The Wife Isn't Impressed And I'm Worried I've Become Addicted!

[Chi Town]

Well, it looks like I have quickly developed an addiction to fountain pens and ink.

I had a few old fountain pens that I had hidden away until about October last year. I cleaned these up after not using them for years and proceeded to purchase my first new pen in November 2013, a Delta Italiano. Since then I have purchased:

5 TWSBI mini's,

4 Sailor Sapporo's,

1 Sheaffer Balance 2,

1 Pilot Custom 92,

1 Pilot Custom 91,

3 Pilot Decimo's

2 Pelikan m200's

I've also had Oxonian fix up some of my older pens including:

1 Montblanc 114

1 Parker 51

1 Vintage Platingum

Plus a number of nib tunes on the pens listed above. I have also bought speciality nibs from Richard Binder and Pendleton Brown.

I have also purchased 13 bottles of Pilot Iroshizuku ink and many bottles of other brands including:

R&K

Herbin

Private Reserve

Sailor

Delta

Diamine

Lamy

I worked out the cost of all this that I have acquired in 7 months and I am horrified! My wife is also less than impressed. The worst thing is I can't seem to satisfy my urge for pens or ink. I'm also discovering different papers and journals which are also pricey!

What I can say is that I am developing a taste for particular brands of pens, ink, paper and particular nibs. I now have a much better idea of what works for me. All of my pens are inked and I use most of them daily, sometimes for work, sometimes for letter writing and sometimes just for writing none sense at the end of the day. I find it strangely relaxing!

My handwriting has improved loads and I have acquired a number of pen pals from placing a profile on a web site.

This is a hobby I very much enjoy, but I have to slow down. At the moment, I am very much into my Sailor and Pilot pens. I also love the Iroshizuku ink. I have a real affinity for the Japanese stuff. Part of me wants to sell the other pens in my collection and reinvest the money into Sailor and Pilot pens, but part of me likes the other pens I have.

I know I can't continue spending money at the rate I am doing and my aim is to have maybe 10 pens (to fill my two Pilot Pensemble cases!) which are all used at least once per week.

The problem is, there are so many brands of pens and so many inks and I haven't even got started with the vintage stuff yet!

I think I am pen drunk and maybe ready for the asylum!!

 

Your wife thinks your addicted? Mine walks around the house saying BIC 19 cents! Ha, ha, ha. She thinks this is funny! If only she knew how much I have invested in my 430 pens, ha, ha, ha

[Mezzie]

It seems like a lot of us on here have separate but equal spending allowances. My husband was surprised by how many pens I got in a three-month period, but he also knew I save my spending money, usually for travel, so I wasn't going into debt or embezzling from our bills account or anything. I went a bit nuts, but have since calmed down. I'm quite pleased with my current set of ten pens (I did reach twelve at one point, but I gave two to my parents yesterday).

 

I agree with everyone who suggested a budget for pen purchases. Not only will it keep your spending from getting out of control, but you'll feel more satisfied with each purchase since you'll have waited and anticipated for a while. Instant gratification is a bit empty and can lead to overspending because you don't get that feeling of satisfaction. Besides, if you keep up your current purchase rate, you won't be able to thoroughly enjoy all your pens.

[RonLyke]

I repair band instruments. At a clinic recently, the presenter said, "Don't put all of your lathes in the same room--otherwise your wife will know how many you have".

 

Words to live by here, as well, I think.

[LuckyKate]

Looking through this thread I feel better--my friends may think I'm nuts for wanting a $700 pen but it's only my 15th pen in 10 years!

 

And with the exception of my beloved Pelikans (a 200 and a 600) the rest are a collection of scruffy looking Safaris and Pilots, with a handful of beat up vintage pens (my favorite an Equipoise restored by Tim Girdler).

 

But still in the last year I've fallen in love with good paper and ink.

 

My solution is to make sure I keep on track with my financial goals. A little self-denial only makes me love the pens I do get more. And I love them enough that everyone thinks I'm insane for just wanting a Nakaya.

 

Of course I don't tell anyone that I've ordered one and that it should be here by the end of the month. That's my secret!

 

Katherine

[JotterAddict62]

I just collect vintage Parkers for now and with what I have right now would be it if not for the fact I like hunting for pens.

I look for pens that I do not have at a budget price finding a pen or pencil to make a set.

Well my last hobby was going to music concerts, now all the bands that I like are getting up in years [ like us all ]

and I have cut way back on the shows. So now when I see a live auction that looks promising I'll go and see what is there and spend the day.

Go on a day pen hunting trip from time to time you might not find anything or hit pay dirt.

[GTOZack]

she will become even further unimpressed if you signed the divorce papers with your so called addiction

 

 

OUCH

[Reygan]

I'll be the only one to advise you to do what makes you happy and just find more ways to increase your income and support this happy hobby. I don't believe in limiting oneself; if you like a pen, buy it and find a way to add another income stream to support it.

