Do you like nice pens?

[Joe Bob]

Had a Mount Blanc for many years until someone lifted it......peed me off. Wasn't gonna put out the bucks for a replacement.

So ordered a classic gold and black Cross. Had my name engraved....no, not Joe Bob or "my name" but my real name.

[pwd72s]

Got a Mont Blanc fountain pen, the big fat black one, stuck in a drawer here...had wanted one for years, only to be disappointed at it's performance. Wasted some coin there...

These days? Fisher Space Pen, the bullet model is usually what I grab when I need a pen. Either that or whatever cheap pen Cindy has left somewhere...she leaves 'em scattered about the house.

[LEAKYSEALS951]

Not so much a great pen, but a great moment.



My favorite scene in any movie is the end of Shawshank Redemption. One of the finest endings anywhere. Red goes under a tree in Buxton, Maine (in reality filmed some place in Ohio) and opens Andy's lunchbox, where he gets the Andy's money and invitation for Zihuatanejo.

The tree in the scene reportedly got struck by lightning and died a while back.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawshank_tree

Supposedly, it was made into trinkets.

I got this from my wife as a christmas present. Is it from the real tree? A fake? Who knows?
Really, who even cares?

I probably need to carry it with me every footstep I take. I will take it to work tomorrow.

Hope is a good thing.

[MRM]

If your Mont Blanc's performance disappointed you it either needs service or you need a refresher course on using a fountain pen. Mont Blancs are the Hamilton automatics of the pen world. You should send it in to the factory to be looked at.

Just before the 07-08 market crash a guy started a specialty pen boutique just down the hall from my firm at the time, on the 46th floor of the IDS Center. Beautiful space. We got invited to his grand opening as a neighbor, and I stopped by. He got me interested in mid-range collectible pens like Mont Blancs. I thought it would be nice to buy some pens I used in my practice that I could pass on down to my kids with a story of how I used them back in the day.

I got a limited edition Star Walker that needs work on its nib (I have no idea how I mangled it but I need to send it in for repairs). I got a couple of other fountain pens that are hidden away somewhere, because who uses fountain pens these days? And I bought some nice Mont Blanc roller balls and one nice fountain pen for my wife. She ignored them and asked why I wasted my money when I could have gotten a gift she appreciated. He ended up selling me a matching pair of Monte Grappa solid sterling silver rollerball/fountain pens just before the silver market exploded. Six months later I asked him about other models of the same brand. He forgot he had sold me the matched pair and looked at me seriously and told me that I couldn't afford silver Monte Grappas.

The Mont Blancs and Monte Grappas are packed away safely somewhere. I can find them if I have to. I'm glad I have them because they're little pieces of art, but I never really used them. The pen I use most (which Mrs. MRM borrowed today and agreed is the best writer she's ever used) is a Cross gel roller ball a client gave me that is a replica of the signing pens the president and Supreme Court use to sign official documents. It has a gold colored finish but there's no gold in it. The pen probably cost $40 and I bought a whole tube of refills for about $20, but it's a wonderfully balanced pen that fits well in my hand, writes like a dream, and is easier to use than the pieces of art I bought all those years ago.

P.S., nice piece, there, JB. I like the fatter barrel. It's more elegant and easier to use than their usual skinny pen and the black with gold accents is very elegant.

[Por_sha911]

Cross pens are nice but just high priced bic pens. Used to be much better. Have a few black and gold sets around here somewhere.
I have some antique fountain pens my favorite is a Porsche Design pen:

Got mine in 2006. Made by Faber-Castell. Really heavy. You compress the top and bottom to click the ink cartridge.

I always wanted a Mont Blanc Meisterstück but never ended up getting one and really have no use for another fountain pen.

[javadog]

I started writing with fountain pens as a kid, so I became a pen enthusiast more than 50 years ago. As an adult I had three or four, gave one or two to my wife but the reality is if you don’t use them much they are more of a maintenance hassle than anything.

I still may have one or two laying around, nothing fabulous, just daily drivers like a Mont Blanc or a Waterman. I still have a couple Porsche design pens that I bought in the 80s, I still use one of those. The one I use is a ballpoint, the early style titanium one.

Still have some high-end stationary, if I ever get motivated to write a really nice letter by hand.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by MRM

If your Mont Blanc's performance disappointed you it either needs service or you need a refresher course on using a fountain pen. Mont Blancs are the Hamilton automatics of the pen world. You should send it in to the factory to be looked at.

Just before the 07-08 market crash a guy started a specialty pen boutique just down the hall from my firm at the time, on the 46th floor of the IDS Center. Beautiful space. We got invited to his grand opening as a neighbor, and I stopped by. He got me interested in mid-range collectible pens like Mont Blancs. I thought it would be nice to buy some pens I used in my practice that I could pass on down to my kids with a story of how I used them back in the day.

I got a limited edition Star Walker that needs work on its nib (I have no idea how I mangled it but I need to send it in for repairs). I got a couple of other fountain pens that are hidden away somewhere, because who uses fountain pens these days? And I bought some nice Mont Blanc roller balls and one nice fountain pen for my wife. She ignored them and asked why I wasted my money when I could have gotten a gift she appreciated. He ended up selling me a matching pair of Monte Grappa solid sterling silver rollerball/fountain pens just before the silver market exploded. Six months later I asked him about other models of the same brand. He forgot he had sold me the matched pair and looked at me seriously and told me that I couldn't afford silver Monte Grappas.

