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Mythbusters: are "51" collectors just clear or black?


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#1 Richard

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Posted 28 December 2013 - 12:25 AM

It's long been something of an article of faith that collectors for the "51" were machined of transparent acrylic (including the red collectors in the first-year demonstrators) until the arrival of the Mark II in 1962, which brought with it black injection-molded plastic collectors. Well, fans, 'tain't so, at least not entirely. Today I opened up a black 2Q1944 "51" with a Lustraloy cap. This pen was captured in the wild, and it had obviously had no restoration. Here's the machined acrylic collector I found in it.

 

pink_51_collector.jpg

 

Comments?


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#2 david i

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Posted 28 December 2013 - 12:32 AM

Hi Richard,

 

Neat item.   I have some pertinent comments, though they are not "faith based" ;)

 

I'll hold off for a bit, though my info is complementary not contradictory, in order to let some others who play here opine, before tossing out my jaded (or is that nassaud) spin.
 

That's a nice find

 

regards

 

david


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#3 FarmBoy

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Posted 28 December 2013 - 02:57 AM

I likely see the insides of more 51s than most. Not to imply I hoard them but as our board sponsor will confirm, they do pile up.

Buckskin collector. Unusual. As the Doc suggests, Nassau collectors turn up, as have Mustard and Cedar to go with the usual clear or less usual black. Usually found (by me) in other people's pens from 1943-44.

One can postulate that Parker used whatever rod was available to conserve material due to war constraints. Perhaps a rod lot didn't meet specifications (color, dimension, etc.) and couldn't become barrels, hoods, or blind caps but it could work as collectors as the are unseen.

Suspect someone like TL or ES has all the known standard vacumatic barrel colors in collectors.

T

#4 matt

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Posted 28 December 2013 - 04:37 AM

ES has a buncha different colors.

#5 david i

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Posted 28 December 2013 - 07:31 AM

Jumping back in.

 

I have seen Nassau and Yellowstone collectors. Owned one in Yellowstone in a matching pen.  Nice to see  a Buckskin.

 

Whether these started out randomly, using on hand stock for reasons uncertain (ran out of clear plastic one day?) or done in limited fashion only for matching pens, I don't know.  I'd not seen any in the common colors, though I see a Cedar sighting was cited above.

 

Quirks like this add interest to pens.  Similarly we find flat-top Sheaffers whose inner caps are made of late striped plastic.

 

Sometimes such quirks are readily visible.

 

All the Sheaffers below have an off-catalogue or anomalous feature.  The killer finding?  A matching  (non-black) gripping section, the only claimed to the hobby in this color, maybe in any color for Balance

 

sheaffer_grayred_spread950b.jpg

 

regards

 

David


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#6 david i

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Posted 28 December 2013 - 10:00 AM

This is the first Buckskin collector I've seen, though the colored collectors are quite scarce in general.

 

regards

 

david


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#7 David Nishimura

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Posted 28 December 2013 - 08:02 PM

I have a little collection of colored collectors as well.

I suspect the reason we usually see them in the rarer colors is that they had a higher reject rate, perhaps largely due to color matching issues. Some colors are easier to achieve with consistent results, whereas other pigments are less stable and don't play as well when mixed with certain polymers. Rubber is notoriously difficult to color with certain pigments and hues, for example; I have no direct experience with acrylic, but just from observing the color shifts and ranges in old 51s, you can get a pretty good idea of which colors were easy and which were difficult.



#8 Mike Hosea

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Posted 28 December 2013 - 08:59 PM

The killer finding?  A matching  (non-black) gripping section, the only claimed to the hobby in this color, maybe in any color for Balance

 

 

Wow, that's beautiful!  Is there a finding story behind that one?



#9 david i

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Posted 28 December 2013 - 10:27 PM

 

The killer finding?  A matching  (non-black) gripping section, the only claimed to the hobby in this color, maybe in any color for Balance

 

 

Wow, that's beautiful!  Is there a finding story behind that one?

 

 

Hello mhosea,

 

Glad you joined the Board recently.

 

I spotted the pen on ebay. It was paired with a Jade oversized Balance of superb color but with a major cap flaw. The cap band on the grayred pen of interest to me, iirc described as worn (dark), was  in fact heavily tarnished but with no brassing whatsoever. I spotted the anomalous gripping section in the limited ad photos. Figured I could replace the cap (I have a hefty cache of Balance parts) if necessary but to my pleasant surprise the cap turned out to be just fine. Tarnish is easy. Brassing would have been... less easy. ;)

 

There is no known manufacturer story regarding the pen. It was a quirk.  But, as per my PENnant Magazine, that's the quirky (off catalogue, anomalous) pen appeal greatly to me.

 

The other gray-red  Balances in that picture also have funky features of varying collecting significance.

 

regards

 

d


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#10 Prather

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Posted 05 January 2014 - 07:25 PM

Collectors can be found in a wide range colors scarce as they are...

 

Interesting color variations can also be found in the inner cap and sometimes in the ink pump rods.

 

51-Colors_zps7f08d301.jpg

 

Perhaps the most unusual  color in this group is the white?

 

Also, a strange connections exists between the double jewel blind cap and the inner cap.

 

They are almost identical except for the inner threads on the blind cap.  The "top" threads are identical (10-32) - one accommodates a jewel and the other a clip 'n tassie.  



#11 david i

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Posted 05 January 2014 - 09:41 PM

Hi Ralph,

 

I suspect some of those differences, at least among the vac plungers, represent differential ambering of the plastic, rather than original difference.

 

regards

David


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#12 Jos

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Posted 23 January 2014 - 02:07 PM

It's long been something of an article of faith that collectors for the "51" were machined of transparent acrylic (including the red collectors in the first-year demonstrators) until the arrival of the Mark II in 1962, which brought with it black injection-molded plastic collectors. Well, fans, 'tain't so, at least not entirely. Today I opened up a black 2Q1944 "51" with a Lustraloy cap. This pen was captured in the wild, and it had obviously had no restoration. Here's the machined acrylic collector I found in it.

 

I am not sure whether it is of any significance but I found a nassau green collector in a pen of similar age and colour: a black 2Q 1944 "51" with lustraloy cap (it is a double jeweled P51).

 

Is that a coincidence or are the coloured collectors found in P51s of the late war years only?


Edited by Jos, 23 January 2014 - 02:12 PM.





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