What Was Your Last Impulsive Pen Acquisition?

[Black16]

On 5/12/2025 at 5:30 PM, gweimer1 said:

 

It looks like it could be a Japanese knock-off of a Vacumatic.   I've run across a few, and they tend to look like that.

Thanks for the idea! I actually saw a few similar pens labeled Chezh knock-offs of Vacumatic and some labeled "HUNTCO" tho from what I managed to find those seem to be just generic pens with nibs from Hunt Pen Co. The details that make me think a lot are those 'Derby' and the nib as it seems to be more of a European thing then, nope? I've never seen (yet?) Asian vintage pens with non-Asia related engravings. I'll do more research of course, will try to explore the vintage knock-off field this time.

[AmandaW]

It was at the office supply store. Couldn't walk past it. 💚

 

[Misfit]

15 hours ago, AmandaW said:

It was at the office supply store. Couldn't walk past it. 💚

 

Hurray for buying pens at retail. I don’t think the Office Depot where I live would have any except for the Cross Bailey. 

[Penguincollector]

  I bought a matte black Parker Arrow. I was looking for a replacement nib and section for my old Parker 88 Place Vendôme/Rialto and ran across it. 

[carola]

Yesterday, I took a day off from work and went to Vienna. I had a few pens to discuss with my favourite pen repair guy and there was a kind of pen club meeting I wanted to attend that evening (and it was very nice, too).

 

While I left two of my pens at the repair shop, I also came out of there with a new one. What a surprise. 😉

I had been handed a vintage Montblanc 246 light-green marbled with a flexy B-nib and what can I say... It somehow made its way into my bag because it really, really wanted to accompany me to the meeting and then home.

 

I don´t know when I will finally get around to pull that light box out again (there are like 5 pens now that need to get their pictures taken), but as I have left two of them at the repair shop, it doesn´t make much sense to start right now either. For those who wonder what the Montblanc actually looks like, I have found a picture taken from a book:

https://www.vintagemontblancpens.com/danish-no-244s

The featured green pen on top of that page from the book is a 244, which is very similar to the 246. The 246 can actually be seen on the right hand side of this picture from the book.

[jchch1950]

The 244 MB are incredible pens. Congratulations.

[Gloucesterman]

It's a Parker "21" in decent condition (appearance-wise). It needs to be cleaned up and tested, but, for $3.00 (with an older Papermate BP), I'd call it an "inkstainedruth" special except that I bought it at a flea market, not an estate sale!😁

[Penguincollector]

   I had some rewards points on Shopify, and there was a Parker IM Last Frontier Submerge F on sale for $29.95 at pens and pencils dot net. I ended up paying $27 for the pen ($100 at Goldspot for the same model), a pack of Lamy Mango cartridges, and a single Lamy Bronze cartridge (the fact that they sell singles is neat, although they are not at all a value buy). I really like the Parker IM line, pretty and reliable inexpensive pens for carrying around. 

[ruby.monkey]

A couple of Filcaos - a Mini and a Micro Ladybug(?), just to see how small these pens can get.

[inkstainedruth]

21 hours ago, Misfit said:

Hurray for buying pens at retail. I don’t think the Office Depot where I live would have any except for the Cross Bailey. 

And the Staples the next town over from me doesn't even carry Parker FP converters at this point, I don't think -- although I was able to get a BP refill when I got the Ciselé 75 set at an estate sale a while back.  Not even sure where the closest Office Depot is at this point, after their merger with Office Max (and the "close" Office Max is also gone now as well).

Weldon's, the place where I got my first Parker Vector is also gone.  They were an old time stationers in downtown Pittsburgh (had been in business for something like 140 years!) and then moved into space in the Gulf Towers on the other side of downtown from their old building.  But then a couple of years ago there was a fire in the basement (electrical I think) and the entire building (one of the tallest in the city) was closed for months.  And I think Weldins never really recovered from that.... 

There are a couple of places in the vicinity of Walnut Street in one of the east end neighborhoods, but they aren't cheap, and neither is the Dick Blick's near them (although that place does sell Safaris, they only seem to have the "standard" colors).  There is also an art supply in Squirrel Hill and they do carry a few Noodler's inks.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[inkstainedruth]

2 hours ago, Gloucesterman said:

It's a Parker "21" in decent condition (appearance-wise). It needs to be cleaned up and tested, but, for $3.00 (with an older Papermate BP), I'd call it an "inkstainedruth" special except that I bought it at a flea market, not an estate sale!😁

I almost never find anything at flea markets.  Not even at the huge one out in Rogers, Ohio....  The closest I ever got was at the one down in the parking lot for the Washington Wild Things ballpark down in Washington, PA -- and that was just a fluke.  I had pretty much given up, and was walking back to my car and got in on a conversation with a vendor and another customer (don't even remember what it was about).  And then got talking to the vendor some more, and he dug a box out of the cab of his pickup truck, behind his table.  And that was the Wearever with a name engraved on it, and I started to hand it back to him and the guy said, "Keep it!  I can't sell it!"  Not sure why he thought that....  But that's the only pen with a name or initials on it where I was able to track down information about the original owner -- it was the name of a guy who ran a jewelry store in Canonsburg, PA (north of "little Washington" as the "locals" call it -- to differentiate it from Washington, DC) and I found some website that had scans of old newspapers, and there was a display ad for the store at Christmastime in IIRC the late 1940s.  More recently, the storefront had been an antiques store, but I never got a chance to show off the pen there, and they've now either closed or gone to online only....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Gloucesterman]