The Mont Blancs and Monte Grappas are packed away safely somewhere. I can find them if I have to. I'm glad I have them because they're little pieces of art, but I never really used them. The pen I use most (which Mrs. MRM borrowed today and agreed is the best writer she's ever used) is a Cross gel roller ball a client gave me that is a replica of the signing pens the president and Supreme Court use to sign official documents. It has a gold colored finish but there's no gold in it. The pen probably cost $40 and I bought a whole tube of refills for about $20, but it's a wonderfully balanced pen that fits well in my hand, writes like a dream, and is easier to use than the pieces of art I bought all those years ago.

P.S., nice piece, there, JB. I like the fatter barrel. It's more elegant and easier to use than their usual skinny pen and the black with gold accents is very elegant.

I did just that...sent it to them with a "service fee" check. Explained my problem..ink would quit flowing after a few sentences. I was using their ink..the stuff in the cute little boot bottle. They sent it back, saying it worked just fine. It didn't. Gave up, went back to my Scheaffer white dot fountain pen..which still works great. Like I said, now it's the space pen...I seldom write by hand these days, so that makes for a hassle getting a fountain pen ready. All the fountain pens stored away.

[Joe Bob]

I got my first fountain pen in Catholic school. Back then the cheapies were called cartridge pens. The cool people used peacock blue ink. Lefties had blue hands as the ink dried slowly as they dragged their hand across the still wet ink. Pinnky down to the middle of the palm.

Of course unless you absolutely insisted on being a leftie, the nuns beat it out of ya. Instant ambidextrous agnostic.

[mjohnson]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

Cross pens are nice but just high priced bic pens.

I'd say that, especially in a full gold nib, they're more than a little >> bic. I had a Townsend w/custom 18k nib that would eat any ink and work forever (or at least as far as that little converter would last). That's my only issue with them - the converter and it's sad few drops of ink.

Staying out of the really expensive pens I find Pelikans (needing nib work usually) and Pilots with piston or vacuum fillers are the go-to.

TBH I've never been Mont Bonked. I'm sure they're great, but I'm really liking the Japanese pens now and a hot-rodded Pelikan satisfies me for now if I need something Euro.

[MRM]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

I did just that...sent it to them with a "service fee" check. Explained my problem..ink would quit flowing after a few sentences. I was using their ink..the stuff in the cute little boot bottle. They sent it back, saying it worked just fine. It didn't. Gave up, went back to my Scheaffer white dot fountain pen..which still works great. Like I said, now it's the space pen...I seldom write by hand these days, so that makes for a hassle getting a fountain pen ready. All the fountain pens stored away.

I received a cheap Scheaffer white dot ball point pen as a gift for being an usher in a relative's wedding when I was about a sophomore in high school. I can still remember the full page ads for Scheaffer Targas in Reader's Digest that were current when I received the pen. It immediately became one of my most valued possessions and I almost wore it out playing with it often and writing with it from time to time. Despite my best efforts, I never lost it as a kid, and I have it packed away in my school boy souvenirs. It remains one of my most valued possessions.

[pwd72s]

Memory jog... through much of high school, I used an Esterbrook...something like this one.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/976382743/vintage-esterbrook-j-green-fountain-pen?show_sold_out_detail=1&ref=nla_listing_details

Probably around my sophomore year, (I'm a '61 graduate) I started using the Parker T ball jotter ballpoint. I guess my school years were kind of the transition period of the nation going from fountain pens to ballpoints. Grade school writing class we used steel nibbed things we actually dipped in ink..write a bit, dip again. This the late 1940's..

[Joe Bob]

My ex wife first noticed me when I pulled out my Ghurkah vest pocket calf skin wallet and extracted my MB to sign a check for $2.50.

Hey JB had class back then.

[MRM]

Originally Posted by Joe Bob

My ex wife first noticed me when I pulled out my Ghurkah vest pocket calf skin wallet and extracted my MB to sign a check for $2.50.

Hey JB had class back then.

Yeah, but that was back when $2.50 was worth a Dollar!

[Joe Bob]

I doan theenk jew got dat right....my name is Diego Montoya and jew keeld my father....prepare to die....

[Por_sha911]

JB: you almost have it right

[Joe Bob]

Like hand grenades and horse shoes....close counts.

[ramonesfreak]

i like fancy pens and my wife thinks i’m nuts that i watch youtube videos about pens

they don’t have to be expensive....i like kaweco classic sport fountain pens and lamy safari fountain pens and i have a dozen fisher space pens in brass, black and chrome and an astronaut (take the pen. i insist!)

lately i’m into rotring 600 mechanical pencils and pens

recently i’ve fallen for these tactical bolt action pens that are way too heavy. i won’t buy any more of these

i used to have some nice cross pens i bought in the 80s that i’ll soon replace with vintage ones as the new ones are chinese made i believe

[fanaudical]

Once upon a time, I had a thing for nice writing instruments of all kinds - mostly things like technical pens and mechanical pencils ("engineering / drafting stuff"). I still have a box of Kohinoor and Rotring stuff somewhere. I have a few antique fountain pens (no idea what manufacturer) but haven't used them in years. The current favorite on my desk is a Retro 1951 rollerball.

[rusnak]

I won't use paste ink pens myself. I'll buy them for my crew, but I like liquid ink or Pelikan gel. Probably my best pens are Rotring. But the nicest and rarest one is a PD fountain.

[stevej37]

The two-room country school that I attended in the late 50's had desks like this one with ink wells.