I like the crab ;)

The crab is a classic.

*laughs... been there...

Vix

On hand, Moore, Salz, Wahl, Conklin, Merlin, Morrison, Imperial, Majestic, Parker, Sheaffer, Carter, Summit, Conway Stewart, Mabie Todd, Pelikan, Soennecken, Faber-Castell, Wyvern, Gem(?), and of course Esterbrook. And some moderns too. Plus some others still stored away. Should likely trim things back sometime.

My handwriting's still terrible though.

Ooh, you got it bad. A Pelikan is on my list, tested a new modern Esterbrook today with a 1.1 stub. Almost broke my budget rule for that one.
And, yeah, my handwriting sucks too but it’s semi readable, most of the time.

Heh, I did. Most of my accumulating was in the '90s/'00s, fortunately before there were so many sellers destroying vintage nibs. Which Pelikan? And what's your current stash? Modern Esties seemed like a neat idea but their prices failed to sway me, and I was especially disappointed they chose not to go directly vintage-compatible. Yeah, I know there's an adapter.

I’ve kind of been lusting after a M400 for the size and fitted with a ST flex nib. I have a FPR with one of their flex nibs, it’s OK, a bit wet but at least it doesn’t railroad (much).

I really don’t consider myself a collector, I have a fascination for nibs. Currently I have a couple of Platinum Preppies and a Plaisir, each with a different nib. The nibs are interchangeable on most Platinums. Two Lamys, I got the second when I lost the first, then found it again and a selection of various Lamy nibs, their italic is great fun. A Faber-Castell with a beautifully smooth fine nib, Two Esterbrook J and five different nibs. The surprise recent favorite is a $8 Jinhao 159, all metal with a stub Nib I hand ground from a medium. And now the Waterman, a sentimental purchase to replace the one I lost in the fire. Almost forgot, a Muft, an eye dropper that came free with the FPR.

Nice, I have a modern (I refuse to consider '90s "vintage," dammit) Pelikan in that size with a metal cap, the slight extra weight of which nestles it nicely in the web of my hand with a Palmer type grip while still being light and nimble overall. It's one which would likely survive any culling. Though I seem to adapt pretty readily to almost any size pen. I definitely support including a modern Pel in one's assortment, absolute workhorses. The current flex craze has put me off the vintage market so I've been looking into FPR and FlexibleNib.com lately. Looked at Noodler's flex offerings too but reviews were a bit poor.

Same, I just sort of accumulate; this one looks fun, I wanna try that one out, etc. The closest I've gotten to collecting is that I seem to have much more W-E than anything else but there's been no real cohesive plan to what winds up in the pile other than leaning flexy and a fondness for bold '20s/'30s design styles. What Esterbrook nibs? I enjoy the 9314M and 2442 I have installed, looking for a 9314F; actually have a few extra NIB/LNIB 2442, 2048, and 9461, and one spare 9314M, if any are of interest to you. Also a ton of Esterbrook, Spencerian, and other vintage dip pens, which is what started me on this whole mad pursuit.

Heh, I have a Rotring 600 or Newton--I forget which, whichever wound up being less collectible--which was the first fp I picked up in the '90s and did the same thing. Didn't take to the big blobby medium tip, so ground it down to a stub. Actually, I dropped it off at Mottishaw's table at the Boston show years ago asking him to do any fine-tuning he felt it could use, since it was the first (and still only) grind I did myself; when I went back later he handed it back saying he couldn't find anything to do to it he felt would improve it, which took me greatly by surprise. Either I somehow managed a decent job of it or I screwed it up beyond all hope. :b It's still a hefty beast which could probably double as a bludgeoning weapon, heavier than I prefer, but fun to write with nonetheless. And nigh indestructible.

Esterbrook Nibs, I have a 9048, 9556, 2442 and a 1551 and a 2668 that came on the ‘new’ one I just got, The 2442 in an interesting nib, oblique stub, supposedly for lefties, I don’t notice the angle much though. The 9048 gets the most use, followed by 2442.

I keep toying with the idea of the Rotring, I almost got one when they were new but couldn’t justify the price then and definitely can’t justify the price now.

The FPR Himalaya with the “ultra flex” nib is not a bad pen. I’ve never tried any of the Noodlers so I don’t have anything to compare it with. It flexes well, bit as I said it’s wet. It’s worth what you pay for it but you may have to tinker with it to get it just right.

I picked up the Jinhao because it’s a big heavy pen, it’s about the size of an M400 but heavier. Like I said, it’s a surprisingly good pen all in all.

Thanks for the offer, but I have too many inked and my junk box is getting full. 😁

I believe right-foot obliques are for lefties. Either way, I still like both left-foots and straight stubs/italics. I'd give a right-foot a shot too just to see how I got along with it, just haven't run across one so far.

One of the ways I've found that helps keep me from picking up "just one more" as often is to categorize what I have into niches. Those Laureates seem to have pretty robust builds, so in your situation I'd consider a Rotring superfluous as yet another sturdy, brass-bodied pen with a smooth, reliable, but otherwise not very interesting nail nib. So you're not really missing out unless you gotta sport that engineer aesthetic.

