24 replies to this topic

[haywoody]

I always enjoy david i's guessing game posts here so I thought I'd start one of my own.

I won this vac-fil Balance from eBay and it showed up today. I was kinda bummed to find it was exactly like another pen I have... except for one cool feature. Can you spot it?

/Woody

[david i]

I always enjoy david i's guessing game posts here so I thought I'd start one of my own.



/Woody

Thanks...

I won this vac-fil Balance from eBay and it showed up today. I was kinda bummed to find it was exactly like another pen I have... except for one cool feature. Can you spot it?

At first glance seems like a conventional Statesman (though the pencil is military clip and would match different pen).

I see no trim anomalies at first peek on the ebay pictures, which of course are rather limited.

I don't suppose you found a flex nib lurking??? Those are not common amongst Lifetime Sheaffer nibs.

-d

[haywoody]

Well, yeah, it's flexy but that's not really what I was getting at. It has something extra... and that extra thing is actually something it's missing. Confused?

/Woody

[david i]

Well, yeah, it's flexy but that's not really what I was getting at. It has something extra... and that extra thing is actually something it's missing. Confused?

/Woody

I could be missing it too. Still, I note we are not given a good view of clip-side for the pen.

The cap-ring at first glance looks to be of appropriate girth for white-dot pen. If lacking white dot (and has radius clip) and has cap-ring appropriate to Statesman, this would be interesting. If it has cap-ring appropriate to non-white-dot ($5 pen) and has Lifetime nib, then the nib is inappropriate to pen.

Other than that, I'm missing it.

regards

david

[haywoody]

I'm working on taking a shot of it now... need to process and upload. Take a closer look at the nib on the eBay shot (the one that is almost in focus). I didn't notice it either but now that I have the pen in hand, when I look back at that shot it's obvious.

/Woody

[david i]

I'm working on taking a shot of it now... need to process and upload. Take a closer look at the nib on the eBay shot (the one that is almost in focus). I didn't notice it either but now that I have the pen in hand, when I look back at that shot it's obvious.

/Woody

Well, I was on the right track. Nib shot is very limited. Few of us would object to finding an original music nib.

d

[haywoody]

Bingo.



So my usual question: how common are they?

It will be heading out for a proper restoration soon.

/Woody

[david i]

Bingo.



So my usual question: how common are they?

It will be heading out for a proper restoration soon.

/Woody

How common are they...?

The answer would be, "NOT".

If you want to sell, or trade for a nice restored pen of related ilk, lever fill in better color, or something... do drop me a line at isaacson@frontiernet.net

Hmmm.... that line should stir the ol' pot a bit. And, here I've been trying to put Vacumania on hold for a few weeks. Ah well... I like music nibs.

I do find interesting the pen has "14k". Many believe that to be a late finding (most Balance Lifetime nibs lacking that).

regards

David

[haywoody]

David, thanks for playing along, for the information and for the offer. I want to hold on to the pen for now. If I ever decide to unload it I will give you first right of refusal... seriously.

This was one of two out-of-the-ordinary, brown, vac-fil Balances from eBay this week. The other is not quite as exciting but I will try to find some time to shoot it and post tomorrow.


G'night!


/Woody

[david i]

David, thanks for playing along, for the information and for the offer. I want to hold on to the pen for now. If I ever decide to unload it I will give you first right of refusal... seriously.

/Woody

I completely understand

d

[Hugh]

Amazing find!! Never seen one ebay before...of course nobody (or at least not two ) saw this either. And on such an ordinary looking pen.....not looks just model wise.

Regards
Hugh

[haywoody]

I agree that it's a pretty odd pen to find such a unique nib on. Not complaining though...

Hugh, have you seen any outside of eBay? The only mention I could find on the interweb was a music nib on a 40's Triumph pen on the PenHero site.

Here's the second pen I mentioned:





So... any idea why the barrel transparency is so extensive? The cap threads on the barrel have quite a few stress cracks but the pen is clean with a sharp imprint. I was wondering if the cracks might indicate overexposure to UV or some chemical? Any insight from the crew here would be appreciated.

/Woody

[david i]

I agree that it's a pretty odd pen to find such a unique nib on. Not complaining though...

Hugh, have you seen any outside of eBay? The only mention I could find on the interweb was a music nib on a 40's Triumph pen on the PenHero site.

Here's the second pen I mentioned:

SNIP

So... any idea why the barrel transparency is so extensive? The cap threads on the barrel have quite a few stress cracks but the pen is clean with a sharp imprint. I was wondering if the cracks might indicate overexposure to UV or some chemical? Any insight from the crew here would be appreciated.

/Woody

I sense great evil here. Something bad happened to the pen. The black stripes (barring artifact of the photo) have gone pale, indicative of major chemical event.

regards

David

[Mike Kirk]

Awesome find, Woody!! I'm salivating.
When you get it restored and clean up that nib, post some nice shots in the gallery! Sheaffers music nibs are very scarce from what I've seen.

No matter how cruddy a Sheaffer looks when I see one in the wild, I ALWAYS ask to see it up close (from their usual locked case locations in the Antique Malls). I'm hoping that one day I'll uncap one of those stripers and find a music nib underneath. If so, I'll likely gasp or blurt out something that will immediately double the sellers price. Still, it makes the thrill of the hunt even more fun!

Best,
Mike

[haywoody]

I sense great evil here. Something bad happened to the pen. The black stripes (barring artifact of the photo) have gone pale, indicative of major chemical event.

regards

David

I hope the evil has fled or I might have to bury it in the yard after sacrificing a neighbor's pet with it.

That makes sense to me. It is really odd-looking... at some angles it looks fully transparent. Others, the former stripes are semi-opaque and shimmery.

Cheers,
Woody

[matt]

Here's the second pen I mentioned:

Is that a rubber plug at the end of the barrel?? Tsk, tsk.

[haywoody]

It is indeed a rubber plug; somebody took the shortcut.

So back to the oddly transparent pen... I spotted another on eBay: http://cgi.ebay.com/...T#ht_2618wt_907

Seems that maybe this was an issue with a batch of celluloid?

/Woody

[Teej47]

So back to the oddly transparent pen... I spotted another on eBay: http://cgi.ebay.com/...T#ht_2618wt_907

Seems that maybe this was an issue with a batch of celluloid?

/Woody

Whoa, that is odd, isn't it? Looks like the evil twin of your pen.

Tim

[matt]

Whoa, that is odd, isn't it? Looks like the evil twin of your pen.

Tim

It's still got the tag on the clip!!

[Pedro]

I saw one just like it at the Chicago Pen Show...thanks to David for steering me away from it. What could have caused this?