What Was Your Last Impulsive Pen Acquisition?

[Gloucesterman]

6 hours ago, Gloucesterman said:

It would be very interesting to hear/see how it writes with that much gold in the nib.

 

It also looks, to me, as if the nib has already had some work done to it. Was anything of that nature mentioned in the listing/description? I'm just curious.

Wishing that you thoroughly enjoy your new pen when it arrives.

As I look at the top picture, near the nib tip, it looks, to me, like tiny ripples in the metal. In addition I also noted that the slit between the tines didn't look perfectly straight to me. Finally if you look closely at the tipping, it appears to me as the top tine Is just a hair longer then The bottom one. This could a left oblique nib or not. And I could be wrong...

 

I hope this helps and I also hope I'm wrong:(. Either way wishing you success with the and pleasure using the pen.

[inkstainedruth]

Today I went to an antiques show south of Pittsburgh and ended up buying two pens from one of the vendors: a cute little Peter Pan ringtop with 3D flowers in different colors around the top and edge of the cap; and a Parker 51 that I *think* is has a gold filled barrel and cap.

No pix yet (didn't get home until the middle of the afternoon, after waking up extremely early -- about a quarter to 5 in the morning -- and having to stop on my way home to get some lunch in me), and also running to a store on the way home to get a cellphone holder to use in one of our cars -- there's no good place to lean phones up against when driving, and PA has a "hands free when behind the wheel" law, and for some stupee reason the voiceover on WAZE no longer works on my phone 😡).

Apparently the woman's late husband was a pen guy, and she's slowly selling off his collection -- and at the prices she was asking ($10 US for the Peter Pan and $30 for the 51) I'm NOT gonna argue or try to barter.... 

Ironically, the first vendor when I got there -- while not having any pens to sell -- apparently recognized me from some prior year and told me that she does cleaning for some local-ish horror writer (she told me the author's name but I don't remember it now -- the better part of 8 hours later) who ALSO is apparently a pen person.  So I told her to tell the woman she works for about the local pen club around here.

Sadly, the most recent meeting was Thursday evening, and so I didn't have anything new to show off; but I think the March meeting is the week AFTER Baltimore/Washington.  And I now have two more pens to see about getting repaired (although, of course, the 51 might just need to be flushed out -- the sac in the filler seems to be in good shape when I pressed on the bar) 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[zmija]

44 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

... a cute little Peter Pan ringtop with 3D flowers in different colors around the top and edge of the cap; and a Parker 51 that I *think* is has a gold filled barrel and cap.

No pix yet... 

 

It's just begging for a photo report 🧐

[inkstainedruth]

I know!  But by the time I got home (after running to an auto parts store and then to get the gas tank filled up, and then stopping at Dunkin Donuts to pick up what at that point was a VERY late lunch) it was relatively late in the afternoon and not bright and sunny the way it was earlier in the day.  

And I tend to like to take photos of the pens I've gotten next to a ruler, so people can see the size.  So hopefully in a day or two; just checked the forecast for the town I live in on weather.gov, and it looks as if the weather will be better (and warmer) on Monday and Tuesday.  Then we get another round of rain coming in later in the week.... 

I did do an image search online and found a couple that were in different colors from the one, but had the same style of the flowers on them (I also saw some that have the raised flowers sort of randomly strewn around the barrel and cap, instead of in a ring around the top of the cap and another ring of flowers effectively being a clutch ring).  

One of the images I found in a Google search shows one that was sold on Etsy that looks to be a mottled dark blue or blue grey; whereas mine is sort of a mottled mix of mostly a mustardy-looking darkish yellow with a little yellow green mixed in, and with what look to be painted black ovals (possibly representing leaves?) between the edges of where the flowers meet; the ovals are on the inner sides of the rings of flowers on the cap on mine (and not really discernible as such on the Etsy link, but which I'd seen on another image where the ovals are a bright blue).  The one sold on Etsy apparently came with a ribbon to hook the pen onto, and which shows a couple of the flowers on what may be a slide or clip on the ribbon, and apparently in the original box: 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1896973729/peter-pan-deluxe-pendant-fountain-ink?show_sold_out_detail=1&ref=nla_listing_details

