A few photos from our July meeting

We had a good turnout for our July meeting, held at the Renfrew branch of the Vancouver Public Library on Thursday July 16; I counted at least 34 people in attendance, including newcomers Chris, Daphne, and Sam L! It was just a casual get-together with lots of pen, ink and statoinery chats going on, so I had a bit of time to take a few photos of the items our members brought to show others....

(photos by Maja ~ please click on images to enlarge)

That's Andrii's new Enigma notebook by Taroko (with fountain-pen-friendly Tomoe River paper) and a Waterman 'Hemisphere' fountain pen he got from a pen friend.

Andrii told me that when he got it, the pen wouldn't write, so he removed the feed and discovered it was inserted incorrectly at some point; apparently, the feed is keyed (but very subtly so) and has to be put into the section at exactly the right orientation or the incorrect nib-feed alignment won't allow for the ink to flow. Well done, Andrii!

Stuart's brand-new Sheaffer '300' "Coffee Edition" in Matt Brown with Regal Brown Trims.

From Sheaffer's official website: "This beautiful pen features a rich dark coffee brown hue, accented with a refined cup and heart emblem on the cap." 😊 Stuart recently bought the pen from the Vancouver Pen Shop downtown. Sheaffer was sold to William Penn (an Indian luxury writing instruments retailer) in 2022 and it's good to see its new owners coming out with cool new stuff like this special edition fountain pen.

Jerred recently acquired a red and black marbled Filcao 'Columbia' fountain pen, shown above next to its larger counterpart, the Filcao 'Atlantica' "Lapis". The 'Columbia' model came out in 2004 and was followed by the 'Atlantica'; both pens use a button-filling mechanism. Jerred did a nice review of the 'Atlantica' on our club's website a few years back (posted here).

One of our newer members, Richard P, brought two lovely Pelikan fountain pens he recently acquired--the M200 'Orange Delight' and a M205 'Star Ruby'!

(I took this photo on the hood of my car, in the library parking lot, after the meeting lol)

I purchased the beautiful Galen Leather x NOCK Lookout pen case in Deep Cognac (part of their Legacy Collection) from Buchan's Kerrisdale Stationery earlier this month, and I love it! The leather is supple and gorgeous-looking, and the inside of the case is lined with silk.

The three fountain pens I had inside the case are (left to right) a wonderful Stipula fountain pen with a Titanium nib that I bought from Mark & Sharon (in our pen club) of PenDen.ca, a Levenger 'Plumpster' in "Tides" resin, and a Narwhal (Nahvalur) Voyage Cult Pens exclusive (made specially for the well-known UK retailer) that I got from a dear pen friend (that you so much, Bonnie! 🙌)

Our thanks to everyone who came to our July meeting at the Renfrew VPL branch this month!
Information about our August meeting is in this post: https://www.vancouverpenclub.com/2026/07/august-2026-meeting-meet-up-at.html

(~Blog post by Maja~)

Happy New Year 2025!

(above: my Narwhal 'Nautilus' Pelagia Noctiluca ebonite fountain pen)

Hope you can make it to one (or more) of our meetings this year! 😀 If you have any questions about our club, please contact us at vancouverpenclub@gmail.com
Best wishes to all in 2025!
~Maja

Excellent turnout for our March meeting!

Our March meeting was held on the 21st of the month at the Vancouver Public Library's Kitsilano Branch Meeting Room. Twenty-three members were present, including brand-new member Robert!

This month's primary meeting theme was "Neglected Fountain Pens" (which was suggested by Stuart) and our secondary topic was --as usual-- "Newest Acquisitions". It was a very busy meeting, but I snapped a few photos, so here they are...

(photos by Maja ~ please click on images to enlarge)

That's Julian's colourful new Narwhal (Nahvalur) Schuykill 'Asfur Bronze' fountain pen in between Robert's Montblanc '146' (which belonged to his father) and his Graf von Faber-Castell 'Tamitio', Robert's "daily driver" (the orange Crown Mill paper was a gift to me from Stuart).

