Editing The Pen Addict 311/transcript (section)

== Platinum Pens ==


'''Myke Madison:''' Not at all. So what did you get at the auction? So I picked up... The first thing I got was this little lot of Platinum pens. There were a bunch of lots of like duos and trios and even like six pens at a time at this auction. Which was nice because there's already 120 something lots. But the Platinums I got, one of them is just like a... It's a Platinum pocket pen that looks a lot like... It said NYU style on the auction sheet. But in reality, it's more like the Pilot E95S or one of those sorts of guys, the short longs. But it's got a nice blue section. It's got a fine nib, which is very fine. You'd probably like it more than I do. Yeah. But that's in really nice shape. Still got stickers on it. And the other pen in that lot... And that pen doesn't really have a name. I'm not able to find a name in any of the Platinum stuff or just a Platinum short pen. Yeah. Which is annoying, but whatever.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I did this purposely because I picked up an old... Something similar to that at a pen show a couple of years ago. And I found Pilot's history page that was actually... I could find my pen on and get the name of. So I'll try to remember to send you that afterwards. Oh, this is a Platinum though. I meant Platinum.

'''Myke Madison:''' So yes, it was Platinum. Yes, I meant that. And the other one is confusingly named the Galaxy. Because there are at least two or three other Platinums that are also called the Galaxy. But this Galaxy is in silver. And it doesn't say sterling, but I think it probably is. The listings I've seen online say sterling. But it's got this sort of nice crosshatch sort of tweed looking pattern in the barrel and cap. It's totally pretty. With one of the nice inlaid nibs. They've got clear feeds on them, which is kind of cool. So I got a couple of those and I'm pretty happy with that. And then the other pen I bought was a... Shoot, what's it called? It's a Balance 2. Which came out in like the mid to late 90s, I think. And this one was in jade. And I got it for Audrey because while we were walking past the case on the way out, I was just like, oh, what's that green one? And I wanted the one next to it. But she liked the green one. And so I went for the green one and I didn't really have any... I wasn't really bidding against too many people for it. But it turns out that pen had all kinds of problems. Oh, no. No, it's not. It wasn't good. Like you couldn't see the cracks in the section when you just looked at it. But when you fill it with ink, it... Yeah. And that was after we got some mold out of it. So I'm going to have to get a new section and nib for it.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Oh, that stinks. That stinks. Because those pens were really pretty. Like if I was interested in that type of pen, I would totally have been in on that. I got lucky in that both the Yardo Led and the Roach Ring had never been used. They were both completely brand new with their original boxes and their original cartridges and different parts in there. And the dual fold, it looked like it'd been inked maybe once or twice. It was essentially brand new, but no box or anything. But it was... That's one of the tips, the auction tips, the main auction tip. If you're interested in some of the pens, you can go early and check them out. Like they had the pens on display like Saturday afternoon to where you can go and handpick things. But just like you said, the Schaefer, you weren't really looking at that. And you're not going to go through all 120 lots and probably 200 plus pens that were on sale to see what you're going to do. But you can pick out a few of them early and kind of scope them out.

'''Myke Madison:''' Yeah, that's what I do is I make a note on the list. I'll like underline it or circle it or something and put maybe a number if you have some idea what it's going to go for. Like if you have a top number.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah.

'''Myke Madison:''' The only one I looked at ahead of time was the Roach Ring.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I didn't look at the Parker or Yarder Lead that I ended up picking up. I did look at the lot that you bought with the Platinums. I think that was probably like my number one like lot I was looking at. Those were some really cool pens. And they had like... They'll tend to kind of group like pens in consecutive lots. So there was like a group of Platinums, a group of Sailors. And there was like two or three other groups of like the modern vintage type of Japanese pens. And I was like, if I get one of these lots, I'm going to be inclined to like buy all of these lots. So I like kind of a little bit bidded. I didn't go really aggressive on those. I was like, okay, I'm okay with that. Like plus, I could see you ahead of me. So I'm not going to bid against you. But that's why I let you get that Yarder Lead because I also wanted that. That was a cool pen. The best thing about that was it was completely tarnished. They had not polished it up. So I think that kept the price down fortunately for me a little bit, which... It did.

