Where Do I Go From Here?

It’s a question I asked myself often over the past weekend at the Atlanta Pen Show.  One of the great things about pen shows is that you get the opportunity to see, hold, and learn about pens that you never otherwise would have experienced.  And since I spent two days surrounded by friends (both new and old) eager to let anyone write with the invaluable pieces in their collections, I experienced a lot of pens.  My takeaway from this?  I need to break the “pen of the month” habit and focus on acquiring fewer pieces that mean more to me.  

This topic came up in a few different conversations that I had over the weekend.  A general consensus seems to be that you reach a point in your “collecting” that you plateau, and begin to derive less enjoyment from the typical “production line” pens that are easily available.  While there are always exceptions to this rule, finding a unique or different writing experience out of the box becomes difficult, and you end up chasing color variants of the same pen or the full line of stock nib options.  Some time ago I reached the point where I don’t feel the need to have more than one TWSBI, especially where I can purchase a bunch of replacement nibs and obtain variety that way.

Leigh Reyes' Nakayas.  While Nakayas are not "custom" (several retailers carry them as part of their regular stock) some of the limited or rare variants are difficult to obtain and made to order, and certain models are exclusive to individual shops. 

Enter the world of custom pens. 

I’m ready to move on.  But to where?  Of all the pens I was able to try this weekend, the custom pens were the ones that really stood out and spoke to me.  By "custom", I'm referring to pens that are generally made to order by a pen turner (typically by hand) according to the craftsman's original design, and can be adjusted to the user's preferences.  I was fortunate to handle a wide range of pens made by several makers, from Shawn Newton's Shinobi Eyedroppers to Brian Gray's Edison Menlos in Tibaldi Celluloid.  I wanted to keep all of them.       

So, I’ll ask myself again, where do I go from here?  It’s dangerous to put this sort of thing out there, but it’s pretty much the only way I’ll be able to hold myself accountable.  The next two pens I will acquire will come from custom manufacturers, once I can afford them, and until then I plan to thin out the accumulation of pens and ink to reduce the amount of "stuff" that I never use. 

If you’re interested in the world of custom pens, here’s some further reading to get you started.  My next pen will likely come from somewhere on this list:   

There are many, many more custom manufacturers out there.  Keep in mind that in order to enter the world of custom pens, you’ll have to suppress your desire for instant gratification (something that will be difficult for me).  Not only will you have to part with some money up front, but it generally takes at least 6 weeks for a pen to be made, and that's on the quick end of the spectrum.  In the end, however, I think the wait adds to the experience.   

Atlanta Pen Show Recap: Day 2

I thought Day One of the Atlanta Pen Show, capped off with the party at the Nock Co. workshop, couldn’t be beat.  I was wrong.  Day Two (Saturday) is up there as one of the best, if not the best, pen show experiences I have ever had. 

The crowd starts to get warmed up early Saturday morning in the second ballroom (the one without Anderson Pens and Nock Co, who conveniently were next to each other).  

Saturday started off fast, like Friday, but this time it wasn’t just the PenAddict crowd.  The vintage collectors showed up in force, and pens started getting picked over quickly.  I didn’t purchase any fountain pens myself, abstaining in favor of a Nock Co. t-shirt and this beauty, which warranted a mention by Mr. Dowdy himself this week.  As always, more coming soon.  

Vintage Lamy 2000 Ballpoint (with modern Lamy refill).  the Makrolon is worn smooth, and has a nice patina. 

Legible barrel imprint reads "Lamy 2000 W. Germany."  The oldest the pen could be is early 1990s.  

The real fun started around 4, when several attendees organized a pen and ink swap/testing table out in the hotel bar that was heavily attended.  I wish I could give you a blow-by-blow, but to be honest I tried out so many different pens and inks, from so many different people, over the course of five or six hours that they all started to run together.  All agree, however, that the main highlight was Leigh Reyes and her traveling set of Nakayas, which included both selections from the standard line of pens as well as some rare editions and prototypes that you probably would not be able to see anywhere else in the world.  Thomas Hall also brought two large cases full of pens, many of which had custom nibs.  

Pen Swap Atlanta 2015

Leigh's traveling Nakayas!  

Leigh's Nakaya Piccolo in Titanium.  

I cannot emphasize enough how incredibly generous Leigh and Thomas both were in allowing all of us noobs (because we are all noobs in comparison to them) handle their priceless pens.  After mentally blowing my budget for the next two years, I “saved some money” by trading a few inks I wasn’t crazy about, and sold a few extra bottles of some inks that I had duplicates of.   

Ana over at the Well-Appointed Desk was there as well, and she has a great writeup containing even more pictures.  (For the full low-down, check out her flickr album!) 

From what I hear, show-'n-tell continued into the wee hours of Sunday morning, but unfortunately I had to be back home by noon the next day.  With a four hour drive staring me in the face, I chose to grab some sleep and leave everyone after an enjoyable dinner at the hotel that featured an all-star cast of Pendom.  I will be back next year, and I hear plans are in the works for a repeat. . . . clear your calendars and stay tuned.  As for other shows, Atlanta will probably be my last pen show until the 2015 D.C. SuperShow in August.  

