======================================================================== Nib Noise * Volume 13 Number 6 * September 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 DO NOT use the links in the footer of this email. Instead, visit the Free Email Newsletter page on our site: http://www.richardspens.com/?info=nibnoise ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** September in New England Is SHOW TIME! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ It's September. August is gone for another year, and with it the DC SuperShow. But here in New England it's show time all over again. With the help of the Boston Pen People, Monomoy Marketing & Design LLC (Jim and Cheryl Baer) is bringing pen shows back to the Boston area. The Commonwealth Pen Show will be held on Sunday, September 28. It's a one-day show this year, but we're looking for more next year. This is the time for all of you local folks who have been bemoaning the loss of the New England Pen Show to support the hobby by turning out. For the rest of you, if you're planning to go leaf peeping in October, or even if you're not, what better way can there be to start your holiday than coming to a pen show!. Come and help us exhibitors prove to Jim and Cheryl that we all need the Commonwealth Pen Show. 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 Also, please read our "Table Talk" FAQ to learn how we operate at shows: http://www.richardspens.com/?info=shows+faq For information about the show and the hotel, please visit the Boston Pen People Web site: http://www.bostonpenpeople.org/ (I've attached the official show poster to this message to get your jones moving.) Barbara and I will be there all day Sunday. We'll have a selection of new pens. and most will have special low show prices. And I will be working on nibs to improve or customize your writing experience. We can accept your MasterCard, VISA, American Express, or Discover card -- but many of the vintage dealers are hobbyists who can handle only cash, so be sure to note the location of the ATM in the hotel lobby. We look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones. We hope to see you there. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** BIG NEWS *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ As a way of saying thanks to you, our loyal Nib Noise subscribers, we're sharing this with you first, before we announce it on our Web site or on Facebook, Twitter, and RSS. If you've been watching our retail stock of pens and accessories, you might have noticed that there are more holes than there used to be. As we approach our seventies, we're changing our direction, and this means that we will be gradually discontinuing retail sales. As things go out of stock, we won't be ordering more. What does this mean besides the discontinuance of retail? Here's a capsule summary: * We are not closing our Web site. We will continue to sell pens and accessories until our stock is completely depleted. We don't know how long that will take, so if there's something you've been dreaming over, my advice is that you not wait too long to order it. * Even after our retail sales are gone, there will still be the Pen Show Tray! I got into pens because they're cool, and I'm not even close to wanting to give up the fun of restoring them and watching the monthly scramble. * I will be writing more. I'm looking forward to having the time to finish my restoration book as well as several other writing projects. I will continue to add to the reference section that will eventually become the site's primary raison d'être. * We will still attend -- and work at -- several pen shows every year, starting with the Commonwealth Pen Show this month (see above). * I will continue to train people who can carry on the nibsmithing and restoration skills I've learned. * The Gate City Pen Company already has a new home. Find out all about it here: http://www.gatecitypen.com/ * We will be able to accept some orders for special pens or nibs. For example, the Pelikan Red Tortoise M101N is due out this month, and we can pre-order it for you if you act quickly. * We will also be able to accept some orders for nib repair or customizing. (This will be on an as-can basis, it's not a guarantee that every request will be accepted.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Our Schedule for September *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We'll be here all month. Our shipping schedule for September looks like this: Wednesday, September 3 Saturday, September 6 Wednesday, September 10 Saturday, September 13 Wednesday, September 17 Saturday, September 20 Wednesday, September 24 Saturday, September 27 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Speaking of the Monthly Pen Show Tray... *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ There's one there. I previewed the picture on Facebook, and it seems to have been well received, so you should probably scoot right over and see if there's a pen or three you'd like. http://www.richardspens.com/?pens=tray Don't forget to come back and read the rest of Nib Noise! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** New Tray in Barbara's Attic! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The response to Barbara's Attic tray was so great last month that she's put up a whole new tray. Check out her selections! http://www.richardspens.com/?acc=attic ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Broad Strokes *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Who invented the lever filler? It wasn't Walter Sheaffer, that's for sure. Read all about it! http://www.richardspens.com/?fillers=lever ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Pens That Write Right! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Unless otherwise requested at the time of sale, I personally tune each new pen or nib at no extra charge before shipment. I fill the pen with Waterman Blue-Black ink and write with it on paper of better than average quality, 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 DO NOT use the links in the footer of this email. Instead, 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.