'''Myke Madison:''' I saw a couple of people say, hey, let me look at that. And they looked at it because it was totally black in that box. But I was like, nope, that's just tarnished, y'all. You're passing up an awesome pen.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yep, yep. So when I got it back to the room that night, once I realized that it had never been used, I got out the polishing cloth and it was like brand new. I turned that thing black. Just working on it. And it still has work to go. But still, it worked out well. So related to this show, I moved up some Ask TPA questions that we can kind of tie into our experience here. So this is from our good Slack friend, Tianta, and our good real life pen show friend, Tianta. She says, Brad, you said your daughter got very deep into the auction last year and pictures show your kids enjoying this year's Triangle Show. Do you see either of them following in your footsteps, either joining the business or starting a side one like Ryan Krusak's daughters? So they are really interested in the business side of things as far as Nock goes. Like they don't really, they can't really relate to the pen addict stuff, you know, the blogging and podcasting and the advertising stuff that goes on with that because they can't physically see that as much. Most of that's on the computer. The Nock stuff they're really interested in, they actually like talking to the customers. They challenge, my two kids challenge each other to like who can actually make a sale with the, so they'll like shoo me. If they're talking to someone, they'll like shoo me away because they want to lock down that sale like it's some competition or something and there's no competition. But they are like, they get into like the working the booth aspect of it. I can see them following in something, you know, along the lines of Nock. They haven't gone into like any side business type of ideas. Not that I've heard them say as far as like what Ryan's daughters do with their pen cases and other things that they sell, which are always great. I always try to buy stuff from them. So, but yeah, they're interested in it and they really had fun at this show. Since they were together, they had more fun goofing off around the show with other people and, you know, just kind of hanging out at the show than necessarily working the table. But they had a fun show. So, this is always a highlight of my year to bring them now, both of them to the show. My daughter just went last year. So, it's very cool. And Teante also asks, are you encouraging your children to enjoy fountain pens or is that something they're getting interested in by watching you? So, I think it's more the second part, just the watching and asking questions part than me like trying to enforce anything on them. Like I don't put anything in their hands that they're not interested in first, right? So, you know, at school, they mostly use pencils and, you know, they're going to have trouble using a fountain pen at school anyway these days, you know, just being kids and fidgety and messy. So, anything that they're interested in though, I definitely try to explain to them and work with them and, you know, let them have fun and that kind of stuff. So, yeah, it's definitely more that they get interested in looking at the stuff and want to try the stuff and then I'll help them out with that. So, the next one, this one's for you, Myke. So, it says, my very first pen show was Chicago this month. And this is from Nibs and Code. Sorry, this is Ask TPA. My very first pen show was Chicago this month and I'm hooked. I feel like I missed out on a lot of vintage pens though because of lack of knowledge. I'm going to St. Louis next month and I want to do better. How do I navigate the bargain bins at the vintage tables? So, what do you think? Like, me and you are kind of on the same page so I unfairly dumped this one on you. Yeah, you did. I know what your answer is. I know what your answer is going to be. It's like, I don't really know.

'''Myke Madison:''' That is what I wrote down. Yeah, I don't know, man. I'm not super well-versed in vintage stuff either. I'm dipping my toe in. I'm trying to, you know, pick up bits of knowledge where I can find it. But bargain bin stuff can be great. And oftentimes, in fact, maybe mostly whatever you pull out of that bargain bin is going to be worth more than whatever the cost is. But often they need restoration. That's why they're in there. This show, there was a table off in the corner that just kept throwing stuff in the bargain bins. And the vintage hunters were just over there pawing through these big bins of pins and parts and all that kind of stuff. And I just sort of, I went over there and looked and said, so what's good here? And they said, you know, it depends what you're into. I'm like, cool. I think the best way to navigate those things is to make friends with a vintage dealer and sort of, I don't know, build some trust. Figure out who you can talk to and who will give you information about a thing. And then you can ask. A lot of times, if it's a small show, especially like this one, you can say, you know, I've got this thing. Or you can take a picture of it. Or sometimes you can even ask the vendor, can I borrow this to show to a friend? And sometimes they'll let you do that sort of thing. And then take it over to somebody and say, what is this? That's a good way to do it. But yeah, the bargain bins are intimidating.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I get it. Super intimidating. And that was the feeding frenzy table for sure. When he broke that stuff out Saturday morning, it was just like, like everyone just descended on this guy. And I wouldn't look just to see what the commotion is, but I couldn't pick anything out of there. So, but I was 100% going to say what you said about becoming friends with some of the vendors. So what's Brian's last name that I asked you about? Is it McCree? McQueen. McQueen. Brian McQueen. So he sat behind me and he's a younger guy, like of our generation, who's fully into vintage pens. And he is so helpful, like in just explaining things and, you know, wanting to teach like this next generation of pen buyer, what vintage is all about. He restores pens. So, you know, if you see someone like me or Myke or Anna or anyone who's been to a bunch of pen shows, you kind of know the people who are the most receptive to be able to come up to and ask the most basic simple questions to. And I just had a really fun time and chatting with Brian. I know I sent some people over his way to ask questions about Esther Brooks or Parker's or things like that. So, yeah, I think that's a great idea. And then when you have the vintage table, also you want to get friends with someone who you know is a really good vintage pen restore person. So, you'll end up, if you end up picking up some of these things that need work, you know, you want to have a go-to person, whether that's, you know, Ron Zorn or Martin or there's a whole list of people you could get these pens repaired from. But, yeah, I don't, I'm willing to spend the extra money to get that restored pen instead of digging through the bargain bins. But I have done it before with some, have found some pilot and sailor stuff through these bins. And so, it's always worth a look.