I Can't Remember If I Ever Said Hello Before...

June 25, 2019

Hello FPN from Houston, TX! I joined back in 2013, but due to general life craziness, I got away from what was at that time a new to me hobby. I bought a Pilot Prera about a year after I initially joined the forum, followed by my first Sailor Pro Gear, and then took another break due to a stressful new job.

Over the last year, I've gotten back into pens again and have been adding to my "pen garage" with a few more Sailors, a Pilot Vanishing Point and a Decimo, along with four Pelikans ranging in size from the M405/M450 to an M1000. A couple weeks ago I ventured into the vintage pen world with my first two Parker 51s. I've also been branching out into adding to my nib collection for the Pelikans, as well as dabbling in the vast rainbow of inks available.

I thought I would post an Introduction since I can't seem to figure out if I ever posted one before. So hello from Texas! It'll be nice to have pen friends to share my excitement! My poor fiance will be glad to no longer have to endure my enthusiastic monologues on how amazing my newest acquisition is.

Edited June 25, 2019 by pigeonfarm

June 25, 2019

Hah! Your fiancé and my husband can commiserate together.... I did manage to get him to a couple of pen shows, and gave him a used Vanishing Point (which is probably dried up to the point of oblivion at this point), swapping out the F nib that was in it when I got it for the EF nib in a Decimo (which I then lost and had to get another one) and I have a 51 with an EF nib and an Esterbrook J with his preference of nib for him (once I get the pen re-sacced). Although he doesn't get the 51 until he can prove he can take care of the other pens....

Sounds like you've got a nice little stash going. I finally got my first Sailor a couple of months ago (a Purple Cosmos Pro Gear Slim with a zoom nib, which I'm still trying to get used to). My favorite pens are vintage Parkers (51s and Vacumatics) -- but my most expensive pens are a couple of Pelikan M405s, followed by a vintage 400 and a 1990s era M400.... I keep lusting after a Violet and White M600, but can't reallyjustify the price....

So welcome back, but be warned that we are all shameless enablers here. 7-1/2 years ago I had never heard of Parker 51s. Now I have ten of them, including the highly desirable Plum color (Demi size and user grade, but user grade is fine for me -- I'm not a "C-worder" collector who puts the pens in display cases. At the moment, one of the pens which I have inked up is the Midnight Blue Aero I got a couple of summers ago at the Triangle Pen Show (to the sounds of grumbling noises from the husband, although not as many as the English-made Navy Gray one with an OB nib I got in the Saturday night auction.... ).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

June 25, 2019

Hi Ruth! It's very nice to meet you! You sound like a woman after my own heart, and like your pen interests align very similarly with mine. I, however, will probably not be buying my fiance any fountain pens. I know him well enough to know he would not enjoy taking care of them. He's used to seeing mine in various stages of disassembly, depending upon the pen model, and he thinks they're very fiddly. He's an engineer and is one of those guys who just doesn't see the point in fountain pens as a hobby. It's okay, I don't mind as he has some hobbies I am not overly in love with. I am thinking about getting him a set of Rotring technical drawing pens for his birthday this year, as I do think he'd appreciate those. He's a structural engineer who still does a lot of hand calculations and drawing,and I think he'd get use out of them.

My Sailors are all rather pedestrian nibs, although the pens themselves are all special editions. I have two MF size nibs, and one M. I'm aiming to eventually acquire a Pro Gear Slim in each available nib size. I use them a lot in my everyday work writing since they're such reliable, durable writers. I work from home in Marketing for a large financial company, so I always have all of my pens and gear available to me for ink refills on demand. It's rather nice! No one ever tries to steal my pens or pull the cap off of a threaded capped pen. My only office mates are my dogs, and they don't seem to care much for pens. Haha!

Ooohh, a plum P51? That's very cool that you have one. I dream of lucking into finding an inexpensive plum someday. Probably not gonna happen, but who knows. My two P51s are both from England. I have one marked "Made in England", and it's a circa 1950 burgundy Aerometric with a factory stub italic nib. The other is a circa 1957 dove grey Aerometric that either isn't marked, or the imprint has worn off, with a factory broad left oblique italic nib. It was also purchased from England. I have a feeling P51s are going to be an addiction for me. I do love my Pelikans too, though.

I think I'm going to be going to the Dallas Pen Show in September. My fiance said he'd go with me so I can get a few of my pen nibs ground in person by nibmeisters. I have plans to have a Pelikan BB reground to an Everyday Italic by Indy-Pen-Dance, and a factory stub nib unit for my VP made into something that will write nicely. Right now that factory stub nib unit for my VP is an absolutely awful writer, despite being tuned by the folks at Nibs.com upon purchase. I'm also not a glass case collector. I only buy pens I intend to ink, although sometimes I do wait a while to ink a new purchase. I recently acquired the #1 ultimate pen of my 4 grail pens and I have yet to ink it because I am scared of messing it up. Lol. I will probably eventually get there, but for now I just take it out and periodically stare at it. It's the one pen purchase that makes me feel like I am slightly insane.

Edited June 25, 2019 by pigeonfarm

June 25, 2019

I lucked into the Plum. And was absolutely sure I'd be outbid on it, especially since the auction ended on a Saturday afternoon when I wasn't going to be home. I apparently put on my best bluffing face (metaphorically speaking) and while I upped my maximum bid a couple of times, I didn't ever get outbid, and didn't hit my intermediate maximum! Even including shipping. Go figure. Then, the next week, FPN member Farmersmum was posting about how he'd scored what he thought was a full sized Plum for a little over HALF of what I'd paid for mine -- because the seller listed that pen as being black. And when Farmersmum said "What do other people think?" I said "I think I hate you...." Because I had seen the same listing and ignored it because I didn't want another black 51.... For that matter, I don't ever really want another black pen of ANY brand -- but when you start going down the vintage rabbit hole, you buy what you find.... And a lot of those pens are going to end up being black. Which is how I ended up with two black Sheaffer Snorkels (they have different nibs). And, when capped, are hard to distinguish between a black Touchdown as well....