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- #21
Right to the nib point and indeed life is good jar!
Should Your Highly Desirable Pen Be Used Or Never Used?
- Thread starter Radium
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- #22
By the sounds of what your telling us and that is you have good self control on your passions.
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I hear you about the pens and for sure pens are a much better value and longer enjoyment. It sounds like you`re consistent with things in your life be it with pens or drinks.
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Ha! Count it a blessing if so!I am not rich enough to buy things I will never use
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- #26
Bill, you sure got lots of nice hobbies. By the sounds of what you`re saying you talk the talk and walk the walk as well.
Thanks. Yes, I much prefer using them. But when I was "collecting" I'm not so sure I would have heeded my own advice above. I had to come to that decision on my own. To each their own, but I definitely get more enjoyment out utilization.
Speaking of cars and not using them Rowan Atkinson used to have an Aston Martin Zagatowhich he used to push out of the garage, wash and then wax it and push it back.
He sold the car for only £122,000, about $160,000. Personally I would have been so disappointed not to have driven it more at that price.
PS Must admit that the car does nothing for me.
He sold the car for only £122,000, about $160,000. Personally I would have been so disappointed not to have driven it more at that price.
PS Must admit that the car does nothing for me.
I use my fanciest pen, but I don't consider myself a pen "collector".
I have razors I bought and never used...
It depends on why you bought it.
I have razors I bought and never used...
It depends on why you bought it.
That car looks like Homer Simpson was allowed to design it. Needs a bowling trophy on the bonnet
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Fix the odometer and take it for a light spin..ha!
Pens, like razors and thoroughbred horses, must be taken out and put through their paces in order to stay in top shape. 
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I guess we all have a soft spot for something? Whenever I get a bag of gummy bears or jelly beans I always save the black or green beans or bears for last or for the next craving session when all the other colours are gone for some munchies. Do you have more razors than pens? Perhaps this is a reason on why you might prefer not to use certain razors over your pens?
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Hear hear Bruce or is over there?!Pens, like razors and thoroughbred horses, must be taken out and put through their paces in order to stay in top shape.
I'm not a collector, but I definitely enjoy using each of my razors (all four of them) for months at a time before switching. For me, it's not about the stuff; it's all about the shave.
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+1I'm not a collector, but I definitely enjoy using each of my razors (all four of them) for months at a time before switching. For me, it's not about the stuff; it's all about the shave.
When it comes to fountain pens, knives, razors and shaving brushes (watches too) I come from a line of pack rats that took Spock's advice "Live long and accumulate". The basic family motto was "Remember one day all this junk will be their problem".
When you shave or write for a half century or more and your parents and grandparents also shaved and wrote for a half century or more and then boxed up all their junk and stored it in your garage it can seem like a large accumulation. But even just one or two knives or one or two razors or one or two shaving brushes or one or two fountain pens a year when repeated over more than a century can add up.
When you shave or write for a half century or more and your parents and grandparents also shaved and wrote for a half century or more and then boxed up all their junk and stored it in your garage it can seem like a large accumulation. But even just one or two knives or one or two razors or one or two shaving brushes or one or two fountain pens a year when repeated over more than a century can add up.
Just drive it backwards half the time.
Just in case the horse is still breathing, another thought.
There has been some talk here about whether one would use a vintage pen or just display it. But the initial post wasn't about vintage pens; it referred to buying a limited edition in a store, which I assume to mean that it was a modern pen, still being made, if only for a "limited" time.
Now if the makers of such limited editions, at least the luxury brands, knew that none of their intended customers intended actually to write with their pens, they could save a lot of money on performance related QC. Don't worry about whether the nib is properly aligned, beyond what is needed to pass a cursory inspection under a loupe. Don't worry if it leaks, or dries up, or suffers from ink starvation; it will never be inked anyway. Heck, if they really wanted to be shameless, they could find an appropriate thickness of PVC piping, thread one end for a cap, give it a thin coat of artistic looking decorations, and slam a nib and feed in it without even bothering to give it a filling system.
