Do you keep the original box and packaging of your pens?

Even if you don't keep your old pen boxes for the pens that came in them, in the interest of recycling, they can still come in useful if you sell things (like pens) on ebay, or if you send pens as gifts to others.

Many years ago, before I ever owned a Montblanc pen of any type, my OH placed a BIC ballpoint in one of my nice pen boxes and, as a little joke, wrote about a famous white topped mountain on the outside of the packaging. He gave it to me on Christmas morning. The little joke backfired in a way because it spurred me on to sell almost all of my pens on ebay, and use the money to buy my first Montblanc Meisterstück ballpoint pen. I never looked back and regularly sell off some pens and inks in order to buy others. :)

Now I'm getting older, I still sell off pens and inks, but I tend to not replace them so much. When I'm no longer around I hope that all of my pens (and maybe even some of their original boxes) will be loved by others as much as they have been loved by me. :)

I keep everything. Fortunately, most of my vintage pens came without boxes or papers.

I keep everything. Even the original boxes of my shoes...

I have a fairly large box of boxes that have come my way in lot purchases over the years, which sometimes enable me to match a vintage pen with the appropriate box. I keep the boxes for all the new pens that I buy, knowing that one day I will feel it is time to pass them on. Much nicer for the new recipient to find them in the original packaging. There's the odd occasion when a buyer will ask for the pen to be sent without boxes to save on postage cost.

It depends on two things; quality and how fancy the packaging is or whether I think I’ll sell the pen. The biggest package I have had was to the Rockwell Duofold. It was a small leather suitcase that had the pen and a folio of Rockwell pen ads. Probably 2’ x 1’ x 8”.

As for regular pens, again back to the top of it is a forever pen then no.


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Originally Posted by Titivillus

It depends on two things; quality and how fancy the packaging is or whether I think I’ll sell the pen....

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Do you recall the glass box of that Tibaldi fountain pen and ink bottle? That had to be the biggest PITA packaging dreamt up by a modern pen company (perhaps tied with Conway Stewart's triple giant box within a box within a box).

I have a mint BCHR Wahl #2 with box and papers. I only paid $20 bucks for it, which is about what i would have paid for the pen. I would have kept on walking had the seller been asking for a premium. The market for dinky BCHR ringtops with #2 nibs isn’t that strong. It’s just a cardboard box and a slip of paper. The only thing interesting about it is that there was a ribbon on the box. I don’t know if the ribbon came from the jewelry shop that sold the pen out Wahl.

In general, i prefer to buy pens without boxes. I will pay nothing extra for box and papers. They add almost nothing to my enjoyment of a pen but take up precious space.

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Originally Posted by FredRydr

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Originally Posted by Titivillus

It depends on two things; quality and how fancy the packaging is or whether I think I’ll sell the pen....

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Do you recall the glass box of that Tibaldi fountain pen and ink bottle? That had to be the biggest PITA packaging dreamt up by a modern pen company (perhaps tied with Conway Stewart's triple giant box within a box within a box).

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Yes ! After I pressed reply I remembered the glass box... with the die cut pieces of cardboard and inherent fear of dropping!!

hope the pen is still working great for you. That is one pen on my “regret selling” but at the time it was the only way to find some other purchases...


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Originally Posted by Titivillus

Yes ! After I pressed reply I remembered the glass box... with the die cut pieces of cardboard and inherent fear of dropping!! hope the pen is still working great for you. That is one pen on my “regret selling” but at the time it was the only way to find some other purchases....

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No, long gone. It was awfully pretty to look at, but as a writer it was just "okay" so I sold it to buy a vintage something-or-other. The glass box made it a bear to resell online and ship, but I put it on my table at a pen show and it was snapped up.

The outer box of the Churchill is the perfect size for holding paper. I've long got rid of the threee Churchills but still have the green outer boxes that now hold paper and other bits!

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Originally Posted by FredRydr

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Originally Posted by Titivillus

It depends on two things; quality and how fancy the packaging is or whether I think I’ll sell the pen....

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Do you recall the glass box of that Tibaldi fountain pen and ink bottle? That had to be the biggest PITA packaging dreamt up by a modern pen company (perhaps tied with Conway Stewart's triple giant box within a box within a box).

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It took a while, but I found a photo of a Tibaldi Iride with its glass box, though the supporting cardboard and purple ink are gone. Clearly (pun intended), this would be a keeper box to enhance the pen's resale value, but I was unwilling to ship mine because I feared the glass panels' joints would not survive no matter how it was packed.

https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/642/1...ion=1529516457

I used to rip the package open and discard the box right away. Since I saw that some people like the boxes I have kept a few.

I tend to keep them because they make mailing the pens a bit safer and easier. But I don't have that many pens. The boxes all fit in one night-stand drawer.

Some yes, some no.

New pens, generally yes. Old pens, most definitely yes if the packaging is original. This is principally for resale, for which someone else will eventually take responsibility so I am not sure it is really helpful (they may sell everything in a single lot for someone else to work out). The pen boxes sit inside large boxes in a corner of the workshop.

Yes, all of them. Some of the packaging is beautiful enough to keep it for that sake alone. Kanilea for example. But especially the Japanese ones. Namiki and Nakaya and Hakase foremost. These paulownia wooden boxes are great. However, i store them all in a big plastic box in the garage, and i don’t take them out to look at them, so my argument is somewhat flawed. But in case i want to sell one in the future, it greatly helps to have all original packaging.

Some yes and some no. I'll keep boxes for vintage pens, and the boxes of the more unique pens I may buy, but not (usually) the box for a less expensive, utilitarian, mass-produced pen. Then of course, there are those pens (a Diplomat Magnum for instance) I carry specifically to give away if someone wants to try a fountain pen.

I should add that the Diplomat Magnum is an outstanding pen for a price comparable to that of a 'school pen'. I'm happy to have and use them, and that is why I give them to possible fountain pen converts.

I only have a few display case pen boxes. I only bought a few new pens. My 200's didn't come in real boxes, just litte cardboard sleeves...all but one, which I think came in a box. Those I saved in I'd learned on the com, that one got more money if one sold such a pen. Most of my used pens didn't come in etuie's either.

:crazy: In 1970/71, I didn't keep the box my P-75 came in. I knew how it worked; one squeezed the gismo, so tossed the box and the unread description. So it was some 40 years later I discovered my P-75 had two cartridges buried in the box....and I could use cartridges in it. Now I can use a converter also.

Watching a German Antique and curiosity sale show, learned one needs a garage just for all the packaging of what you bought for better prices when re-selling it.....helps to never have used the item either.

Anyone want some pen boxes for the cost of postage?

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Originally Posted by BoBo Olson

I only have a few display case pen boxes. I only bought a few new pens. My 200's didn't come in real boxes, just litte cardboard sleeves...all but one, which I think came in a box. Those I saved in I'd learned on the com, that one got more money if one sold such a pen. Most of my used pens didn't come in etuie's either.

:crazy: In 1970/71, I didn't keep the box my P-75 came in. I knew how it worked; one squeezed the gismo, so tossed the box and the unread description. So it was some 40 years later I discovered my P-75 had two cartridges buried in the box....and I could use cartridges in it. Now I can use a converter also.

Watching a German Antique and curiosity sale show, learned one needs a garage just for all the packaging of what you bought for better prices when re-selling it.....helps to never have used the item either.

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Such absurd fetishization of packaging. How likely are you to come out ahead by renting space to realize slightly higher prices on your junk? You’d probably be better off just pitching the packaging. Of course, then you wouldn’t have the abstract satisfaction of possessing a still shrink wrapped uninked LE Whatever Deluxe you’ve never seen.