Peter R's newest acquisition - an elegant Aurora 'Ipsilon Deluxe', a purchase he said was inspired by the pens he saw (VPCer Phil's Aurora 'Ipsilon Deluxe', perhaps? ;) last month, at his first meeting

Grant's modern Parker '51' (a pen he intensely dislikes and, therefore, neglects lol) and his new acqusition, a vintage Wahl-Eversharp 'Oxford' (I love that twisted celluloid material!)

(Above) A nice-but-neglected silver Faber-Castell 'Grip' belonging to Emilio, our youngest member (who came to the meeting with his father Chris, whose own neglected fountain pen was a hard-starting Waterman 'Charleston'--not shown-- that was later fixed), and Paul's new Hero and Eagle fountain pens (hope I ID'd them correctly!).

A shiny Lamy 'Al-Star' in Pacific Blue (the 2017 special edition colour for the 'Al-Star'), a new acquisition of Peter H's.

Stuart's Graf von Faber-Castell 'Classic' Anello Grenadilla, a lovely pen that he recently acquired from the Vancouver Pen Shop. The pen was made from Grenadilla wood and is decorated with platinum-plated metal rings on its barrel.

Stuart's newest acquisition - a handsome vintage Parker '51' Vacumatic in Cedar Blue, with a 16K gold-filled cap.

For our primary topic, Stuart brought in this classy (but neglected, for some reason unknown to him lol) Sheaffer Legacy Heritage "Palladium Deep Cut" fountain pen...

 (Above) A couple of new fountain pens I recently acquired---a red Pelikan 'Ineo' and my Pelikan M200 'Orange Delight'.

I forgot to photograph a tiny Favorite branded lever-filler (not a ringtop!) that I brought for our primary topic.  It's neglected because of its miniscule size, but it's adorable and I love it. When I first started collecting, I collected mostly vintage fountain pens...actually smaller vintage pens because they were cheaper than full-sized pens. I accumulated quite a few over the years, but they weren't getting used as they were simply too small for my hands (I wound up selling them to the good folks at Anderson Pens at the 2015 L.A. Pen Show).

David L. brought in several interesting things to show us, including a new acquisition, his burgundy Parker "New Slimfold" fountain pen (center of photo above). At first glance, it appeared to be a Parker '45' (or a Parker 'Arrow--essentially a '45' with a plastic cap), but it has a screw-on cap. Below the "New Slimfold" is David's Parker 'Jotter' ballpoint, which is a nice colour match for the fountain pen. Regarding his neglected fountain pens, David said that his Platinum 'Preppy' pens (not pictured) ---his earliest pen purchases-- aren't used as much any more.

The longer pens on either side of the Parkers are ones that David uses for his other hobby ---pen-spinning! David said he really got into pen-spinning...so much that he was actually mentioned in a book (shown above) on the topic.

Vladan brought in his father's green-striped Pelikan '140' --a highly-respected vintage fountain pen-- for our primary topic. The pen was neglected due to leaking issues, but Vladan later discovered that the leak was caused by a broken plastic nib collar. He acquired a replacement part, and happily, the pen was back in action.

The pen above it is a Osmia/Faber-Castell 884 fountain pen. The pen was manufactured after Osmia was acquired by Faber-Castell, so the pen's markings are a bit of an oddity-- the barrel has "Osmia" on one side and "Faber-Castell" on the other side, while the clip says "Osmia."

The bottom three pens are more of Vladan's newest acquisitions -- a Lamy Safari 'Violet Blackberry', a dark green Eureka Ebonite fountain pen with 'Dodecagon Diamond' cap (a very well-made pen, crafted by a small pen maker in South Korea), and a lovely purple Kaweco 'Sport' "Royal Amethyst demonstrator fountain pen (a Goldspot Pens exclusive).

