2013 La Pen Show Report

[AltecGreen]

Bryant has the table right next to the entrance. Smart.

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The time is getting closer

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Syd getting ready for the masses.

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Jonella from nibs.com. She pulls some kind of 'toothpaste' from the case. Ewww...

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FPGeeks with Brian Gray

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Bruno, Farmboy, and Bob Novak

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Motoshi Kazuno and his wife Shuko

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Mr. Kazuno tuning nibs

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The first person in line. I felt bad since I made him be the first person in line since I needed a shot.

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Edited February 19, 2013 by AltecGreen

[AltecGreen]

Loren doing some work

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The line forms

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Pen interlude

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Artus pens

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S.T. Dupont

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Jim having coffee

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Plistumi

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The line grows. The line grew slowly this year.

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Yafa had ink testing station for all their lines

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Cool Delta pen

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Loren recently bought an old Alfa Romeo car. So he felt compelled to find an Alfa Romeo pen. At a pen show, that's easy.

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Kelly of Sula Jane and Earl arrived late. I had sent Kelly e-mail the night before to arrive before 8am. She responds in a text message "Ooops. Be there by 9am." Kelly brought samples of the new 2013 line and had great blow out specials on the older products.

 

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The line reaches the bar

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Susan Bowen getting ready for the masses

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Some Taccia pens

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The line reaches around the corner and reaches the garage. Normally, I would go over and take a shot but time was getting close and I didn't want to be caught on the wrong side of the line.

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Edited February 20, 2013 by AltecGreen

[AltecGreen]

T-minus 10 minutes

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T-Minus 5 minutes

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The swag is ready

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What is Ron doing?

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He's going for the swag. sigh....

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Showtime!

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There seems to be a traffic jam at the entrance. Well, it is LA.

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The masses make their way into the main room. The smart ones ran to Pendleton or John.

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Caroll and her sister

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The log jam at the entrance clears and the crowd finally start to fill the room.

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Pens are a family affair.

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The main room start to fill up

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jlepens (Joi) was helping Susan Wirth and wearing her honorary SF Pen Posse shirt.

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It's getting quite crowded

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Some rare Japanese pens.

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Ether and Brett

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I bought three pens! Why?

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Pens!

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Here are the most heartwarming pictures. Here is smudgy and her 5 year old daughter trying pens at Brian Gray's Table. So cute. I told Andrea that Brian's needs a junior line for kids.

 

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Edited February 19, 2013 by AltecGreen

[AltecGreen]

Some faces from Sunday

 

Here's Roger Cromwell, his mother Marilyn and Jon

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David from nibs.com. He's the guy that orders your Nakaya. Thank You David.

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The traditional blurry picture of Bryant. Sunday was insane and most people had good sales.

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Travberg trying to get a picture of me.

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Scott Franklin

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Selling pens is not just for the old.

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Kelly (Dix) of Sula Jane and Earl. Her business is taking off.

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Syd taking stock of the weekend

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I spoke to Syd Sunday afternoon. Things were going well. He sold out of several of the models and was forced to take orders. The website should be up tomorrow for orders. So far, the aluminum pens seem to be the most popular. This is a good start for the new W-E. As for the future, it seems that the Deco bands and Dorics are in the near term plans. I suppose that having a new adjustable nib would make the Doric a natural.

 

 

 

 

At this point, the show gets too chaotic and I stop shooting. Sunday was insane even by LA Pen Show standards. Normally the crowds die down after lunch but there was a huge crowd even at 4 pm when I left. From talking to Ether who stayed past the closing, the show was busy up till the end.

 

 

Some observations and closing remarks:

 

 

Except for the anomalous Saturday, there was very good traffic at the show. Thursday and Sunday was unusually high. I suspect that the LA Times article really helped the show.

 

As for pens, there were some interesting vintage pens. I'm not sure there was a lot of new stuff. Some dealers did very well and others not so much. The market does seem to be very non-uniform. As for modern pens, it seems Sunday was almost too good. The dealers were slammed and were exhausted by the end. This does fuel the debate whether the format of the show needs to be changed. There have been a lot of back and forth but there are some tricky issues that need to be resolved.

 

As I said in the beginning, going the pen show is like going to a family re-union. The hardest part of the show is saying goodbye. I've gone for the last four years and you build friendships with people from all around the world. The hardest part of Sunday is when you know you have to leave and you start making the rounds to say goodbye. That part gets harder each year and longer each year. With the show past, I'm already thinking about next year.

