======================================================================== Nib Noise * Volume 9 Number 9 * December 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Medical Notice *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Barbara underwent total knee replacement surgery Tuesday, November 30. She'll be moving a little slowly for a while, so don't panic if your email goes a little long before being answered. Please try not to phone us for a week or so while she gets her feet back under her. Thank you! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Surprise! It's December! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ It's December. With Thanksgiving and Black Friday over, it's really the Winter Holiday season. And, if you've been putting it off, right now is definitely the time to start purchasing seasonal gifts for the special people in your life. It doesn't matter whether you observe Christmas or Chanukah or Kwanzaa or Eid-al-Adha or yet another festival, if gifts are part of your celebration, we'd love to help you make it a great holiday. We're an Internet business, so we're especially conscious of the need to be forehanded in making your purchases of pens and accessories -- especially given that not all December holidays happen at the end of the month. For Christmas delivery in the U.S., we suggest that you order for shipping no later than Wednesday, December 15 -- that means you should have placed your order by 9 a.m. Eastern time the day before. We'll ship on Saturday, December 18, and Wednesday, December 21, but with the Christmas rush we can't promise packages shipped that late will arrive for Christmas. For big presents, we have a selection of excellent fountain pens at many price levels. We don't try to offer every pen in the world, just those we like and believe you can rely on to perform well. http://www.richardspens.com/?pens= For smaller gifts and stocking stuffers, be sure to check out or selection of accessories and supplies. http://www.richardspens.com/?acc= And don't forget to check out our CafePress shop. We have some great stocking stuffers there, including our 2011 calendar (see below). http://www.cafepress.com/richardspens/ Remember, CafePress makes and ships each item as it's ordered - we don't keep these items in stock -- so you should check shipping times as you place your CafePress order. For the gifts you can't be sure of, we offer RichardsPens.com gift certificates. Our gift certificates come directly from PayPal, so they're easy to give and easy to use. http://www.richardspens.com/?acc=giftcert ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Holidays at the Nashua Pen Spa *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We will be open through Wednesday, December 22, and will then close for the Christmas and New Year holidays. We'll reopen on Monday, January 3. Purchases made while we're closed will be acknowledged, and we'll begin shipping again on Wednesday, January 5. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Pens, We Got New Pens -- the BELMONT PEN Is Here Now! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Gate City Pen and Ink Company’s second pen is here now, and it’s a doozy! The Belmont Pen fills faster and more easily than any other self-filling pen ever made, and it simply oozes that great 1930s/1940s styling. Designed to fit almost every hand, it handles beautifully either posted or unposted. Go here for more information and to purchase: http://www.richardspens.com/?pens=gct+belmont ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Pens, We Got More Pens -- Manufacturer's Closeout *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bexley is closing out its stock of the Americana in the Greenbrier and Yellowstone colors only. We're offering these pens with steel nibs for the unbelievable price of $45.00. If you prefer an 18K nib, our price is $150.00. You can order these pens right on our Bexley page: http://www.richardspens.com/?pens=bex+americana Please note, the Americana in Rio Grande Red and Sierra Silver are not on closeout. These colors are still available at our regular price. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Pens, Still More Pens -- Prototypes *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We have a few prototype pens available. These are essentially production models, but they were made to test possible colors, and there are never very many like them. Here's what we currently have: 1. New Postal Junior, tortoise cap & blind cap, transparent amber barrel 2. New Postal Junior, gray/black streaked cap & blind cap, transparent gray barrel, These two pens are priced at $200.00. You can see these colors on our Bexley page; the gray i the same "shell" color that Bexley used for its Elegancia, and the Tortoise looks exactly like the color on the Bexley Poseidon. 3. Bexley Imperial International, teal pearl 4. Bexley Imperial International, bronze pearl These two pens are priced at $141.00. You can see the colors on our Bexley page, under the Simplicity. To purchase one of these rare prototypes, please send email as soon as possible to barbara@richardspens.com to secure the pen you want. We have only ONE of each of these, and when they're gone they're gone! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Got Kids or Grandkids? Need a Christmas Story to Read 'Em? *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Boy, have we got a children's Christmas story for you! No, we don't sell it, but The Christmas Giant, by Steve Light, is really one you shouldn't miss. I know Steve personally. He’s a longtime client and friend. He’s also a crackerjack writer and illustrator of children’s books. From the blurb on Amazon: “Humphrey is a giant, and Leetree, his best friend, is an elf ... this year Santa has asked them to grow a Christmas tree, and the pair couldn’t be more excited!” Buy it and read it to your kids -- you’ll enjoy it as much as they will, and that’s a promise! (My grand- kids loved it!) http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060958391/richabindefou-20 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Where Ya Gonna Keep Those New Pens You Get This Month? *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Make it a December to Remember by giving the pen collector in your life -- and it's OK if that's yourself -- one of our popular cigar box pen chests. This month, Don continues rolling out boxes from a hoard he discovered in the basement of a local retailer, including some never-before-seen limited edition boxes for your limited edition pens. Ho ho ho! http://www.richardspens.com/?acc=boxes If you're looking for pen storage that's a little more along classical lines, you should be looking at our Girologio pen cabinets. Hand fitted, assembled, and oil finished, they're heavyweight solid rosewood. These cabinets are pure elegance without the unnecessary flash you see on other brands that are more interested in wowing you than in doing right by your pens. http://www.richardspens.com/?acc=girologio ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Speaking of this Month, There Will Be More Months Next Year *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Our 2011 fountain pen wall calendar is ready, and it's available for purchase now at our CafePress shop. At only $16.99, it's little bit classic, a little bit nostalgic, a little bit patriotic, and a lot of just right for your den or cubicle wall. Don't be left on New Year's day with no pix of pens to ogle, snag your calendar now! It's also a great gift, in case you hadn't already thought of that. http://www.cafepress.com/richardspens.479208207 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Cool Tray Pens Don't Disappear over the Christmas Season! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We’d love to help you put an old-fashioned fountain pen under the tree for that very special person! Our exciting December Pen Show Tray even comes with a Christmas theme: red and green! Yup, there's other stuff, too: http://www.richardspens.com/?pens=vint New Year's is a different story. Nobody wants to get up on New Year's Day for anything except the Rose Parade or football, so we'll delay Nib Noise until January 2, and with it the January Pen Show Tray. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** EVERFLO Ink Has Met a Great Reception! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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. We began offering EVERFLO about a month ago, and the reception has been phenomenal. We still have all five colors in stock, but some colors are already running low. Order your EVERFLO for the holiday season now! http://www.richardspens.com/?acc=ink ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** The Philadelphia Show Is NOT Here -- Not Yet, Anyway! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ December is just too doggone busy to fit a good pen show into, but we're already looking forward to the weekend of January 21-23, when we'll be at the Sheraton City Center in Philadelphia for the Philly show. By then you ought to be jonesing for a show, too -- will we see you there! http://www.philadelphiapenshow.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I missed putting up my profile of Morrison's Patriot last month, but I'm not feeling too bad about it, given that the Patriot and our brand-new Belmont Pen are both syringe fillers. Kinda fitting, huh? Check it out here: http://www.richardspens.com/?prof=patriot ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Extra Fine Points" by Don Fluckinger ------------------------------------------------------------------------ On his journalist business trips, Don's tested prototype fountain pens and all manner of vintage and modern pens. This month he updates his list of favorite frequent fliers: http://www.richardspens.com/?xf=1012 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** 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.