The fountain pen at the top of the photo is Hadi's gorgeous modern Conway Stewart 'Total Blue Elegance' exclusive edition (with a stunning guilloché fox-head pattern, sterling silver trim and a sterling silver section), which he brought in for our primary meeting topic. Hadi told us that he was greatly drawn to the pen's appearance, but ultimately found the pen to be too heavy.

Longtime VPC member Glenn Marcus' own reason for not using his neglected fountain pens was different than Hadi's -- they were simply too skinny for his grip. Glenn started buying fountain pens in the 1970s and 80s, when slimmer pens were in fashion, but he later realized that they were too narrow. Glenn didn't bring his "neglected" pens to our meeting, but you can see the pens he *doesn't* neglect on his excellent website -- GlennsPens.com

Vladan forgot to show us this beautiful fountain pen during our meeting, but I snapped a photo of it afterwards. It's his new Leonardo Officina Italiana 'Momento Zero Grande 2.0' "Galattica" (Palladium trim) fountain pen. The pen was a limited numbered edition (only 300 pieces were produced) that was made in collaboration with the Tailored Pen Company, a well-known maker of high-quality resin blanks.

Andrew's Parker 'Sonnet' (neglected because it was surpassed by his vintage flexy-nibbed Parker 'Vacumatic'!) and Karen's black Knox 'Aristotle' fountain pen, which she purchased from the Birmingham Pen Company's online retail store. Karen says she doesn't use the pen much because it's a hard-starter.

I actually hadn't seen (or heard of) the Knox model before ---you never know what you'll see at one of our meetings! 😁

Karen's pretty pink Visconti 'Rembrandt' fountain pen, above the Knox....

And here's the newest addition to Jerred's amazing Delta fountain pen collection---a glossy Pearl Red Delta 'Journal' (with a "Tech & Web" imprint)! The pens below it are David C's vintage blue Esterbrook 'J' transitional model, and a vintage Parker '51' (I'm not sure to whom it belongs--please let me know if you're the owner :)

A couple of more photos of the really nice pens that newcomer Robert brought in --his Montblanc '146' and Graf von Faber-Castell 'Tamitio'

I'm sorry I didn't photograph Mark's NOS (New Old Stock) vintage pens at this meeting. Mark did a good job of explaining the different filling systems used by the pens; our club has a real mix of modern fountain pen aficionados and vintage fountain pen fans, so not everyone is necessarily familiar with the filling mechanisms utilized in vintage fountain pens.

Many thanks to everyone who came to our March meeting, whether you brought something to show or not. It was so nice to finally meet Jessica in person, and it was great to see Barry and Joe B. again (we hadn't seen them since the pandemic started), as well as Renz, who moved to central Canada last year. If you're reading this and you haven't been to one of our meetings in a long time, please don't be shy---just drop in and see what we're up to these days 😊 (no RSVPs required!)

I'm in the process of booking a venue for our April meeting, but when I do, I'll post the meeting details here on our blog (in the usual place --the top of the home page -- in big red letters). Until then, have a safe and happy Easter long weekend!
Cheers,
~Maja

Photos from October meeting at Buchan's! (part 2)

(* Note: Part 1 of the photos was posted earlier today - link)

And now, here are Sherman's photos from our pen club event at Buchan's Kerrisdale Stationery last Thursday night!

(all photos below taken by Sherman ~ please click on images to enlarge)

Sherman (with the sleep mask on) participating in the Great Canadian JoWo Bake Off Nib Test organized by our fellow VPC member Nathan (who was recording the event for his excellent YouTube channel "Doodlebud"), with VPC members Stewart and Jayne looking on (this was before it got really busy with onlookers!). 

(And in case you're wondering... No, Nathan wasn't being cruel; Sherman chose to wear that particular mask --instead of the plain black one that was also provided-- for the testing lol) In early November, Nathan posted the video of the nib-testing here: Doodlebud video- "Answering The BIG Fountain Pen Question - Gold Or Steel?"!

Buchan's also provided a variety of snacks (and Starbucks coffee!) for us to nibble on and drink during the meeting...

