True Confession -- I'm A User

[melissa59]

I was doing a bit of pen show research and came across an older Pen Habit video where Matt said something about there being a recent change in pen show attendee demographics. I don't recall exactly what was said but it had something to do with there being in two groups: COLLECTORS and USERS

 

True confession: I am a USER.

 

From the day I came here seeking advice for my first fountain pen, I knew I was a user. And, frankly, I had (still have) no intentions of becoming a collector. There are two reasons why I've taken this stance.

1. I'm somewhat OCD and it would likely drive me nuts to have a "collection" with unfilled gaps.

2. I cannot afford nor justify the expense of owning a bunch of costly pens.

 

First and foremost, which are you? A COLLECTOR or a USER?

Bonus points (that are worth absolutely nothing) if you tell us how you got into this hobby.

[Karmachanic]

There are those, me amongst them, who define a collection as that which has a theme, or some unifying characteristic. Given that, I would identify myself as a user with a small collection.

 

As a user I don't identify as a hobbyist. I started using fountain pens as a child in school.

[BDarchitect]

I buy pens because they write well, for my handwriting approach, and have a particular aesthetic appeal to me, not to fill a collection niche. I have just over 20 pens and am rapidly slowing down my purchases, with only about 3 or 4 targeted for the future. They all go into use rotation, otherwise I'd get rid of them.

[PAKMAN]

Both!

[silverlifter]

I'm a custodian. I purchase vintage pens to look after them so that they will still be around for future generations to enjoy (as I do).

[Intensity]

I’m definitely a User when it comes to fountain pens. I don’t like collecting for the sake of collecting. And especially collecting and never using. I tend to get pens I like to look at and enjoy writing with. If any pen stays unused for a long time, I start wondering if it’s worth keeping. I try to do the same with inks, but since they are much cheaper than most of my pens, it’s easier to have more. Still, it’s only a “collection” in the sense that they are all inks. There’s no trying to complete a line for me, buying every Sailor ink ever made, etc.

[ItsMeDave]

Though I have over 30 pens, all modern, I'm a user. (But I am a sucker for pretty.)

Edited December 10, 2019 by ItsMeDave

[KBeezie]

I'm mainly a user, doesn't mean I can't choose what I use though I just been slowly reducing the number of the 'collection' over the last 3 years tho. I'd rather have 6 that I'll actually use and appreciate, than several dozen that I might store half the time.

[A Smug Dill]

I'm a collector, with a small letter c, of fountain pens who does not acquire all his pens with either a view to exhibit, preserve and/or trade, or the expectation of frequent use. Between my wife and I, we have easily two hundred pens, and there's just no way that they'll all be exercised regularly.

While I expect every pen I buy to be fit for purpose as a writing instrument, some pens I bought primarily for their aesthetic appeal. For example, we have three Pilot Capless raden (Vanishing Point) pens between us, but only in two out of the three models in that series, because I just didn't think much of the one with the sparse but longer raden stripes, and not completing that "collection" does not bother me.

Some pens I bought in order to have a wider range of experience with a particular brand. For example, of Sailor I have one or more each of the Professional Gear ("Classic"), Professional Gear Realo, Professional Gear Slim Profit21 (aka 1911 Large), Profit Standard (aka 1911 Standard), Promenade, koshu-inden, kabazaiku, Sapporo "Precious Wood of the World", Procolor, Lecoule and Profit Junior, as well as a kaga maki-e in King of Pen form factor; encompassing extra large, large and medium-sized nibs, in 21K and 14K gold (in yellow, two-toned, fully rhodium-plated, and ruthenium-plated varieties) as well as stainless steel, and nib width grades/types of EF, F, MF, M and Zoom, as well as a Naginata Concord nib. (I don't feel that Broad or Music nibs are either interesting or useful.)

