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Buyers Remorse, ... In Reverse


DrCodfish

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Hey, folks, how about a little wistful woulda coulda shoulda?

 

Is there a pen, or pens which you greatly regret not buying? I recently had a shot at a 1920's vintage Parker Duofold. All black, not an outstanding pen, and not in pristine condition, but a nice B Stub nib, very smooth writer (so I was told). Not a Pelikan I know, but this pen would have filled a conspicuous hole in a small collection of Duofolds, and I really have a soft spot for vintage factory stub and CI nibs.

 

Why didn't I stick with the bid and pay the premium? Right now my Koi pond is taking more than it's fair share of the fun budget, that and my oldest son just graduated with a PhD and though that should free up some funds in the future, in the short term I am planning a celebration for him which will also soak up some dough.

 

What pen or pens do your regret not having brought home?

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Sounds more like non-buyer's regret.

 

The Parker 75 is, to me, amongst the most elegant and attractive fountain pens ever made and I have three, including a cisele.

 

I had a chance to buy a burgundy Parker 75 in magnificent condition last year and didn't because I had already just bought my first UK Parker Duofold and decided that filling in gaps, rather than filling out, was more relevant at that time.

 

Cost was not an issue but, as I already had three, decided at the time, that that would be enough.

 

I still regret my decision and often think about that lost opportunity to acquire a beautiful pen. I tell myself that it won't happen again.

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Closest I come is not deciding to buy a M800 Blue Ocean demo before they sold out. One came up many years later on another list and I nearly hurt myself jumping to respond. Finally got my grail pen.

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There is a slew of pens that I have missed (real bargains for cheap) for lack of funds... just the way the life goes sometimes and I am not thinking about those that much or at all (I already have a nice flock of collector grade Pelikan 100N and Parker 51 aeros).

There is one pen though that kind of bugs me still (the one that got away), a companion MP for a post WWII Pelikan 101N that was in a very nice shape. I got distracted at the last minute of bidding by my partner and I missed on the chance to place a last second bid. The pen went for less than 100€ and that smarted a bit knowing how much the collector grade examples of those go for (when you can find one).

Oh, I remember one more. Some five years back a seller at a local flea market had a box with a flock of black Pelikan 140 in it. For 20€ each. I was being cheap and bought only two of them, one with a script nib and one with the later chevron nib... should have bought them all (for some reason I recall one of them being an OBB or BB, didn't fancy them at that time). Oh well... live and learn.

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UHHH....

 

One time I had the chance to buy An '80s/'90s PLASTIC VANISHING POINT WITH A SUPER SMOOTH MEDIUM NIB for $105.

 

AT A PEN SHOP.

 

I still kick myself over that.

 

EVEN if I didn't like the pen, I could have $old that thing for a good profit.

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In the back of a taxi in Toronto someone had left a valuable pen, and I instinctively gave it to the driver with the hope he'd find the passenger who left it behind.....

 

There's a few twists and turns in my thoughts, but I believe I could have returned it more likely to the owner....

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Missed an original M800 Tortoiseshell Brown. Dont know what I was thinking when I said no. Still kicking myself over it.

PELIKAN - Too many birds in the flock to count. My pen chest has proven to be a most fertile breeding ground.

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THE PELIKAN'S PERCH - A growing reference site for all things Pelikan

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Pelikan m800 red stripe. Always wished i got it and poof they were out of production. Happened to see one last year and just bought it. Paid a minor premium but they are way more now. Dont regret grabbing it one bit.

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100 with a CN nib... was looking for only 14k nibs at the time and was concerned about the possibility of a cork piston. Didn't realise how nice the CN nibs of that era were until I got one much later (swapped into a late model 100N).

 

Also missed out on a few pens due to low funds. Particularly a lovely Brown Tortoise 400NN with swapped-in pre-54 OM nib (my favourite nib). Also a black 140. And a 400 with RB nib... still don't have a right oblique in my collection.

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Yes...A Pelikan 1931 White Gold...It was the "Original of Their Times" special edition...And it is still fresh in my memory...Some may remember way to back to 2002 when Ashford shut down and had all of their inventory at least half off...It was in my shopping cart along with a lot of other pens and the final amount was just too much, so I took it out. I went back later, and it was out of stock. I still got some really nice pens at really great prices, but I regret not getting that one.

Thomas
Baton Rouge, LA
(tbickiii)

Check out my ebay pen listings
:
  tbickiii's Vintage Fountain Pens

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I had the opportunity to buy a MB Hemingway at an airport shop for $600 back in 1994. I was a student and couldn't afford it, but giving it back to the sales person is a moment I'll always remember. This is my grail pen and I'll probably never have it, but it's ok.

"If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live."

– Lin Yu-T'ang

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Yes...A Pelikan 1931 White Gold...It was the "Original of Their Times" special edition...And it is still fresh in my memory...Some may remember way to back to 2002 when Ashford shut down and had all of their inventory at least half off...It was in my shopping cart along with a lot of other pens and the final amount was just too much, so I took it out. I went back later, and it was out of stock. I still got some really nice pens at really great prices, but I regret not getting that one.

 

Oh yes, what a pen. That one is on my "when I win the lottery" list.

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I was bidding on a Garant Alkor, lost by a buck... It went for something like $35. Can't complain after my used m205 for $60 though :) .

"The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt."

 

B. Russell

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Back in 2003 Pelikan M200 in red and anthracite. I'm glad I have the blue.

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I regret passing on a blue Esterbrook with the name and address of an insurance company in a town in northwest PA. It would have been my first Estie, and the engraving kinda amused me. I passed because I didn't know enough about vintage pens back then.

It took me a couple of years to track down another J-series pen in the mackerel blue....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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At least half a dozen instances due to indecisiveness or lack of funds. :doh:

Engineer :

Someone who does precision guesswork based on unreliable data provided by those of questionable knowledge.

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I was a young student and I saw a 14k gold Sheaffer Crest (Masterpiece?) Vac Fill (that the buyer had not disclosed as 14k, I just saw the 5000 marking), slip away at a $200 bid...

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I was in the US for a month and I want a Delta 366 FP. A couple came up on ebay and I regret not bidding high enough to win one. :( Now, because of UK Customs, I'll have to wait another year before I see another one available. -_-

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I had the opportunity to buy a MB Hemingway at an airport shop for $600 back in 1994. I was a student and couldn't afford it, but giving it back to the sales person is a moment I'll always remember. This is my grail pen and I'll probably never have it, but it's ok.

I was at a pen shop in the early 1990s that was closing a had a new Hemingway for $400. I missed out due to lack of funds. Of course, that does not hurt as much as the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie card in mint condition I could have bought in the late 1980s for under $1K. Or the 1967 E-type Jag my dad sold while I was at school one day and right before I was to turn 16.

If you want less blah, blah, blah and more pictures, follow me on Instagram!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I was at a pen shop in the early 1990s that was closing a had a new Hemingway for $400. I missed out due to lack of funds. Of course, that does not hurt as much as the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie card in mint condition I could have bought in the late 1980s for under $1K. Or the 1967 E-type Jag my dad sold while I was at school one day and right before I was to turn 16.

 

Your dad probably thought he was saving you from [a] wrapping the Jaguar around a tree, or spending all your money on fiddly E-Type parts, or [c] unexpected fatherhood as a result of all the young women asking for rides in such a car.

 

Most likely , of course! ;)

-- Joel -- "I collect expensive and time-consuming hobbies."

 

INK (noun): A villainous compound of tannogallate of iron, gum-arabic and water,

chiefly used to facilitate the infection of idiocy and promote intellectual crime.

(from The Devil's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce)

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