I came home from the 2015 LA Pen Show with a lot more than I expected. For some reason I’m surprised, but I really shouldn’t be. I’ve always come home from a pen show with more than I expected. This year was an especially good year.
My goal was to come home with a Nakaya Decapod Twist. I spent a good deal of Thursday at John Mottishaw’s table trying nibs, looking at finishes, and deciding if the Decapod Twist was really the pen for me. I really liked the way it fit in my hand and decided I wanted it in Aka-Tamenuri (Reddish-Red) without a clip. Unfortunately, they didn’t have that one. Not even back at the shop. So now I had to decide if there was an acceptable alternative.
The Neo-Standard really stood out because of how great it felt in my hand. It looked kind of boring to me in all the images I’ve seen of it but once I actually got to hold, it made a big impression. Then, of course, there’s the Dorsal Fin Version 1 in Aka-tamenuri. I was pretty sure I was going to go with the Dorsal Fin but wanted to sleep on it, which is usually a terrible thing to do at a pen show as pens have a tendency to disappear before you come back to them.
I’m glad I waited, though, because that evening Bryant from Chatterley Luxuries sent me an image of one of the trays of Dantrio pens he was bringing and I knew I just had to wait until he arrived Saturday before making a purchase. And as you can see, I decided to go with the Danitrio Mikado with a blue Nashiji-Nuri finish. You can read all the details about the pen at Chatterley’s site.
The next purchase was made fairly late on Sunday as I perusing tables and inspecting whatever caught my eye. I’ve loved the look of Wahl-Eversharps tulip clip and came across one in very good condition with a flexible nib and a beautiful wood grain pattern. I checked the tag and knew that at $50, it was coming home with me. Joel Hamilton happened to be strolling by so I showed him the pen and asked what he thought. His exact words were, “If you don’t buy it, I will!”
I offered the guy $40 and he took it. That’s the best deal I’ve had at a show in a while!
My last purchase was the Omas Ogiva ALBA. The gentleman I was rooming with at the show text me and said a dealer was selling it at wholesale. It was a no-brainer. You’ll probably see this in the FPGeeks Shop since I already have a few other Ogivas.
I did buy a bottle of the new Montblanc Pink first thing Thursday. I said hello to the Andersons and Lisa mentioned she had two bottles so I didn’t hesitate to buy one. The other two bottles, along with the samples, came from my friend Richard. We were talking about inks and I mentioned how I wanted a bottle of the Einstein Grey but couldn’t find one. He offered me a bottle from his stash and even threw in a bottle of Winter Glow, my favorite red ink.
The small black pen in the lower left was a gift from my roommate. It’s unmarked except for the “Imperial Point” on the nib. It’s a cute little pen. Next to that pen is the brown leather Omas business card holder that was a gift from Chatterley Luxuries. It came in incredibly useful as I carry a few cards to hand out at the show.
All in all, I’m very happy with my pen show haul this year. I sold a few pens before the show which allowed me to make an entrance into urushi pens and I couldn’t be happier.
My full pen show report will be coming in the next day or two. Until then, visit Ricky Chau’s pen show recap in the FPGeeks Forum.
