4 replies to this topic

[Teej47]

So what happens when I declare to the world that 'I technically don't like "51"s' (or the synonymous equivalent)? They start falling in my lap, of course.

Friday I was out with my daughter on a "Daddy-Daughter Date" before she heads back to college next week (I'm glad my son's don't call it that when I go do something with one of them...). So of course we had to check out a couple antique shops after our museum excursion. At "Cruz'N Back In Time" I spied a "51" set in a clamshell box with no price. First time Cruz has even had a pen in months. When I asked about it, he said "10 bucks?". "Okay" casually says I.

The pen is a first quarter 1951, black/Lustraloy with a medium nib. Perfect big brother to the 1949 Demi that was given to me two weeks ago, which of course has a fine point (like every other "51" I've met in person). The pencil is a 1954 "51" Special in green (so obviously not a "set" per se) which worked beautifully once I cleared the impacted graphite from the tip.

Maybe I need to publicly proclaim that I don't like blue Vacs and stub nibs. Think it would work?

Tim
(reconsidering "51"s)

[david i]

So what happens when I declare to the world that 'I technically don't like "51"s' (or the synonymous equivalent)? They start falling in my lap, of course.

Friday I was out with my daughter on a "Daddy-Daughter Date" before she heads back to college next week (I'm glad my son's don't call it that when I go do something with one of them...). So of course we had to check out a couple antique shops after our museum excursion. At "Cruz'N Back In Time" I spied a "51" set in a clamshell box with no price. First time Cruz has even had a pen in months. When I asked about it, he said "10 bucks?". "Okay" casually says I.

The pen is a first quarter 1951, black/Lustraloy with a medium nib. Perfect big brother to the 1949 Demi that was given to me two weeks ago, which of course has a fine point (like every other "51" I've met in person). The pencil is a 1954 "51" Special in green (so obviously not a "set" per se) which worked beautifully once I cleared the impacted graphite from the tip.

Maybe I need to publicly proclaim that I don't like blue Vacs and stub nibs. Think it would work?

Tim
(reconsidering "51"s)

Nice find. I've seen similar from the selling angle. I can have a pen on website literally a couple years with no nibbles. Then in a week, three people write to try to claim it. Of course I only have the one...

When it rains, it pours?

-d

[david i]

Maybe I need to publicly proclaim that I don't like blue Vacs and stub nibs. Think it would work?

Tim
(reconsidering "51"s)

No, this will not work. It is sort of reverse invocation of Murphy's law.

One can be assured that if he forgets to bring his umbrella to the park, it will rain. But... if one deliberately leaves home his umbrella hoping to induce rain, it will not rain.

Thus, my friend, you are condemned to finding only pens you *really* don't like.

=d

[Gary]

No, this will not work. It is sort of reverse invocation of Murphy's law.

One can be assured that if he forgets to bring his umbrella to the park, it will rain. But... if one deliberately leaves home his umbrella hoping to induce rain, it will not rain.

Thus, my friend, you are condemned to finding only pens you *really* don't like.

=d

With that in mind, David, I hope to never find a really neat pen for under $20.00 again.
Gary

[Teej47]

Clearly the wise path is to learn everything I possibly can about the pens I do find, thus revealing what it is that makes each one cool. Broadening one's definition of "cool" can hardly be a bad thing (depending on the context, obviously... I won't be cultivating an interest in cartridge fillers, or any pens younger than me, or country music. Those are lines in the sand not meant to be crossed.).

One unique pen you know everything about is far better than a pile of blandness that everyone else has, right? (Though a whole hoard of the former trumps all, I suppose.)



Tim
(Liking my new "51"s more every minute)