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Thread: Starting Over

  1. #1
    Senior Member Laura N's Avatar
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    Default Starting Over

    A thread by Pensfan made me think, if all my pens disappeared overnight, how would I start over?

    It's kind of a liberating thought experiment. I have accumulated a lot of pens over the years, and tastes and interests change over time. So I have more than I would need, or even want, to replace. Would I buy only more expensive pens, or would I just buy good writers this time and not be seduced by the expensive or hyped ones? Would I want a representative sampling of what I had, or would I go in a new direction? All the pens with sentimental value would be gone, so I wouldn't have to consider that.

    I think I'd start with the following (in no order):

    1. Parker 51 aerometric, with standard fine nib, any color.
    2. Vintage Pelikan 400 with OBB nib.
    3. Montblanc Virginia Woolf with fine nib.
    4. Edison Herald, custom, with gold broad or medium nib.
    5. Sailor Professional Gear Kan-reki with fine nib.
    6. Aurora Optima, emerald, old-style trim, fine or medium nib.
    7. Lamy Safari, charcoal, with all the nibs up to 1.1.

    How about you guys? If you had to start over from scratch, what fountain pens would you definitely want to have?

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    Default Re: Starting Over

    I'd get an Esterbrook J. I've got plenty of pricier pens in my drawer, but the Estie is in my pocket every day.

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    Senior Member tandaina's Avatar
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    Default Re: Starting Over

    First but would be a Montblanc 244 or 144 with a stub nib. Second a tortoise 400 with an OBB.
    ---
    Current pen rotation: way too many!

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    Default Re: Starting Over

    If I were to start over I would have a greater amount of modern pens then vintage.
    1. Esterbrooks
    2. TWSBI
    3. Lamy
    4. Sheaffer Balance
    5. Parker Vac
    6. Salior
    7. Conway Stewart


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    Default Re: Starting Over

    I was triggered to think about this by the thread "Jinhao vs Pelikan". My path would be restricted to workhorses and would be much less impressive: couple Varsities and Preppies, couple Waterman's Kulturs (one with the stubbed nib), few Ahabs and Konrads with various nibs (one would definitely get Nemosine's 0.6 stub). Somewhere along the way I would get Pelikan M200 or M215 and then would work my way up the ladder, but not too high.

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    Member Pensfan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Starting Over

    Thanks for pointing me here Laura!

    Since I did lose all my pens... I went a very different direction once the smoke cleared and the dust settled. I actually walked away from pens for a bit and took up an old sport again (had been a competitive handgun shooter for the past 10-12 years before taking some time off with kids and getting older haha) and put my resources there for a year. Now I am settling back into a normal routine of life and the pens started calling me back again.

    So here is what I picked up / plan to pick up and why:

    1) Parker Striped Doufold Vac, XF: My darling wife picked it out for me this past Christmas since I was wanting to get a pen again and I love vintage pens.
    2) TWSBI 580, 1.1 Stub: TWSBI is a great pen for the money. I love piston fillers and the pen is the right size for my hands. Alas, my darling wife promptly stole it from me haha.
    3) Parker 51 Aero, Med: Every FP user should have a P51, period. haha
    4) Pelikan M200, Fine: Pelikan, piston filler, perfect size, it is my perfect Every Day Carry (EDC) pen. It is clipped to a pocket, collar, or sleeve and with me daily.
    5) Lamy 2000, B Stub: I had a vintage Lamy 2K BB Stub before, then sold it to a friend, and regretted it before I even shipped it haha. Picked up another vintage 1966 1st gen B and will send it to Pendleton Brown to give it another stub as soon as it arrives from overseas. This is a great letter / journal pen.
    6) Pelikan 400NN, Semi-Flex Med: These are my all time favorite pens. I am starting to save for it/them now.
    7) Custom Pen: My friend DrGoretex had built a gorgeous pen for me in the past and I just contacted him about being added to the waiting list for one again. Not 100% sure on design yet, but supporting a great guy who cranks out gorgeous custom pens is on my list as well.
    Last edited by Pensfan; May 2nd, 2013 at 09:59 AM.
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    Default Re: Starting Over

    Like the previous poster, I did lose all my pens in Katrina. I say "all" but I only had 4 or 5, but as 3 were high end Mont Blancs, that was a big hit in the pocket. I also spent years dealing with other issues after the storm, and have just now gotten back to scratching my fine writing "itch." The pens I have purchased so far, in order:

    1) Lamy Safari (f) saw it in a store and got the bug again;
    2) Pelikan 200 (f) demonstrator;
    3) Pelikan m400 (m); soon to be "Binderized" with a cursive italic;
    4) TWSBI Vac 700 (stub).