Some pens I just bought for the hell of picking up every variant in a limited series (but not necessarily limited edition in the sense of short production runs that are quickly discontinued and not to be repeated), such as all four colours of the Moonman M200, and every variant of Jinhao 51A with a wooden barrel.

Some pens I bought for no other reason that it's considered (very) rare relative to market demand, e.g. Lamy 2000 blue Bauhaus, in spite of 1919 units being made available and that's my (thus far) one and only Lamy 2000 model in which I had low expectations of actually enjoying as a writing instrument. (Actually, it's pretty good, and better than the Parker Duofold Centennial I got.)

 

Just the other day I had to remind myself what particular pens felt like as writing instruments, by pulling a handful of them from the "display"/storage box and writing a couple of lines with them each, to decide whether to cancel an order for yet another pretty pen that the retailer has since advised cannot be delivered in the originally estimated timeframe. In spite of my particular preferences in fountain pens (and that pen ticked some of the boxes, so to speak), obviously I don't use the ones I have often enough.

 

At the end of the day, there are maybe ten or fifteen out of my personal fleet of 150 pens that I'd reach for if I actually want to write something that doesn't amount to pen/nib/ink testing.

Edited December 11, 2019 by A Smug Dill

[Bibliophage]

I'm a hobbyist user. That being I grab random pens to clean up, try, and eventually pass on. I mostly use new (ish) pens of the sort that most of the collectors here look down upon. (Bog standard Parker Vectors, miscellaneous Chinese) I have some Parker 21's and 51s, etc, but they're not my "carry around and leave behind" pens

 

Hoping that this weekend I'll have downtime to re-sac a few Esterbrooks and Wearevers, which will then probably become 'carry around and leave behind' pens.

[praxim]

Happy user with what appears to be a multi-part collection.

[sombrueil]

100% user here. When I have things I don't use, it makes me twitchy and they get moved on. If they are really nice and I spent real money for them it takes me awhile to get up the gumption to sell them but eventually they all go. I don't even keep books I am sure I won't read again, any more.

 

I don't have the impulse to collect -- anything. Doesn't mean I'm not greedy and I don't love shiny pretty things, but that is counterbalanced by my desire for aesthetic simplicity.

 

I have five pens now. They are all inked, always. One is my carry pen, the others stay on my desk. They are the five best pens I've ever had, winnowed and winnowed down to these.

[Addertooth]

I am a tinkerer, and engineer by trade. I find it relaxing to get very old pens (pens older than me) and restore them. Some of them I Curate, and only write with them briefly after restoral to ensure the Nib and Feed are properly adjusted. I have a limited number of pens I use on a daily basis. They are a mixture of New and Mid-Old (30-70 years). Anything that is in the hundred year range, simply gets curated. Like Silverlifter said, there is a sense of obligation in protecting uncommon to rare pens for future generations.

 

How did I get started? Years ago I had a problem with constantly losing my disposable pens. I made a promise to myself (the most important type of promise; a man who cannot keep a promise to himself cannot be trusted to keep a promise to another). The promise was.... If I could use the same pen for a year without losing it, I would get a nicer pen. I realized at one point I had managed to keep the same pen for two years, and the purchase of a nice pen was overdue. One of my credit cards had a stupid number of points, and I saw a Faber Castell E-Motion pen in black Parquet... I used my points. But then, it looked forlorn where it rested on my lanyard; it needed a mate. So I purchased the matching fountain pen. I picked up a bunch of junk Cross fountain pens, and some punched way above their price range (once I tuned the nibs). I started reading various pen forums, and heard people gushing about the wonders of vintage gold flex nib pens. I decided to get one. and then another, and another.... I picked up the skills to rebuild Sac/Piston/vac-fillers... then finishing... improved my Nib repair skills. I ended up getting a collection of pen repair tools... and with that, found my pace. I just enjoy fixing the darn things. The more impossible the fix, the greater the challenge, the greater the pleasure in making it happen. I started seeking out broken pens which were of types which others said were difficult to repair, and enjoyed it even more.

