Questioning Collection

[Solitaire146]

About a year ago I was bit by the Montblanc bug.  After a year of feverishly collecting, buying, selling, regretting some purchases and sales, I'm almost at a place where I'm "satisfied" with my collection.  That said, there's something in me that says "less is more" and that it may be better to have just one, two or at most a handful of instruments to rely on on a day to day basis.  Has anyone else confronted this issue?

[txomsy]

Obviously.

 

To the point I'm seriously considering starting to sell unused pens. In the end I only use one or two most of the time, and a handful would serve me for practically all my needs. And I can't stop wondering what's the use in hoarding them when someone else might be more interested than me.

[maclink]

Yes.  I have a lot of pens here 'where the writing is on the wall that' I will never be using them again.  In fact, this is the case for over half of my pens.  Of course, I would do it all over again because the experience, and fun while gaining it is what it was, and continues to be, all about.

 

Regarding MB's specifically, I have a couple 149's that I may well soon part with.  It took me a while to be convinced that they are too big for my liking.  When I got really convinced is when I got a 145.  So the 146 size is my personal limit and my favourite.

[JCC123]

Most certainly, I've always kept my collection to just a handful of pens. There's a fine line between collecting and hoarding. My line is around 5. To have more means that I'm not really using each pen as much as I should. Think quality, not quantity. In addition, as I've gotten older, I've started to think more about owning fewer things and embracing the minimalist philosophy. We come into this world with nothing and we will leave with nothing. I've spend the first half of my life accumulating things, I want to spend the second disposing of it. When I die, I want to leave as little of my possessions for someone else to cleanup as possible.

 

Think of it this way, when you die, do you want the executor to liquidate your prized pens at pennies to the dollar? Because that's what happens most of the time. If I spend my hard earn dollars on something I want to be sure that I get the maximum value back. That means that there's no one else is better to handle it than myself. So, I keep a small number of highly curated pens at one time. As I get older I will decrease that number until I'm left with just one or two. Barring any unforeseen adverse mortality events 😆, I would have maximized the utilization of my resources.

[sgphototn]

I've given away two pens in the last week to someone who tried all my pens and like these the best -  a Noodler Ahab and a Parson's Essential w/ broad italic nib. Also gave them three bottles of Noodler's ink.

 

I'm slowly giving away pens until I have around 15 left. I'm keeping my metal pens, ebonites, a Pelikan M1000, and a few sentimental pens.

 

The rest can go in peace.

 

For many after the initial flush of 'collecting' passes, there's a slapping on the forehead that says, "Do I really want another pen that offers nothing different than the six other pens I already have (and rarely use)?"

 

I passed today on an ebonite that looks good but offers nothing new.

 

Deciding you've had enough is often a wise course of action and lets you enjoy what you do have.

[BillH]

About that "fine line" between collecting and hoarding...

 

I don't see it as that fine.  A collection, whether hundreds or simply a dozen, is a usually carefully curated assembly of somethings toward a goal (hopefully).  In this case pens.  Hoarding is, imho, a willy-nilly gathering of everything and anything a person can get his hands on, usually with very little thought.  In other words, "Oh, shiny" is a hoard.

 

And for the brand snobs, no, the brand doesn't determine whether it is a collection or a hoard 😉

[meiers]

Handling a writing instrument I sometimes ask myself: do I enjoy this pen? If the answer is no, I let it move on. I have also gifted pens that I treasure. Knowing that a dear friend is enjoying one of my pens also brings me joy.

[Chandon]

On 2/28/2021 at 10:57 AM, JCC123 said:

Most certainly, I've always kept my collection to just a handful of pens. There's a fine line between collecting and hoarding. My line is around 5. To have more means that I'm not really using each pen as much as I should. Think quality, not quantity. In addition, as I've gotten older, I've started to think more about owning fewer things and embracing the minimalist philosophy. We come into this world with nothing and we will leave with nothing. I've spend the first half of my life accumulating things, I want to spend the second disposing of it. When I die, I want to leave as little of my possessions for someone else to cleanup as possible.

 

Think of it this way, when you die, do you want the executor to liquidate your prized pens at pennies to the dollar? Because that's what happens most of the time. If I spend my hard earn dollars on something I want to be sure that I get the maximum value back. That means that there's no one else is better to handle it than myself. So, I keep a small number of highly curated pens at one time. As I get older I will decrease that number until I'm left with just one or two. Barring any unforeseen adverse mortality events 😆, I would have maximized the utilization of my resources.

 

 

I completely agree with this - well said. I've been giving away most of my pens for the past few years so as to maximise the time I use the ones I like the most while I still can.