Giving It All Up? Will I Regret It?

[jvr]

Like so many here, I started small with a few affordable fountain pens and several years later, I own an Urushi, a King of Pen and a bunch of other expensive editions among my probably 75+ fountain pens. I also have more notebooks and ink than I will ever need, as well as notebook covers I dont have any use for.

 

I often find that my anticipation of getting a new pen is the exciting part and once I have it, it becomes just part of the collection, a part that wont see much use.

 

My other hobby is photography, where each camera or lens I buy adds a new element of what I can accomplish. Not so with fountain pens. Yes, some write nicer than others, but none makes an actual practical difference to what I produce.

 

While I like looking at beautifully designed pens, I doubt thats worth all the money I spent. And knowing how much money I tied up in this, theres also some guilt. All this money just for beauty? Dont misunderstand, I drive a nice car and have very expensive camera gear. I dont mind spending money, I just have never before spent this kind of money without the sense that I bought enjoyment and functionality.

 

So, Im thinking of getting rid of most if not all of my fountain pens. And Im afraid that if I do so, Ill regret it and will buy some pens again, thus losing more money (as Ive experienced with some Platinum FPs and the Pilot 823).

 

Anyone here who went through the same kind of thinking and ended up selling their pens only to start collecting again?

[DonM]

My first reaction was "What's the rush"? Why jump to selling things just because you, maybe temporarily, have gotten tired of your pens? But I understand where you are coming from. I'm currently going through a what pens do I really want to keep phase. I'm really a user, not a collector, so having more than say 20 pens is really not that important to me. For instance I have some old Parkers that I bought new and two vintage ones that I know I will never ink again, so why keep them. I think spending some time thinking about what pens you would miss most might be helpful in your decision making.

[Newton Pens]

I agree - no rush. You could put those pens to good use another way though - there's this guy who auctions pens off every month, raising money to give as scholarships to high school students going to college. To date total amount of money given away since 2013 is $41,250. The total amount we’ve raised so far (some going into our new endowment fund) is $58,084. Just a thought.

[Karmachanic]

Follow your heart.

As a user with a small quiver I suggest, whilst focusing on nib performance, and feeling in hand, selecting six keepers and use only those pens for several months. See how you get along. If the feeling persist, then divest yourself of the remainder. As DonM points out, no need to be precipitous.

[sandy101]

Clean out the pens you feel you won't miss, put them in a box and put the box in a drawer cupboard.

 

Use the "keepers" in your everyday life.

 

If after 3 months, anything that is still in the box gets sold.

 

I did the same, oddly enough, with cameras. I got fed up with the idea that the more kit you had, the better pictures you could take. I realised I was not trying to sell my pictures, and most of them were shared with friends and family - so A4 was the largest size I was realistically looking at.

 

So, I put the prime lenses and bodies away and used my compact powershot camera and read some photography books. I got better pictures as I learned the limitations of the camera - I know when, and how to use aperture and shutter speed when the autofocus gets it wrong.

 

To get "better" pictures, I'd need to spend a lot of money - which I'm not going to earn it back from photography. There are pictures I can't take, and levels of detail I won't get, but I can compose better pictures - and that comes from experience - whatever kit I have. So I'm a happy amateur & I'll upgrade when I need to.

 

I probably should do the same with pens, and learn more from writing that from acquiring.

[ParramattaPaul]

'Follow your heart' is not bad advice.

 

One of the many Joy's of life is exploring new or different activities and interests. Some become lifelong evocations. Others, excite us for a time and our interest fades. The latter, we may revisit again in the future.

 

The meaning here is that moving on from an interest is a personal decision. It is your choice -- just as it was in the beginning. More importantly, you lose nothing. You have had the experiences, and the memories forever. The 'tangibles',pens in the case of us here, are only -- dare I say it -- 'toys' to be played with and enjoyed for the time we have them.

 

That at least is my perspective.

[TheDutchGuy]

When in doubt, don’t.

[Timotheus]

I think Karmachanic's and Sandy101's advice is a sound one. Select a limited number of pens that you like most, write for quite some time only with these, and forget about the others; then see what happens.

 

And let me do a prediction: I don't think you'll miss the others. And you'll begin to appreciate even more the pens you are using. They will cease to be just "things", and become companions. Unless one wants to be a collector, ten or even five really good pens are more than enough for a lifetime.

 

And in the field of photography I have exactly the same experience as Sandy 101.

