"Starter" Parker

[mandalei]

As a bit of a lead-in, my first experiences with Parker pens was using a Jotter back in the 90s on excavations. It always worked when most other pens didn't, which was nice. I loved the retro feel, and the arrow clip. I had used cheapy-cheap fountain pens in highschool, and loved those, but somehow fell out of using them over the years.

I love the idea of fountain pens as an every day pen, and as a (now former) archaeologist, I really love the idea of having a pen with a history of its own. I've looked at a number of the posts here about best vintage pens for EDC, and am looking for something that I can use for the next long while. With that said, here are my questions:

1) I don't live too close to a pen dealer (or any pen dealer), and also won't be able to make it to the Boston show in September (I live in upstate NY). Would you buy without trying first? Maybe with something that has resale value if it doesn't suit?
2) What would be your first recommendation, going for a P51 or something like a Parker Super 21? Or... something else entirely?
3) I tend to care less about the cosmetic and more about the dead-useful and sturdy aspects of an object, but admire great design that works.

I realize these are pretty general questions and the answers will be highly personal to taste. Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for responding!

[Wahl]

P45 or P51 aerometric

[newkid]

A Parker 45 is an excellent choice for a starter pen. They were made in a variety of colors and nib sizes and the nibs are interchangeable. They are plentiful on the secondary market. All these features at affordable prices.

[PaulS]

hi - I'm surprised that the Jotter was able to stand up to use as an excavation tool, I'd have imagined something like a spade or fork might have been more suitable -
I guess yours was a very robust example!!
Jokes aside, I couldn't agree more with the suggestion of a 45 - the nib units are indeed interchangeable by simply screwing in or out and the pen is available commonly in most places. The 51 aerometric is an equally good pen, although probably a more expensive initial purchase. Best of luck.

[usk15]

I will add a Parker 25, Vector or an English Duofold Aerometric.

[mandalei]

Thank you, all! As to the 45, does it matter as much if the nib is gold plate or not? I've seen quite a bit about how it matters in the 51, but I am unclear if this is also true for the 45.

[Lady Onogaro]

I don't think it much matters. I have both gold nibs and steel nibs, and they write about the same so far as I can tell.

[stub]

I'll be the dedenter than. Yes on the P45. Great pens. I have, uh, a few (ha!) but I have found that the gold nibs, across the board are noticibly superior to the steel nibs. YMMV.

45 is a good match for your needs it seems. Perhaps a P45 Flighter

[Hawk]

The 21 is an inexpensive version of the 51. The only drawback of the 21 is the barrel plastic is not as robust. They are good writers. The arrow clip is my favorite among the 21's. 45's are Ok also but the converter fill is not an a tribute that I favor. I use 51's as my everday pen.

[Linkinyeah]

Very new to fountain pens, but if you are looking for a durable pen that has history, I am partial to 51's. You could get a late 40's vacumatic model that has the cool history value, and definitely has resale value. I would go for one that has been restored already. As someone who has recently tried to sale a 45, unless it is a Flighter model, or other special model, you would be hard pressed to get more than $25 from it resale. Also, from a history standpoint, 45's didn't come around until the 60's. Just my humble thoughts.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

[Linkinyeah]

Also, I have been lucky with a few 21's that have been excellent writers and still have that cool history value. I have a Mark 1 model, with a barrel imprint of 1949 and it is one of my favorite writers. Although resale value is not very high for 21's and the hoods and barrels can be fragile.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

[mandalei]

Thank you, everyone. I have a good focus now on what I will be looking for. I'll let you know what I find when it happens!

[mandalei]

...as a stopgap, I have a Pilot metro and some ink samples from Goulet arriving today while I poke around for Parkers.

[stub]

While I love my 51s and am lucky to own several, both vac and aero.

& I definitely like the 51 more than the 45.

However, the nicer 45s are, uh, nicer. A lot.

I have everything from the lowly student and arrow to the Insignia, Coronet, a Demonstrator, various Flighters, Harlequins, plus a few funky nibs.

My Insignia is so good I sold Lamy 2k when I got it. I still don't have a 2k and when I pick up my Coronet or Insignia don't really feel like I need one.

YMMV

If you can't swing the 51, I think one of the sexier 45s will do nicely.

[PaulS]

from a personal point of view, I buy pens, but don't sell them so am probably biased in my opinion when it comes to comments such as the consideration of re-sale values. As a collector, I buy what I like/want and maintain a collection, the capacity of which goes in one direction only, so I don't think of re-sale values at the time of making a purchase, for the simple reason that I know I'm not going to sell the pen, but appreciate other folk do re-sell.

Certainly in the U.K., P45s do not represent an expensive outlay (compared, that is, to some P51s) and whether your 45 is a g.f. example or a plain basic all-over plastic job, then assuming the pen to be in good condition, they will write with equal result.............. and if you don't like that result then the nib can be changed, easily. For whatever reasons, out of my total of twenty one P45s I have just the one pen which has a steel nib, and being a non-writer can't now remember if I ever did more than dip-test it, so no real idea as to whether it writes any differently to a gold nib, but have no reason to think it will be different. I know there are many writers who swear by P21s - all of which have steel nibs as standard - so can only assume that steel nibs per se are the equal of gold ones in the 45. In earlier decades of the C20 gold nibs were fitted as standard on better quality pens for reasons that steel ones simply did not write as well or last as long, so gold became what the public wanted and what the manufacturer obliged with.

It had never occurred to me to consider the circumstances which might affect how f.ps. will hold their value should the time come to sell - I've collected many things over my adult life-time, and f.ps. have that massive advantage that many hundreds can be stored in a very small space. Collectible 'old things', generally, tend to increase in value and although pens did drop back somewhat in recent years, it seems to have been the case that in the two to three years since I started, values have steadily gone northward, which is to the good - I don't get the impression that this trend will be reversed, so continuing to buy sensibly and at the right prices should show a profit if the pen/s are eventually sold.

The point, originally, of all this rambling was to make the comment that to consciously feel the need to worry about re-sale values even before you've bought a pen is to rather miss the spirit of this hobby, which is to enjoy hunting, finding and owning pens plus learning something of the history of these things. It might also be a consideration for someone new to writing with a f.p., that starting with a moderately priced pen rather than going in at the deep end, could be sensible - bearing in mind the potential re-sale value, especially if you wanted to sell quickly.

[mandalei]

Yes, the resale question is more for if I buy something and decided it wasn't for me and wanted to not keep it, not from a "buy as investment" angle. I quilt professionally, and also have a growing collection of those, and your description of how you add to your collection is in line with how I pick quilts for mine.