    I will be looking to add a little "bigger" pen soon, and have pretty much sworn off converters in favor of direct "bottle fillers." Probably a Mont Blanc or Pelikan M800. I hate to buy a pen without using it first, but there are NO options to use first/then buy in my little corner of the world.
    Last edited by Gulfcoast; May 2nd, 2013 at 10:31 AM.

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    Default Re: Starting Over

    I've been grappling with this... I didn't lose, mine, exactly, but I did sell off about 2/3 of it when my SO was diagnosed with some serious cancer and things got hard. That was 2 years ago (he's doing okay, though still in treatment and we don't know how things will turn out. Ask me again in a year). I did keep some that were near and dear to my heart and some that would have been too much work or pulled in too little value to sell at the time.

    There are some I want to replace because they were wonderful then and still are. And some new directions that I think will make me happy. One thing I will not do is just accumulate, though. It's a little too easy to be impulsive and buy pens that don't serve much purpose for you or your collection.

    - Waterman 52V. These are fun in several ways - not too hard to find, but not so easy that there's no challenge, especially when you think of condition and unusual colors.
    - Vintage Italian. These are hard to come by in the US, so the search is good for background, information, sources, and quality pens. I love the overall style, the way they write, the materials used, and more.
    - Superlative writers. This is a sub-collection. Recently I realized that I had a pretty broad representation of brands and models in this group, and I like that. I may pursue superb writers in brands or types where I've never gone before. I am sure every manufacturer produced some really good writers and it will be fun to know their character.
    - Nakaya Piccolo in Heki-tamenuri. I've wanted one of these for a very long time - they're gorgeous and it should be a superlative writer.
    - Vac junior in Crystal, some upgrades to the vac juniors that I have.
    - tweaking some of my sentimental pens so that I love their writing capability as much as I love what they represent.

    I'm not going to re-collect what I had before, even though some of what I had was pretty neat.

  9. #9
    Member de_pen_dent's Avatar
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    Default Re: Starting Over

    I think I'd go for quality over quantity. I'd only get the pens that really float my boat (of course, I needed to try a whole bunch of other pens to learn that lesson, but atleast if I start all over again, I'd have the benefit of hindsight).

    - Sailor 1911 Ribbed
    - Sailor Pro Gear Matt Black
    - Platinum Izumo
    - Visconti Homo Sapiens
    - Gates City New Dunn
    - Nakaya Neo Standard
    - Bexley Corona
    - Pilot 845
    - Edison Collier
    - Sailor Tagyasan
    - Pelikan M800
    - TWSBI ROC
    - Platinum President

    Come to think of it, I am thinking I should perhaps lighten my collection a little. I dont really "collect" per se anyway, and I've gotten to the point of having so many pens that I dont utilize them nearly as well as they deserve.
    Trying to be half the person my dog thinks me to be!

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    Senior Member reprieve's Avatar
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    Default Re: Starting Over

    This is an interesting thought experiment.

    I would start with:
    Nakaya Naka-ai Writer in unpolished shu with ruthenium trim and an M nib
    Nakaya Decapd Cigar in heki-tamenuri with a BB stub nib
    Pelikan M605 in solid blue with a fine nib
    Aurora Optima in red auroloide with a factory stub nib
    Pilot Custom 823 amber demonstrator with either an M nib or a B nib
    Pilot Vanishing point with an XF nib
    Parker Vacumatic Major in blue with a flexy fine nib
    1920s Parker Duofold big red with a factory stub nib
    Vintage Aurora 88 with a flexy fine nib

    Oh, and a vintage Pelikan M140 in green stripe with a KM nib!
    Last edited by reprieve; May 2nd, 2013 at 01:11 PM. Reason: gotta have a vintage Pelikan!