Edited September 9, 2019 by Timotheus

[jvr]

Thanks for all the answers so far. Some really good suggestions. I've thought about keeping just a few (and ironically, I still have three nice pens on pre-order or winding their way here, so I'm not 'done' yet). I have the feeling that maybe five would be okay, but anything more than that will be too much to use or just open me up to keep adding and exchanging, without actually getting any different use out of them. At the same time, say I keep five top pens, that's still around $2,500 in pens, while I can do the job with a $1 ballpoint (actually, I buy nice ballpoints too, but only based on actual performance and never more than around $30).

 

At the moment, a bunch of fountain pens have been earmarked to just get sold as they don't 'do' it for me. But lots of others are in the 'doubt' category, too many actually. And there's the lure of special editions: in my case, I love some of the Visconti Van Gogh designs and I have an appetite for matte black (funny, the contrast in those preferences). The latter made me buy matte black FPs even if I wasn't particularly fond of the pen's style. That's messed up and unlike me in any other area (hence, I guess, the accompanying feeling of guilt).

 

Oh, and then there's the practicality of using a FP in the wild. I easily lose stuff, so any expensive pen wouldn't leave the house. Which then means there's a need to also keep a few FPs in the cheaper but nice category to carry with me or use in an office (I consult, so switch from home- to office-based work on a regular basis).

 

Maybe I'm overthinking this.

[sirgilbert357]

When in doubt, don’t.

 

 

I disagree. If I followed that advice, I would have never married, never had kids, never bought a house, never landed the job I have now, never bought a motorcycle, never traveled out of the country 4 times and counting, etc....

 

Doubt is a part of life. You have to embrace change sometimes. I'd say the mental anguish the OP is experiencing from having all that money tied up in something getting no use is weighing on him enough that a change should take place. It doesn't have to be drastic, but steps toward an improvement should be taken...

 

I'd pick the pens you like the most, whatever the reason. It could be how they write, how they look, doesn't matter. That might be 75% of your collection, doesn't matter. Set those aside.

 

Then, I'd pick the pens you KNOW you won't miss. The "worst" of your collection, so to speak. Sell those off right away. Then, write with the ones you set aside and reevaluate your choices. Compare them to the part of your collection that wasn't in the "Best" or the "Worst" groups. Are there any others you know you won't miss?

 

Keep re-evaluating and writing with each and every pen. You will slowly see more and more pens that you can live without. And what you want to keep will slowly solidify. It took me a couple of years to go from 13 watches to 6, but I am SO much happier now than I was. It took me so long to make the choices that I am SURE of my decisions and have no regrets.

[jvr]

 

 

I disagree. If I followed that advice, I would have never married, never had kids, never bought a house, never landed the job I have now, never bought a motorcycle, never traveled out of the country 4 times and counting, etc....

 

Doubt is a part of life. You have to embrace change sometimes. I'd say the mental anguish the OP is experiencing from having all that money tied up in something getting no use is weighing on him enough that a change should take place. It doesn't have to be drastic, but steps toward an improvement should be taken...

 

I'd pick the pens you like the most, whatever the reason. It could be how they write, how they look, doesn't matter. That might be 75% of your collection, doesn't matter. Set those aside.

 

Then, I'd pick the pens you KNOW you won't miss. The "worst" of your collection, so to speak. Sell those off right away. Then, write with the ones you set aside and reevaluate your choices. Compare them to the part of your collection that wasn't in the "Best" or the "Worst" groups. Are there any others you know you won't miss?

 

Keep re-evaluating and writing with each and every pen. You will slowly see more and more pens that you can live without. And what you want to keep will slowly solidify. It took me a couple of years to go from 13 watches to 6, but I am SO much happier now than I was. It took me so long to make the choices that I am SURE of my decisions and have no regrets.

 

 

Good points. My own take on 'when in doubt, don't' depends on the situation: in photography, it's when in doubt, do; in driving, it's don't. The rest is not as clear cut, but I do agree that something needs to happen if this hobby should give me joy where it doesn't without pangs of discomfort (I wrote, after just opening the package of a new Aurora 88 Black Mamba LE, a pen that will make my choices even harder).

[cattar]

tl;dr
I'd suggest as others have, let go of the pens that don't work for you (and perhaps keep notes of why they didn't), and box away most of the pens.
Keep three or five or a dozen of a mix of your favorite home and work pens and use only those.
Stop buying pens.
In a few months, consider your pens again.

 

 

long post: this is what I do

 

I have home pens, go out to work pens and travel pens.
The pens I love most to write with (and are my most expensive or sentimental), are the ones that stay at home.
The pens that get used the most, are the work and/or travel pens. I'd use the home pens for work/travel but I don't want to lose/replace them, and somehow pens are more slippery than phone, wallet, keys.
I also carry preppies and other $5-$10 pens to give away to the curious.