A bit of additional information on the Lamy 2000 Ballpoint/Multipen discussed in this week’s PenAddict podcast.  Lamy still makes both pens, including the Multipen that takes D1 refills.  The ballpoint runs about $55-60, with the Multipen ticking slightly higher into the $60-65 range.  They are not incredibly easy to find, and Amazon indicates its stock is running low on the multipen.  (Both are Prime-eligible, so you will save some on shipping, and obtain near-instant gratification). (Affiliate Links).   

Atlanta Pen Show Recap: Day 1

Day one of the 2015 Atlanta Pen Show started fast.  The first day of most pen shows—particularly if it falls on a Friday, is usually very slow.  Not so much here, and it probably had something to do with these guys.  

The folks at Nock Co. have been cranking out pen cases in the weeks/months leading up to the Atlanta pen show, including some color combinations that I had not seen before.  They also had dot-dash notecards and pocket notebooks (including the new version with fountain pen friendly paper), and their tri-camo Ti2 Techliner in both short and long versions.  

Atlanta is one of the smaller U.S. shows, though the quality of the vendors is excellent.  This year’s crew includes the Andersons, Vanness Pen Shop, Nock Co., Indy-Pen-Dance, Mike Masuyama, as well as some local Atlanta pen shops such as Total Fine Writing and Artlite (arriving today).  As I mentioned, this year’s show was crowded on Friday, which is pretty much unheard of.  I attended this show last year, and can vouch for the fact that this Friday was in fact more or less insane.  So insane that I spent most of my show budget on the first day, concerned that the specific items I was looking for would be gone by the afternoon.  (I was right.)  

The Vanness Akkerman Selection. 

Crazy Ink Selection
Most of what I purchased was ink.  I picked up two bottles of Callifolio ink, which is a French brand that Vanness Pen Shop has started carrying.  Previously, it was only available via direct order, and the manufacturer was known for shipping the ink in foil pouches to save on shipping.  Lisa Vanness informed me that Vanness will carry the foil pouches, so if you’re in the market to purchase an entire line of various inks and have it ship for next to nothing, you know where to go.  I also grabbed two bottles of the new Diamine 150th Anniversary Inks, which I didn’t think I would purchase but absolutely loved once I saw the colors in person.  I chose the Blue-Black and the Regency Blue.  Cool fact:  the bottles are wedge-shaped, so if you choose to buy all the colors (like Thomas Hall, enabler-in-chief) they fit together to form a perfect circle.  Even cooler fact:  the Callifolio inks come in the same bottle, so you can mix-n-match!  Oh, and I also bought a bottle of Diamine Oxblood and a “Mini” (15ml) bottle of Iroshizuku Asa-Gao. 

I have assembled the ink "Semi-Circle" of Callifolio and Diamine 150th Anniversary, after being goaded into buying both by Thomas Hall. 

Whatever ink you choose, the new Nock Co. Dot-Dash pocket notebooks (black cover) can handle it.  The paper is fountain pen friendly, and probably the best all around that I've seen in a pocket notebook.  No feathering, no bleed through (with normal use), and best of all, the dry-time is incredibly fast, from what I can gather.  More soon. 

Pens
So far, like last year, many pens haven’t caught my eye at this show.  I did pick up a TWSBI Orange 580AL, which I’ve been wanting for some time.  My surprise purchase from this trip, however, was this: 

Hope You Didn’t Come for Nib Work . . .
Or if you did, you’d better get on the list crazy early.  By the end of the day on Friday, I was told that Mike Masuyama’s list for Saturday was already filling up.  Good thing I didn’t need any nib work done.  (If I know Mike, however, he’ll probably burn through the list quickly and see more customers than anyone else would think humanly possible.)

And the Main Event . . .
But Friday’s main attraction (at least for most of the people there) was the Sassafling 2015, held at the offices of Nock Co. approximately 5 miles and 30 mins (hey, ATL traffic) from the show hotel.  Brad and Jeff throw a mean party, and it was great to meet all of the crew from Nock Co.  We even got to see the machines in action and some cases being made.  The best part, of course, was the people, and it was, for lack of a better term, amazing to have most (not all, but a pretty big chunk) of our little internet community in the same room for one night.  The pizza, beer, and raffle prizes weren’t too shabby either!  

VERY early on in the evening.  The Nock shop was packed shortly thereafter.  Also shortly thereafter, my phone died after a full day of shooting the pen show.

Jeff and The Beard entertain. 

For those of you who couldn’t make it this year, I wish I could tell you not to worry, that you didn’t miss much, but that would be a lie.  It was awesome.  The good news is that this “may” become an annual event …. (or I at least hope to make it one by spreading such rumors on the internet).  And if you are anywhere in the Atlanta area, get to this show.  Now.  I hear some podcast is recording live tonight?