Looking for a 51 - are my criteria unreasonable?

[Mr. JW]

I have started looking around for a Parker 51 and I am wondering if my criteria are unrealistic. These are the guidelines I set for myself:

vacumatic instead of aerometric
at least good to very good condition
not picky about color, but prefer black, blue or dove grey
would like to spend around $100

It seems like all the pens I have found that meet the top three criteria are at least $150, which is just a little more than I can justify right now. Am I being unreasonable?

Thanks

[mhosea]

Well, a fully-restored 51 vacumatic is going to cost more than one with an ossified diaphragm "in the wild". You can easily snag a good one for $100 from an individual, but a recently restored one coming with a warranty from a web site is typically going to run you a little more, I think. If you aren't showered with offers to sell you one here, my suggestion to you is to mentally raise your limit a bit and check with David Isaacson at vacumania.com to see what he can do for you.

[Paul-H]

Hi

Have you looked on eBay. I have bought quite a few this last year both Vacumatic and Aerometric and have never paid more than $35 for any of them, even fully restored examples often go for no more than $65.

The secret is to look on eBay.co.uk we don't value the 51 as much as you Americans do so they don't go for much over here.

Ok they will probably be English made pens but not always and shipping will be around $20 but you will still get a good deal by having a look at what we have for sale this side of the big pond.

Paul

[Mr. JW]

I have looked on eBay, but I am a little wary of buying a pen from there. I have had mixed experiences with eBay and, for me, it can be hard to tell exactly what I am getting. I may take a second look, though and will look at UK eBay, too.

Is there a reason that the vacs are more desireable/expensive than the aeros? I have a Vacumatic and an aerometric 21 Super and I prefer the vac because I don't have to undo the barrel to fill the pen. (Maybe I just answered my own question...:confused:)

[mhosea]

Ebay typically requires patience, and there is always some risk. You also may not get one with a well-adjusted nib. It's all about what's important to you, what responsibilities you want to take on for yourself (or pass on to a professional restorer), and what you want to pay for it. I didn't suggest Ebay to you because I think of Ebay not as a place to go out and buy exactly what you're looking for right when you're looking for it, rather a place to pick all sorts of things up opportunistically when they happen to float by. I personally don't think it's a great idea to go to Ebay with the same mindset as you would go to an online store's web site. I've bought several Parker VS's off Ebay, all for pretty good prices and some for great prices, but there are times when there just aren't any good deals on them, not that I would go for. It's something I do over time. If you do decide to shop for 51's on Ebay, be very sure you can tell the difference between a demi and a full-size. I picked up a demi by mistake my first time out.



Is there a reason that the vacs are more desireable/expensive than the aeros? I have a Vacumatic and an aerometric 21 Super and I prefer the vac because I don't have to undo the barrel to fill the pen. (Maybe I just answered my own question...:confused:)

But you have to undo the blind cap, which requires pretty much the same motion. The real difference, IMHO, is the one between pressing the Vacumatic button and pressing the squeeze bar. I can't say that I like the squeeze bar too much, either, but I still prefer the Aerometrics for their greater reliability over time. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, I don't happen to like using a 51 at all, so one is all I need. I sold my demi and bought a full-size Aerometric in working condition, but then renewed and adjusted it, ultimately at an expense commensurate with what a full-restored and adjusted one would have cost me. I say "renewed" rather than "restored" because I replaced the connector, sac, and breather tube with new ones. Those parts were all working but significantly degraded in one way or the other, and I wanted to put the pen in condition to last another 50 years without anybody needing to take it apart again.

[Mr. JW]

Thanks Mike. As always, you make good points and have given me a lot to think about. I may have to rethink my position on aerometrics. But, I may also be asking the wrong question. I have a Super 21 that is one of my favorite pens. I wonder how much difference I'll see between that and a 51.

[Jerome Tarshis]

In writing experience alone, you may not find a large difference between a Super 21 and a 51. That will depend on the particular nib and feed and other idiosyncratic characteristics of each pen. The Super 21 can write pretty darned well. Considered as an object, however, the 51 will be very much better than the Super 21. I own both, and I find the Super 21 a meager thing by comparison.

[Sailor Kenshin]

I just snagged a (somewhat battered) Super 21 and it does write reeeally well! Flushed, inked, and boom.

[welch]

EBay UK is a great place to search, but switch to an aerometric rather than a vac. Parker Newhaven ("made in England") made P51 vacs for only a year or two: about 1948 and '49. The English P51 aerometrics are the all-time all-places best. Parker England made more medium and broad nibs than Parker US.