The pen in the posted link sold for way more than I paid for mine but that might because of the ribbon and the box apparently being included; and on mine there's what looks like a painted black line just up from the end of the barrel (I think it might have been painted because it's not an even line, especially on the bottom part of the barrel -- which also has what appears to be a black painted end).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[PithyProlix]

On 2/13/2026 at 8:59 AM, Gloucesterman said:

As I look at the top picture, near the nib tip, it looks, to me, like tiny ripples in the metal. In addition I also noted that the slit between the tines didn't look perfectly straight to me. Finally if you look closely at the tipping, it appears to me as the top tine Is just a hair longer then The bottom one. This could a left oblique nib or not. And I could be wrong...

 

I hope this helps and I also hope I'm wrong:(. Either way wishing you success with the and pleasure using the pen.

 

I received the pen and, while the slit looks fine, there is some waviness on the back of the nib, as you point out. I think that waviness is on the surface and it doesn't *look* like the nib was ever bent - it writes wonderfully but who knows? Here in Thailand, near 24k gold is used for most jewelry (it is used by many people here as a savings vehicle), my wedding ring being an example. I discovered that high karat alloy is soft and impractical as a daily wear ring. So, assuming softness for this 23k nib, I speculate that the nib didn't suffer a traumatic event.

 

I expected that I would put a brown ink in it but, for unknown reasons, it was making me feel a medium blue would suit it well, so I inked it with kyo no oto aonibi. It is a wonderful pen - built as well as any pen I've handled (and I've got some pretty nice ones), feels wonderful in the hand, even when holding it capped, and has a really handsome, masculine look. The snap cap mechanism has the spring-loaded 'fingers' on the metal band of the barrel, similar to the Pilot Myu, and, even with age, it snaps firmly & satisfyingly and the cap holds tight to the barrel. The feed consistently delivers ink, even with the lightest hand, the nib has the characteristic Sailor feedback, which suits me perfectly, and, even with the medium nib I can get a pretty crisp line from it. Definitely a top shelf pen for me!

[enuhski]

Parker Vacumatic azure pearl and earlier this week, burgundy pearl! 

[Gloucesterman]

5 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

 

I received the pen and, while the slit looks fine, there is some waviness on the back of the nib, as you point out. I think that waviness is on the surface and it doesn't *look* like the nib was ever bent - it writes wonderfully but who knows? Here in Thailand, near 24k gold is used for most jewelry (it is used by many people here as a savings vehicle), my wedding ring being an example. I discovered that high karat alloy is soft and impractical as a daily wear ring. So, assuming softness for this 23k nib, I speculate that the nib didn't suffer a traumatic event.

 

I expected that I would put a brown ink in it but, for unknown reasons, it was making me feel a medium blue would suit it well, so I inked it with kyo no oto aonibi. It is a wonderful pen - built as well as any pen I've handled (and I've got some pretty nice ones), feels wonderful in the hand, even when holding it capped, and has a really handsome, masculine look. The snap cap mechanism has the spring-loaded 'fingers' on the metal band of the barrel, similar to the Pilot Myu, and, even with age, it snaps firmly & satisfyingly and the cap holds tight to the barrel. The feed consistently delivers ink, even with the lightest hand, the nib has the characteristic Sailor feedback, which suits me perfectly, and, even with the medium nib I can get a pretty crisp line from it. Definitely a top shelf pen for me!

Thank you for keeping us/me in the loop. Glad my perception was off base and the pen is working well for you. Enjoy using it.

[chromantic]

A 1952 G. Wagner "export" 140 with "rare" KEF nib that Valentina has had in the newsletter for a couple of months now. I was buying a MB 144 so figured I get the 140 while I was at it. I'm interested to see how it differs from my later (probably post-1954) 140.

[Mr. Pink]

Here Mr. Pink is going to go out on a limb.  For the last 15 years, Mrs. Pink and I have gone thrift shopping, and in all that time, Mr. Pink has never found a single fountain pen, but tomorrow will be different.   I WILL find the Waterman Patrician.  and I WILL buy it.  OK, so it's not impulsive.   And I will win the lottery.  

