Best Estate Sale Ever!

[Carguy]

Today, I found the estate sale of my dreams! I found a box full of pens and while I couldnt afford them all, I picked up some grail pens.....a DJ 51 with a wedding band cap, a cordovan brown later Vac 51 that has never seen ink, a midnight blue Vac with a rough cap that has seen very little ink, a pastel Estie, and finally an azure blue long major (I think) that has NEVER been inked, crystal clear barrel transparency.

 

Im ecstatic! Heres photos of before and after minor repairs and polishing

[sombrueil]

Color me impressed. Especially with the blue vac, I've always wanted one myself.

[Carguy]

I could be talked into parting with that log major set if only to offset the other money I’ve spent lately.

 

Let me know if you’re interested.

 

Mike

[Parker51]

Still no sales here and likely none in the near future. Most everything was going online before people started limiting social contact and given the professional manner that the online auction businesses have conducted themselves both before and through this situation (they never shut down completely, rather they developed appropriate safety techniques quickly creating extremely limited and protected contact transactions). I doubt I will see an old style estate sale this Summer, let alone risk going to one. Put bluntly, the online auction companies here have a better business model than the old estate sale model in normal times and the current situation simply will cement their dominance. Maybe after everything is safe some of the old estate sale professionals will try to do it again, but most of them around here were on their way out (age and or health) of business anyway.

[Carguy]

Still no sales here and likely none in the near future. Most everything was going online before people started limiting social contact and given the professional manner that the online auction businesses have conducted themselves both before and through this situation (they never shut down completely, rather they developed appropriate safety techniques quickly creating extremely limited and protected contact transactions). I doubt I will see an old style estate sale this Summer, let alone risk going to one. Put bluntly, the online auction companies here have a better business model than the old estate sale model in normal times and the current situation simply will cement their dominance. Maybe after everything is safe some of the old estate sale professionals will try to do it again, but most of them around here were on their way out (age and or health) of business anyway.

Make no mistake about it my friend, this was RARE! I found this sale purely by accident from another sale where there was nothing interesting and it just happened to be a former store owner....what are the chances of that??

[Parker51]

Well a long time ago my wife and I were at a porch sale in our city, and as is my habit I asked the nice older lady about Funtain Pens. It turned out she had quite a few that had been her father's from when he had a stationary shop which closed during the Great Depression. They were not in great shape, but they were old and in quantity. Also, some old ink in bottles. I paid her what she asked, actually a little more, but as I said, condition was a problem as they had been in her attic for about 50 years at that point. I traded the pens and ink all away to those who could restore those old hard rubber pens and collected the old ink bottles. This was about a dozen years ago. Also at about the same time my wife found on the $.50 table at a yard sale a Parker 51. It needed minimal work, so I still have it. These and other finds over the years are why I miss yard sales, porch sales and garage sales. I have never really gotten any great buys at estate sales as the managers of those typically think they know enough about pens as to price any pens they mark at or above retail, if there are any. I have gotten better deals at antique shops and pen shows.

Edited May 9, 2020 by Parker51

[PAKMAN]

Congrats Mike! Great finds!

[inkstainedruth]

Wow, Carguy! What a haul. I'm lucky if I find ONE decent pen at an estate sale.

I'll admit that Azure Blue is my favorite color of the Pearl Vacs, although the Emerald Pearls are nice too (and Emerald eluded me for the longest time -- every time I thought I'd landed one *something* would come along; first there was one that had issues with the blind cap; then I couldn't decide between three at the same table at a pen show, so I decided to walk away in hopes that someone else would come along and buy at least one of them out from under me to make my decision easier -- instead, the guy literally back to back to the first guy in the next row had a Green Shadow Wave for the same price as the most expensive of the Emerald Pearls and it was All Over.... Then I got one on eBay only the nib was bad, but it took a month of the return package getting back to the seller because I didn't realize I hadn't covered up the original mailing label. It bounced around back and forth and even a Postal Inspector couldn't get anyone to snag it (it eventually got delivered... to me.... FINALLY got one at the Ohio Pen Show one year, and it's even got a striped jewel

For the Shadow Waves, it's a tossup between the Red and the Green.