 

At this point, about 10 of my pens are daily writers, the other 60 are put in display cases (I live in a state of denial, and claim I am not a collector). But those pens are well documented, so that one day my widow will know what they are, how to list them, and roughly what they should sell for. I find that my tastes have refined, and I am more selective with my purchases. Admittedly, a return on investment is considered on my vintage purchases. They are a form of investment, as well as something to fix. And yes, I enjoy writing with my pens.... but my penmanship is still in the "poor" category.

[senzen]

User, but somehow ended with a collection, mostly of inks but lately I managed to also get a few pens I'd given up on because of their price and availability.

[Misfit]

I’m a user. I don’t see a real collection or unifying theme among my pens. They all get used. I have demonstrators, solid color, multi-color, pocket pens, large pens, modern pens, vintage pens. I got in the Black Pen Society, but recently got a rose gold Nemosine Fission pen.

 

If I like it, I buy it and use it. After awhile, I use pens again. I have too many, so the pens have to rotate.

[bemon]

Increasingly a collector. As I said in some other threads it's getting harder and harder and harder to find uses for my pens. Just this week I downgraded my daily carry to two fountain pens and just this afternoon caught myself reaching for my Cross ballpoint because it's quicker and easier to tick tasks off a list as I work through campaigns I'm launching online.

 

The two pens I left inked up will probably take me until well after Christmas to empty since everything I do is on my laptop or phone at work. A lot of you probably write at home but when I'm not taking care of the family I'm working- on my laptop.

 

I've been working on thinning the herd for a few years now and still have more pens I want to sell but I still want to keep the best pens in my collection even if they haven't seen ink in years because I like the idea of having them.

[Parker51]

I am a Fountain Pen collector who uses Fountain Pens.

Have used them since school days.

Have my Father's and Grandfather's Fountain Pens.

Have been given many Fountain Pens.

Have traded many away, have sold somewhat fewer, but still a good number and have given some away.

Have most of the ones I believe I might want, have more I will sell, or trade away to acquire the ones I may want.

[Marcwithac]

Collector, because I have hundreds of pens, mostly vintage and many that I consider too rare to use. But also a user because I write exclusively with fountain pens. I currently have around 40 pens in my writing stable (around half vintage), 10-12 of which are inked at any given time.

[DrDebG]

I am a user.

 

I am however purchasing fewer pens than before and becoming much more discerning in what I purchase. Unfortunately that means fewer inexpensive pens and more expensive pens. I am in the process of reducing the number of pens I have (~50), selling those that I don't use much for a host of reasons, and carefully evaluating my next purchases.

 

For a time, I purchased vintage pens. But truthfully, I never found a vintage pen that suits me. Perhaps that is because I haven't looked hard enough or be around those that could educate me differently.

 

I have found that my requirements have changed over the last few years. I am not drawn to the newest, latest, greatest limited editions. I have no desire to collect the yearly installment of whatever pen brand. Also, I really don't want a "flex pen" or a "5 mL" ink capacity just because that is the latest. But I do want a high quality, well-balanced pen with a smooth nib (preferably a stub, italic, or oblique).

 

For now, I would prefer fewer pens that meet my needs.

[muskokabrian]

User. I have just a few fountain pens and very pleased with all of them. They were each chosen for a specific reason though. A couple of higher end ones... my favs to write with. A couple of historic used pens. A Lamy Safari because it’s iconic. I keep them all inked with different inks and I love using them all, particularly for bulletin journaling. I do want more though. A TWSBI, A Platinum 3776 are on my radar.

 

If I were to collect, and at times I consider it, I would be specific to one model. Probably the safari and would want to get them all. I don’t have a budget to collect high end pens and I really have a personal feeling for the safari. My Dad gave me one when I was a kid and I really loved it. It looked so modern, back in the 70’s and it still does to me. But I would ink and use them all