  11. #11
    Senior Member fountainpenkid's Avatar
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    Default Re: Starting Over

    Mont Blanc 142
    Pelikan 400
    Vintage Aurora 88 flex nib
    OMAS Paragon
    Parker Slender Vacumatic
    Parker Vac. Oversize
    Will
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    Default Re: Starting Over

    I could get by with one pen - it would be a Visconti, probably a van Gogh or the Michelangelo.

    If I wanted more I would get an Italix Parson's Essential (wonderful pen at a bargain price), and a Platinum 3776. I don't have a NEED for any more than that.

    Of course I currently own far more pens - but some of them were bought on a whim and in some cases were just out and out mistakes. There are so many reasons why I wouldn't choose some of the pens on other folks lists, but I would be very happy with those three listed.
    Pens and paper everywhere, yet all our hearts did sink,

    Pens and paper everywhere, but not a drop of ink.


    "Cursive writing does not mean what I think it does"

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    Default Re: Starting Over

    Very interesting thread (thanks to Laura) and some great posts in response. My current collection has come about trying to have the broadest possible writing experience that my budget would allow. If I lost the lot (heaven forbid) then a replacement collection most certainly wouldn't replicate what I've got at the moment. The first phase would be to buy the pens that are still currently available, in the following order of priority -
    • Lamy 2000 (F)
    • Pelikan M215 (EF 14kt)
    • Lamy Al-Star (with EF,F,OM, & 1.1 nibs)
    • Namiki Falcon (F)
    • Platinum #3776 (Music)
    • TWSBI Vac 700 (EF, 1.1mm)
    • TWSBI Mini (EF, 1.1mm)
    • Pilot Custom 74 (SF)
    • Bexley Corona (F)
    • Pilot Custom 823 (M)
    • Pilot Prera (F,M and italic M)

    Then I would try to find these two modern pens that are no longer manufactured and most difficult to acquire -
    • Bexley Poseidon (F,stub)
    • Pilot Bamboo (F)

    And lastly I would try to find good examples of the following vintage pens -
    • Parker Duofold Snr. (circa 1930)
    • Pelikan 100N
    • Parker 51 (F)
    • Parker 51 Demi (F)
    • Parker Duofold Jnr. (circa 1930)
    • Parker Vacumatic (circa 1946)

    There would be many pens that on reflection, I wouldn't replace, and there are quite a few that would be near impossible to replace due to their rarity.

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    Member geoduc's Avatar
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    Default Re: Starting Over

    I would actually stick with many of the pens I already have, and would replace others with a few nice ones that I've wanted to own. I would envision limiting my collection to about ten really nice pens.

    Nakaya Neo Standard in heki-tamenuri with a 0.7mm stub
    Nakaya Long Cigar in kuro-tamenuri with a 0.9mm cursive italic
    Nakaya 17mm Cigar in aka-tamenuri with a 0.8mm cursive italic
    Nakaya Naka-ai in unpolished shu with a medium nib
    Danitrio Hyotan (Mae West) in shobu with a stiff stub
    Danitrio Hakkaku (long octagon) in midori-tame with a fine nib
    Pelikan M800 in Tortoiseshell brown with a 0.6mm stub
    Pilot 743 with a soft fine-medium
    A nice quality vintage pen with a full flex nib

    That's only nine - to fill out the collection, I guess I'd need to find an S.T. Dupont Vertigo II with a factory stub. Not asking for much, am I?

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    Senior Member Pendragon's Avatar
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    Default Re: Starting Over

    I would get a Hero 1000 and that's all. Along with a bottle of Noodler's Legal Lapis and a bottle of Noodler's black, it would cover all of the writing I need to do.

    One pen would keep things nice and simple. There would be no need to fret about the Hero getting lost or stolen, as it is affordable and could be easily replaced. Ditto for using it with iron gall ink. At the same time, it is a great looking pen, and reported to be well constructed and a reliable writer. Uncomplicated, affordable and simple - there is much to be said for that.

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    UK Mike (May 3rd, 2013)

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    Default Re: Starting Over

    A brave post on a pen forum - but I agree that when it comes down to the basics you only ever need one reliable fountain pen. My Dad had one fountain pen and so did my Mum and because in those days pens were black they never had the urge to get every colour available.

