======================================================================== Nib Noise * Volume 9 Number 8 * November 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! REALLY new! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Don made a new connection for cigar boxes this month, discovering a motherlode in the basement of the headquarters of a multi-store chain that has kept him busy prepping a great new assortment of boxes the likes of which you haven't seen all year. Drop by the pen chest page and pick one of these great new offerings, as always one of the hobby's top pen storage bargains. You will not be disappointed. http://www.richardspens.com/?acc=boxes ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Fresh Off the Truck: The Great New EVERFLO Inks Are Here! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From Gate City Pen and Ink Company comes EVERFLO™ Fountain Pen Ink. Inspired by the everyday inks of old, it’s especially formulated to be benign, washable, and well behaved in all pens. It's new, it's made in the U.S.A., and you need it. If you're going to attend the Ohio Pen Show, read the next article. If you're not able to make the show, here's where to get EVERFLO: http://www.richardspens.com/?acc=ink ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Coming to the Ohio Pen Show? Get free delivery on EVERFLO inks! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ohio Pen Show attendees: if you're waiting for an excuse to buy a bottle or five of EVERFLO ink, this is your chance to get your fix with no shipping charges. Here's how: * Total up the prices for the bottles you want, and PayPal us that amount. * If you have a credit card but not a PayPal account, or if you'd just rather use your card, email us telling us what you want. We'll send you a magic link to PayPal through our site, and you can pay that way. Either way, we'll bring your ink to the Ohio Pen Show, and you can pick it up there by handing us a printed copy of your PayPal receipt. We'll be bringing ink to the show anyway, but this ensures that *you* won't see a SOLD OUT sign when you get to our table. Even better, since we don't take credit cards at shows, you can pre-budget your ink and save your cold hard cash for the pens you can't go home without. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** The Ohio Show Is Here! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The 15th Annual Ohio Pen Show is coming NEXT WEEKEND (November 4-7)! Barbara and I will be on hand for all the festivities -- where will YOU be? With Weekenders' events cranking up on Thursday (30 tables) and running all day Friday (160 tables), and two full public days on the weekend, this year's show will be the ideal way to make up your Holiday wish list. As always, there will be exciting new products and more vintage pens than you can take in; this show is one of the grand old vintage festivals, and it's really not to be missed. In case you haven't already made your reservation, Terry and his minions will be happy to sell you a Weekend Pass when you walk in the door on Thursday, so you needn't miss out on the wine and cheese party -- or the special "Parts and Found Pens" auction! (There will also be the regular full auction on Saturday. And the spectacular poolside Dessert Party before the auction.) For much more information, visit the show's Web site: http://www.ohiopenshow.com/ If this will be your first-ever pen show, be sure to read my pen show virgin's guide: http://www.richardspens.com/?shows=firstshow We'll have a selection of pens from the companies we represent: Aurora, Bexley,Gate City Pen, Namiki/Pilot, and Pelikan. Most of the pens we have at shows are offered at DISCOUNTED SHOW PRICES, with their nibs checked and smoothed -- and you save shipping costs, too. Talk about INSTANT GRATIFICATION! We'll have a stock of my preground Pelikan M200 and Pilot Vanishing Point specialty nibs. If you don't have a pen to go with your new nib, Barbara will be happy to fit your nib with a new M200 or Vanishing Point pen body in your choice of colors. As always, I'll be regrinding and tweaking nibs while you wait. We use a list, like your favorite restaurant, so you can enjoy the rest of the show while you await your turn. (But we don't have those little buzzy hockey pucks...) Bring a pen, and share a little time with friends at our table while I jazz up your writing experience. PLEASE READ OUR "TABLE TALK" FAQ TO LEARN HOW WE OPERATE AT A SHOW: http://www.richardspens.com/?info=shows 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 my studio -- or you can hand them to Ron Zorn of Main Street Pens, one of the best repair guys I know, and have them fixed right there. To find Ron, just look for the traffic light! We look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones. We hope to see you there. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Nib Smoothing Workshop at the Ohio Pen Show *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I will be offering a hands-on workshop on nib smoothing, working directly with participants, at the Ohio Pen Show. The workshop will begin promptly at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, November 7. In this intensive 75-minute session, I will teach you how to smooth nibs using the tools and methods he uses daily at the Nashua Pen Spa. (We cannot guarantee that you will be an accomplished nibmeister at the end of the session, but you will have learned a lot and, we hope, had a good time.) Registration is limited to 12 people for hands-on assistance, and all 12 slots have been filled. But all who are interested are still welcome to come and audit the session; we will provide copies of the handouts for you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** CLOSEOUT on the Bexley BX802 *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We have sold all but two of our Bexley BX802 pens, one in Onyx and one in Cracked Ice. These excellent pens come with your choice of JoWo steel or Bexley 18K gold nibs. When these two pens are sold, we will have no more BX802s. Get 'em while they're still here -- at our rock-bottom closeout prices! http://www.richardspens.com/?pens=bex+bx802 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Going Postal, in Ohio and Worldwide! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We have a good stock of all colors of the New Postal Pen in both sizes. But it's still drawing rave reviews, and our current stock won't last until the cows come home. Go Postal now, before somebody raises the postage! Or, if you'll be at the Ohio Pen Show, take a New Postal home with you and save the shipping cost! http://www.richardspens.com/?pens=gct And for you prototype lovers, we have these New Postal prototypes: 1. Senior, Tortoise cap and blind cap, transparent amber barrel, $215.00 2. Junior, Tortoise cap and blind cap, transparent amber barrel, $200.00 3. Junior, Blue/black streaked barrel, transparent blue barrel, $200.00 4. Junior, Blue/black streaked barrel, transparent blue barrel, $200.00 5. Junior, Gray/black streaked barrel, transparent gray barrel, $200.00 6. Junior, Gray/black streaked barrel, transparent gray barrel, $200.00 You can see these colors on our Bexley page; the blue and gray are the same "shell" colors that Bexley used for its Elegancia. The Tortoise looks exactly like the color on the Bexley Poseidon. These pens are it -- Gate City Pen is never going to order New Postal Pens in these colors. They're going with us to the Ohio Pen Show, and they are probably not coming home again. If you want one, contact us by email IMMEDIATELY to arrange purchase by PayPal. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Some Birds Are Flying Away... *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pelikan has discontinued the blue marbled M200. When we learned this, we bought Chartpak's remaining stock of this iconic entry-level pen. They have been selling briskly, but we still have some. When they're gone, they're GONE! http://www.richardspens.com/?pens=pel+m200 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Broad Strokes" by Richard Binder ------------------------------------------------------------------------ For Parker collectors, whether they seek vintage or modern pens, dating their pens is often easy because Parker has date coded most of its pens. But there have been two systems, each with multiple variations. Check them out! http://www.richardspens.com/?misc=pkr_dates Also, I've been hard at work on my Glossary, and this major element of my reference pages now contains 961 head words, of which 60 have mul- tiple subentries, bringing the total number of entries to 1026. If you haven't visited the Glossary recently, see what you've been missing: http://www.richardspens.com/?gloss= ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Extra Fine Points" by Don Fluckinger ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In these deep, dark economic times, there are great values for pen col- lectors to explore if their hobby war chests aren't loaded enough to buy mint-stickered classics. Go for combos! http://www.richardspens.com/?xf=1011 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Check Our Monthly Pen Show Tray *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ With autumn rolling on to ward Thanksgiving, the pen harvest has been bountiful, and you can pick your own pens here: 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 our 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.