If you have already received this issue, please accept my apologies. I mailed it while I was in Atlanta, and I know some subscribers received it, but not all did. ======================================================================== Nib Noise Volume 4 Number 1 ======================================================================== Welcome to Nib Noise. This newsletter is a joint effort of Richard Binder and Don Fluckinger. We hope you'll enjoy reading this month's issue. PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS NEWSLETTER! For comments or questions, send email to: richard@richardspens.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** EXTRA! EXTRA! LATE-BREAKING NEWS! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thursday afternoon, I ran into Bexley's Howard Levy in the lobby of the Holiday Inn in Atlanta. (See related article below, Springtime in the South, for more information about the show and what I'll be offering.) Tucked under his arm was a box of discontinued and one-of-a-kind pens. I haven't had time to figure out what I bought, but they'll be on my table when the doors open Friday. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Springtime in the South *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Great Southeastern Pen Show is a great show in a great city in a lovely season. Held in Atlanta over the weekend from April 1 through April 3, this year's show promises to be another winner. The sponsors will be presenting exciting products, and the exhibitors of new and vintage pens are always worth spending time with. For more information, visit the show's Web site: http://www.gspenshow.com/ Bexley has created a very exclusive Limited Edition version of the piston-filling Sheherazade, with translucent red barrel, black cap, and gold furniture. Here is a link to a larger than life image of the pen: http://www.richardspens.com/images/sales/bexley/zoomed/atlanta2005.jpg And here's the custom engraving on the cap: http://www.richardspens.com/images/sales/bexley/zoomed/atlanta2005_cap.jpg The fountain pen is priced at $300.00. Profits from the sale of these pens are being donated to the Southeast Pen Collector's Club as a thank-you for their participation and promotion of the show. I still have fountain pens Nos. 2, 4, 5, and 18. * PRICE REDUCED TO $210.00! * I'll be there to regrind and tweak nibs. Bring a pen or two, and share some chatter at my table while I jazz up your writing experience. If you have pens that need repairs other than nib work, I'll be happy to save you some shipping costs by collecting them at the show and bringing them home to my studio. I'll have a few vintage pens for sale as well as a selection of new pens from Bexley, Conway Stewart, Filcao, Pelikan, Signum, and Taccia, including the long-awaited shipment of the new Signum Nova. (It's so new that I haven't had time yet ot photograph it for my web site.) I'll have a stock of my preground Pelikan M200 italic, oblique, and stub nibs, with demonstrators of them all for you to try before you buy. These nibs fit M200, M250, M400, and M600 pens, including the M620 City series and the new Piazza Navona. If you don't have a Pelikan pen to go with your new nib, I'll be happy to fit your nib with a new M200 pen body in your choice of colors. I look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones. I hope to see you there. /www.richardspens.com/?page=niblit.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Subscribe to my RSS Feed *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ RSS means Really Simple Syndication. You can subscribe to my RSS feed by clicking the link on my site's main page: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=main.html If you're not already hooked up to RSS and what it can do for you, take a peek at this introductory page: http://www.popcornpopper.com/rsshelp.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Broad Strokes" by Richard Binder ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Introducing a new pen is always risky. It wasn't any less risky sixty years ago, as Parker found out. This month I profile Parker's 1946 Edsel. http://www.richardspens.com/?prof=vs Keith Grubb's monthly NibLit cartoon takes a gentle poke at fads in pen design: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=niblit.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Extra Fine Points" by Patrick "Mack" Fluckinger ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Check it out -- an exclusive interview with Richard conducted by heir to the Master's empire: Toddler-About-Town Patrick "Mack" Fluckinger. http://www.richardspens.com/?page=extrafine/xf0504.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Vintage Pens for Sale ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I've been busy readying things for the Atlant Pen Show, but I've managed to put up a small number of newly-restored vintage pens. These aren't all the vintage pens I have for sale, just the ones that weren't there last month. Give all my vintage pens a look! Pens are graded according to the following condition scale. Within a grade, I use + or - to indicate shades of variation; for example, a pen that is B+ falls into the B grade and shows so little use that it is only marginally not A2. Condition Description A1 Mint (uninked). Shows no signs of use. A2 Mint (inked). As for A1 but may have been dipped or inked. N New Old Stock (NOS). Unsold dealer or manufacturer stock. Not dipped or inked but may show shop wear. B Excellent. All parts original and showing only very slight signs of use. Very slight surface scratching; very minor discoloration or brassing; crisp imprints; no significant dings. C Fine. All parts original. Some discoloration and brassing; light or worn imprints; small dings to metal or scratching on plastic. D Fair. Some parts possibly not original; significant brassing or discoloration; very worn imprints; dings and scratches. Maybe a good writing pen or usable for parts. Esterbrook ---------- Red squeeze filler ("aerometric"), 9668 nib. Condition: N. Price: $50.00 Blue late-model LJ, 9668 nib. Condition: B. Price: $50.00 Esterbrooks for sale: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=sale_est.htm Parker ------ Burgundy aerometric "51", XF nib. Condition: B. Price: $100.00 Brown Shadow Wave Vacumatic Sub-deb, XF nib. Condition: B. Price: $150.00 Parkers for sale: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=sale_pkr.htm Sheaffer -------- Unrestored Burgundy Snorkel Clipper, F PdAg nib. Condition: N+. Price: $120.00 Sheaffers for sale: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=sale_she.htm Others ------ Green striated Pelikan 140, 14K medium-fine stub nib. Condition: N. Price: $75.00 Others for sale: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=sale_oth.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In the Reader's Corner ------------------------------------------------------------------------ My site's Reader's Corner features a monthly pick, a book that I like and think that you might enjoy, too. This month's pick belongs on the reference shelf of every writer, newbie or Nobel winner: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=acc_txt.htm#readerscorner My monthly pick also appears as a link on my welcome page. ======================================================================== If you received this newsletter from Richard Binder, you are a subscriber. If not, you can subscribe by sending a mail message to richard@richardspens.com with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line, or by clicking on this link: mailto:richard@richardspens.com?subject=SUBSCRIBE To unsubscribe from this newsletter, send a mail message to richard@richardspens.com with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line, or click on this link: mailto:richard@richardspens.com?subject=UNSUBSCRIBE Note: We will never sell your name or email address. Your privacy is as important to us as it is to you.