Yeah, I'd kinda gotten the impression you have to be prepared to do some fiddling if you get into Noodler's or FPR pens; dunno if FN is any better. I still kinda want one of those Noodler's repro Boston Safety pens as a base for one of the vintage nibs I have kicking around though.

Yeah, that's pretty much how I go about it. As of now the only thing I don't have is something with a hooded nib. There are a few options in vintage (Parker Vacumatic, Schaffer) and new (Pilot E95 and similar), but eventually something will come up. Fountain pens are kind of like cats in that manner, they tend to find you rather than the other way around.

I've not often been that lucky; usually my acquisitions were hard-won battles (including some moderns!)

I do admit to a long-held attraction to Vacumatics, I just don't really have an open niche for one. As for hooded nibs though--and embattled wins--I did eventually score a Parker 51 which was exactly what I was after. Cedar blue, lined sterling cap with decoband and Blue Diamond clip, single jewel, fine nib. Not the most rare, I just liked the overall look. Absolutely works as designed, probably even has the original sac. Date code puts it at 1944Q1. Utter nail of a nib though. On the other hand I also have W-E 5th Avenue which I never got around to restoring and just discovered yesterday that the cap had escaped and gotten crushed. >:( C'est la vie I guess. And that's all I have for nibs in da hood. Oh wait no, a Lamy 2000 too, but as is often complained about them it has a tiny sweet spot and I either need to get it ground to behave properly or rehome it. It's actually a point of pride with Lamy that they grind a baby bottom into their nibs which, yes, does make them smooth, but also makes them a major pain in the ass to position perfectly enough to get the damn things to write!

I keep browsing. One day the right pen will come along at a price I'm willing to pay.

I used to write with fountain pens all through school when I lived in England. We were not allowed to write with a Biro (ball point pen) or felt tip pens (which were rare at the time). Most of the ones we wrote with used ink cartridges, and they always ran out at the most inopportune times.
I still prefer to use liquid ink pens over ball point pens.
BTW, I love the pen holders. Never knew such a thing existed.

I went to a private elementary school, everyone grade 2 and above had to use fountain pens, we all had to use the same model Schaefer. Cartridge can be a pain, I prefer a pen with a converter, and I also have a couple of ‘eye droppers’ those hold a lot of ink.

I saw the pen holders at the show and just had to get them.

I have two Pilot Metropolitans and love them dearly. Each has its own ink color. Both have adapters. I write in my journals with only those pens now, using Noodlers archival ink.

While I have never fallen into the trap of collecting, I usually wish I had more pens for other inks I would love to write with.

I’ve heard good things about the Pilots. If you’d like to try a larger heavier pen, The Jinhao 159 is a sweet deal at $8 to $10 dollars. I was honestly shocked at how well it wrote. The converter it came with was as good as any other I own.

Wow, I've lived here for years and have not heard of this show. My mother-in-law collects floating pens, she's always searching for vintage ones. Have you seen those at the show before?
By the way, I love your pen holders!

Thanks, the pen holders were a complete impulse buy and fun.
Never heard of floating pens, the show was mostly vintage and new fountain pens and assorted ink and paper. There were a few pens of other types and some mechanical pencils but most of them were vintage.

Floaty pens are ballpoint pens that have a scene inside submerged in mineral oil and a small object floats across the scene.
Demonstration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4473o2w0P0
Many of them were souvenirs from gift shops of tourist attractions and the pen would feature miniature versions of the attraction.
More about their history: http://www.floatart.com/content/misc/history.html

Cool, yeah, now I know what you are talking about. I had an Incline Railway ballpoint pen from Mt. Washington like that once. There wouldn't be much, if any, like that at the DC pen show. There are some fancy fountain pens, hand painted, rainbows, lacquered and the like, some run into the thousands of dollars though, way, way out of my range.

I didn't see this until now. The ones you had mentioned are a bit above and beyond what I'm looking for. LOL Thanks anyway.

I've never seen the Niji pens but there are lots of Chinese pens out there in the $5-$10 range that are lots of fun. If you get the itch look at the Jinhao Shark fountain pens, fun colors and some interesting nibs (the fude nib for example.)

Rapidographs are some seriously cool pens, I had a set years ago but ended up loosing them. I'm not much of a artist with a pen but I noodled around with them a bit.

I just recently got into fountain pens, in fact I just got my first Lamy Safari today, and it is quite enjoyable to use already! It's a nice and easy way to get your feet wet in the world of fountain pens.

Good choice, a gray Safari had been my everyday go to work pen. They’re reliable and sturdy. BTW if you’re in the Baltimore/Washington area the pen show is at the BWI Marriot this weekend. It’s fascinating seeing acres of fountain pens, ink and paper.

I would've loved to but alas I am not in that area, but I can bet it is a wonderful experience there. After about 4 months of using this pen it is my daily driver pen, it just works so fantastic, and works on vast majority of papers, only one ever seemed to have some issues, and that being bank checks. This pen certainly has proven himself to be an excellent workhorse!