Originally Posted by
penwash
I choose to be optimistic and paint a bright future where the number of people who appreciate fountain pens, whether it's 110 years old or the newest model, will increase. In other words, when 1000 got bored, 1500 would take their place.
That is what I would wish as well. I don't consider that optimism, but simply wishful thinking. When I watch the trends of the new school of pen acquisition, I am not being pessimistic or optimistic but realistic: trying to objectively observe behavior and trends with no judgment.
There is an entire world out there but I get a lot of observational info from two sources: the reddit fp forum, and the Pen Addict slack. reddit has a really high proportion of true noobs, out to buy their first pen. OTOH, the PA group are the young, known players who are buying and buying and buying... and selling and selling and selling. "Catch and release" is not just an idle phrase with these people. You see collections by color, by brand, etc. Even though a few steps above the reddit group in terms of economics and scale (and, yes, there are newcomers there, as well), it still exhibits a temporary vibe, one that will go away when they start a family or move on to other interests or whatever.
I might be off-base, but it is the manner in which pens are acquired and divested that seems functionally different than standard collectibles. It is true: only time will tell, and we certainly can hope for the best.
* * * * *
Will is always big-hearted about helping out and trying to foster interest in vintage, and is always a person I look to when my similar tendencies start to flag. I *did* have a pretty demoralizing event happen recently, though. There is a young pen/art influecer who has a series on YouTube called "Peter Draws" (I forget his last name). I am quite certain he is a nice guy, but I can't watch him for more than 30 seconds because of his laconic, dorky behavior. But they
love him.
To the point that he has almost reached one million followers on YT. 1M. And has a special edition pen now. And still gives dopey pen advice.
I don't hold out any hope at all about what influence I might have on a day-to-day basis when someone like this has orders and orders of magnitude more eyeballs. It is what it is.
Bookmarks