           

That's me with my door prize--a sweet Faber-Castell 'Grip' fountain pen in the satin-y "Pearl Turquoise"colour (I'm a huge fan of their steel nibs, so I was very pleased to have won the pen). Buchan's and the L.S.F. Group of Companies generously donated a bunch of nice fountain pens and inks for as door prizes -- many thanks to them both!

(Sherman won the same nice door prize as I did, but in the "Pearl Mint" colour!)

Sherman with some old & new friends (left to right): (Sherman), Rumi, Reem, Melanie, Vladan, Maria and April.

The folks at Buchan's set up tables and chairs around the store for attendees to use -- very handy, as they made it easier for us to show each other the pens/inks we brought/bought that evening ;)

That's Sherman again with (L-R) Rumi, Reem, Maria, (a lady whose name we don't know--please email us to let us know!), Rose, Shirley, and Oscar.

        

There was no meeting theme as it was primarily a social event, but Sherman brought an assortment of very nice fountain pens-- both modern and vintage- to show his fellow attendees. From left to right, in photo above:

élysée En Vogue (50 Line) Laque Leather Red 14K M Nib
élysée Parthenon (10 Line) Laque Trajan Blue 18K M Nib
Conklin All American Courage LE Red EF Nib
Hongdian Qin Dynasty Red 0.5mm Nib
Esterbrook J Blue Pearl & Chrome 1555 Nib
Esterbrook Estie Honeycomb Oversize GT F Nib
Hero Iridium Gold Postscript Gold Arrow Red 329-2 (Defect)
Narwhal Schuylkill Porpita Navy LE F Nib
Leonardo • Officina Italiana Furore 'Mosaico Hawaii' Vancouver Pen Club LE B Nib
Montblanc Slim Line Gunmetal F Nib

     

Above: Sherman's impressive Hongdian 'Qin Dynasty' fountain pen photographed against a complementary background--the festive napkins that Buchan's provided at the refreshments table.

Many thanks to everyone at Buchan's for making this evening so enjoyable and memorable! (and of course, our thanks to Sherman for all the photos he took ;)

(~Blog post by Maja~)

August meeting photos!

We had a full house for our August meeting, held at the Terry Salman branch of the Vancouver Public Library on the 17th---twenty VPC members, including four new members (Grant, James, Shona and Stewart) and one returning member who said he last attended a meeting in 2014 (Shiva)!

(all photos by Maja ~ please click on images to enlarge) 

Newcomer Grant showed us the two vintage Parker fountain pens that fellow VPC member Christopher restored for him---a Parker 'Challenger' in "Burgundy" from 1937 or 1938, and a Parker 'Vacumatic' "Silver Pearl" from mid-1945 (photo above). These two beautiful fountain pens belonged to Grant's great-uncles and have great sentimental value for him. Our August meeting's primary topic was "To fake or not to fake? That is the question! (Fountain Pen Knock-Offs/Fakes/Clones)" and Grant brought some pens in for this topic ---his Moonman/Mahjohn 'A1' fountain pen (a Pilot 'Vanishing Point' copy made in China) and a Hero '616' (a Parker '51' clone, also made in China).

Shiva also brought in a Hero copy of a famous vintage Parker - a Hero 329 fountain pen', a Parker '61' clone (he also generously gave out a couple of spare 329s he had :) He also showed us his daily carry pens--an authentic (heh) Parker '51' fountain pen and a Sheaffer 'Imperial' 440-- as well as a Sailor 'Profit Jr' and a Lamy 'Safari' (a fountain pen that Shiva says he often uses because it's so reliable). 

Jerred brought some interesting examples of knockoffs of modern fountain pens, such as the three in the photo above - (left to right) a Jinhao '80' (a Lamy '2000' quasi-clone with an open nib-- Jerred said he replaced the pen's nib with a real Lamy nib lol), a Hongdian '6013' (that looks like a thinner version of a Faber-Castell 'e-motion'), and a pretty convincing Faber-Castell "Ambition" knockoff made by an unknown manufacturer (Jerred said its cap is lighter than the Ambition's, making it more balanced when posted!)

