What we do when we don't have a Pen Posse

[AltecGreen]

Loren and I went over to the Farm today to take some pictures and help out doing some spring cleaning.



I. Another snippet from the Tom Sawyer Huck Finn collection

I came over to take pictures of the Pelikan subset of the T & H Collection.





















The two 1930's lizards



















Three cap band variations



Stormtrooper




??????

[AltecGreen]

II. Sorting Parker 51s


There was a large tub of Parker 51s just lying around that needed sorting.








Random bag of double jeweled 51s




Just another Empire cap





Parker Presidential 51s

[AltecGreen]

III. Single Jeweled Mustard 51 Challenge.


People always talk about how hard some pens are to find. Farmboy did a challenge to look for single jeweled 51s. Here is what he dug up in 10 days.





IV. Some random Parkers.

There were as usual a pile of random Parkers. The best line of the day was when Todd told Loren to shove those Parker Imperials into a random baggie.









Here some more random Parkers




Parker Duofold demonstrator



English plastic Parker



Pristine



Some Parker 75s in a Parker case

[AltecGreen]

V. Some Esterbrook Fun


Todd pull these pens out for April's fool. It took him 6 days to find the pens. (He has a lot of pens).








Nice Conklin with a big nib

[gweddig]

Holy craparoni! Those striated style Pelikans are something else.

[franzdimson]

Wow... =) Thank you for sharing. Would've been so cool to be there.

[AltecGreen]

VI. The way to buy pens is to buy collections.


Todd has been reorganizing pens. He dug up this partial collection he picked up a few years ago in LA. I think this is the first time he looked at them since he picked them up. Let's just say the price paid for each pen is much less than people pay for crappy unrestored pens on eBay. The moral of the story is buy in quantity and pay less than wholesale.

[AltecGreen]

Wow... =) Thank you for sharing. Would've been so cool to be there.

Your name came up while we were looking at the Pelikans.

[Jon Szanto]

Let's just say the price paid for each pen is much less than people pay for crappy unrestored pens on eBay. The moral of the story is buy in quantity and pay less than wholesale.

Of course, we are all pretty aware that very, very few people are in the position that Todd, yourself, and a few others are in. This isn't something that just anyone can do, though it certainly is fun to watch.

[AltecGreen]

Let's just say the price paid for each pen is much less than people pay for crappy unrestored pens on eBay. The moral of the story is buy in quantity and pay less than wholesale.

Of course, we are all pretty aware that very, very few people are in the position that Todd, yourself, and a few others are in. This isn't something that just anyone can do, though it certainly is fun to watch.

The only real requirement is cold hard cash to buy in quantity. Obviously the large Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn collection requires contacts and some connections. But for smaller collections, you just need to talk to people at a pen show. Even smaller collections just requires asking.

BTW-while the Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn collection is rather large at ~1400 pens, there are other even bigger collections out there for sale. Those collections are of a size that is almost unmanageable.

[sombrueil]

I feel stunned and shaken.

[tandaina]

I think for most of us the cash is the deciding factor even at seriously under retail even the smaller collection pictured here would be more than I could afford to buy. and of course the real thing is having the contacts to find a collection like that!

[Laura N]

Those Parkers and Pelikans. That lapis lazuli Duofold pair. Parker Imperial Vacumatics. Pelikan lizards. Beautiful.

Seeing all of these (even in a photo) is amazing. Thank you all for sharing these photos.

[franzdimson]

Wow... =) Thank you for sharing. Would've been so cool to be there.

Your name came up while we were looking at the Pelikans.

Ha! I'm sure it did. =) Those Pelikans need to be fondled... oops!

[Empty_of_Clouds]

Perhaps someone would be so kind as to tell me who exactly Todd is, and why he has this kind of access to pens like these. Also, are these of the 'to go into a private drawer, never to be seen or used' type of pens or do they get dribbled on to the market at some point? Although I guess if the latter is true that will be somewhat academic to anyone outside of the US.

So, what gives?

[Jon Szanto]

The only real requirement is cold hard cash to buy in quantity. Obviously the large Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn collection requires contacts and some connections. But for smaller collections, you just need to talk to people at a pen show. Even smaller collections just requires asking.

While you certainly have a grasp on the financial aspects, I really think you are soft-pedaling the reality of the vast majority of us out here wrt the ability to connect to collections. I don't for a moment, having waded now a bit into the pen world, think it is remotely as simple as "you just need to talk to people".

[AltecGreen]

Perhaps someone would be so kind as to tell me who exactly Todd is, and why he has this kind of access to pens like these. Also, are these of the 'to go into a private drawer, never to be seen or used' type of pens or do they get dribbled on to the market at some point? Although I guess if the latter is true that will be somewhat academic to anyone outside of the US.

So, what gives?

Todd is Farmboy. Some of the pens will get sold, some turned into parts, some kept. It's pretty much the full range of possibility.

[Jon Szanto]

I forgot to ask: Ricky, can we assume you were the photographer? I mean, the collection is "holy shit!", but it certainly isn't hurt by all the great photos. The Pelikans, that Lapis Duofold set, man... Wow.

[AltecGreen]

The only real requirement is cold hard cash to buy in quantity. Obviously the large Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn collection requires contacts and some connections. But for smaller collections, you just need to talk to people at a pen show. Even smaller collections just requires asking.

While you certainly have a grasp on the financial aspects, I really think you are soft-pedaling the reality of the vast majority of us out here wrt the ability to connect to collections. I don't for a moment, having waded now a bit into the pen world, think it is remotely as simple as "you just need to talk to people".

Yes and no. Obviously, if your only connection to the pen world is online then yes it is difficult. But there are many avenues to pursue if you have the desire. Even on eBay a few collections come up for sale. Last year someone put up an entire collection of Merlin pens for sale in the Netherlands. It was every single pen they ever made in every pattern and it was listed three times over a period of two months. I believe someone in Canada finally bought it for about $20 a pen. The person has been selling them off at around $60-100 each. I think he's pretty close to selling all of those pens. It doesn't always require connections just a bit of diligence and money to strike when the opportunity arrives.

[AltecGreen]

I forgot to ask: Ricky, can we assume you were the photographer? I mean, the collection is "holy shit!", but it certainly isn't hurt by all the great photos. The Pelikans, that Lapis Duofold set, man... Wow.

We all agreed that it was important to document all of the pens.


BTW-only the Pelikans were part of the huge collection. The rest really was stuff that was just lying around.