Look carefully at the nib. Make sure you see some tipping.

[Sailor Kenshin]

I don't see many good buys here, alas... (http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1311.R6.TR11.TRC1.A0 .H0.XParker+51+&_nkw=parker+51+aerometric&_sacat=0&_from=R40)

[usk15]

here is a P51 vac: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Parker-51-Chrome-Cap-Black-Vac-fill-Fountain-Pen-works-fine-point-/371050772048?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5664597650

I bought one pen from this seller and he is a serious one. He send it to me in UK.

[david i]

Here is a Parker Super 21 you don't see every day. Found in a lot in Janesville.

http://vacumania.com/ebaypics/ad1020parker21_demo_ebay950sharp.jpg

regards

david

[Farmboy]

I gots me that there Super 21

[Jon Szanto]

Did someone hit Farmboy with the hick stick again?

[Jerome Tarshis]

The hick stick is a rather fundamental thing in American social life. When I was a copy editor at Business Week shortly after the extinction of the dinosaurs, I worked under a man who went straight from Harvard to Paris in 1927, returned to the United States in 1940 to live in a lovely street of Federal-style houses in Greenwich Village, and moved thence to a very horsy town in southern Connecticut. He was much given to such words as "Yup" and "Nope" and when we were looking for a table at the New York Times cafeteria would say such things as "Hey, there's a four-holer over there." (A reference to the earth closet of yesteryear.)

Considering that Farmboy works for Stanford and is the son of an architect, it is noteworthy that he doesn't come to Pen Posse lunches in bib overalls. So far. I used to work for a distinguished statistician who did wear bib overalls and carried a folding six-foot rule. Didn't measure anything. Was a Man of the People. Pen Posse has something to look forward to.

[Scrawler]

Hi

Have you looked on eBay. I have bought quite a few this last year both Vacumatic and Aerometric and have never paid more than $35 for any of them, even fully restored examples often go for no more than $65.

The secret is to look on eBay.co.uk we don't value the 51 as much as you Americans do so they don't go for much over here.

Ok they will probably be English made pens but not always and shipping will be around $20 but you will still get a good deal by having a look at what we have for sale this side of the big pond.

Paul
I was charged with finding a dove grey Canadian made vac, which was to be a birthday gift. I found a 1946 one in fully working condition that fit the bill on Ebay UK. I won the bid at 45 pounds, which is about CAN$90 and was delighted with the purchase. The postage was 10 pounds, which is about $20 so the net result was $110, which I thought was fair and reasonable.

[Paul-H]

Hi

Just picked up 6 51's today on eBay UK 5 aero's and 1 Vac got them all for between £20.99 and £22.99 so they are still one there going for a song, secure postage to America should never be much more than £10 either. So have a look over here on this side of the pond if you need a 51 at a good price.

Paul

[Twopens]

Check with Rick Krantz who frequently posts in the Pens for Sale forum on Fountain Pen Board. His prices seem quite reasonable for nice user grade pens.

Matt

[pajaro]

Not too long ago I bought a black 51 vac with gold filled cap on ebay for under $30. Medium nib. It has worked for several months. Personally I am not a Vac fan, but this was cheap and works.

[Runnin_Ute]

I just received a aero 51 Special fountain pen/pencil set a few days ago. $42 on ebay

http://i1016.photobucket.com/albums/af283/Runnin_Ute/P51Specialset_zps96a5f2e2.jpg (http://s1016.photobucket.com/user/Runnin_Ute/media/P51Specialset_zps96a5f2e2.jpg.html)

http://i1016.photobucket.com/albums/af283/Runnin_Ute/P51Specialset-exploded_zps9b7e7549.jpg (http://s1016.photobucket.com/user/Runnin_Ute/media/P51Specialset-exploded_zps9b7e7549.jpg.html)

http://i1016.photobucket.com/albums/af283/Runnin_Ute/P51Specialset3_zpsebb75182.jpg (http://s1016.photobucket.com/user/Runnin_Ute/media/P51Specialset3_zpsebb75182.jpg.html)

http://i1016.photobucket.com/albums/af283/Runnin_Ute/P51Specialset2_zpsab3a7a2e.jpg (http://s1016.photobucket.com/user/Runnin_Ute/media/P51Specialset2_zpsab3a7a2e.jpg.html)

[Sailor Kenshin]

Great find! Quite apart from my knee-jerk envy!



;)