Jerred also brought along these two examples by Moonman (which changed its name to Mahjohn, so I will refer to them interchangeably in this blog post) - a swirly, multicoloured Moonman 'M600S' (inspired by Parker's modern 'Duofold' models) and a lovely blue Moonman 'M800' (with a Bock nib) that bears a striking resemblance to a Leonardo 'Momento Zero' (Jerred reviewed the M800 here on our site).

That colourful acrylic used for Jerred's 'M600S' was also used by Moonman for their 'N2' model, which was featured in a nice write-up Daryl did for our website here. Daryl was at our August meeting and brought along a curious desk accessory, a pounce pouch, which absorbs oils from a writing surface, making it easier to write on.

 

Our secondary meeting topic is always "Newest Pen-Related Acquisitions" and Jerred brought along this recently-acquired very slender Delta fountain pen for that topic. It's the same early Delta model as the one he reviewed here three years ago (although that one was made of chrome and had a steel nib), but this one is made of sterling silver and has a really sweet-writing tiny gold nib on it.

Vladan also had some new acquisitions to show us -- a very cool-looking Pelikan 'Pelikano' P480 "Dragon" fountain pen (photo above), which came out in 2017 (love that "scaly" texture!)....

....and this intriguing Leonardo 'Momento Zero' Micarta limited edition fountain pen!

The pen was a collaboration between Leonardo Officina Italiana and the Italian pen store Stilo e Stile, and only 223 pens were produced. Micarta is the brand name of a composite material that consists of compressed layers of a substrate (cloth/paper/carbon fiber et al.) set in resin. The pen is a cartridge/converter-filler, so to prevent the section (which is also made of Micarta) from staining, Leonardo thoughtfully included two extra parts with the pen--a black section made of resin (that won't stain), and a long metal tube that attaches to the pen's converter (so you can fill the converter from a bottle without getting ink on your fingers).

We hadn't seen Nathan at a meeting in quite a while, so it was nice to see him again. He brought many of the fountain pens he acquired since the last time we saw him, including this group (top to bottom): a Graf von Faber-Castell 'Tamitio', a Kaweco 'Perkeo', a Lamy 'Aion', a brand-new Mahjohn 'V1' model, a faceted Pilot 'Vanishing Point", and an Esterbrook 'Estie' in "Tortoise" resin. The Estie sported a nib reground by nibmeister Joshua Lax; I tried it at the meeting, and it writes like a dream!

The three pens on the right are new acquisitions belonging to Nathan--- a lovely Waterman 'Carene' "Sea Green Shimmer", a Pineider 'Modern Times' fountain pen (with a very comfortable grip) in "French Racing Blue", and a huge Jinhao '9019' green demonstrator . The two pens on the far left are a matte black guilloché Mahjohn ‘A1’ model and a yellow Mahjohn 'A2’, well-made clones of the iconic Pilot 'Vanishing Point'.

The Mahjohn ‘A1’ models are all-metal, whereas the ‘A2’ is made of plastic and faceted. Both the 'A1' and 'A2' pens use the same nib unit --which can be purchased separately on AliExpress-- and the nib unit fits perfectly into a genuine Pilot VP. I didn't photograph it, but I believe Amy also brought a Mahjohn 'A2’ to the meeting (I accidentally left mine at home lol). The 'A1' is a very popular knockoff -- we saw several of them at the meeting (I left that one at home, too!), including a clipless version owned by Andy, who joined our club in 2020, but attended his first in-person meeting this month! Andy also brought in a very cool (non-knockoff) fountain pen, an Ensso 'Italia' (which Nathan also brought --see post below).

