Early Run Sheaffer's Compact Ii - Some Questions

[WirlWind]

Howdy,

 

 

I've just stumbled on this pen:

 

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/Mjc0WDUwMA==/z/nD4AAOxyVLNSvjPV/$_12.JPG

 

So I have a few quick questions about it:

 

1) Would it be worth the $54 aud I can grab it for? (I'm going to guess yes, but figured it's a safe question to ask)

 

2) Do these generally come with a built in converter?

 

3) If not, is there a converter that will fit and not cost an arm and a leg? (It's a compact pen, so that's why I'm asking in particular)

 

4) Why isn't the moon actually made up of cheese? That'd be so much better...

 

 

Anyway, thanks in advance, guys. Trying my darnedest to add an imperial-esque pen to my starting collection (That damn sexy inlaid nib, man...)

Edited January 2, 2014 by WirlWind

[Ron Z]

This is a Compact II - gold plated trim, gold nib. I sell them for about $65, NOS. But it looks to be in fine shape. This is a cartridge only pen. I do mean cartridge only. The barrel is to short for any type of converter. I've tried all of Sheaffers and the Montiverdi mini converter too. Maybe one of the bantam converters sold by Tryphon a few years ago would fit, but they hold so little ink that it's hardly worth it. Use a syringe to refill converters or some toilet bowl wax on the threads so that you can use it as an eyedropper.

 

re. cheese - Wallace and Grommet would agree with you, though it apparently is (Wensleydale). (see A Grand Day Out)

[Ernst Bitterman]

When I had one, I found applying a syringe to an empty cartridge the best solution; I was never quite convinced about the impermeability of the windows. It's an awfully small pen to try writing with unposted, but with the cap on the end it's not much different from the comtemporary Imperials in the hand.

[pajaro]

I would suggest you would be better off with a real Imperial. I have bought a couple on ebay for $22-$30. One had a Triumph nib, though.

[OcalaFlGuy]

+ Pi.

 

As many Imperials and quasi-Imperials as there are that took C/C, it doesn't make much sense to me to LOOK for ones that Only take carts.

 

Some will argue the vintage Sheaffer converters are about as good as a converter comes.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[WirlWind]

Cheers for the feedback, guys.

 

If I were buying on a "that's interesting" criteria, I'd probably snap this pen up due to the history of the pen itself, but I'm planning on getting an Imperial for every-day use, so I think this fails most of the criteria for a daily use pen If it could fit a decent converter, I'd have probably thought differently.

 

Maybe when I win the lottery...

[Tweel]

Whether it's worth it is, of course, up to you. All I can say is that I really like mine, a lot. It's a nice writer; hasn't presented any problems regarding length, especially posted, as an everyday pen; isn't any particular pain to flush and refill; and looks very nice in person, especially polished outside and in(-side the ink view windows).

Parenthetically, my fiancée, who isn't especially enamored of the pen, comments that $54 is a "freaking no-brainer" :-) .

[Ron Z]

When you consider that Sheaffer sells the 14K Imperial nibs for $90, that black ones are getting to be scarce even in the Sheaffer service center, and that if you change the connector this nib can be used in a TD Imperial (not an Imperial with a metal section thread - the internal design is different) $54 is a good deal if you buy the pen just for the nib.

[WirlWind]

Aye, if it were just a matter of money, I'd consider it and then hold on to the nib for a few years and resell or even keep it for myself, but at the moment I just want one for an every-day writer.

 

I've got another few auctions on the go at the moment and this one isn't ending any time soon, so worst case I lose all the other bidding wars and take this as a last resort / eventual resale.

 

I've actually got my eye on what looks to be an Imperial IV, but is being sold as a 330 (even though this has the golden nib, and the TD) so in a few hours I might just have a better deal

 

Who knows, maybe next week when I get paid, I'll grab this one too as a "collectors" pen