LI Pen Show 2013

**fountainpenkid** · March 16th, 2013, 09:05 PM

Hi guys!

Just back from the Long Island Pen Show, and WOW it was a blast! I hoped to see some of the FPGeeks there, and I did, albeit not the ones I planned to meet...
The show seemed much busier this year, with new vendors like Kenro, Anderson Pens...etc. It was great to see all the modern OMAS and Aurora pens at Kenro...very impressive! I thought the new Noir Paragon thing was nice, but expensive. The Brain pen by Montegrappa is a weird piston filler that clicks like a watch when you wind it...it didn't feel very nice though. I later tried a modern Tibaldi that was made by Montegrappa, and that pen had a simmilar piston filler thing...except it unscrewed itself from the barrel (oh the awkward moment when a $1000 pen breaks on you while you are looking at it...no worries though, the vendor didn't seem to concerned.) The vintage verde Paragon LE was very, very nice...probably my favorite of the Kenro display.

There were also more vintage pens this year...great new vendors with amazing pens! Fountain Pen Hospital was there for the first time, and they had little baggies of pens on clearance...I got one. For a mere $50, I snagged a nice 1950's Pelikan 400 in black stripe with a semi-flex OB broad nib, a rare NOS Pelikan P1 Silvexa with an AMAZING OM 14k nib, and a 1980's Pelikan 200 with a smooth fine nib. They all work and write great!!!! The P1 though is something else! I also got my Parker Slender Vac. restored by Ron Zorn. I had a great time chatting with John C. about nib smoothing techniques, and got to meet the famed FPN person behind the Devil's Dictionary thread...the journal was so cool to see in person!!
How did other people fare? Any great finds or great people to meet? I had fun talking to Brian Anderson about the rare piston filling Esterbrook J pens...very cool to learn more about them. If anyone has other pics, post them here! (Probably anyone can take better pictures than mine...)

Best!

I would post the pictures, but this site won't let my upload photos anymore...says I've exceeded my storage quota even though I haven't.

**earthdawn** · March 16th, 2013, 09:56 PM

Ya know..... I got there late ... of course. The day never goes as planned. Who would have thought it would be a snowy winter day mid-March.

I didnt even take 1 picture I was so involved in looking at all the eye candy.

"and got to meet the famed FPN person behind the Devil's Dictionary thread...the journal was so cool to see in person!! "
WHERE WAS THIS !!! Are you kidding me... how did I bypass that????

I talked to Brian and Lisa for a while and the guys at FPH. Watched Richard for a little bit from a distance as he was packed by the time I got there. I so wanted to have him work on my Omas 360 ... grrrrrrrr

Not sure how late you were there till but I was the tall guy with the BRIGHT orange pen case under my arm. I had the 580 with me as well as a couple of the clear sacs too.

PM me your address and ill send you a couple... remember I got 10 of these things lol

On a downer I saw on the Andersons blog a couple of pen cases and a pen wandered off... kind of crappy that someone would do that there. It was such a nice show with so many really nice people. A hello and smile and you were off to a great conversation with who ever you ran into.

BUT... I got to watch Susan Wirth write in person.... WOW ... talk about a graceful hand. She has amazing skills !

Wish I could go back tomorrow....

Can't believe we did not get to meet up!

**fountainpenkid** · March 17th, 2013, 07:44 AM

I wish I could go back today as well...but that's not going to happen.

About the Devil's Dictionary, she wasn't at a table showing them off all day...I was simply talking to John C. (I can't remember his last name but he was right across from Susan), and she was there as well, and then she said something about the Devil's dictionary, and I said I love that thread, and so she took out the journals...one Lechiturn and one ?. It was awesome to see it in person!

I'm sorry to hear the Andersons had some stuff stolen...I didn't realize that happened. I would go walking with a pen in my hand to show another person, so I'm surprised they let me do that if theft is a problem. I always pick up any pen I see, but after what you said, maybe I should stop scaring people...lol (did you find that quite a few vendors thought their pens worked when they actually didn't?)
I couldn't even say hi to Richard this time...he was totally flooded. But Susan Wirth gave me some great advice on my Vacumatic nib. I don't feel comfortable taking it apart myself, but I'll get it working better soon.
I was there until the joint cleared out, so I should have seen you. I might vaguely remember someone with a orange pen case.... I was wearing a blazer over a salmon dress shirt so maybe I was noticed (?).

**snedwos** · March 17th, 2013, 08:04 AM

Looks like your abducted 400 has been more or less adequately replaced! That's good to hear!

**fountainpenkid** · March 17th, 2013, 09:44 AM

Originally Posted by snedwos

Looks like your abducted 400 has been more or less adequately replaced! That's good to hear!

Yes...though the black is much more subtle than the tortoise...hopefully I'll get my money back so I can have both!

**Maja** · March 17th, 2013, 02:42 PM

Thanks for the pen show report, FPkid!
Great people, great pens and great bargains are why I go to the shows!

Sorry to hear about the Anderson pen theft---that's awful..

**Jonathan** · March 18th, 2013, 07:16 PM

I went very early on Saturday, and left early to spend the afternoon with the kids....but had a great time nevertheless. Picked up some great new inks from the Andersons, and came away very happy with the contents of the vintage "grab bags" I bought at the Fountain Pen Hospital table (Partial contents pictured below).

IMG_3383.JPG

Sorry indeed to hear that the Andersons lost merchandise :-( You don't expect that at special-interest shows like this, where the attendees generally think of themselves as neighbors within a virtual "community." (I once expressed surprise at a vendor's willingness to take personal checks at a Radio Control hobby show my club hosts each year.....vendor said in reply that he'd been given exactly one bad check in eighteen years, and it was for less than $5. As he put it, "it's a small world, this hobby, and it attracts good folks.").

**fountainpenkid** · March 18th, 2013, 07:21 PM

Nice haul, Jonathan! Those bags were GREAT!

**earthdawn** · March 19th, 2013, 02:03 PM

Originally Posted by fountainpenkid

I was there until the joint cleared out, so I should have seen you. I might vaguely remember someone with a orange pen case.... I was wearing a blazer over a salmon dress shirt so maybe I was noticed (?).

Well Terry just uploaded some pictures from the show ..... Blazer and a dress shirt... Tell me thats you with the red arrow... cause thats me with the blue arrow !

**Bogon07** · March 19th, 2013, 03:33 PM

You two were so close yet so immersed in the pens.
FPG baseball hats would have come in handy in this sort of situation.

**earthdawn** · March 19th, 2013, 03:49 PM

Originally Posted by Bogon07

You two were so close yet so immersed in the pens.
FPG baseball hats would have come in handy in this sort of situation.

Im going to tell Terry that next year he should have a different colored name tags for FBG & FPN members or even just a roll of those small colored circle stickers. As dumb as it sounds to have had just a small green sticker to put on your shoulder so we could figure out who was who. They made name tags up when you came in but like you said, when you are immersed in pens and hovering over a table no one walking by can tell who you are. I mean most of us dont know each other by face but something like a small colored sticked on your shoulder would stand out enough.
This is a far more mature and considerate hobby if you know what I mean. I think any of us would have liked to have met each other given the opportunity. Having a "stranger" so to speak, walk up to you and just say "Hey, who are you on the boards?" is fine in that situation.

**fountainpenkid** · March 19th, 2013, 04:16 PM

Originally Posted by earthdawn

Well Terry just uploaded some pictures from the show ..... Blazer and a dress shirt... Tell me thats you with the red arrow... cause thats me with the blue arrow !

Lol! That is me!