The unsung heros

[tandaina]

What are the pens in your collection that are "unsung heroes?"

For me it would be the pen that restarted my use of fountain pens. A couple years ago I bought a Waterman Hemisphere Essential Stainless Steel, on a lark. (I'd just gotten a great new job and wanted a "professional" looking pen to commemorate it.) It began this insanity, but quickly got eclipsed by all the fancy/expensive and antique pens I've bought since. I inked it up this week, randomly because most of my nibs are too big, flexi, etc for the Chronodex notebook I'm trying out. And I was reminded what a solid pen it is! Smooth, utterly reliable nib. And a very comfortable pen to use. Cap clicks shut with a very satisfying *clack.* Poor thing hasn't been used in two years, really is a lovely little pen, just living in the shadows of far fancier pens.

What are your unsung heros? Reliable, good pens that have somehow fallen through the cracks?

[Russ]

One unsung hero(ette) is my Stipula Baracca (Rebecca Moss LE). It has a lovely body and a smooth, soft nib. It just always pleases while writing.

8536

Another unsung hero is my Taccia Momenta. Its SS Schmidt nib is stiff but lays down a perfectly consistent line with character due to tip shape. The cap never unthreads in a pocket and always stays posted, though it is not needed. The body is beautiful. This is a superb pen for office carry. Pretty enough for meetings, and very durable.

8535

[Kaputnik]

Given a chance, I'll sing the praises of any pen that has worked for me. Or perhaps a recitation would be better; we weren't all meant to be singers.

Interesting that Russ mentions the Taccia Momenta above. Before reading more than the original post, my first thought was my green Taccia Overture. The fine nib is a smooth writer, the international converter holds quite a decent amount of ink, and it's comfortable and well balanced. It's attractive enough, too, although the Momenta pictured above looks nicer. Doesn't get much use of late due to just having too many pens, but I can ink it up with no worries at any time.

[DanDeM]

OMG. It's been more than two years since i inked the Aurora Optima.
Lush pen that's now next in the queue.
Thanks for the jog.

[reprieve]

Franklin Christoph Intrinsic in olive green with a steel fine nib.
I bought it at a pen show last year, wrote with it for a couple of weeks, and then cleaned it and put it away. I pulled it out again a few days ago and I remembered just how perfectly it fits in my hand. I love the curvature of the section and barrel. And what a smooth, precise nib, wow! I forgot how well it writes.

Bexley Americana in yellowstone and America the Beautiful in strawberry, both with 18k stub nibs.
For whatever reason, I don't ink these up much. But they are lovely pens made from eye-catching acrylics with fantastic paintbrush nibs. They both get along well even with pesky inks. I enjoy writing with them and should remember to bring them into rotation more often.

There are probably others. I'm sure there are others. I'm going to look through my pen chest with fresh eyes!

[SteveE]

Unsung Heroes? Far too many to list. I view all of my pens as super-heroes (well, there are a few exceptions).

The one I am currently thinking of bringing into next week's rotation is a beautiful DuoFold Replica, made for me by Chris Thompson. It is a senior, in medium-dark jade resin, with a modern BBB stub DuoFold nib.

I try to keep a few pens with different nibs inked, and this week I pulled out my black/rhodium Bexley Americana (made for the international market) with its 18K two-tone medium stub. A guy's gotta have some fun. . .

[lisantica]

These are my first two fountain pens. I purchased them used from the same seller.
They started the "Pen Parade" for me. I've since purchased a few more expensive pens and sometimes forget about these two, but when I go to write with them they are always reliable.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/11/23/za3eva2u.jpg

[klpeabody]

Don't laugh, but: Sheaffer No Nonsense. Acquired very early on. Great little nib. I am always surprised at how good this pen is.
Also, my Lady Sheaffer Skripserts which are so lovely, and in great condition but have fallen out of rotation. For no particular reason. The nibs on both pens are top notch. I think the drawback may be the fact that they are cartridge pens, thus I need to refill old carts with new ink each time. Not that big of a deal really, and a lame excuse at best. But, hey, it's confession time, right?

[Fawkes]

I would say I have a couple of unsung heroes in my collection that rarely get used because they don't fit the main parameters of what I look for these days. My Montegrappa Espressione is quite nice, but I hardly use it these days because it is a C/C. And the other is my makrolon L2K, which only gets used when I travel.

[View from the Loft]

Parker 25. My first FP, took me through years of education, thousands of refills of the convertor and was never flushed for 20 years (I was never aware that this can be useful). Never let me down, smooth nib right out of the box.