April Showers Redux (with photos this time!)

Many thanks to all 18 VPC members (including newcomers Stephanie, Aaron, Adrian, Mavis & Steve) who braved the rain (and traffic tie-ups) to attend last night's meeting. Our theme for April was 'Constant Comment'- Pens that evoke interest/comments whenever you pull them out (which, Bruce explained, was inspired by this tea) .
Bruce started the informal show & tell by showing us his Waterman Charleston, Retro 51 'Double Eight' green marbled special edition and Pelikan M800 fountain pens, which have elicited comments from both pen people & non-pen people alike (bonus points to Bruce for the latter!). Sienca brought a perennial favourite - the fabulous Parker '51', Bob brought a lovely urushi lacquered Dani Trio fountain pen, Anne brought her Cross 'Matrix'- a cool old-style stylus & fountain pen combo, Julienne brought her Platinum President, a very large pen with an incongruously-fine (but very smooth-writing) needlepoint nib, and Joie brought her adorable Sailor Sapporo "Hello Kitty" fountain pen, as well a Waterman Exception Slim in the gorgeous Raspberry colour.
For new acquisitions, Mark brought a stunning vintage OMAS desk set he recently picked up, James showed us his new "sumgai" find---a Montblanc StarWalker pen he found in a pawn shop overseas, and Stuart displayed the newest additions to his budding collection of Lady Sheaffers, as well as a Kaweco "Student" fountain pen. In addition to his oft-commented-on Lamy '2000', Greg brought along some brand-new nylon pen cases by NOCK he recently acquired, including this zippered roll case which had everyone oohing & aahing (because it's such an awesome idea):

NOCK started a Kickstarter campaign and have produced several styles of pen cases. For more info, take a peek at this page.

I brought a few pens (my tiny Sailor Chalana, a Pilot M90 & Pilot Vanishing Point, a Sheaffer Snorkel), including this love-it-or-hate-it Rotring "Core" fountain pen, which is actually a nice writer...it just looks weird :

Our May meeting will be held on Thursday May 15 at our usual venue (Perks pen store at 5844 Cambie Street in Vancouver, BC) from 6:30pm-8:30pm. Theme: To Be Announced. We will be having our twice-annual Ink Swap (bottled ink , ink cartridges and ink samples, too) during our May meeting, so please bring any ink(s) you'd like to trade.