There are a couple of "unicorns" out there -- I've heard tales of an early one that's described as "robin's egg blue" which might be one of the candy flake colors; and a Silver Web (which I've only seen in photos as a pencil, not a pen...). But of course both of those -- assuming they still exist in the wild -- are probably gonna be super pricy....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Carguy]

Wow, Carguy! What a haul. I'm lucky if I find ONE decent pen at an estate sale.

I'll admit that Azure Blue is my favorite color of the Pearl Vacs, although the Emerald Pearls are nice too (and Emerald eluded me for the longest time -- every time I thought I'd landed one *something* would come along; first there was one that had issues with the blind cap; then I couldn't decide between three at the same table at a pen show, so I decided to walk away in hopes that someone else would come along and buy at least one of them out from under me to make my decision easier -- instead, the guy literally back to back to the first guy in the next row had a Green Shadow Wave for the same price as the most expensive of the Emerald Pearls and it was All Over.... Then I got one on eBay only the nib was bad, but it took a month of the return package getting back to the seller because I didn't realize I hadn't covered up the original mailing label. It bounced around back and forth and even a Postal Inspector couldn't get anyone to snag it (it eventually got delivered... to me.... FINALLY got one at the Ohio Pen Show one year, and it's even got a striped jewel

For the Shadow Waves, it's a tossup between the Red and the Green.

There are a couple of "unicorns" out there -- I've heard tales of an early one that's described as "robin's egg blue" which might be one of the candy flake colors; and a Silver Web (which I've only seen in photos as a pencil, not a pen...). But of course both of those -- assuming they still exist in the wild -- are probably gonna be super pricy....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

That reminds me of something else, you know what I saw there today? An apple green Esterbrook set! It was the smaller size like the nurses pens, but it was brand new in the box and never inked......it was gorgeous and I didnt even know that color existed! She was selling it to another client but it was pretty. It MIGHT have been the SJ size but I think it was wider and shorter than that. Edited May 9, 2020 by Carguy

[Buzz_130]

Exceptional find! Inspiring to see these stories popping up for that rare find that made the hunt worth the entire journey.

[JotterAddict62]

Nice picks.

[inkstainedruth]

That reminds me of something else, you know what I saw there today? An apple green Esterbrook set! It was the smaller size like the nurses pens, but it was brand new in the box and never inked......it was gorgeous and I didnt even know that color existed! She was selling it to another client but it was pretty. It MIGHT have been the SJ size but I think it was wider and shorter than that.

 

Hmmm. Might have been a Pastel. I'm not sure of what all the colors of the Pastels there are, because I don't really like most of them (I could see myself getting a Yellow, but that's about it -- and they tend to a lot more expensive than the J series colors).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[jchch1950]

The importance of being in the right place at the right time. Congratulations.

[Carguy]

Hmmm. Might have been a Pastel. I'm not sure of what all the colors of the Pastels there are, because I don't really like most of them (I could see myself getting a Yellow, but that's about it -- and they tend to a lot more expensive than the J series colors).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

I picked up a pastel green at the sale but this one was a bright Kelly green.....it was gorgeous!

[amk]

Lovely pens!

 

And now I know my 1 euro Parker 51 has been out-sumgai'ed by the 50 cent 51!

 

I do like going to sales. Here, plenty of village sales, and it's often a nice chance to connect with people - I know that my favourite mandolin belonged to someone's grandad, and I know what his favourite tune was, too; and I bought a lot of nice pens from an architect who had retired and said he just didn't use his drawing table enough. Plus there's the joy of the hunt. Really missing my weekend's sale-safari at the moment.

[Carguy]

I had to go back one more time to the same, so I came home with todays restoration projects....

 

Two Sheaffers and an Eagle that I thought was a jade Balance.

 

They are all taken apart and soaking now.

[DavidV]

Cough cough, where did you say this place was again...

 

Haha, nice finds!

[Dankdan63]

Hey- did you soak that Eagle pen? Were there problems?

 

dan

 

I had to go back one more time to the same, so I came home with todays restoration projects....

Two Sheaffers and an Eagle that I thought was a jade Balance.

They are all taken apart and soaking now.

[Carguy]

Hey- did you soak that Eagle pen? Were there problems?

 

dan

 

No problems with soaking and replacing the sac. My only issue is the very firm fine nib, but it inked and wrote fine.

 

Mike