Six more nice fountain pens belonging to Nathan, five of which were made by small pen makers around the globe; the one made by a larger manufacturer is the gorgeous Nahvalur 'Horizon' "Twilight" model, the second pen from the left. The other five are (left to right): a sleek, teal-coloured aluminum Gravitas 'Entry' fountain pen made in Ireland by Ben Walsh, a hefty little stainless steel Shibui North 'Pocket Fox' "Sky Flame pocket fountain pen made in the UK by Ruth Bolton, a titanium Ensso 'Italia' and an 'Italia' in "PM4" (Primary Manipulation 4 resin) made by an award-winning California-based design company, and a Eureka 'Symmetry' fountain pen (made of PEEK plastic) that was manufactured in South Korea. Oh, and in case you're wondering -- Nathan anodized the titanium Ensso 'Italia' himself, and he also engraved the Shibui pen at the request of the manufacturer for his YouTube review of it (Nathan's awesome YouTube pen review channel can be found here). 

We also some lovely new pen accessories at our meeting; I didn't photograph them, but Yang (who just joined our club last month) showed us her two new beautiful leather pen cases by Galen Leather --a 6-pen zippered case and a 4-pen 'Slip and Zip' case.  

It was good to see longtime VPC member Sam again, as well. Sam showed us some really great fountain pens, including the two above-- a Namiki Vanishing Point" from the mid-1990s (top pen) with "Namiki" engraved on its clip, and a Pilot 'Capless' from the mid-1960s with a Pilot-branded clip. The 'Capless' fountain pen model name was changed to 'Vanishing Point' in 1973; for more information on the VP/Capless models, check out Carmen Rivera's excellent "Pilot Vanishing Point Pen History" page.

Above: Sam also brought in this eye-catching Nahvalur 'Nautilus' fountain pen (love those little "portholes" which act as ink-view windows for this piston-filling pen!). I believe this is the "Stylophora Berry" model, which is made of ebonite...

Asifa brought in a Jinhao X159 (a very large plastic pen with a huge #8 nib, inspired by Montblanc's  famous '149' model) for our primary topic. I didn't snap a photo of that pen, but I did take a photo of her Jinhao 'X750' (above) The pen had belonged to her brother, who got Nathan to grind its nib (and yes, it writes beautifully).

Above: This vintage pen belonging to Christopher is trying hard to be a Parker 'Vacumatic' and it's doing a good job...but it's a lever-filler, not a button-filler like the genuine article! The manufacturer's name isn't on the pen, but it's certainly a handsome vintage "Vacumatic' knock-off.

We actually used the topic of fountain pen knockoffs for our September 2017 meeting, but the examples I brought to this month's meeting (in the photo below) were all acquired by me since then! I think that's because there are a lot more fountain pen clones being made now compared to 2017 ... but the quality of some is actually very good (the Majohn 'A1', for one). Many of our members expressed that they were not against pens being copied, as long as the original manufacturer's name and/or the original model name wasn't on the pen. 

 (To see a super-sized version of the photo: left-click on it, then right-click & select "Open image in new tab" or "View image", then left-click on the image in the newly-opened tab).

Anyway, here's what I brought last week for our primary topic:
Upper left quadrant (left to right):an all-black Jinhao '65' (a Lamy 'cp1' clone I reviewed here), Jinhao '80' (Lamy 2000-inspired), two Jinhao '82' models (Sailor 'ProGear Slim'/'Sapporo' knockoffs), Jinhao '85' (a Parker '51' clone; Andy reviewed his here), Jinhao '86' (which is the same as the '85' model, but with a plastic barrel) in dark green.
Lower left (L-R): Jinhao '86' in orange, Jinhao '100' (inspired by the modern Parker 'Duofold and reviewed here by me), a burgundy Jinhao 'X159', two Jinhao '166' fountain pens (Faber-Castell 'Ondoro'-inspired, but the Jinhao pens aren't particularly inspiring-ha!) and a Jinhao '992' (a Sailor ProGear Colour' clone).
Upper right quadrant (L-R): Moonman '80S' (a Parker '45' knockoff), Moonman 'P135' (Montblanc "Petit Prince Aviator" knockoff), a striped Moonman 'M700' (yet another Parker 'Duofold' clone!), Moonman 'M800' (Leonardo 'Momento Zero' knockoff), and two Wing Sung '699' fountain pens (well-made clones of the venerable Pilot 'Custom 823')
Lower right (L-R): HYL Demonstrator (a clone of a Moonman pen - the 'M1 !), Hero '565' (which is supposed to look like a Sheaffer 'PFM'), Yiren '401' (a knockoff of a Lamy 'Vista', but with an iridescent clip and nib), a Blackbird 'Imperial' (Parker '45' copy made in India) and a Wancher 'Forward' model (which I got from Jerred in a trade a while back). The Wancher looks like a Lamy '2000' from the outside-- its clip is different, though-- and like the Jinhao '80', it doesn't have a hooded nib; it is, however, a much better-made pen than the Jinhao. Lastly, the pen in the extreme lower right corner is one of my newest acquisitions, an authentic Faber-Castell 'Ondoro' in "Smoked Oak" that I recently won on eBay (for a great price).