    When economy strikes, I would come down to one Lamy Studio and be happy.
    Pens and paper everywhere, yet all our hearts did sink,

    Pens and paper everywhere, but not a drop of ink.


    "Cursive writing does not mean what I think it does"

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    Member seffrican's Avatar
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    Default Re: Starting Over

    Quote Originally Posted by de_pen_dent View Post
    I think I'd go for quality over quantity. I'd only get the pens that really float my boat (of course, I needed to try a whole bunch of other pens to learn that lesson, but atleast if I start all over again, I'd have the benefit of hindsight).

    - Sailor 1911 Ribbed
    - Sailor Pro Gear Matt Black
    - Platinum Izumo
    - Visconti Homo Sapiens
    - Gates City New Dunn
    - Nakaya Neo Standard
    - Bexley Corona
    - Pilot 845
    - Edison Collier
    - Sailor Tagyasan
    - Pelikan M800
    - TWSBI ROC
    - Platinum President

    Come to think of it, I am thinking I should perhaps lighten my collection a little. I dont really "collect" per se anyway, and I've gotten to the point of having so many pens that I dont utilize them nearly as well as they deserve.
    A list of 13 sounds like bad luck for some! Trim one and you have a round dozen.

    I could get by with less:

    Montblanc 146
    Pelikan M605
    Lamy 2000
    Parker 51
    Kaweco Al-Sport

    The first 3 for serious desk writers, the 4th for vintage, the last to have one pen that would always be with me no matter what.

  20. #18
    Senior Member Laura N's Avatar
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    Default Re: Starting Over

    Quote Originally Posted by Pendragon View Post
    I would get a Hero 1000 and that's all. Along with a bottle of Noodler's Legal Lapis and a bottle of Noodler's black, it would cover all of the writing I need to do.

    One pen would keep things nice and simple. There would be no need to fret about the Hero getting lost or stolen, as it is affordable and could be easily replaced. Ditto for using it with iron gall ink. At the same time, it is a great looking pen, and reported to be well constructed and a reliable writer. Uncomplicated, affordable and simple - there is much to be said for that.
    Ah, the one-pen option. That's a good idea, too. I know that one can happily use just one fountain pen and one ink; I did it myself for years. But I am in a different stage now, and I wouldn't limit myself to just one pen right now. I enjoy them too much, and enjoy using different inks. But it's interesting to think about.

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    Senior Member kaisnowbird's Avatar
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    Default Re: Starting Over

    To lose all my pens, including those with sentimental values, what a terrifying thought!

    But if that should ever happen, I would have slightly different choices and start with a much narrower range. The purpose of my humble "collection" (for wanting of a better word) would remain the same though, which is to give me the taste of a little bit of everything without being overly extravagant.

    I would start with a budget of $1200, which should be able to cover:
    1. Pilot VP in a bright colour, chrome trim, 1 factory fine nib and 1 broad nib turned into a cursive italic by Mr Mottishaw; about $260 + shipping
    2. Lamy 2000 in M, Pendleton Point; $200 + shipping
    3. Vac Parker 51 in midnight blue, Lustraloy cap will do, EF/F nib, or a M/B nib turned into a 0.6 mm stub by Mr Minuskin; $150~200 + shipping
    4. TWSBI Vac Mini (surely it will be available by then), or just a TWSBI Mini, EF/F nib; $50~80 + shipping
    5. A Namiki Falcon, SF nib; $144 or less, + shipping
    6. If I have enough left, I'll get a thin metal pen with an F/M nib, anywhere from a Pilot Cavalier ($50 eBay) to a Caran d'Ache Ecridor Chevron/Maya ($200).

    From there on, I'll slowly start to consider more expensive options like Montblanc 145/146, Pelikan M805, Dupont, etc.
    Kai

    "Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished." -- Lao Tzu


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    Default Re: Starting Over

    Quote Originally Posted by Pendragon View Post
    I would get a Hero 1000 and that's all. Along with a bottle of Noodler's Legal Lapis and a bottle of Noodler's black, it would cover all of the writing I need to do.
    One pen, two inks. Wouldn't you find that you always have the wrong ink in the pen?

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