 

 

So to close the report, I leave you with this.

 

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Edited February 20, 2013 by AltecGreen

[Frank C]

Thanks for the post. You did some good work. I enjoyed the show and I appreciate all your help.

 

Thanks,

 

Frank

[jlepens]

Very good report. Get some rest!

[JonSzanto]

Ricky, you do these show reports so well. Those of us who attended (and now have a great 'scrapbook' to remember it by) and those who are living vicariously are indebted to you.

 

Big thanks, AG.

[AltecGreen]

Thanks for the post. You did some good work. I enjoyed the show and I appreciate all your help.

 

Thanks,

 

Frank

 

 

It was great meeting you. We'll do it again next year. For next year, I'll have to bring some adult beverages for everyone to share.

[BMG]

Thanks for the wonderful pictures, and for the time you spent putting this all together. It's great to see pix from the days I wasn't there (Thurs-Sat) and fun to review those from the day I attended. You did get me in one shot (I'm one of the folks waiting in line), so I suppose my 15 minutes of FPN fame have officially begun...

 

I've attended several LA shows over the years -- always on Sunday -- and this one seemed a bit livelier, and the vintage pen selection a bit richer, than most. There were so many beautiful pens on offer, it was a real treat, not to mention a mighty temptation, to be there, see them, try some out...

 

I too am already looking forward to next year.

 

Thanks again!

[Florenze]

Wonderful job! And the last paragraph---very touching farewell. Thank you so much!

[tenney]

Thanks, Ricky. I'm sorry that I couldn't make it...

[mirosc]

seeing all those pictures was just cool - especially because I can't come to that pen show (and most likely will never be able to).

Thank you!

[quinden]

Wow, awesome report and fantastic photographs!!

 

New goal: save enough to hit the LA show

[Frank C]

Thanks for the post. You did some good work. I enjoyed the show and I appreciate all your help.

 

Thanks,

 

Frank

 

 

It was great meeting you. We'll do it again next year. For next year, I'll have to bring some adult beverages for everyone to share.

 

Don't worry, I have plenty of adult beverages. (Enough for everyone, even if there is an ethernautrix around.) EtOH is a great solvent and is safe to use on most pens. The brown color comes from brown ink.

 

It is easy enough for me to travel to CA. We'll do it again at the SF Pen Show, if not sooner.

 

In all seriousness, I enjoyed meeting you folks and I found many nice new friends. The LA Pen Posse dinner was great fun. Meeting some of the vendors I've been buying from for years was educational. And adult beverages and cigars and conversation were always superb.

[mcolen]

Pen Porn!!!

[bgray]

Clearly, Altec is the most thorough pen show documentarian we could ask for!

 

Thanks Altec!

[josepllcs]

Thank you very much for all pictures. It has been like being there (but saffer for my pocket :-) )

 

Bye!

[ethernautrix]

Don't worry, I have plenty of adult beverages. (Enough for everyone, even if there is an ethernautrix around.)

 

I can hear you, you know.

 

 

 

:-D

 

Mmmmmmmdelicious whisky...! I hadn't even heard of Johnny Walker Green. Or the I Dream of Jeannie bourbon. Beautiful bottle!

 

What a great time all weekend!

[ethernautrix]

Okay, now that I've looked at the photos on the computer screen (as opposed to on my phone) -- WOW! I am so glad I didn't see many of these pens with my hands! The damage to my budget could have been much, much greater. :-D

 

I love the green Wahl Eversharp -- with the Corvette. I might have to see these with my hands at the SF show (or Boston, if Syd attends the Boston show in June).

 

And the Taccia pens look very interesting.

 

And I still want a Kazuno-san wooden pen with a wooden clip, ha ha ha. (Stylo Art.) And I like the Stylo Art micarta pens, too. Oh man... maybe I should not go to pen shows. *Laughs.*

 

This is the opposite of de-acquiring. Of divesting. Of shrinking my "collection." Oh boy...

 

 

And THIS! How did this write?

Friday

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Whoa. Sapphire tip!

[Dix]

Your photos are, as ever, super awesome. I am SOOOOO glad I didn't show up until Sunday. Otherwise I would have spent every dollar I made, plus every dollar in my bank accounts on pens. Coming late saved me from having to check back in to FP Rehab.