 

I am also in the honeymoon stage of this hobby, but my acquisitions have some reason in them: to get a representative model per brand that I like to know what my focus will be like. I'm now at 15 pens, with my cheapest at $100, and most expensive at $1000. The lot includes a Nakaya and an MB writers ed. Now that I am getting an idea on which pens and nibs I find favorable, I've started to slow down (but not before going on a buying binge of 4 pens in May and three pens this month, blowing away $1500 in the process) Since most of my new acquisitions are still uninked, I find myself oddly satisfied. I'm confident that I can abstain from buying pens for many months now.

 

For inks, reaching 32 bottles in just 5 months with every color imaginable has also kept me sated. I also know which inks I like and now can focus on these brands. Same goes with paper.

 

Now that I know what my preferences are, I've started unloading the pens/inks/paper that do not work with me. I've given away 3 pens and sold one, sold 1ink bottle and probably will give away a few as well. Doing this within my local pen group is an act of goodwill and some members give me free samples of their inks as well.

 

Oen collecting is a lifelong process; finding your focus is the most expensive part at the early stages but now that it seems you're focused on the Japanese, then it would get cheaper and more satisfying moving forward. Just get a second job so the missus wouldn't be on your back.

[pajaro]

My wife tells me she would rather have me a pen fanatic than out chasing other women.

[pajaro]

Well, it looks like I have quickly developed an addiction to fountain pens and ink.

 

I had a few old fountain pens that I had hidden away until about October last year. I cleaned these up after not using them for years and proceeded to purchase my first new pen in November 2013, a Delta Italiano. Since then I have purchased:

5 TWSBI mini's,

4 Sailor Sapporo's,

1 Sheaffer Balance 2,

1 Pilot Custom 92,

1 Pilot Custom 91,

3 Pilot Decimo's

2 Pelikan m200's

 

I've also had Oxonian fix up some of my older pens including:

 

1 Montblanc 114

1 Parker 51

1 Vintage Platingum

Plus a number of nib tunes on the pens listed above. I have also bought speciality nibs from Richard Binder and Pendleton Brown.

 

I have also purchased 13 bottles of Pilot Iroshizuku ink and many bottles of other brands including:

R&K

Herbin

Private Reserve

Sailor

Delta

Diamine

Lamy

 

I worked out the cost of all this that I have acquired in 7 months and I am horrified! My wife is also less than impressed. The worst thing is I can't seem to satisfy my urge for pens or ink. I'm also discovering different papers and journals which are also pricey!

 

What I can say is that I am developing a taste for particular brands of pens, ink, paper and particular nibs. I now have a much better idea of what works for me. All of my pens are inked and I use most of them daily, sometimes for work, sometimes for letter writing and sometimes just for writing none sense at the end of the day. I find it strangely relaxing!

 

My handwriting has improved loads and I have acquired a number of pen pals from placing a profile on a web site.

 

This is a hobby I very much enjoy, but I have to slow down. At the moment, I am very much into my Sailor and Pilot pens. I also love the Iroshizuku ink. I have a real affinity for the Japanese stuff. Part of me wants to sell the other pens in my collection and reinvest the money into Sailor and Pilot pens, but part of me likes the other pens I have.

 

I know I can't continue spending money at the rate I am doing and my aim is to have maybe 10 pens (to fill my two Pilot Pensemble cases!) which are all used at least once per week.

 

The problem is, there are so many brands of pens and so many inks and I haven't even got started with the vintage stuff yet!

 

I think I am pen drunk and maybe ready for the asylum!!

 

This is merely a good start. Wait until you have been at this for forty years.

[frr149]

Lord, grant me the serenity to avoid the pens I don't need, the dough for those I need and the wisdom to know the difference.

 

Now seriously:

 

a) Stay away from eBay

Uninstall JBidwatcher

c) Really stay away from eBay.

[kmart_security]

Thankfully my girlfriend understands my love for getting new fountain pens. It helps because I like to show people but most are like "What's the big deal?" Plus since she bought me one for my birthday I can hold back from buying more. Then again, since she bought me it, I have been cruising the internet like mad these past couple days looking for the next one I want. She may or may not of helped in a way... oh well.. my gain

[LuckyKate]

Lord, grant me the serenity to avoid the pens I don't need, the dough for those I need and the wisdom to know the difference.

 

 

 

This is hysterically funny-- and so true!!

Edited June 26, 2014 by LuckyKate

[tomgartin]

This forum is the biggest enabler of addiction for me, which is why I sometimes just sign out and delete the shortcut from my browser for a couple weeks. I have to find other things to do besides "shopping" regularly. Take walks. Write with only one pen for several days in a row. Get some air and perspective. The collection and collecting is always there waiting when I come back.

[inkstainedruth]

I may have just become an enabler. A couple of days ago, I was getting the van inspected and it turned out that there were some other unrelated issues, which involved me being at the dealership a lot longer than I'd expected. I was signing the credit card slip at the end, and the guy I had been dealing with said "Oh, I saw that pen earlier and thought it was really cool -- I didn't know people still used pens like that!" [it was my Noodler's ebonite Konrad.]

Then he said it was his birthday the next day and that he wanted to get himself something special because he was turning 29 and it was his last birthday in his twenties, and also that he had studied medieval history in college. So we talked a bit about pens, especially after I pulled my little glass rocker blotter out of my purse to use on the credit card slip.

Of course I warned him that some pens were seriously wicked expensive....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth