What did you buy while FPN was offline?

[Mercian]

Hi all,

after I stated in the ‘Pens You Want To Get Next’ thread that I was toying with the idea of buying a Waterman Carène, when FPN went down I found myself itching to buy one (especially in light of the imminent 12% hike here in the price of imported goods).

 

So, during the FPN outage I spent lots of time researching the Carène - watching reviews on YouTube, thinking about the problems that some reviewers have had with it, and looking around to find the best prices.

I found that I still had some unanswered questions about the Carène, so I emailed one of the noted reviewers on YouTube who had made a favourable review of the pen to ask about his experiences of living with it over time.

He replied to tell me that he had sold his since posting his review - not because he had ever experienced any problems with his Carène, but because he had decided to focus on a few brands, which didn’t happen to include Waterman.

 

So, I focussed on doing a bit more research and then, after much soul-searching, I bought...

 

...a LAMY 2000 😁

I also bought two LAMY Z50 nibs in EF, and a 50ml bottle of LAMY Turquoise, but the expenditure on those was relatively trivial in comparison to the purchase of the 2000.
Ordinarily I’d ‘blame’ all you ‘evil Enablers’ out there in FPN-land for ‘making me’ buy the pen, but not only was FPN down at the time, none of you has ever encouraged me to buy one! So I must, sadly, admit that this time the blame is all ‘on me’.

 

I chose the LAMY 2000 partly because I found it on sale for less than the lowest price for which I could find a Carène.
As I bought my 2000 on a ‘Black Friday’ discount deal I ended up paying ‘only’ £134.10 - which is the equivalent of €150 or $180 US. The lowest price for which I could find a Carène was £155. The 2000 was a better deal IMO.

The £134.10 that I have spent on the 2000 is a lot of money for me - but the 2000 is never going to cost a ‘little’ as this again, and it is certainly a pen that performs excellently, as well as being a ‘design classic’.

Does this mean that I no longer desire a Carène? Of course not! 🤦‍♂️😁

 

Anyway, now that I have ‘fessed up to blowing €150 on a new pen while FPN was down, who else has found themself buying a new pen (or ink(s), or paper(s), or notebook(s) etc) during the ‘site outage’?

Edited December 5, 2020 by Mercian
Typos

[Chiroptera121]

Congrats on the L2K!  It will serve you well.  As for me, I pre-ordered a red tortoiseshell m600 with a medium nib during a black Friday sale.   

[Toll]

I bought a Graf von Faber Castell (Guilloche, in orange) plus a GvFC pen case and a GvFC orange notebook. They will arrive from Europe next week! 

[MoriartyR]

Ah, Black Friday. It would have been rude not to buy any pens. I ordered a Caran d’Ache Léman in the limited Klein Blue colour. Also a couple of Sailor 1911 Realos (black with rhodium trim and maroon) since I find I use the one I have so much. It’s just an ideal pen for me in everyday use.

[Jebus]

A TWSBI eco demonstrator in stub 1.1 to team up with the broad one...

[ParramattaPaul]

I bought two different maker's A5 notebooks neither of which I actually needed but will put to good use.

[Plainsman]

I gave in and purchased a Montblanc Starwalker Blue Planet Doue' Metal FP. It is such a beautiful instrument.  

[aimi]

I love that the reviewer got back to you! I find that everyone in this community is really lovely and quick to respond and engage. 

 

I picked up a Sailor Pro Gear Realo with a Zoom nib. I’d been looking to get a Sailor for a while, but I only buy blue pens, wanted the Sailor anchor finial, wanted a sparkly material, and wanted a nib with a cute engraving. Finally I was able to find one that was all that! I sound reallyyyy picky right there haha. I will probably be letting go one of my pens soon to make room for the newcomer.

[inkstainedruth]

3 minutes ago, aimi said:

I love that the reviewer got back to you! I find that everyone in this community is really lovely and quick to respond and engage. 

 

I picked up a Sailor Pro Gear Realo with a Zoom nib. I’d been looking to get a Sailor for a while, but I only buy blue pens, wanted the Sailor anchor finial, wanted a sparkly material, and wanted a nib with a cute engraving. Finally I was able to find one that was all that! I sound reallyyyy picky right there haha. I will probably be letting go one of my pens soon to make room for the newcomer.

That pen sounds a lot like my Pro Gear Slim Purple Cosmos!  When I realized that there were still a few floating around that hadn't been already snapped up, I started looking around and got one from Cult Pens, after picking peoples' brains on here about whether or not they liked the Zoom nib, and then checking with a friend of mine who really likes Sailor pens a lot so I could actually try before buying (unfortunately I wasn't able to compare it to Sailor's music nib, because his was lost in his house).

I don't use the pen a lot, because most of the inks I've tried have been a little on the dry side.  But some day I'll find the ink that behaves perfectly in it.  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[aimi]

3 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

That pen sounds a lot like my Pro Gear Slim Purple Cosmos!  When I realized that there were still a few floating around that hadn't been already snapped up, I started looking around and got one from Cult Pens, after picking peoples' brains on here about whether or not they liked the Zoom nib, and then checking with a friend of mine who really likes Sailor pens a lot so I could actually try before buying (unfortunately I wasn't able to compare it to Sailor's music nib, because his was lost in his house).

I don't use the pen a lot, because most of the inks I've tried have been a little on the dry side.  But some day I'll find the ink that behaves perfectly in it.  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Ruth, I *love* the purple cosmos and the other cosmic pens Sailor has put out! I probably would have gotten one if I weren’t waiting for a full-sized pen.

 

I wasn’t able to check FPN for reviews so I was a bit nervous after combing through what I could find on YouTube and Reddit, but I’m so glad I went out of my comfort zone and got this broad nib! I’ve been using Sailor Manyo Haha and finally getting the shading people are talking about. I’d definitely recommend it! I hope you’re able to find the perfect ink for your pen soon

[AmandaW]

I bought a Faber Castell Loom in matte gunmetal with an EF nib, but won't be opening it until Christmas.

 

[Toll]

2 hours ago, MoriartyR said:

Ah, Black Friday. It would have been rude not to buy any pens. I ordered a Caran d’Ache Léman in the limited Klein Blue colour. Also a couple of Sailor 1911 Realos (black with rhodium trim and maroon) since I find I use the one I have so much. It’s just an ideal pen for me in everyday use.

That Klein Blue is superb. I bought the ballpoint just because of that deep, vibrant blue. 

[A Smug Dill]

25 minutes ago, aimi said:

I picked up a Sailor Pro Gear Realo with a Zoom nib.

 

Nice score! I didn't even realise that the Zoom nib is a factory-fitted nib option for the Sailor Pro Gear Realo … or maybe it isn't. I bought a gold-trim Sailor PGR (wth F nib, I think) onto which I thought I would transfer my Naginata Concord nib, but I ended up not doing it; as in, I bought the pen but it's still sitting inside the heat-sealed plastic sleeve as supplied by the factory, after well more than two years in my possession.

 

During the Black Friday sales, I bought two Sailor Pro Gear Slim Mini pens for US$91 apiece (inclusive of delivery to Australia); can't just buy one 'cute' pen model that we don't already have here for myself, without also getting one for my wife. Unfortunately, the vendor didn't offer the second-release colours — which includes a blue one with sparkles — until after I place my order, and I suspect after he withdrew the offer of free international delivery with a lowered minimum-spend threshold. Ah well. Also a Sailor PGS Midnight Sky with 14K gold Zoom nib to pad the order.

 

Not strictly on-topic, but the Aurora 8"88" Giove (aka Jupiter) I ordered finally arrived in my hands, after some undue and avoidable drama with DHL/Customs/tax issues, the day before FPN took a long break. I unboxed it and inked it up later in November. Absolutely beautiful (after I've, um, had to 'offer' my wife the previous two Aurora pens I bought which she gladly 'accepted').

 

In other news, my Santini Italia Calypso which was sent back to the manufacturer for repair came back to me in November. Good as new.

[TitoThePencilPimp]

A vanishing point in the blue (carboneques? pattern), pre-ordered Pelikan m600 Red Tortoise, and a Sailor 1911 Standard with 21k zoom nib. The sailor was purchased to switch its zoom nib to my Sailor Koshu. Now I have a brand new Sailor 1911 that will sit in my desk drawer never to be used.

[Dylan Skolnick]

I bought the Karas Kustoms' Brass Decograph Signature Edition. Fine nib. It's been a lovely pen to use.

[Charles Rice]

^{What, was the FPN off-line?}

[aimi]

2 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

Nice score! I didn't even realise that the Zoom nib is a factory-fitted nib option for the Sailor Pro Gear Realo … or maybe it isn't. I bought a gold-trim Sailor PGR (wth F nib, I think) onto which I thought I would transfer my Naginata Concord nib, but I ended up not doing it; as in, I bought the pen but it's still sitting inside the heat-sealed plastic sleeve as supplied by the factory, after well more than two years in my possession.

 

Maybe it's a new configuration! They have them here at Goldspot pens as well (no affiliation).

[jchch1950]

Lamy Safari Mango with the mango cartridges . I changed  the nib to a Lamy Italic 1.5 to use it to underline some working papers.

[chromantic]

An Orange-marbled M320 and a M400 Brown Tortoise, the 2016 LE one.

[DrDebG]

During the time that that the website was on the dark side of the moon, I did purchase several fountain pens - none of which was to my liking and all of which were returned. 

 

I did purchase a number of ink samples, several bottles of ink - among them Sailor Manyo Nadeshiko and Sailor Manyo Konagi which are now my two favorite inks.  I also purchased several notebooks including some Kokuyo Campus notebooks in A5 and two Itoya Romeo notebooks.  I haven't used either type of paper before so I am looking forward to giving them a try.