Fountain pens, part 1

I kept my collection stopped at a baker’s dozen for a year or so. I told myself that was a respectable but still sane collection, and every time I bought a new pen, I would give one in my collection away. The problem with that is I eventually ran out of pens I could bear to part with, while finding new ones I desired. So I decided fuck it, let’s get crazy–although I know lots of people whose collections are MUCH larger than mine.

I recently discovered Massdrop, which is a terrible enabler. They organize group buys of all kinds of products for discounts. The first one I signed up for was a 3-pack of the J. Herbin 1670 Anniversary inks. One of the bottles had to be the new color coming out next month, Emerald of Chivor. the other 2 could be any of the other 3 existing colors. Since I already have a bottle of Stormy Grey, I chose Rouge Hematite and Bleu Ocean, so when I receive my inks I’ll have a full set (until the next new color is released). I’m also getting a Bexley Imperial for $60 less than the MSRP. Plus, I agreed to take a couple of pens–a Sheaffer Award and an Esterbrook J–off the hands of a fellow pen friend looking to whittle down his collection. And in less than 2 months, the Dallas Pen Show!

Left to right:

• Pilot Vortex: I like the rubberized grip on this one, as I tend to hold my pens tightly.
• Pilot Metropolitan: From the first release.
• Sailor Clear Candy: Sailor is a super-duper posh Japanese brand, I only have inexpensive plastic ones.
• Reform 1745: Has a custom-ground .07 mm stub nib. I have NEVER seen one of these pens in anything other than black and green.
• Pilot 78G: One of the first pens I bought when I started collecting and still a favorite.
• Jinhao X750: Jinhao is a ridiculously inexpensive Chinese brand. They’re enamel over metal and really heavy, but great nibs for the price.
• Sailor Lecoule: This has the same nib as the Clear Candy but I like the body better. I may give away the Clear Candy at some point.
• Pilot Prera: This is my favorite pen body shape, cylindrical with flat ends (as opposed to torpedo-shaped, like most pens). The cap makes a lovely “snick” sound/feel when you put it back on.
• Bexley BX701: I saw some complaints in the Massdrop forum that the Imperial wasn’t available in black, which made me laugh. Who buys a black Bexley?

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