I'm so sorry I didn't get a chance to photograph everyone's pens--it was a busy night with so many newcomers to welcome to our pen club (but I'm not complaining about that 😁!). New member Stewart showed us his Pilot 'Elite 95S'  and white Lamy 'Dialog 3' fountain pens, as well as a pen he bought at the Eurobox pen store in Tokyo--a gorgeous Italian-made 'Radius Superior'. Brand-new members James and Shona showed some pens they acquired at the recent Pacific Northwest Pen Show--Shona's new green Sailor fountain pen and James' vintage Sheaffer 'Balance'. They also brought in pens for our primary topic-- a Jinhao '80', a Jinhao '159' (an all-metal cousin of the X159 with a #6 nib), and a Jinhao '699'(a Lamy 'Safari' knockoff). We also saw Shona's very first fountain pen (a Pilot 'Metropolitan') and her Pelikan M205, whose nib was reground at the pen show by Gena Salorino of CustomNibStudio.com. James showed us some other recent acquisitions--a tiny all-metal Waterman lever-filler, and a Staedtler drafting pen. As usual, longtime VPC member Rene brought in a wonderful assortment of pens for our primary and secondary topics. For our August meeting, he showed us a Baoer '388' (Parker 'Sonnet' clone), a very cool-looking all-black with red accents Jinhao '75' (another Parker 'Sonnet' clone!), a Parker '51' copy made by Wilson, as well as his new vintage Sheaffer desk set, a vintage Parker '51 Special' and a Cross 'Century Classic fountain pen'.

Many thanks to everyone who came to the meeting; whether or not you brought anything for our topics or just yourselves 😊, your attendance was very much appreciated! I'll post the details about our September meeting later this week, so please check the top of our homepage for the info in big red letters :) 

(~Blog post by Maja~)

A few photos from our August 18, 2022 in-person meeting!

Many thanks to everyone who turned out for our first in-person meeting since February 2020! It was great to see so many familiar faces (even behind your masks :) We had 14 members in attendance, and I think a very good time was had by all. In fact, in all the excitement, I forgot to get a group shot of us.... but I did snap some photos of what our members brought. Enjoy!

(all photos by Maja ~ please click on images to enlarge)

(Above) Just some of the pens and inks we saw on Thursday night at the Vancouver Public Library's Kitsilano branch meeting room. Our meeting topic/theme was "Newest Acquisitions", but because our club hadn't had an in-person meeting in over two years, some members brought a mixture of very recent purchases and older acquisitions for us to see, which was great!

Nathan brought some amazing fountain pens he purchased, including a couple of platinum fountain pens he later anodized himself, and some KWZ sheening inks (in the lower left of the photo) for us to sample (thanks, Nathan!) Kelley also brought some really nice fountain pens for us to see -- her Lamy 'Al-Star' in "Pacific Blue", a black Pilot 'Falcon', an orange Noodler's 'Nib Creaper' and a gorgeous Benu 'Euphoria' "French Poetry" fountain pen (all in the pic's lower right quadrant). The grey marbled pen next to her Lamy is a vintage Parker 'Challenger' that Kelley bought from Christopher, who brought an assortment of vintage fountain pens (the ones with the price tags on them :) to sell.