But the luxury makers have to assume that some of their customers actually will write with these, and that a proportion of those customers are actually discriminating enough to know how a good pen should perform. That still doesn't guarantee that your $1000 commemorative pen will write better than a $10 Jinhao out of the box, but it should cover a service agreement that will make things right if it doesn't. It keeps the maker somewhat honest.
My two limited edition pens are not in the luxury class, and there was never any question of buying them as display items. One is the B&B limited edition of a Franklin Christoph 25, the other is a Stipula Passaporto associated with a specific pen show which I didn't go to. Of the two, neither has become a favorite, although I'm somewhat more likely to use the Stipula.
I'd kind of like to get hold of a Montblanc Agatha Christie limited edition, but almost certainly never will, because I'm resistant to paying the prices they go for, whether I can afford it or not. But if I ever did get one, it would definitely be used. If the writing performance was disappointing, well, at least I'd know.
There has been some talk here about whether one would use a vintage pen or just display it. But the initial post wasn't about vintage pens; it referred to buying a limited edition in a store, which I assume to mean that it was a modern pen, still being made, if only for a "limited" time.
Now if the makers of such limited editions, at least the luxury brands, knew that none of their intended customers intended actually to write with their pens, they could save a lot of money on performance related QC. Don't worry about whether the nib is properly aligned, beyond what is needed to pass a cursory inspection under a loupe. Don't worry if it leaks, or dries up, or suffers from ink starvation; it will never be inked anyway. Heck, if they really wanted to be shameless, they could find an appropriate thickness of PVC piping, thread one end for a cap, give it a thin coat of artistic looking decorations, and slam a nib and feed in it without even bothering to give it a filling system.
But the luxury makers have to assume that some of their customers actually will write with these, and that a proportion of those customers are actually discriminating enough to know how a good pen should perform. That still doesn't guarantee that your $1000 commemorative pen will write better than a $10 Jinhao out of the box, but it should cover a service agreement that will make things right if it doesn't. It keeps the maker somewhat honest.
My two limited edition pens are not in the luxury class, and there was never any question of buying them as display items. One is the B&B limited edition of a Franklin Christoph 25, the other is a Stipula Passaporto associated with a specific pen show which I didn't go to. Of the two, neither has become a favorite, although I'm somewhat more likely to use the Stipula.
I'd kind of like to get hold of a Montblanc Agatha Christie limited edition, but almost certainly never will, because I'm resistant to paying the prices they go for, whether I can afford it or not. But if I ever did get one, it would definitely be used. If the writing performance was disappointing, well, at least I'd know.
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Until 2017, the largest MB shop in London sold out of every special edition before the pens arrived in store, I dont know why the same band of people bought these pens, perhaps investors/speculators or just collectors, I would hope that they have a regular MB for daily use, perhaps not.
The largest collector of Mabie Todds in the UK does not use a fountain pen at all, his collection is over 600 pens. the largest collector of Conway Stewarts does not use any of his collection.
The best known collector of Vacumatics cannot use his collection on a regular basis, it wouldnt surprise me if he dint have a few favorites that were in daily use but when you have thousands, its hopeless.
I have pens that get used once a year, some even less. My daily drivers have nibs that suit me perfectly and I am happy with that, they seldom cost more than $50.
Pen world is a very broad church, users, collectors, investors, its different strokes for different folks,
The largest collector of Mabie Todds in the UK does not use a fountain pen at all, his collection is over 600 pens. the largest collector of Conway Stewarts does not use any of his collection.
The best known collector of Vacumatics cannot use his collection on a regular basis, it wouldnt surprise me if he dint have a few favorites that were in daily use but when you have thousands, its hopeless.
I have pens that get used once a year, some even less. My daily drivers have nibs that suit me perfectly and I am happy with that, they seldom cost more than $50.
Pen world is a very broad church, users, collectors, investors, its different strokes for different folks,