I have a dozen pens, 2-5 inked at a time, depending on how much writing I'm doing.
I consider letting go of the pens that get inked less often.
And I consider buying other pens, and when I do, I consider whether they would fit my use better and what pens I'd let go of.
More, more isn't useful to me.

It's similar with photo.
I have cameras with a few prime lenses that work for the shooting I do. More isn't useful.
And I have old, old cameras that I dust often and shoot with from time to time so they stay functional.
A dozen.

 

I have wall art that is only beautiful or sentimental, but for me pens and cameras/lenses must have a function, too.

Find what works for you with pens and inks.
Some people like to collect. Some like to collect and rotate. Some like to use a handful.

Edited September 9, 2019 by cattar

[sirgilbert357]

 

 

Good points. My own take on 'when in doubt, don't' depends on the situation: in photography, it's when in doubt, do; in driving, it's don't. The rest is not as clear cut, but I do agree that something needs to happen if this hobby should give me joy where it doesn't without pangs of discomfort (I wrote, after just opening the package of a new Aurora 88 Black Mamba LE, a pen that will make my choices even harder).

 

 

Ah, but what do you mean by "hobby"? What is the "hobby" for you? Owning the pens, or using them? You seem to find more joy in the use of a thing -- and you sound like you enjoy a handful of excellent tools well-suited to the use, as opposed to having a lot of tools that see no use -- regardless of how good they are.

 

See, for me, the art of writing is the joy of this "hobby" (I hesitate to call fountain pens a hobby, but writing certainly is in my case). The tool has the potential to enhance the writing, but just 'owning a pen' is of no use to me if it isn't being used to write -- and if it doesn't do that one thing well. I use ALL of my pens on a regular basis (but I only have 10 total -- 7 "good" pens and 3 cheap Wing Sungs for testing inks and use at work).

 

Might be worthwhile to reflect on why you like fountain pens in the first place, besides when they are pretty. We are all attracted to things we think are "pretty". If you aren't collecting pens just to stare at them, then perhaps you do have far too many. I realized not too long ago that I don't have to buy every pen I like the looks of -- I wouldn't be able to use that many pens! What's the point? I could have an 11x15 high res pic of it made to hang on my wall if I just want to LOOK at it, LOL!!

Edited September 9, 2019 by sirgilbert357

[jvr]

tl;dr

I'd suggest as others have, let go of the pens that don't work for you (and perhaps keep notes of why they didn't), and box away most of the pens.

Keep three or five or a dozen of a mix of your favorite home and work pens and use only those.

Stop buying pens.

In a few months, consider your pens again.

 

 

long post: this is what I do

 

I have home pens, go out to work pens and travel pens.

The pens I love most to write with (and are my most expensive or sentimental), are the ones that stay at home.

The pens that get used the most, are the work and/or travel pens. I'd use the home pens for work/travel but I don't want to lose/replace them, and somehow pens are more slippery than phone, wallet, keys.

I also carry preppies and other $5-$10 pens to give away to the curious.

 

I have a dozen pens, 2-5 inked at a time, depending on how much writing I'm doing.

I consider letting go of the pens that get inked less often.

And I consider buying other pens, and when I do, I consider whether they would fit my use better and what pens I'd let go of.

More, more isn't useful to me.

 

It's similar with photo.

I have cameras with a few prime lenses that work for the shooting I do. More isn't useful.

And I have old, old cameras that I dust often and shoot with from time to time so they stay functional.

A dozen.

 

I have wall art that is only beautiful or sentimental, but for me pens and cameras/lenses must have a function, too.

 

Find what works for you with pens and inks.

Some people like to collect. Some like to collect and rotate. Some like to use a handful.

 

 

See, with lenses I have quite a few as well, but all of them see use at the appropriate time because each has its own strengths. I've tried quite a few systems over time, since my main thing is bird photography and you need a good kit to get the best results, but I have no problem letting go of cameras or lenses that have no role to play anymore (well, with the exception of a Canon 135mm f/2...)

 

I also have a bunch of older cameras, some still usable and some not. But I bought those to be pretty and sit on a shelf. Same as a few nice chess sets I bought over time. One Hasselblad I had bought didn't see any use and I decided there was too much money tied up in it to keep it just for looking nice on that shelf. So, out it went. All of the others are no more than $150 each, if that, with the exception of a Leica III with a collapsible 5cm lens. Don't use the camera, but I sometimes put the lens on a modern camera.

 

But with cameras, I also bought the top of the line or the one just below because I've been doing photography for decades and I know what I need for what I do. With fountain pens, there was this creep from Plaisirs, to Preras, to 3776s etc. etc. It's part of the 'hobby' I guess, but it also means you end up with tons of stuff that's nice enough but just becomes clutter once you move to better pens. That clutter will be the first stuff to go, together with some expensive pens that arrived but just didn't look as nice in reality as I expected them to be.

