======================================================================== Nib Noise * Volume 12 Number 10 * January 2014 ======================================================================== 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** It's January. It's time for the Philadelphia Pen Show! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yay! The first pen show of the year is coming up this month, and it's a goodie. From Friday, January 17, through Sunday, January 19, things will be hopping at the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown Hotel. The Philadelphia Pen Show has a history of being an exciting show that's not also a madhouse. Make it a destination, and start the new year right! 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.philadelphiapenshow.com/ We'll have a broad selection of new pens from Bexley, Edison, Gate City, Namiki/Pilot, Onoto, and Pelikan. THESE CAN HAVE THEIR NIBS CUSTOMIZED WHILE YOU WAIT. As always, I'll be regrinding and tweaking nibs while their owners wait. Bring a pen, and share some chatter at my table while I jazz up your writing experience. PLEASE READ OUR "TABLE TALK" FAQ TO LEARN HOW WE OPERATE AT A SHOW. If you've read it before, a quick review won't hurt anything: http://www.richardspens.com/?info=shows+faq If you have pens that need repairs other than nib work, you can hand them to any of the repairers who will be there. I'm sure of Ron Zorn (Main Street Pens) and Mike and Linda Kennedy (Indy-Pen-Dance), and a couple of other regulars wil probably be there as well. We look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones. We hope to see you there. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** The RichardsPens Schedule for January *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Now that 2014 is here, we're back from our holiday vacation. We're all refreshed and rarin' to go. We'd be here all month, but there's that show in Philadelphia... Here are the days on which we'll be shipping during January: Saturday, January 4 Wednesday, January 8 Saturday, January 11 Wednesday, January 15 Saturday, January 25 Wednesday, January 29 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Down from the Attic *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Barbara got busy throwing stuff down the stairs from the attic, and that means there's much on the Barbara's Attic page that hasn't been there before. You'll find some Parker "21" shells and nibs, a couple of tools that aren't in our Accessories section, and a potful of new nib listings. You should make your picks before someone beats you to them! http://www.richardspens.com/?acc=attic Oh, and remember, except for "21" and Esterbrook nibs, I will Binderize Attic nibs the same as I do ordinary nibs. I can also customize your purchase for you; just let us know when you buy it and we'll arrange for the work and the appropriate payment. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** From Pilot: Justus *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The new Pilot Justus 95 is now available. We ordered one to see what it's like, and it's a very nice pen indeed. The adjustable nib varies smoothly from extremely firm to somewhat soft (not a vintage-type flexie, though). MSRP is $390.00. As an introductory special, the pen we have is priced at $299.00 plus shipping. It has a Fine nib. Please contact us by email to purchase this pen: info@richardspens.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** The 2014 Bexley Owners Club Pen Is Available NOW! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This year, Bexley has created its 9th annual Owners Club Pen, a Limited Edition of 100 pens in each of two swirled colors, red/gold and blue/silver. They are GORGEOUS! They're built of Flexigran, a wonderfully vibrant and astonishingly durable ultraviolet-stabilized American-made polyurethane resin compound. The pens fill with a cartridge or converter and feature Bexley's special “B” style faceted clips and Bexley's excellent German steel nib in F, M, or B. Check them http:/www.richardspens.com/images/pens/bexley/bex_oc_14.jpg Our price is $236.00 plus shipping. Registered owners of Bexley products will be notified by email from Bexley; to request a certificate that you can send to us to purchase your pen, please contact the Bexley Pen Company by telephone at 614-351-9988 or by email at . Once you have your certificate, please fill it out and send it to us either by postal mail or by scanning it and sending it to us as an attachment to an email message. If you own a Bexley pen but have never filed the warranty registration, you won't get an email unless you fill out the warranty slip and send it to Bexley. This Owners Club edition is definitely worth the time it'll take you to file the warranty on your existing pen. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Converter City Has a New Resident *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We have added WATERMAN converters to our list of offerings. This brings us to 13 different styles, and many of the converters we have will fit pens that we don't sell just as well as they'll fit our pens! http://www.richardspens.com/?acc=converters ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** A Change in What We Will Bring to Future Shows *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Beginning with the Philadelphia show this month, we will not be bringing accessories to shows; we'll stick to what we do best, which is fountain pens, and leave accessory sales to other dealers, who have broader accessory selections than we have room for in our small car. If you're going to be at a show and would like us to bring some specific accessories for you, please let us know by email a week or so before the show, and we'll pack your selections especially for you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** New Year, New Tray! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ As always, there's some exciting stuff on the RichardsPens "Pen Show" Tray. We've got some things we'll bet you've never seen before as well as the usual gang of old standbys. http://www.richardspens.com/?pens=tray ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Broad Strokes *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Is a pen you recently bought gradually getting smoother? Is your favorite pen getting scratchier or more prone to skip? If the answer to either of these questions is yes, your pen is in pain, and it’s your fault. Find out what's happening and what you can do about it. http://www.richardspens.com/?ttp=lighten_up ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** 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! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Follow Us on the Internet with RSS, Facebook, and Twitter *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Follow us on the Internet by subscribing to our RSS feed. Click the orange RSS button at the top of our site -- or plug the following URI into your browser or RSS reader: http://www.richardspens.com/richardspens.rss We'd like to be liked on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NashuaPenSpa And you're invited to follow us 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.