It Started Out Innocently Enough..

[Sailor Kenshin]

My obsession was slow to come, but it did come in my late 30s. I started with a Parker Vector purchased in fourth grade. It was a nice pen and I used it regularly up through high school. After I got my first job, I got a Cross fountain pen. When I started working as an adult, I added a Parker of some kind (with a rubberized grip).

 

And then, a few years ago, I remembered that I had always wanted a pen with a built-in filling mechanism. I discovered the Noodler's Creeper, and the rest is history. I had a guest at my house this morning and had to hide away the pens and ink bottles so I wouldn't scare him.

 

And what is scary is that while I'm happy with the pens and inks I have, and I'm even editing the collection, there are others I really want. I also get surprises: put a pen I don't like (Lamy ABC) with an ink I don't like (Noodler's Manjiro Nakahama) and I get a great writing experience. So do I give them away or not? And are my other pens waiting for the right ink?

 

It's easy to see how I could fall so far down the rabbit hole that I'll never get out.

 

How sad is it that I KNOW that Parker and had three of them? Wish I'd kept my Reflexes, lol.

[mouzhik]

Very instructional and salutary topic, thank you all.

 

I am quite new to the fountain pens and my small collection still holds in one little drawer, but I am already afraid I will have to buy a bigger receptacle very soon... not too speak of time and money it takes...

[mariom]

My only advice is to walk away now, while you can!

 

It's probably too late for this course of action, doctor. Sounds like an advanced case and a particularly virulent strain of penitis.

[mouzhik]

It's probably too late for this course of action, doctor. Sounds like an advanced case and a particularly virulent strain of penitis.

 

I thought "penitis" was something else...

 

Not to speak of the spell checker who wouldn't accept the word and wanted to put... "peanuts" instead...

[Greenie]

Ummmmm.. In real life, I am a urologist. I definitely read the word "penitis" and thought of other things.

 

Along those lines...

 

 

Funny, this thread is "it started out innocently enough." And it did. Now it isn't.

[FinalEleven]

It started out innocently enough--a small coral fountain pen spied while walking around Staples, it wasn't anything special but it called out to me. Next thing I know, a Lamy Safari mysteriously finds its way into my shopping cart whilst on Amazon. Who knew you could even buy them online! One thing leads to another, and suddenly I've found that Goulet Pens and Jet Pens (and a host of others) have made their way onto my toolbar in Safari, all marked as "favourites." Does this obsession know no bounds?

 

Apparently not, as I've now succumbed to this thing they call "vintage"--and suddenly I'm swept past the point of no return. All sorts of *new pens* are mine for the taking (or should I say bidding). It's not much longer until I fall head over heels into this delirium and begin fantasizing about ordering a custom pen from a bespoke artisan. Oh, doesn't that sound fancy--bespoke, artisan, custom!! I swear, it all started innocently enough...how was I to know I was slowly being lead down some endless dark rabbit hole?

 

---

 

In all seriousness, once in a while I'll glance around my desk in shock, and wonder how one or two pens multiplied into fourteen. Thank heaven I don't have other obsessions...I'm not counting books, they're educational!

 

Anyone else have similar experiences?

 

This sounds almost exactly the same way I got into fountain pens! But instead of a Lamy Safari, It was a Pilot Metropolitan which turned into Jin Haos which then futher evolved into a Lamy Vista and eventually into gold nibbed pens which began with the Pilot Custom 74. I actually lost that Pilot Custom 74 and wasn't able to really afford anything else at that time. But with my current summer job, I was able to start buying pens for my collection as well as inks. This summer alone, I was able to add at least 15 pens into my collection. One of those pens was one of my personal Grail Pens even!

 

I also started getting interested in vintage pens at this time and about 6 of those pens that I've acquired are vintage. I actually just won a vintage waterman flex pen on ebay!

 

My current wish list of fountain pens and grail pens keep growing every day as my knowledge of fountain pens grow. Right now, I'm eventually going to get a Pilot Custom 823 with an FA nib as soon as I'm able to afford it.

So yeah, It's something that hurts my wallet, but I LOVE collecting fountain pens

[FeuBleu]

Interesting to see the thoughts of others who are already well down the slippery slope that I now find myself atop. I have two pens now, two more on the way, and a rapidly growing wishlist that already includes a Rather Expensive Pen.

 

I have been down such slippery slopes before, so know well this feeling, and I expect that this slide will be just as fun (though hopefully less expensive) as the others! What could go wrong?!

[Noihvo]

I had almost the exact experience of you Lovely_Pen, but I have ever since kept a principle in mind when the drool starts to rise and the hand on the mouse starts to move the cursor towards the shopping cart icon. I never buy pens that are not significantly different that the ones that I have. I intend to use every pen that I have (anything else would be an insult to the spirit of the pen, especially with vintage pens which have had so much history and so many users), and savour the differences of each.

​But still, the only vintage pens that I have ever bought (filling that "slot" in my collection) was a batch of ten that someone had inherited from a grandfather, for $40. Seven of them were broken or unusable, so I had no compunctions about tossing them, but the three remaining were wonderful. Now I don't need to buy any more vintage, unless they have some kind of exotic filling system that will contribute a new experience.

Almost a year into the hobby, I have twelve pens (with a thirteenth Ranga on its way), and while I was a bit frightened (just like you) of the quickly expanding collection, I think and hope that it has stabilised and calmed down a bit now. But you really never know what the future holds, do you?

Edited August 16, 2015 by Noihvo

[DrDebG]

My trip to pen-lirium started the same way. I was in Shanghai on my way to meet someone for dinner when I walked past a "Lamy" stand in the mall. I had just lost my cheap rollerball and needed a pen in a hurry. I purchased a Lamy Safari in matte black with a box of blue cartridges. Oh, yes, I had a couple of fountain pens at home that I loved, but I hadn't quite caught the bug yet. When I return home from my trip, I decided to buy a converter for the Lamy on Amazon and also purchased a bottle of J. Herbin ink. Once I got the ink I decided to fill my other two fountain pens. I had a little difficulty with one of them, so I decided to investigate some fountain pen websites. One thing led to another and I have 22 and 15 bottles of ink as well as 50 ink samples. But, as with any hobby, I have learned my preferences, and am winnowing out those pens which don't fit my style of writing. My goal is to have 8-12 pens and one bottle of ink per color group. I think that would be reasonable and disciplined. But . . . who is ever reasonable and disciplined in a hobby???