3 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

I almost never find anything at flea markets.  Not even at the huge one out in Rogers, Ohio....  The closest I ever got was at the one down in the parking lot for the Washington Wild Things ballpark down in Washington, PA -- and that was just a fluke.  I had pretty much given up, and was walking back to my car and got in on a conversation with a vendor and another customer (don't even remember what it was about).  And then got talking to the vendor some more, and he dug a box out of the cab of his pickup truck, behind his table.  And that was the Wearever with a name engraved on it, and I started to hand it back to him and the guy said, "Keep it!  I can't sell it!"  Not sure why he thought that....  But that's the only pen with a name or initials on it where I was able to track down information about the original owner -- it was the name of a guy who ran a jewelry store in Canonsburg, PA (north of "little Washington" as the "locals" call it -- to differentiate it from Washington, DC) and I found some website that had scans of old newspapers, and there was a display ad for the store at Christmastime in IIRC the late 1940s.  More recently, the storefront had been an antiques store, but I never got a chance to show off the pen there, and they've now either closed or gone to online only....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Ruth,

Over the 3-4 years that I have been going to this flea market (perhaps up to 90-100 vendors when all is optimum) I have developed a personal system for cultivating and supporting the people there to help me find pens (and related stuff too).

Are they doing stuff they would not ordinarily do? For the most part, no. And, because I am there almost every week and seek them out, they remember me and what I am looking for. If they think it will bring them more business (aka my bucks) they may take a risk. Over time, Sunday mornings at the flea market have become a welcome and enjoyable time for me. ALSO, all of that walking is good exercise too! 🙂

 

BTW, are you coming to Boston this year for the Commonwealth Pen Show. It looks to be bigger (more vendors) and better (more buyers than last year... which was the best one so far.

[inkstainedruth]

I don't know that far out.  We no longer really have that much of a reason to go to the greater Boston area any more (not since my mother-in-law died) -- especially at that time of year.  

I had considered going down to the Triangle Show (it will be the first time in a number of years for me) -- but it's up against something for the other hobby the same weekend, which is a LOT closer, and there might be reasons to go to that instead (I don't know yet, but a bunch of people -- including several good friends -- got called up at the thing we were at on Saturday and they're going to be recognized for the stuff they do at the highest level for the organization) and I need to find out when those various ceremonies are happening.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[PithyProlix]

On 4/22/2025 at 4:45 PM, PithyProlix said:

Hold your hat because I just received a package from the seller! It's not the 149 advertised - not that girthy. While I am a newbie in the land of Montblanc 146 & 149, for now I am suspecting it is a very well-made fake of a 2000-2001 146-ish "Pix". Reading information about IDing 146s everything seems to be correct but there is no serial number and the capped length is 149mm. I will take some photos and inquire in the Montblanc forum when I get some time.

 

On 4/22/2025 at 8:01 PM, gweimer1 said:

I had a Montblanc Queen Elizabeth I at one point, and shortly after I got it, I spotted a fake on eBay.  I picked it up for $50 just to see how it matched up.   There are some really good fakes out there.  The nib/section may be the biggest giveaway.  Check it closely to see if it's a genuine nib or not.

 

Update. I talked to an honest and fairly prolific seller of second hand pens, including a lot of Montblancs, here in Thailand and he said it is a fake. There are a lot of correct things about the pen: the dimensions (I was incorrect about the length previously), red glow to the resin with bright light behind, characteristic notch on the feed, non-magnetic nib, metal piston, correct markings, the writing feel and ink flow is similar to what I expect for Montblanc, the overall quality seems very good, etc. There are a couple of things that indicate it is a fake but I think the biggest 'tell' for him was the rhodium tipping ball wasn't distinct enough from the gold part of the nib. And as I now look at the tipping I see some gold on the back and edges, which would indicate gold plating and that the tipping ball was not added at the end of the nib assembly, as it should. Also the "GERMANY" on the clip band looks to be applied the same way as the "MADE IN FRANCE" and serial numbers on the clips of fake ST Duponts, which I've learned a good bit about.

 

So, a good lesson for me. And, while fake, it's a very good pen - I think maybe at $40 it would be an excellent buy. The value to me is near zero, though, because I won't use it because the nib width is slightly too wide for me and, as a fake, I won't sell it.

[Armo]

There is always seems to be an inordinate number of Montblancs on fleabay and at the prices being asked it is little wonder there are a large number of fakes around. Buyer beware. Not a fan of the overly large pen myself - just as well.

[Karmachanic]

It's not my fault.  It looked so lonely, and sad.  🥲

OM

 

 

 

[Doug C]

2 hours ago, Karmachanic said:

It's not my fault.  It looked so lonely, and sad.  🥲

OM

 

 

 

You're a good person...

[Karmachanic]

1 hour ago, Doug C said:

You're a good person...

 

Thank you.  I have two other rescue pens from that time, so it won't be lonely.

[inkstainedruth]

Sigh.  Well, after just having gotten the Dark Dusk Safari LE, and showing it to someone at the thing I was at on Friday and Saturday who I know is a pen person, I seem to have NOT gotten home with it on Saturday night....   So yesterday evening I ended up ordering a replacement, and then topping off my order to Vanness with some ink samples to get to the free shipping threshold.  

If the first one turns up I will get an EF nib for one of them to swap out, and give the one with the swapped nib to my husband (in case he misplaces his blue Safari again...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Doug C]

1 hour ago, Karmachanic said:

 

Thank you.  I have two other rescue pens from that time, so it won't be lonely.

A regular Mother Theresa.