Thank you to everyone who came out to the Vancouver Public Library's Terry Salman branch last Thursday for our September meeting! It started out a bit chaotic --the building's fire alarms went off shortly after the meeting started, so we had to evacuate the library. It was a pleasant evening, but some of the people waiting outside with us had to leave the community center's swimming pool in their bathing suits :( After we were allowed back in, our pen club meeting resumed, and things went very smoothly.
We had a total of 15 people in attendance (including three brand-new members --Allan, Rosa, Vincent) for the meeting, whose primary topic was "Underrated Fountain Pens" . I snapped some photos of the stuff our members brought, so without further ado, here they are!
(all photos by me, Maja ~ please click on images to enlarge)
Newcomer Vincent brought along this wonderful Pilot 'Custom Legance Marble' celluloid (or Pilot-branded Namiki Impressions) fountain pen. I forgot to snap a photo of it, but Vincent also brought in his Pilot 'Heritage 91' with #5 nib, as one of his choices for underrated fountain pens.
New member Rosa brought her own gorgeous fountain pen, this Pelikan 'M600 White Tortoise' in the above photo (actually, I'm not sure if it's a M600 or M400, but the nib on it wrote very smoothly when I tried it). The third newcomer at our September meeting -- Allan--- actually attended our August meetup at the Vancouver Pen Shop, but he hadn't joined the club yet.
Allan mentioned being a big fan of the TWSBI 'Eco' fountain pen.Speaking of TWSBIs ... VPCer Oscar brought along his TWSBI 'Vac700R' Kyanite (above) as an example of an underrated fountain pen. Oscar also had high praise for his beloved Pilot Custom 823 fountain pen.
Paul brought these two Pilot 'Metropolitan' fountain pens (above) for our primary topic, as well as a couple of cool new acquisitions ---two Livescribe Smartpens!
Stuart brought along three examples of underrated fountain pens---(L-R, above) his Cross 'Apogee', Sheaffer 'Taranis' and Faber-Castell 'e-Motion' pens...
... and Jerred brought his Online 'Vision' "Nature Style Rosewood" (far left) as his example of an underrated fountain pen model. Jerred mentioned that Online fountain pens (which are German-made) are available in a wide variety of nib widths, another reason to give this overlooked brand a second look.Our secondary meeting topic is always "Newest Acquisitions". The white fountain pen in the middle is Jerred's new Jinhao '10' (the newest member of the "Pilot Vanishing Point Fan Club" 😂), while the shiny black ebonite fountain pen next to it is another new purchase of his.
Above: David C. brought this Parker '21' (a model I was thinking of bringing!) for our primary topic. He also brought in an all-plastic fountain pen that strongly resembles a Parker 'VS' (but it might be a 'VS' clone--David's not sure), and a later version of a Wearever 'Pacemaker".
At the meeting, Grant told us that he brought the oldest and newest (by manufacturing date) pens in his collection --- the vintage Conklin 'Crescent-Filler' (ca. 1909) above......and this modern Conklin 'Crescent-Filler'. Grant (who's a big vintage pen fan) later told me that the modern Crescent-filler has been his daily writer for over a month! He commended Conklin for resurrecting their crescent-filling mechanism with this model, rather than using a cartridge/converter filling mechanism.
Above: David's Parker '21' and a new acquisition belonging to James--a handsome standard-sized Parker 'Vacumatic' "Burgundy Pearl" Lockdown-filler that he bought at the recent San Francisco Pen Show.Above: At the pen show, James also acquired this exquisite red ripple ebonite Safety Pen. It's next to Stuart's cool mid-century modern Parker desk set, which consists of a cube-shaped base made of solid aluminum and a ballpoint desk pen.
Shona didn't leave the SF Pen Show empty-handed, either (although she and James said it was a very busy show, with a lot of vendors selling out of some items by Sunday) - at the pen show, she acquired this stunning Sailor x YouSTYLE 'Professional Gear Slim' "Hamachidori" Limited Edition. Hamachidori is the Japanese name for the plover, a small wading bird, seen in gold on the pen's cap and barrel.
More new acquisitions! These are Asifa's beautiful new Lamy 'Studio' "Royal Red" fountain pen and her vintage brushed stainless steel Parker '180', a dual-sided fountain pen; both pens were gifts/trades from her friend (and our fellow VPC member) Renz!
The pens on the far right are two Cross Century Classic (or Century I) fountain pens that I brought in for our primary topic, while the rest are my newer acquisitions (L-R): Radius 1934 'Settimo' "Cielo Blu", Cross 'All-American' "Courage", a Karas Pen Co. "INK V2" in white Delrin, a red Jinhao 51A with a 0.7 mm factory italic nib (a great deal for under $3 CAD shipped!), an Ensso 'Bolt' capless fountain pen, a Retro 51 rollerball "Harriet Tubman" edition, a Cross 'Clic' ballpoint/stylus, and a vintage Sheaffer 'Reminder' ballpoint I got from Paul in July. The ink sample above is the official 2024 SF Pen Show ink---Colorverse's "San Francisco Bay" -- which I got from James & Shona (thank you both again!).
The eye-catching green, yellow and white fountain pen above my pen case is one that I purchased from fellow VPCer Anson during our meeting, a kitless fountain pen he made himself under his Springfield Pens brand! 😊 On his official website, Anson called the pen "Green Beach", but it's made of a polyurethane resin called "Aspen Valley". No matter the name, it's a gorgeous, well-made fountain pen with the Springfield Pens hummingbird logo engraved on it ---a lovely touch. Thank you again, Anson, for this very special fountain pen!
Rene, as usual, brought in lot of interesting fountain pens for us to see! In the top row of the photo above are his vintage Wearever 'De Luxe 100' fountain pens, one of Rene's under-rated fountain pen models. For a modern example of an underrated model, Rene brought in some Sheaffer '100' fountain pens, including the "Friends of Winter" special edition line (not shown in photos).
There are also some Wearever sub-brands (such as Arnold, in the top row above) in Rene's pen case, as well as some Parker look-alikes (in the bottom row, above). Rene also showed us his newest acquisitions--a green Rotary fountain pen, a Gold Starry (?), an Eagle in a wonderful blue and gold plastic, a Parker Challenger, and a Wearever 'Pioneer' - that he acquired at the CFPE picnic earlier this month.
Many thanks to everyone who came to our September meeting, whether you brought in lots of pens to show, a few pens, or no pens at all -- the main thing is that you brought yourself and your enthusiasm for our hobby!
We look forward to seeing you at our October meeting on Saturday October 19th from 11:30am to 2:00pm at the Kensington VPL branch, which is a brand-new venue for our club---full info in the previous blog post!
Best wishes for a happy Autumn,
~Maja