Your best pen deal

[tinneyp]

I have mentioned my beautiful Sheaffer Balance II Millennium edition a few times recently on this forum and that made met think I should share a little history and maybe get to hear other member’s stories.

 

Normally I would never buy a medium point fountain pen so why do I have a medium Millennium.

 

Several years ago I was already the owner of a Cobalt Glow Balance II with a fine point so I was familiar with this line of pen.

 

A somewhat well known reseller of overstock and closeout items (let’s call them T-am to protect the innocent) advertised that they were getting a bunch of Parker, Waterman and Scheaffer ball point pens. So I decided to get there early, so I told work I’d be late. I was one of the first in the store and the line was around the corner when I left.

 

Now most of the pens were not things I would need or even want. But I found a Black Sheaffer Balance Ball Point. Ok, it was the wrong color but the shape was right.

 

Well I started going through all the Sheaffer boxes hoping to find a different color. Then I saw it. Just like the ball point the store sticker said Store Reg. Price $60.00 Disc Closeout Price $14.99 but this tag said Fashion FTN and the sticker behind the store sticker looked like this:

 

Millennium

Fountain Pen

Medium

 

So I had no choice, I bought them both.

 

I have used the Millennium mainly as a signature pen and for writing notes that my wife needs to be able to read them. It forces me to write bigger.

 

The pen was recently damaged so it is out for repair and while it’s in the shop, why not a little regrind.

 

Strange you can barely see that the tip is not aligned but the pen would only write with extra pressure and it would dry start almost every time.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e214/tinneyp/sheafferbalanceltside.jpg

 

TTFN

Pat

[Sallent]

Brand new Pelikan M400 White Tortoise for $95, regular retail price is $200

 

 

An almost perfect Wahl Eversharp Rosewood Ring top (circa. 1925) for $100 with a flex nib

 

[RitaCarbon]

Montblanc Purple Generation, EF nib: $84 in Zales Outlet Store, 60% off from the original $210. And the most amazing part - I was there with a friend who insisted on paying for it as a gift for my approaching birthday. So, I got it for free!!!

[Romeo Dog]

A vintage Mabie Todd Swan 1060 Leverless twist filler with the nicest writing medium stub nib I've ever tried. About $50 from Regina Martini (probably from her own collection).

[HDoug]

Montblanc Kafka set (FP, RB, pencil) for $325. FP was uninked, papers were unopened, in box. Found it at a silent auction fundraiser where no one had any idea of what a Montblanc was. I almost sold it, but I decided to ink it and that kick started my current interest in fountain pens. That was about 2.5 years ago...

 

Doug

[Shangas]

Cheapest...um...Parker 45 for...$35

 

Best deal...

 

Hmmm...Montblanc Meisterstuck 145. $300 including ink & etc.

[Lifesaver]

Not as great a deal as some posted. Still. I got a Sensa Meridian for $20.

[Ghost Plane]

Visconti Ripple on fleabay for under $400, Visconti Metropolis for under $300. Christmas was good to me.

[Belan]

Sailor Sapporo for $50

[goodguy]

20$ for a near mint in the box Parker 180 GF model.

Edited February 7, 2008 by goodguy

[Jinnayah]

A seller saw me asking for help repairing an annoyance issue on a pen I had bought from them (at a nice price to start with. BTW). By the time they saw that, I had repaired the pen, but to make up for the trouble, they sent me a Mabie Todd Swan for free! I think it's worth as much as I paid for the first pen (it certainly is to me), which by then was working great and had become one of my favorites! The Swan is now one of my favorite writers, too.

[sheafferkid]

I got an Eversharp Doric with a flexible nib for $5. Its in pretty good shape too.

[Paddler]

I was at a flea market this summer. One seller had a shoe box nearly full of old ball point pens, chewed pencils, wood-cased erasers, grease pencils, rubber stamps, etc. I poked around in there and saw a couple of Sheaffer FPs and what looked like a Parker or two. The seller saw me stirring up the stuff in that box and said, "Twenty dollars takes the whole box." I gave him his twenty and carried the plunder to a table near a trash can. I threw out all the ball point pens, all the mechanical pencils, all the wood-cased pencils with numbers higher than 2B, rubber stamps, and suchlike trash. I was left with a light gray Sheaffer Fineline pen, a Sheaffer Craftsman, an Eversharp Skyline, an antique blow-filler of unknown manufacture, two P21s, a P51 Vac, three Wearever lever fillers, and a Wearever cartridge filler purse pen. It was my turn to be Sumgai that day.

 

Paddler

 

PS: They all work except for the blow-filler. It looks a bit too delicate to tangle with, what with its twisted string feed and all.

[Deirdre]

Either of my Nettuno pens. Both are LE pens, ran $600-900, and ran me about $150 each.

[Garageboy]

My buddy got the vac Imp that I own now for about $10

[macaddicted]

Didn't do as well as Ghost Plane.

 

New Visconti Metropolis for $495.

[ANM]

A friend thought he was doing me a favor by buying a sack full of pens at an auction for $5. I paid him for it even though is was full of Sheaffer cartridge pens which I had no interest in whatsoever. There was one Conklin HR Crescent filler but the cap was missing. A couple months later he called and said he saw some more pens but didn't want to bid on them. He said he put a hold on them being sold until I got there. I saw some nice pens and bought two ziplock bags for $7.00 and$15.00 apiece. There were eight or so nice pens including a near mint Parker Deluxe Challenger, a pretty WASP, a Sheaffer Touchdown with the stickers still on it, and a Parker Royal Challenger with a sword clip... and there was a Conklin pen cap that fit the one from the previous sale.

 

Then there was the Parker 75 Vermeil FP and BP set in the original box from a yard sale for 10¢

 

The Royal Challenger was so dirty that I couldn't tell what kind of pen it was or if the nib was any good, and the cap lip looked like it had been in a ash tray but it cleaned up and the cap sanded down so it looks very nice now

Edited February 7, 2008 by ANM

[Stylo]

Most of my pens are good deals. But here are the "best:"

 

1. Waterman Expert II marble finish: $19.95

2. Waterman Liaison black: $100

3. Cross Townsend green lacquer (has gold nib): $50

 

PS: all pens were new

 

Edited February 7, 2008 by Stylo

[pmsalty]

A Green marbled Waterman Expert II for $5.00, $3 for shipping. Works perfectly, with convertor. A cedar blue '49 Parker 51 demi aerometric for $41.01 and $6.00 shipping and finally a black Parker 45 for $9.99 and $6.50 shipping. All work perfectly and are great writers.

All I would say are great deals!

Waterman

Parker 45

 

Happy Hunting!

PMS

[rroossinck]

How 'bout a nearly mint PFM I in Kelly Green for $18? All it needed was a new sac and a clutch ring. From what I gather, it writes pretty well, too! It's owned by a friend of mine in Connecticut.