I am much more an accumulator than a collector. I have no rhyme or reason to my pen possessions, but I love them all. If I end up with one that doesn't write quite right, I send it off to one of the pen rehabs. Just got my Wakasa-nuri back from Kevin Cheng, and it is a changed pen. Filled it up with Diamine Emerald Green, and just can't stop writing.
As an ex drunk with a .355 inch hole in the wall, I can tell you that alcohol and guns don't mix. I mainly shoot combat, but found that my steadiness increased a whole lot after about three months of playing with one of those squeezey things while watching tv.
I guess I have more Pelikans than any other brand of pen. Most of them have been ministered to by Richard Binder.
Michael Bruce Grembowski wrote:
Roger, Interesting smorgasbord of collections, but I don't think shooting and wine mix--I hear they test for alcohol as a banned substance in shooting events! I also have a lot of appreciations. What I do with wine and cigars, I wouldn't call collecting, but aging to perfection before consuming :-) I recently became interested in target and trap shooting. Then I found out that I don't have the steadiness to do it. When I started collecting in earnest, I decided to stick with Waterman. Now that I have a decent example of all but the most expensive vintage offerings, I find myself wanting to keep some of the P51 and snork sets I've picked up, instead of just reselling them right away. Maybe it's because when I go to the PDX Pen Club meetings, they don't have any new Waterman's, and I *need* to spend some money, so I look at what else is available, within my budget. In fact, I recently purchased my first Pelikan and Sailor. Okay, so the Sailor is "new" and the Pelikan is not quite vintage (ca.1970's), but I do have an old Conway Stewart #388, which was actually my first vintage pen! So, maybe a year from now, I'll be more like: Waterman: 40% Sheaffer: 20% Parker: 20% Misc: 20% TTFN, Grem --- Roger Beamon <rbeamon1@xxxxxxx> wrote:Hi Grem,I understand how each marque appeals to different people. My interest in the "51"s is with how terribly good their technology was and still is. If that was all for me, I'd be a happy sort of collector of "51"s and that would be the end of it. BUT, Old F--t that I am, I remember all the great, now vintage pens of the 40s and 50s even though I wasn't interested then. NOW, it's very different. I bought a garden variety Snorkel Admiral (but in near mint condition) just before our little chowder and marching group went to Japan, shipped it to Rick Horne for a seal rehab and had it shortly after we returned from the land of the rising sun. What a neat, functional and great writing pen it is. Just as terrific but in a different way as the "51"s that I covet. I can't really choose between them in a meaningful way, as they are both great, reliable writers with nothing but good surrounding them. So, at the upcoming LA Pen show I'll be scouting for Snorks to even up the accumulation. Between this newbie's fascination with those staples from the Parker and Sheaffer camps, maybe I'll just stumble onto a deal on some underloved example of the Urushi and Maki-e work that we marveled at in Japan. Damn, I used to have such normal hobby interests like Amateur Radio, Wine appreciation and collecting, trap shooting, and competitive pistol and rifle shooting. Have I sunk to a new low or risen to new heights?!-- Roger Beamon Southern Arizona USA fptalk Mailing List //www.freelists.org/list/fptalk========================================================= To Unsubscribe: Send email to fptalk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe" in the Subject field. The email that you then receive MUST be replied to per instructions to complete the process.