======================================================================== Nib Noise * Volume 9 Number 5 * August 2010 ======================================================================== 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/?info=nibnoise ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** New Cigar Box Pen Chests! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ See the great new assortment of our Spanish cedar cigar box pen chests, and get one today -- especially if you're planning to attend the Washington D.C. SuperShow along with Richard and Don. Where else would you put all those newly acquired treasures? This inexpensive pen storage leaves more cash in your wallet that you can plow back into more pens! http://www.richardspens.com/?acc=dons_boxes ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** It's SuperShowTime! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ August is here! And what does that mean? It means the Washington, DC, SuperShow. Oh, sure, it means the Dog Days of summer, but I don't really think a hot sweaty time outdoors ranks up there with the Greatest Pen Show On Earth, do you? Washington is one of the world's great tourist cities, so if you have family members who aren't insane about pens -- you are, of course -- you can turn them loose at the Falls Church Metro stop and forget them while they see the sights in town. You don't even have to take them there. That's what hotel shuttles are for! With the pre-show crankin' up on Thursday, August 12, and running through Friday, the Big Show will be open to the public on Saturday and Sunday, August 14 and 15. This show is so-o-o big, and so-o-o good, that you may face a legitimate worry about having a panic attack when you walk in the front door of the hotel. Yes, the pen show fills the lobby, too! If you plan to come and haven't ever been to a show before, you might want to read my article on Your First Pen Show: http://www.richardspens.com/?shows=firstshow For more information, visit the show's Web site: http://www.pencentral.com/ Once you get there, you'll definitely want to visit the world's biggest and best ink testing table, in the hotel lobby! This great feature is open 24 hours a day while the show is on, so for you insomniacs there's something to while away the wee hours. Barbara and I will be there for the whole show, from the Overture on Thursday afternoon to the final curtain on Sunday. We'll have a good selection of new pens from Aurora, Bexley, Gate City Pen, Namiki/Pilot, and Pelikan. Most will have special low show prices. We'll also have a couple of mugs of Merlins, about which you can read more below. 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. Oh, and please read our "Table Talk" FAQ to learn how we operate at a show: http://www.richardspens.com/?info=calendar One thing you won't find in the FAQ: on our table you will find both business cards and our vintage-style advertising blotters. We sell packs of blotters, all five designs in one pack, but we also have a pile of one design that are there for you to take and use. Use for what, you ask? For blotting your signature, of course, perhaps on a cheque made out to us or to another dealer at the show! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Speaking of Schedules... *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We're going to the DC SuperShow, of course. We'll be closed for business beginning Thursday, August 12 until we reopen on Thursday, August 19. We will try to answer email in a timely manner while we're gone. The first day we'll be able to ship purchases after we return will be Wednesday, August 25. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** The New Postal Stable Is Growing *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ At the Raleigh show in June, we introduced the New Postal Reservoir Pen from the Gate City Pen and Ink Company. The first model was the Senior, an M800-sized pen in black with an amber or ruby transparent barrel. Since June, Gate City has added a Junior model, about the size of an M400, in the same colors. And just because they could, they've also sent us an order of Seniors in DUOFOLD ORANGE with a transparent barrel. This thing is wicked cool! If you can't come to the show, or even if you can, check out the array of New Postals on our Gate City Pen page: http://www.richardspens.com/?pens=gct ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Other News on the Pen Front *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you've been mooning over Bexley's elegant Imperial -- and singing along with Fats Waller ("Man oh man, them things is toooo big!") -- you are in luck. Bexley has just introduced its new Imperial International! At 5-1/2" long, the International has the same smooth cigar shape that your hands will love to fondle, but it's smaller all over. Fitted with the excellent steel nib that's appeared in Bexley's other recent pens, this is a writer's writer, a pen you can really enjoy. We'll have the new Imperial International at the show, and we're hoping to have it up on our site this week. Keep your eye on our Bexley page: http://www.richardspens.com/?pens=bex ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Merlin Was Magic, But The Supply of Merlin Pens Isn't! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We bought a finite number of Merlins about a year ago, and the supply is coming to an end. If you've been holding off on buying a Merlin 33 or Merlina, the end of the Universe is drawing uncomfortably close. Don't miss out on these charming celluloid button fillers from the 1950s! http://www.richardspens.com/?pens=mer ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Broad Strokes" by Richard Binder ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Johann Sebastian Bach wrote his music with a goose quill. But you don’t have to, and you’d be silly to deal with the hassle of a quill when you can use a music pen instead. But what the heck is a music pen, anyway, and why would you want one? Especially if you don’t write music. http://www.richardspens.com/?ttp=music ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Extra Fine Points" by Don Fluckinger ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Don deconstructs the parallels of the Sheaffer and Porsche 911 Targas -- all the while putting the 1980s in the rear-view faster than a turbo ripping down the Autobahn. http://www.richardspens.com/?xf=1008 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** The Dog Days Are Here, and It's Too Doggone Hot to Play Outside. *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you're finding it just too darn hot these days, consider a pleasant indoor activity: sprucing up a few of your pens. Sacs, sac cement, and many other repair supplies are only a click away, in our Accessories section. http://www.richardspens.com/?acc=tools Remember the great repair manual by Jim Marshall and Laurence Oldfield? The one that sold out almost overnight? Jim and Laurence have revamped and enhanced it, and the second edition is due out this month. It's bigger, better, and more colorful, and the printing run will be larger. But there's not an infinite supply, so this is another item you repair geeks (or you non-geeks who just want to know how your pens work) should definitely latch onto. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Speaking of Dog Days, There Are No Dogs on our Pen Show Tray! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This month our tray is loaded with good stuff -- including an incredible Coral Wahl desk pen with a Carlton Ware pheasant base. We've got Esties, "51"s, and lots of others, too, so don't miss out! http://www.richardspens.com/?pens=vint ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Pens That Write Right! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Unless otherwise requested at the time of sale, we tune each new pen or nib at no extra charge before shipment. We 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., 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/?info=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/?info=nibnoise Note: We will never sell your name or email address. Your privacy is as important to us as it is to you.