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Big Blackbirds From The London Pen Show


MarcShiman

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Coincidentally enough, I was in London at the time of the Pen Show (truly a coincidence? My wife doubts it), and I stopped in for a few hours. I wasn't expecting much, as I'm pretty focused on American Swans, and didn't count on finding any at the show. I was largely right - I did see a few jade Eternals, but nothing terribly uncommon.

 

There is one obscure English Swan that I collect - its the Big Blackbird. These are blackbird quality pens with substantial nibs - 6 or 8 size. Early on they were flattop mottled brown and black hard rubber pens. The iconic one is has the red-hard rubber lever. Typically these pens have black hard rubber levers.

 

This was the initial collection:

 

 

 

These were often produced under the Blackbird, Gaviotta, and Merle Blanc names - they are often, respectively the Big Blackbird, the Gaviotta Gigante, and the Merle Blanc Ceant.

 

After about 4 years of intensive searching, my collection stands at about 6. At the show, however, I bought four more:

 

 

 

Backdrop courtesy of a Sofitel airport lounge chair.

 

1) A Merle Blanc. It does not say "Ceant" and it does not have a Blackbird nib (it uses a 14k warranted nib - either a replacement or this was a Benelux pen).

2) A Big Blackbird.

3) A Gaviotta Gigante - As typical, they stamped the Gaviotta right on top of the Big Blackbird factory stamp.

4) A Big Blackbird with a black hard rubber lever. The seller had a second one, with better hard rubber, but an Eternal (incorrect) nib and a more worn metal clip. I waffled about buying both, decided against it.

 

The appeal of Big Blackbirds is the nibs. Big, often very flexible nibs.

 

 

 

I also found a beat up 844B in black hard rubber - for those of you who have not yet fully memorized your Mabie Todd number protocol, this is the ultimate stubby pen - a vest pocket pen with a monster 8 size eternal nib in it. This one is clipless and bandless, and it needs some love and attention, so I left it behind with a friend to clean it up.

 

Nice show, lots of vintage.

 

 

Edited by MarcShiman
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Marc: you were at today's show? I was there together with a bunch of fellow pen geeks.

 

Well done on your finds

 

The prices seem to be forever rocketing skywards; I did buy a decent enough Parker Victory with a nice nib for £20, but the Mabie Todds I desired were out of reach I am afraid. One bloke had four L205/62s - the colour I have always sought. The price "around £250" - and not one had decent gold plate to its clip. Another bloke had a decent enough SM100/60 at £35; it had a nice nib, but unfortunately the wrong one - a No 2. The bloke looked quite peeved when after his offering to find a No 1 to go into it I said that I thought it likely that the section would have been modified to accept the larger nib and feed!

 

They are having a laugh.

 

I was disappointed at the dearth of decent spares this time; ordinary MT nibs were priced at £25 upwards.

 

Best

 

Cob

Edited by Cob

fpn_1428963683__6s.jpg “The pen of the British Empire” fpn_1423349537__swan_sign_is.jpg


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  • 5 months later...

The prices seem to be forever rocketing skywards;

 

I can remember picking up old Swans, in the early days of Ebay (lo-ong ago), for a couple of quid. Often boxed, with instructions, most would just need a new sac and then were good to go.

I bought and sold quite a few, until I decided to pursue a different brand.

 

Recently started looking at Swans again, and am staggered by the prices.

Then again, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. I always thought they were quality pens, so they are finally realising their worth.

 

MarcShiman: Those big Blackbirds are gorgeous. Congratulations.

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