======================================================================== Nib Noise * Volume 10 Number 11 * February 2012 ======================================================================== 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** No Show for Us in February, but March is Marching Closer! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Home from the Philadelphia Pen Show -- which was, by the way, a really delightful weekend -- we'll be savoring February from Nashua. But March starts off with two shows, one right after the other. Baltimore was a new show last year, but we couldn't be there because it was on the same weekend as Long Island. This year, it's all by itself on the first weekend of the month. Festivities will run from Friday, March 2, through Sunday, March 4. Word had it that last year's show was a good debut, and since it's a Bert Oser show it ought to prove exactly that. We will be there all weekend, enjoying the crowd and the hospitality of the Tremont Plaza Hotel, one of the most elegant in the city! There's also FOOD in Baltimore. You can't visit Charm City Cakes, but there are plenty of restaurants offering everything from barbecue to seafood, and everything in between. And the very next weekend will bring the Long Island Show. We have been habitues of this show since its very first year, and we still like it. Not too big, not too small, it draws a good crowd of dealers and show- goers. Mark your calendar for Saturday and Sunday, March 10 and 11, on the campus of Hofstra University in Hempstead, Long Island. The show is in the student center, which boasts an extensive food court along with other amenities. I'll be working on nibs both weekends 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. PLEASE READ OUR "TABLE TALK" FAQ TO LEARN HOW WE OPERATE AT A SHOW: http://www.richardspens.com/?info=shows 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 shows' Web sites: http://www.baltimorepenshow.com/ http://www.lipenshow.com/ And make your reservations TODAY! We'll have a selection of new pens from the companies we represent. THESE CAN HAVE THEIR NIBS CUSTOMIZED WHILE YOU WAIT. 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. We look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones. We hope to see you there. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** 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! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: Changes Coming at RichardsPens.com *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thanks to you, our loyal clients, our retail business continues to grow. In fact, it's grown so much that we simply no longer have time to do all that we want to do to serve you in the manner that you deserve. It is therefore with some sadness that we must announce that as of June 1, 2012, we will no longer be accepting pens for repair or nib customiza- tion. We will complete all work on pens that arrive before the beginning of June, but we won't be taking in any more pens for repair after that date. BUT WE'RE NOT GOING AWAY! We will continue to offer the selected pens and accessories we currently have, and we will of course continue to Binderize every pen and nib that we sell, and we will still be happy (for the usual additional charge) to customize nibs, creating italics, needlepoints, ItaliFines and other specialty points that you can't get from your friendly neighborhood pen manufacturer. We are also looking into the possibility of offering some sort of repair workshops in the future; these could include basic repairs as well as nib repair and customizing. Watch this space! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** New from Edison *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Edison Pen Company has announced the Herald, the newest model in the Production line. Herald is a torpedo-shaped pen, shaped for comfort in the hand and sized to be usable by most people. It's a great addition to the line, and you can see (and purchase) it here: http://www.richardspens.com/?pens=edi+herald ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** More News from Bexley *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ There's still time to think about the 2012 Owners Club edition. Bexley has begun shipping the Owners Club, and the pen is a dandy. It's an M800 sized piston filler, with an increased ink capacity. Bexley makes Owners 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're a registered owner, don't miss out! And new this month from Bexley is a sweet little pocketful that's been named Jitterbug! We saw black Jitterbug! prototypes in Philadelphia, and we brought six home to sell. They're long gone, but the production pens will be coming along soon, in four colors you've never seen on a Bexley pen before. We're expecting to have them around the first of March. So what IS Jitterbug! anyway? It's a long/short pen, only 4" long capped and 5-3/8" posted. It was designed to fit under a cool 1930s clip that Bexley stumbled across -- yes, it's a real 70-year-old clip, and you'll find it only on Jitterbug! This is a cartridge-filling pen that doubles as an eyedropper filler, and it's going to be priced right. You'll want this pen! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Pretty Stuff from Pelikan *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ New from the Bird's nest, just in time for Valentine's Day, is the 320 Pearl Special Edition. It's an M300-sized pen in a charming off-white pearlescent color, and it comes in a cool demilune leatherette presen- tation box. In the box along with the pen are a small bottle of Pelikan Brilliant Brown ink and a tiny note pad with a heart on each page. We have a very limited number of the 320 Pearl; don't miss your chance to wow your sweetie (or yourself). http://www.richardspens.com/?pens=pel+m300 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Rocky Patel Boxes on the Loose! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Are you one of the pen collectors so fortunate to have purchased a Rocky Patel pen chest from us before? Did you like it? If you did, we've got a deal for you with an unusual assortment of Rocky Patel...stacks! That and the usual lineup of varied, interesting and always classy pen chests made from cigar boxes. We've also recently learned that we're part of a growing pop culture movement called "upcycling!" Well, whatever the pundits call it, they're one heck of a pen storage bargain. And, as always, available in finite quantites because Don retrofits them all by hand and there's only so many hours in the day. http://www.richardspens.com/?acc=boxes ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** "Broad Strokes" by Richard Binder *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The year is 1935. The Chilton Pen Company, late of Boston but currently plying its trade in Long Island City, New York, is hard at work on the next great thing in fountain pen styling: the Wing-flow. http://www.richardspens.com/?prof=wing_flow ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Reference Information: Old Stuff Made New *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you like this month's Wing-flow profile, check out the other 45 pen model profiles in my reference section. http://www.richardspens.com/?refp=+profiles I've been updating my profiles recently, to bring older ones up to the standard of later ones. This ongoing effort has included adding zoomed images for the pens are illustrated and also adding more information where I have it. At present, 34 of the 46 profiles are zoomified, and some of the oldest have had new information incorporated within the past couple of months. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** "Extra Fine Points" by Don Fluckinger *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This month, Don expands on a theme he enjoys hammering on periodically: why vintage is better. http://www.richardspens.com/?xf=1202 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Pens, Pens, Pens! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Our February Pen Show Tray has some unusual and interesting specimens on it. Of course, they write well, too! 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Follow Us on the Internet with RSS, Facebook, and Twitter *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ You can follow us on the Internet by subscribing to our RSS feed by clicking the orange RSS button at the top of our site or by plugging the following URI into your browser or RSS reader: http://www.richardspens.com/richardspens.rss We're also on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Richard-Binder-Fountain-Pens/ 213539818666986 And we're also on Twitter: @RichardsPens ======================================================================== 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.