[inkstainedruth]

Sometimes I've gotten VERY lucky at estate sales and antiques stores (most recently last weekend at an antiques show, where one of the vendors had a couple of pens -- apparently her husband had been a pen collector).  I've also won a few small amounts over the years in lottery jackpots -- a while back I had a $14 winning ticket , and years ago (when I still was living with my parents after college) I won $78.50 in the NYS lottery.  

So here's hoping you find something good, and for a decent (if not phenomenally good) price at that!

Of course I'm also lucky in that Pittsburgh always had money (originally the steel industry, and nowadays high-tech).  Got talking to a guy at one of the parties last fall at OPS and he ran a non-profit supporting potters and sculptors by giving them work space.  But he was in southern Indiana, and he said he had NEVER found a pen around there and I realized that I'm exceedingly lucky to live in an area that DID always have big industry and the money behind it.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Ceramicist]

Just purchased Year of the Horse, Wajima maki-e TWSBI ECO from Bungubox.

I am a Fire Horse so this is a very special purchase for me. 

🐎

 

[Gloucesterman]

Three new Clairfontaine spiral bound notebooks 

An A4, - lined, 80 sheets, an A5(?), 60 pages, multi-colored, graph ruled with tabbed pages, slightly smaller than the A5 70 page, graph ruled notebooks.

$1.00 each!

[Scribs]

8 hours ago, Ceramicist said:

Just purchased Year of the Horse, Wajima maki-e TWSBI ECO from Bungubox.

I am a Fire Horse so this is a very special purchase for me. 

🐎

 

 

Ha! Fellow fire horse here 😀 That TWSBI looks like a fun choice for the occasion. I've decided against getting a pen, and instead have opted for something completely non-pen related for a change;

Image lifted off Amazon (not my hand!)

[Gloucesterman]

8 hours ago, Scribs said:

 

Ha! Fellow fire horse here 😀 That TWSBI looks like a fun choice for the occasion. I've decided against getting a pen, and instead have opted for something completely non-pen related for a change;

Image lifted off Amazon (not my hand!)

AWESOME image!

Thanks for posting it

[A Smug Dill]

Yet another Sailor TUZU ADJUST fountain pen, this time with B nib, with the express intention of handing it over to Chris Lim to regrind for me.

[Ceramicist]

9 hours ago, Scribs said:

 

Ha! Fellow fire horse here 😀 That TWSBI looks like a fun choice for the occasion. I've decided against getting a pen, and instead have opted for something completely non-pen related for a change;

Image lifted off Amazon (not my hand!)

That is beautiful! When is your birthday? Mine is Nov. 18. My son is a Water Horse. My husband is a Fire Monkey.

[Scribs]

1 hour ago, Ceramicist said:

That is beautiful! When is your birthday? Mine is Nov. 18. My son is a Water Horse. My husband is a Fire Monkey.

 

1st of May, it's one of those round ones this year, which was all the more reason to indulge in the horse (which thankfully didn't break the bank!).

[inkstainedruth]

@Scribs Wow!  That is amazing!  Thanks for posting the image! 

Don't supposed they'd ever make anything remotely as cool for the Year of the Boar.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Ceilidh]

On 2/18/2026 at 1:50 PM, Ceramicist said:

Just purchased Year of the Horse, Wajima maki-e TWSBI ECO from Bungubox.

I am a Fire Horse so this is a very special purchase for me. 

🐎

 

Congrats - that's not your ordinary ECO! Very nice.

 

And you too, Scribs.

 

I'm a wood horse - lotsa horse-types here. 🙃

[Misfit]

On 2/18/2026 at 1:50 PM, Ceramicist said:

Just purchased Year of the Horse, Wajima maki-e TWSBI ECO from Bungubox.

I am a Fire Horse so this is a very special purchase for me. 

🐎

 

I looked up that pen, and it’s a beauty. I bought a heavy Jinhao (I think) dragon pen in 2024 as I’m a Wood Dragon, and it was the Wood Dragon year. I’d have preferred a lighter weight pen. Very cool TWSBI x Bungubox made one for the Horse.