 

With apologies to side tracking into photography...

[sansenri]

a lot of good answers,

the Japanese author Marie Kondō, in the Life-changing magic of tidying up, suggests to keep only those things that give you joy,

which in practical terms is what is being suggested in several posts above.

The step of putting aside for a period might save you in case of regrets, but may also keep you on the verge of never deciding definitively...

Don't sell off you favorites just yet, do reserve a group of "best writing instruments" to yourself, but do get rid of those pens you don't really like, or that you find in some way defected, inadequate for you. If you manage to do this gradually you should be able to reduce the size of the collection (mind you, selling pens is not quite as easy as buying them...).

I've read of several here on FPN who have gone through a downsizing of their collection, often in a process where the mass of lower quality pens are sold in order to reach a lower quantity of high quality pens.

 

As far as I am concerned, although it sounds sensible, I have not reached that step yet, as I find it very hard to get rid of any pen...

Then again, I'm not the one who is wanting to give it all up, just yet

 

(my photo gear has stopped growing quite some time ago, and has frozen in the "as much as I need for the purpose" stage, I admit however that what helped me stop buying photo gear was the switch to digital... I've never really loved it as much as analogic)

Edited September 9, 2019 by sansenri

[jvr]

 

 

Ah, but what do you mean by "hobby"? What is the "hobby" for you? Owning the pens, or using them? You seem to find more joy in the use of a thing -- and you sound like you enjoy a handful of excellent tools well-suited to the use, as opposed to having a lot of tools that see no use -- regardless of how good they are.

 

See, for me, the art of writing is the joy of this "hobby" (I hesitate to call fountain pens a hobby, but writing certainly is in my case). The tool has the potential to enhance the writing, but just 'owning a pen' is of no use to me if it isn't being used to write -- and if it doesn't do that one thing well. I use ALL of my pens on a regular basis (but I only have 10 total -- 7 "good" pens and 3 cheap Wing Sungs for testing inks and use at work).

 

Might be worthwhile to reflect on why you like fountain pens in the first place, besides when they are pretty. We are all attracted to things we think are "pretty". If you aren't collecting pens just to stare at them, then perhaps you do have far too many. I realized not too long ago that I don't have to buy every pen I like the looks of -- I wouldn't be able to use that many pens! What's the point? I could have an 11x15 high res pic of it made to hang on my wall if I just want to LOOK at it, LOL!!

 

It's the combination of the writing and the looks of the pens for me. Plus a certain level of snobbery which even before fountain pens led me to write with nice ballpoint pens instead of the cheap ones. I know that much...

[senzen]

It's about whichever value ownership vs use gives you; I had a simple goal when I started, to improve my handwriting, which I successfully accomplished in so far as it is now at least legible; along the way I came to appreciate the state of calmness I need to be in to write legibly, and the simple pleasure of seeing beautiful ink colours. I would get very little value from having a collection I didn't use; again, this is personal preferences, there is no right or wrong.

 

When I also got into photography it was a huge learning curve, the right lenses and camera at my budget certainly helped but weren't a goal in themselves. My first lens was a 50mm 1.4 (should be called the newbie lens since so many people start with it), it had the huge merit of making my jaw drop with the first shots, but then became my least used lens, still a matter of regret even though it's just because other focal lengths seem more natural.

 

Since I cannot find the mythical "last pen" at my budget I am making do with my 29 other pens.. And it's a pleasure to write with them, today is turning out to be "medium nib Lamy Vista with Orange Indien" day.

[pajaro]

I was happy with pens when I was only collecting Parker 51s and was only interested in the Montblanc 144 and Sheaffer 14K Dolphin as a user at work. Maybe confining a collection or group of user pens to a smaller number of types would be more satisfying. I have about one hundred and fifty pens I will never use.

 

PS: I have bought a couple of Waterman rollerballs because you can use the ballpoint refills in them.

Edited September 9, 2019 by pajaro

[sirgilbert357]

 

It's the combination of the writing and the looks of the pens for me. Plus a certain level of snobbery which even before fountain pens led me to write with nice ballpoint pens instead of the cheap ones. I know that much...

 

 

Well, you only need ONE really nice pen to be a snob about what you write with, so you've got that base covered, LOL.

 

If it is a combo of writing quality and looks, maybe set aside your best writing pens and your most visually appealing pens, then work on selling the rest. I totally get wanting to have a beautiful pen. I typically won't buy a pen if I don't like the looks of it.

[sirgilbert357]

I have about one hundred and fifty pens I will never use.

 

That's incredible to me...why have them?