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What Kind of Pen Collector Are You?

I've run across a lot of different kinds of collectors in this hobby.

I've been thinking about this since lunch on Saturday at the 2001 Washington DC Pen Show. I ate with two people who are best described as "Investor Collectors." They told me about all their strategies for buying the latest LE pens at the lowest possible prices.

I remember being told, "I fly to Italy several times a year and I know of the one shop where I can get Deltas and OMAS pens at half of what they sell for here!"

I asked about using their pens, such as the Krone and Montblanc LEs, and was met with looks of horror. "I keep my pens in the original wrappings. I make sure the outer and inner boxes are unmarked. For the most part, I only open them to inspect them, and return them to the box."

What do you use, I asked? "I have a Montblanc 146. These pens are investments! They lose value if you ink them!"

What about vintage pens? "There's too much to know and research too much to do to get a pen in shape that makes valuing them too complicated. I can't see where I'm going to get my money back, much less make a profit on my investment. I don't mess with vintage pens."

A very interesting conversation.

So the question is: What kind of pen collector are you?

These are the main types of collectors I have met:

The Hoarder - The collector who has to have everything! Enough said!
The Investor - Buys pens as investments. May actually write with some of them!
The User - Buys pens to actually write with them. Anything smooth or writes well. Raves about nibs!
The Obsessor - Seeks complete collections of pens by type or kind. Has to have every flattop Duofold, or every single variant of the Vacumatic, or only sterling silver pens...
The Seeker - Looking for that One Pen that is the ultimate writing experience. Pen nirvana is out there. Runs through a lot of pens.
The Fixer - Buys broken and abandoned pens and fixes them up. Never saw a bad pen that couldn't be better. Always at pen shows going through the junk tables.

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Types of Collectors

What kind of pen collector are you? Hoarder Investor User Obsessor Seeker Fixer

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