======================================================================== Nib Noise * Volume 10 Number 9 * December 2011 ======================================================================== Welcome to Nib Noise. 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** 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 Bexley, Edison, Gate City Pen, Namiki and Pilot, Onoto, 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! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** 'Tis the Season! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 gifts for the special people in your life. It doesn't matter whether you observe Christmas or Chanukah or Kwanzaa 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 14 -- that means you should have placed your order by 9 a.m. Eastern time the day before. We'll ship on Saturday, December 17, and Wednesday, December 20, 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. New this month and especially noteworthy are Onoto's Sir Winston Churchill Pinstripe and Gate City's New Dunn Pen. See below for more info about these and more. http://www.richardspens.com/?pens= For smaller gifts and stocking stuffers, be sure to check out our great selection of accessories, suplies, and -- for the beginning tinker or hardcore repairer lurking within you or your friends and family -- tools and repair supplies. We have pen cases and pen rolls, pen sacs and sac cement, picks and pliers, pads and notebooks, and much more. There's something for everyone! http://www.richardspens.com/?acc= And don't forget to check out our CafePress shop. We have some great stocking stuffers there. 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 21, 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Got Kids or Grandkids? Here's a Christmas Story to Read to '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. More info on our site: http://www.richardspens.com/?bks= We're not a bookstore, but we list a whole passel of books that should be on every pen collector's shelf. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Bexley News *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you haven't had a chance to get your hands on a new Bexley Corona, there's no better time than now. (If you'd rather not buy one for yourself just now, you can put a Corona on your list for Santa.) But wait, there's more. Along with the four standard colors, Bexley has made a VERY limited number of DEMONSTRATORS. With black cap, section, and piston knob, these pens feature clear barrels that show off Bexley's unique American-made piston mechanism. We have a handful of these great pens, priced at $150.00 each. Contact us by email if you'd like to make one yours: mailto:richard@richardspens.com Now is also the time to think about the 2012 Owner's Club edition. It's a piston filler, and we've seen the final design prototype. I like it, and I think most Bexley owners will like it, too. Bexley makes Owner's Club pens in very limited numbers, and they're offered exclusively to registered Bexley owners before the general public gets a chance at them -- if there are any left, If you have a Bexley pen that isn't yet registered, fill out the registration card and get it in to Bexley ASAP so you'll be on the list of owners in time to snag your Owner's Club pen. We'll have this pen up on our site as soon as it's released to us! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Gate City News *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ For those who have been preoccupied with fall cleanup, we'd like to remind you that Gate City introduced the third in its line of pens with unusual vintage fillers at the Ohio Pen Show. The New Dunn Pen has the exact same filling system that made the original Dunn-Pen such a hit in the early 1920s (until labor problems put the company out of business). In all black dress (the Standard) or featuring a transparent barrel (the "Tattler"), it's easy to fill, easy to write with, and possessed of a huge ink capacity. We still have a good stock, but there's no telling how fast the holiday rush will decimate it, so we encourage you to make your purchases early and often. http://www.richardspens.com/?pens=gct+dunn And don't forget the New Postal Pen and the Belmont, both available in very limited supply. Because we don't know if Gate City will produce any more of either of these pens, it might just be a good idea to have us send one or both to you this month. They're on the same page where you found the New Dunn Pen. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Price Increase at Pilot *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pilot has advised us that the price of the Vanishing Point will rise on January 1, 2012. The suggested retail price of the standard models will rise from 160.00 to $175.00, and our sales price will rise accordingly. This clever pen is perfect as a Christmas gift, and it also works well for birthdays, anniversaries, and as a "Get out of Jail Free" card. If any of these events are coming up in early 2012, you can save a little cash by planning ahead! http://www.richardspens.com/?pens=nam+vp ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Onoto Is Shining Just in Time for the Holidays! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Onoto has just announced two fantastic new pens, the Heritage and the Winston Churchill Pinstripe. The Heritage features the plunger filling system that gave Onoto its start back in 1906, and it's an exquisitely smooth and positive filler. Unlike the Sheaffers and Wahl-Eversharps of the 1930s and '40s with their flat washers, it uses a precision-molded cup-shaped plunger gasket that makes it operate like a dream. It's black, with a special sterling silver overlay on the cap only. We don't have it up on the site yet, but you will see it there in a few days: http://www.richardspens.com/?pens=ono "Send me a new Onoto pen. I have stupidly lost mine." When Winston Churchill wrote to his wife Clementine from the trenches in Northern France in November 1915 in the early stages of The Great War, asking for a new Onoto pen, it was recognition that a great British pen brand had found favour with the man some have called the greatest Briton that ever lived. Recreating the link between Onoto and the man who loved pinstripes, the Winston Churchill Pinstripe features a unique tricolor fusion-bonded acrylic resin. The same size as the Magna but with some extra deco- ration, the Pinstripe deserves a place in the best pockets -- including yours. The Pinstripe is produced by Onoto under licence from Churchill Heritage Limited in association with Curtis Brown, and a percentage from the sale of each pen will be donated to good causes associated with the life and work of Sir Winston Churchill. This pen, too, will appear on our site as soon as possible. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Pretty Stuff from Pelikan *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you're a Toledo fan who likes silver, Pelikan has your pen. It's the new M710 Toledo Silver, and it is GORGEOUS. Just like the M700 Toledo except for its color, it's fitted with a hand-engraved sterling silver Binde that gives it a remarkably good balance and lovely tactile feel in the hand. Priced at $900.00, it's available now from our site -- but we don't know how long we'll be able to obtain it for you, so don't waste time dithering. http://www.richardspens.com/?pens=pel+m700 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Holiday Pen Storage -- Stop the Insanity *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Forget the insane holiday shopping season -- can you believe someone uncorked the pepper spray at a Wal-Mart jockeying for better position in line to buy a discounted xBox? -- and get the pen collector in your life one of Don's pen chests fashioned from fancy cigar boxes. A great new lineup's here, just in time to help you knock one or two more gift purchases off your list...without setting foot in a mall full of naughty shoppers. We've got it on good authority from the North Pole that it's nice to give one to yourself, too. http://www.richardspens.com/?acc=boxes ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Our Next Pen Show... *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Our next foray out onto the pen show circuit will be in late January, at the Philadelphia Pen Show. Check our complete show schedule here: http://www.richardspens.com/?info=shows ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** "Broad Strokes" by Richard Binder *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Although not terribly difficult, replacing an Ink-Vue sac is not so straightforward as replacing an ordinary sac. There are some definite pitfalls. Installing a sac wrong can cause the filler to leak or otherwise malfunction. This month Richard explains how to do it right. http://www.richardspens.com/?rep=ink_vue_1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** "Extra Fine Points" by Don Fluckinger *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Economy getting you down and putting a crimp on your pen-buying adven- tures? Well, misery loves company ... but there is a silver lining to a holiday season where the belt’s been tightening around most everyone’s middle. http://www.richardspens.com/?xf=1112 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** For the Holidays, a Pretty Special Tray *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We've put together a delightful "Pen Show" tray for this month. No sugarplums, but plenty of sweet pens, including three from my personal collection. This is an excellent opportunity for you to benefit from my sifting focus! http://www.richardspens.com/?pens=vint ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** We’re Still Building a List of Pen Clubs! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pen collecting is a lot more fun when you share your passion with others. We have a new page listing pen clubs that we know. There’s probably a club near you. If there is, and it’s not listed on our page, please let us know about it. If not, maybe you should start one! http://www.richardspens.com/?info=clubs ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** 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.