======================================================================== Nib Noise * Volume 8 Number 2 * May 2009 ======================================================================== Welcome to Nib Noise. This e-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 To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit the Free Email Newsletter page on our site: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=nibnoise ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** The Merry Merry Month of May -- It's SHOWTIME! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The New England Pen Show is coming. It'll be here over the weekend of May 30 (pre-show) and 31. This is an intimate show, a favorite of old-time New England vintage collectors (and dealers). We missed it two years running, but we ain't gonna miss it this year! For more information, visit the show's Web site: http://www.nepenshow.com/ I'll be working on nibs as I do at every show we attend, and Barbara will manage the table, handling sales and making sure I keep my nose to the grindstone. We'll have a selection of new pens from Aurora, Bexley, Classic Pens Inc, Namiki and Pilot, and Pelikan. YOUR PURCHASE CAN HAVE ITS NIB CUSTOMIZED WHILE YOU WAIT. Just a reminder: We bring most of our normal pen stock to shows, but we can't bring everything. If there's a special pen you've been thinking of, please feel free to send us an email to ask us to be sure we bring it for you. We'll have a stock of preground Pelikan M200 specialty nibs, along with demonstrators of them all for you to try before you buy. We'll also be bringing some preground nib units for Namiki and Pilot Vanishing Point pens. If you have pens that need repairs other than nib work, we'll be happy to save you some shipping costs by collecting them at the show and bringing them home to the Nashua Pen Spa. We look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones. We hope to see you there. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** And Next Month It'll Be Raleigh *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We had a great time at the Long Island Pen Show in March, we're expecting another fun weekend at the New England show, and we're already looking forward to the Sixth Anuual Triangle Pen Show in Raleigh (Cary), NC, in June. Check out the show's site now, and reserve while there's plenty of space in the Embassy Suites Hotel, where you get a free breakfast every morning to give you the energy to tackle the demands of a first-class pen show! http://www.raleighpenshow.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** MYUs Are Trickling In *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Pilot MYU is back! Pilot USA has finally begun importing the M90, a limited-production reprise of the legendary MYU. We received a few in April, and we've ordered more. They're trickling in, so we do have them (but not every minute). http://www.richardspens.com/?newp=nam+m90 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** And the Custom 823 Has Stormed Our Shores *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Along with the M90, the Custom 823 is one of the most requested Pilots, and now we have them in stock, in transparent Amber only, with fine or medium nibs. The U.S. version of the Custom 823 comes, together with a full-size bottle of Pilot Blue ink, in an attractive presentation box. http://www.richardspens.com/?newp=nam+custom823 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Barbara's Pen Is Back! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Be among the first to have your own 2009 Submariner SE! If you've stopped at our table at a pen show any time in the past four years, you've probably seen Barbara writing with a brilliant Red Pearl Bexley Submariner. If you're lucky, you got to write with it. That pen is the only example we didn't sell from the Submariner Special Edition we commissioned from Bexley in 2005, and it's Barbara's go-to pen. Bexley has kindly agreed to make a few more of Barbara's pen, and we have them in stock NOW! Pictures on our Bexley page reflect the brand-new pens, not Barbara's 2005 example: http://www.richardspens.com/?newp=bex+subse ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Simplicity x 2 = Simplicity II *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Simplicity might just be one of Bexley's best ever. And with four new colors, Simplicity II extends the appeal to two groups: those who like more traditional colors and those who like less traditional colors. Check out the new hues. (My favorite is Candy Blue!) Oh, and don't worry, although no more Simplicitys will be made in the old colors, there are still a good supply of them available for the traditionalists in the crowd. (Bexley tells us that Cracked Ice and Tortoise will run out first.) http://www.richardspens.com/?newp=bex+simplicity ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Don's Cigar Box Pen Chests: the Watchword is "Economize"! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ After a long hiatus, the double deckers are back. It turns out they aren't easy to make, but Don put together a couple top-notch chests -- including his biggest ever, a limited-edition Camacho Liberty that will never be seen again. (The cigar itself was a 2007 limited edition, and few of these boxes are out there for the taking.) For you bargain hunters, there are some good deals, including our famous 3-box stacks priced to move. http://www.richardspens.com/?acc=dons_boxes ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Nosh on NOS at the RichardsPens.com Vintage Pen Show *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Don't miss this month's vintage pen tray, on which someone (you, maybe?) will have the opportunity to pick a prize from a larger than usual group of NOS pens. There are some ver-r-r-ry nice pens there! http://www.richardspens.com/?newp= ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Broad Strokes" by Richard Binder ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Over the years, many of the major pen companies also produced "off-brand" pens. Wasp, whose name is merely the initials of the name W. A. Sheaffer Pen Company, is a great example of one such secondary brand, and the Clipper was its flagship. http://www.richardspens.com/?prof=wasp_clipper ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Extra Fine Points" by Don Fluckinger ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Some of you on Fountain Pen Network might have seen some of Don's latest creations last month: Targas with cabochons on the caps. Here's the back-story. http://www.richardspens.com/?xf=0905 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Pens That Write Right! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Unless otherwise requested at the time of sale, I tune each new pen or nib at no extra charge before shipment. I fill the pen with Waterman Blue-Black ink and write with it on paper from the same fountain pen friendly pads we sell, adjusting as necessary to bring it up to the RichardsPens.com "factory" standard for smoothness and flow. If you order a new pen with a customized nib, I will modify the nib (for an extra charge) and ship the pen immediately instead of putting it into my regular queue. Remember, we are authorized retailers for Aurora, Bexley, Classic Pens Inc., Conway Stewart, Namiki and Pilot, and Pelikan. We don't always have a complete line up on the site, but we can get anything our manufacturers offer -- if you don't see it, just ask! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Subscribe to our RSS Feed *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ RSS means Really Simple Syndication. You can subscribe to our RSS feed by clicking the orange RSS button at the top of any page on our site or by plugging the following URI into your browser or RSS reader: http://www.richardspens.com/richardspens.rss If you're not already hooked up to RSS and what it can do for you, take a peek at our introductory page: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=rsshelp ======================================================================== If you received this newsletter from Richard Binder, you are a Nib Noise subscriber. If it came from someone else, I invite you to subscribe. To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit the Free Email Newsletter page on my site: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=nibnoise Note: We will never sell your name or email address. Your privacy is as important to us as it is to you.