Many table holders did not make the trip to LA due to the weather. There was enough demand that many of the vacated tables were quickly picked by others. Tim managed to acquire tables right behind his usual spot. I call this the “Straits of Gibraltar” maneuver.
While the dealers were busy setting up, others took the time to shop. Thus I have renamed Ron Lee the ‘pen vulture’.
It is my tradition to photograph the first person in line so I went out to the lobby where I found no line. This also disturbed quite a few dealers when they saw no line. The show had decided to form the line outside rather than inside the lobby. Process improvement. 
The show organizers also had people pay and received their tags and swag before 10 am. So in principle, people could just enter once the show opened. That was the idea.
The line
Nearly to the end of the hotel. 
LA 2014 Pen Show Report
#21
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journeyman
Posted 18 February 2014 - 05:00 AM
#22
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journeyman
Posted 18 February 2014 - 05:00 AM
Meanwhile inside
Susan Bowen of Penworld prepping the table with magazines.
Bryant and his wife setting up their table (He’s actually in focus)
Maxim and his wife Anna
One of the nicest displays in the ballroom
Jonella arming the Nakaya deskpen holder
Mike setting up
Edited by AltecGreen, 18 February 2014 - 05:07 AM.
#23
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journeyman
Posted 18 February 2014 - 05:00 AM
With seven minutes to go, I park myself in the outer hallway preparing to take pictures.
a few calibration shots
Time!
After a few minutes, there was no rush and the line remained outside. It seems people who just entered the show were filling out forms for a drawing and a pile of people were still trying to pay in another line. So typical for LA there was a traffic jam. Eventually something happened and the line began to move.
Edited by AltecGreen, 18 February 2014 - 05:10 AM.
#24
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journeyman
Posted 18 February 2014 - 05:01 AM
It takes a while but the crowd finally makes it way inside the ballroom
It was good to see Richard Lott stay for Sunday. It was an opportunity for some of the Sunday attendees to buy pen parts.
I saw Cliff Harrington spend time explaining some details of certain vintage pens.
There were a good number of kids at the show. I saw this cute Chinese family take things in.
There was a big crowd at nibs.com
There were several of the next generation manning tables
Michael Sull always attracts a crowd with his penmanship
#25
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journeyman
Posted 18 February 2014 - 05:01 AM
Mike and his mystery guest had a steady but not overwhelming stream of customers. If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m not going to reveal who Mike’s mystery guess was. We were asked not to give any details while we were at the show for good reasons. 
People testing nibs at Franklin Christoph
Mario answering questions
Brandon packaging up several orders of truffles. Hmmmmmm……so good.
Mary enjoying a snack during a late afternoon lull.
Stan and Miro looking at pens
Syd with a customer
Roger and Darlene
Even though Sunday is focused more on modern pens, Cliff Harrington put out for display some incredible vintage pens. A Parker Aztec, Parker Snake, Parker Ribbon pen, two hard rubber Parker pens with a gold filled and silver overlay, and a rare Parker Overlay pen. I’ve seen some of these pens before but these were exceptional examples of each.
#26
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journeyman
Posted 18 February 2014 - 05:01 AM
Sunday Miscellany
Some Peilkan porn courtesy of Rick Propas
It even still works.
Marta (aka Plitsumi) was happy. First, she made it out on the last plane to leave New York before the storm shut everything down. In my mind, I had images of her plane taking off as the ice encased New York. Then she proceeds to spend money like I do.
Here’s her second Rossi pen for the show
She bought this beautiful Stylo Art Rankaku pen so so didn’t have to buy it.
Nice Overmax Parker Vac
My Stuff
Stan had some interesting pens for sale. A rare Centro Pen from the Czech Republic (according to Miroslav Tischler), a Soviet era pen, and a hard to find Platinum 3776 in the Parker like ringed celluloid.
Lots of luxury goods
I love bargain boxes of pens. These actually all work.
Fred negotiating with David I.
Fred bought the MB Boheme from David. Loren proceeded to earn OPM points by finding a single pen MB pouch to go with the pen. Fred needed to go to the ATM because the bank of Ricky was closed.
I think this picture sums up Sunday and the show as a whole. While I was walking around on Sunday, this gentleman insisted I take his picture. I think the smile says it all.
I have some observations to close this report. Sunday was busy. It was not as heavy as last year but there was constant activity well into the late afternoon. The pace this year was much more manageable for the dealers. Last year, it was complete chaos on Sunday. I think the LA Show has been very good the last two years. It was a really good buying show this year and I think others have echoed the same sentiment. Both the tables and hotel rooms sold out early. I know people were still trying to get tables once the show started. It seems the LA show wants to be bigger.
We’ve been having discussions in our local Pen Posse about vintage pen prices. This show did not give us any new surprises. The pricing on the nipper echelon pens have remained stable or even gone down significantly in some areas. The low end vintage pens like an Esterbrook or a single jewel Parker 51 have all come up the last few years. I suspect the internet has a great deal to do with the increases on the pricing of lower end vintage pens.
On the modern pen front, I sense some shifts. I don’t have any specific evidence but I think the race for bigger and wider pens have subsided. I had conversations with one particular manufacturer about their pens and the comments were surprising. Their clientele are buying less of the F/M/B nibs on pens that used go into a safe. Instead, they are asking for EF, F and M italics, and other specialty nibs. That is to say people buying these higher end luxury pens are buying them to use rather than store away.
Edited by AltecGreen, 18 February 2014 - 05:52 AM.
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