A new acquisition disorder!

Joining B&B might be the most expensive habit I've gotten myself into in my life. After going though various soap and razor ADs, I decided to come over here and check out the Nib section of the forum. I bought a Pilot Metropolitan F nib a couple of weeks ago and absolutely love it. I believe this has started a new fountain pen AD. I have a Kaweco sport M nib on the way in the mail and I just bought a lot of Noodler's Bay State Blue, Massachusetts 54th, and Bad Black Moccasin on B/S/T.

I think I'm set for a while now. Plus, I don't have any more money... hahahaha. Even though this will be in the distant future, I would like my next pen to be a vintage pen. I believe my price range will be $75. Being quite new to this I don't know what I should look for. What pens would you suggest?

Welcome on over to the nib.
Someone will be along shortly to suggest a Parker 51, so I'll beat them to it.
If we know more about what you like in a pen and what you'll use it for, we can give better recommendations. There are so many amazing pens out there.

Anyway, even if your next pen is a while off, more time to research, read up etc

Welcome to the Nib. Fountain pens and traditional shaving make a great pair. You can not go wrong getting an Esterbrook. Interchangeable nibs, great price for a vintage pen.

I would suggest an Esterbrook or Sheaffer pen over a Parker 51 any day of the week in terms of vintage. I've never understood the fascination with or popularity of the 51. Its just so plain and that hooded nib design has little personality. Sure they write smoothly but you have so many nib options with Esterbrook and so many designs with Sheaffer in comparison. YMMV I guess. *shrug*

Kevan said:

I would suggest an Esterbrook or Sheaffer pen over a Parker 51 any day of the week in terms of vintage. I've never understood the fascination with or popularity of the 51. Its just so plain and that hooded nib design has little personality. Sure they write smoothly but you have so many nib options with Esterbrook and so many designs with Sheaffer in comparison. YMMV I guess. *shrug*

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Can't understand "the fascination with or the popularity of the 51".

The 51's design, heft, hand feel, durability, class, and longevity say it all. They are great pens. (Hey, this can be said about lots of the vintage pens...)

Bob L. said:

Can't understand "the fascination with or the popularity of the 51".

The 51's design, heft, hand feel, durability, class, and longevity say it all. They are great pens. (Hey, this can be said about lots of the vintage pens...)

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I just think they're rather plain. Where you see class I see...nothing special. Not worth the price they command IMO when there's more variety elsewhere. But I guess it can be argued that you can buy one and have the nib customized by a guy like Greg Minuskin so you do have something special.

Then again...I'm the guy that has a mutant Hero 616 jumbo that writes better and smoother than any of the 51's I've tried...for $5. So my view of the 51 will always reflect that.

Welcome to the nib! With your budget, I'd grab a couple of restored esterbrooks and more ink. You'll need it lol.

You have made two great modern pen choices starting out.

A true classic vintage pen is the Parker 51 aerometric version. It is a very dependable and trouble-free pen that should be available in your price range. I like the way the hooded Parker 51 captures the now retro sense of 1930s or 1940s modern aerodynamic shape.

I am also a fan of Sheaffer pens from the 1940s-1960s, both snorkel and touchdown fillers. In particular I like the inlaid nib pattern of the Imperial series touch down fillers which showed up in the 1960s and translated later into the inlaid Targa series (cartridge fillers I think).

Happy Hunting,

Alan

Well, the good news is that fountain pens have completely cured me of shaving ADs. I haven't bought anything shaving related in almost three years (I keep spreadsheets). I have enough blades and soaps to last for years, so this could just go on. The bad news is that fountain pens have been more expensive (those spreadsheets again).

There are too many excellent types of vintage pens to say "here's what you should get". Esterbrooks are attractive, and tend to be inexpensive and reliable. They are also great pens to restore yourself. I like old BCHR (black chased hard rubber) and celluloid pens; there's nothing quite like them today, and some have really wonderful gold nibs. Besides brands that you know, like Parker and Sheaffer, and ones that you probably know, like Waterman, there are makers like Mabie-Todd, Conklin, Moore, Eversharp, and others. There are cheap "third tier" brands like Wearever, which can be fun if you know what you're looking at, and don't pay too much. It's probably best just to do a lot of lurking and reading, here and on other fountain pen forums. When you find something specific that interests you, come back and ask questions.

Or run as far away from here as possible, and don't look back.

My first vintage was an Esterbrook J with 9550 nib (EF for posting to ledgers), have since added an LJ with 2464 B (manifold) and two spare nibs - a Venus Fine, and a 1555 Gregg (fine) for them. (both restored prior to my ownership)
I also have a Parker 51 Special fp/mp set I picked up for <$50 on ebay. (1953 aerometric)
In terms of something made post 1960? Parker 45 (I have both the standard with steel nib/Flighter with a 14k nib) Oh, I also have a Pelikan 120 Merz & Krell with an EF. (1970's) I got mine as NOS

I had to get a converter for the 45 Flighter, but got a sumgai deal anyway.


Then there are inks..... when I first found FPN (fountainpennetwork.com) in December 2012 I was looking for a bottle of Pelikan 4001 Blue Black - no longer available in the US, but found a member that was willing to sell me a bottle at a good price. ($10) I have since added about 12 different inks or so in a variety of colors.

Wow! Thanks for the welcoming response and multitude of suggestions. I knew the 51 would be a suggestion, but now I have plenty research. I'm going to look into the Esterbrook J and Sheaffers. I post to let you guys know what I end up with. Hopefully for my wallet's sake that will be in the distant future. Thanks again!

Eventually you will have all of the above. So your decision really isn't *which* of the above suggestions, but rather in what order you will be acquiring them.