has been a relatively crappy day after a relatively stressful crappy week. And I still need to spend a couple of hours making up marzipan oranges. Why oranges? Because I can crank out 5-6 dozen in an hour, once the food coloring is kneaded in.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Sasha Royale]

That went real dark real fast... "Died or moved on..."

 

Not so dark. I believe that one does both.

However, I got most of my Esterbrook J-series pens from two Esterbrook-loving Ebay sellers, who were hobbyists retirees. They use to restore, and sell, with a bit of history/background of the pen. Both are gone. I miss them.

[estie1948]

I have found these pens (LJ's) appear in cycles as do almost all vintage fountain pens. I will go for several months without coming across one, then there will be one or two at several of the antique stores I frequent when searching for fountain pens. I'd like to explain why this is . . . but I haven't a clue. I would echo the advice of others: "be patient" and be persistent. On line, if the seller does not have a J in the photograph for comparison, it is impossible to tell if you a looking at a J or an LJ. They are the same length, but the LJ is slimmer. I have bough LJ's thinking I was buying J's.

 

I still come across a fountain pen or two at a yard sale or an estate sale, but not so often. I once bought an entire cigar box full of trashed no-name fountain pens because the box also contained a mint green Esterbrook desk pen. Cost was $3 but included the cigar box (an old Red Dot Cigar box in very good condition). After I put the cigar box of fountain pens in my car, I went back and purchased one mint green eight-ball desk pen holder for $1. They guessed it was a pen holder, but had no idea where the pen was so they were only asking $3 for it. Since they understood that I would probably never find the matching pen to go in it, they agreed to sell it for a dollar. I can only guess that one person filled the cigar box with fountain pens and another person set out the "pen holder". Everybody gets lucky once in a while.

 

Good luck in your quest for the presently elusive LJ.

 

-David.