Buying Japan Made FP

[Pirke]

Hello, that's all about new pens. But what about vintage Japanese pens? I love the leather clad pens from Platinum with toad and other skin coverings. Is there anyone who can tell me where to buy those? I'm not afraid of buying online from Japan, but the language makes it hard to find an entrance.

Peter

[KBeezie]

Hello, that's all about new pens. But what about vintage Japanese pens? I love the leather clad pens from Platinum with toad and other skin coverings. Is there anyone who can tell me where to buy those? I'm not afraid of buying online from Japan, but the language makes it hard to find an entrance.

Peter

I usually get mine from eBay usually from certain ebay sellers in Japan. I've gotten a few Pilot Elites with 18K gold nibs (black short from 1970 with a 18K Soft Fine ~$36, black short from 1971 with a 18K Posting ~$20, an 80s lady elite with an 18K Fine ~$50), as well as an older 60s sailor pocket pen with a very soft/smooth 14K EF nib, which I later traded to get this 70s beauty thru someone I knew on reddit's Pen_Swap.



But ya, Japanese eBay sellers like pen_hal if not thru the FPN/FPG/Pen_Swap/etc classifieds.

Seems before the 60s it's considerably more difficult to find "vintage" Japanese pens of a particular brand, least listed in English.

[dr.grace]

I'd search on FPN for advice on finding vintage Japanese pens. IIRC, there's a member named Stan who recommends searching auctions on Yahoo Japan.

[Pirke]

OK, thanks KBeezie and dr.grace for your advice. I recently bought this beauttiful green Surinam toad covered Platinum and now I'm getting greedy ...

platinumgreentoad01.jpg

[dr.grace]

Interesting. I'd also keep a look out on FPN's classifieds. There's a fellow, going by the handle kamakura-pens, who is starting to sell vintage Japanese pens from his collection.