(Above) Stuart's beautiful Montblanc 'StarWalker Doué' fountain pen that he bought at the Vancouver Pen Shop's annual sale in the Fall of 2020. Every October, the Pen Shop has a month-long anniversary sale with reduced prices for almost all of the brands they carry, so start saving your pen money now!

(Above) The handsome Pelikan M605 Streseman fountain pen that Joie brought to our meeting.

If you're reading this and would like to attend the Vancouver 2022 Pelikan Hub, make sure you register at  https://www.pelikan-hubs.com/ before August 21, 2022. This isn't a Vancouver Pen Club event, but I'm sure a lot of our club members will be there.

(Above) Rene's gorgeous vintage Parker 'Moderne'/'Duette Jr' fountain pen in the amazing "Bronze and Blue" celluloid. Rene also showed us many more great vintage pens, including two large Eclipse flat tops, some Parker 'Vacumatics' and more. We saw a lot of vintage Parkers (belonging to several different members) at the meeting, which attests to their enduring popularity among vintage pen fans.

(Above) Stuart's 1948 Parker '51' Aerometric "Magnetix" desk set (reviewed by Stuart here), which positively glows! Photos cannot do this beautiful vintage desk set justice.

(Above): The wonderful Robert Oster "Australian Shiraz" ink I got from Alejandra (thanks, Alejandra!), and a brand-new Pilot 'Lightive' fountain pen that Stuart bought earlier this week at the Vancouver Pen Shop. From what I've read, the 'Lightive' appears to be the same model as the Pilot 'Explorer', but with a better inner-cap design to prevent the pen from drying out.

(Above) Last, but certainly not least, Christopher's vintage Parker 'Duofold' "Big Red" fountain pen and mechanical pencil that he acquired recently. We'll post Christopher's full review of this set on Sunday, so watch this space...

I was so excited to see everyone that I forgot to take more photos, including any of my own pens (lol) or Jerred's, but happily, the majority of the pens we brought were reviewed by Jerred and myself on this blog already. Jerred brought the highlights from his "pandemic era" Delta acquisitions, including his newest Delta fountain pen --a sterling silver Delta 'Prestige' with a guilloche pattern.

Trevor showed us his brand-new silver-plated Parker '95' ballpoint in the elegant "Fileté'" pattern (purchased the day of our meeting), and a couple of cool Lamy 'Vista' rollerball clones that take fountain pen ink (a piston-filler version + a C/C version) that he got from fellow VPCer Steve. Julienne brought along all the wonderful fountain pens she purchased during the pandemic, including some beautiful Narwhals (including two 'Nautilus' models), a handmade London Pen Company fountain pen, and a couple of amazing Pilots, including one urushi model (if I recall correctly).

Alejandra and Nox brought both modern (Nox's Rotring 600 mechanical pencil, Alejandra's Charles Lethaby 'ION' fountain pen) and vintage writing instruments to our meeting. The latter included some vintage treasures Alejandra found at a local antique store --a Wahl-Eversharp 'Skyline' and a 1970s Pelikan '120'. Peter showed us his own vintage treasure---a black hard rubber Waterman '52' fountain pen that he bought from fellow VPC member Mark (Peter said that the Waterman had one of the most flexible nibs he's ever tried). Ben showed a lot more restraint than any of us, with regard to pen-buying during the pandemic, as he didn't have any new acquisitions (Bravo, Ben!) but he did show us his current daily users - a TWSBI and his trusty Muji fountain pen. 

P.S. Many thanks to Trevor for the wooden pencils he gave away at the meeting! :)

~ Information about future in-person monthly meetings (including location, which may or may not be the VPL Kitsilano branch) will be posted on this blog, and will also appear in the blog header ~