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Category: Buying

Published on Leave a comment on The Hit-and-Miss of buying on eBay
Platinum 3776 Century Bourgogne with UEF nib.
Platinum 3776 Century Bourgogne with UEF nib.

eBay can be a great resource—if you know what you are looking for. The latest modern pen I acquired there was a Platinum ultra-extra-fine 3776 Century Bourgogne with a 14k nib. I managed to get it for an extremely reasonable price, given it was shipping from Japan. It cost less than those available on Amazon, as well as at other online sellers, for the gold nib version I was after.

Since Dan and I have begun restoring pens as well, buying auction lots on eBay has yielded some wins and some losses. Overall I have been fairly lucky in the quality of pens I've managed to snag. There have been nice vintage ones available in the last few months, good prices and good quality. Most of them will be quick to restore, others not as quick or necessarily easy (or in some cases not even worth attempting, though the rest of the lot was worth getting despite the dud or two included). ...continue reading "The Hit-and-Miss of buying on eBay"

Published on Leave a comment on Vintage doesn’t have to mean pricey & finicky
Black chased hard rubber (BCHR) pens and a red Parker
Black chased hard rubber (BCHR) pens and a red Parker

I was already working on a draft for this topic when Dan texted me the link for a post on the Pen Economics blog asking "Why Aren't Vintage Pens More Popular?".It begs a follow-up question — popular with whom? I'd say there are definitely some vintage pens that are a little too popular.

There are people who are willing to pay some rather astronomical sums for a vintage flex (usually a lovely specimen of black chased hard rubber — BCHR — or marbled ebonite). There may be others out there like me, a sub-set of the pen community, who are fine with the attention being lavished on modern pens so we can continue to enjoy finding the reasonably priced daily writers, or even a coveted flexible nib, many of them older than we are.
...continue reading "Vintage doesn’t have to mean pricey & finicky"

Published on Leave a comment on Ah, the Tragedy

I'm working on a post about the hit-and-miss nature of purchasing from eBay and what should arrive today but one of my eBay gambles.

We heard the mail truck stop at the house and I knew Dan was expecting something from CW Pencils, but it turned out to be a package that needed a signature, which he signed for. My vintage Sailor 21 arrived ("were you expecting something with Japanese writing on it?"). 😉  I wasn't expecting this to arrive until next week!

Sailor 21 Black Fountain Pen with Gold
Sailor 21 Fountain Pen

I had been watching a few with EF nibs, and dropped many from my buy list as the bids went higher. I really didn't think I would win this one because I kept my max rather low compared to those I'd seen sell previously.

I failed to do due diligence in researching the pen after I won it. I don't have any ink cartridges that fit the pen. What a tragedy!

I've located the type cartridges to use with it, but that means waiting for them to arrive. Sadly, though the Pilot Mixables are the correct diameter, they are too long. I'm going to have to dip the nib to try it out.

After listening to Brad on the Pen Addict Podcast, among others, describe the differences in nib sizes, I decided that if I could locate something like this little Sailor within my budget I'd love to try one. Another passion of mine is miniatures — the 1/12th scale ones for dollhouses — and I wanted to see just how fine it could write.

 

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