David, I think you are definitely well connected. :P
I'm sure pen shows differ, the one I attended didn't even have a public day and private day. It just had its weekend and you paid to enter whichever day you went.
And I'm sure it makes a huge difference that I'm not really a collector, I'm a user. I happen to have a niche I love to use which creates a "collection" so to speak. But I'm not really a collector. I look for pens I want to use, not pens to fill a "hole." And my budget is a fraction of what we're talking about above. A $700 pen for $350 isn't a bargain for a user like me, because my whole pen show budget (when I went) was $150. (Plus the money I brought to have a nib ground.) That puts things in a whole other range. I buy antique, I have really zero interest in most modern pens either. And maybe pen shows post internet really just cater to the higher rollers? Perhaps the lower end antique collecting market has moved almost entirely online? Because I found it very, very difficult to find those fun quirky pens for under $200 that I enjoy.
My other question to pen show expects... Frequently dinners and drinks events are mentioned... Yet as someone who I think is at least a familiar name on a board like this, and would love to meet folks in person, how does one even find out about, or snag an invite to these events? I would have loved to spend some time with pen folks just talking pens and passing things around and sharing stories, but I suppose I'm just not well known enough? Again, this is probably linked to my inability to buy and sell at the level of many others and I understand that. I'm really not trying to be whiney, just wondering how a small change pen enthusiast might get to rub shoulders with the pen elite a little tiny bit.
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