What if I drastically reduced my Fountain Pen Collection? Hypothetically Speaking.
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- čas přidán 22. 07. 2024
- I watched the #8PenQuestions2024 video by Tom @GoldspotPens and his approach to his collection inspired me to take a closer look at my pens. Which ones would I be able to let go? And why?
Of course, his background is totally different from mine: he has been in this hobby and closely working with pens for 15 years whereas I am still a novice with 4 years under my belt. I also don't work in the industry so my exposure to pens is different. Please let me know your thoughts on this experiment in the comments below.
Tom's Video: • Tom answers #8penquest...
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This is such an interesting and thought provoking exercise. Tom Oddo's collection as well as Drew Brown's recent video of owning only ten pens does spark a lot of thought... but those two are coming at it from very different experiences than we are. They have the ability to try pens every single day as part of their jobs, and they have been in the hobby/industry for many many years. We are still acquiring and experiencing and do not get the constant exposure to pens like those two do. I can see why they would want to limit their collections to those pens, but for us "mere mortals", if our collections bring us joy, then it's okay to have more than 10!
nah!: I just couldn’t survive with fewer than 30 pens - there are just so many cool inks out there: I need to try them all!:)
Well put.
@@craft-o-matic399 absolutely. We never “need” more than even 1 fountain pen. But we are all different. We all explore this hobby differently. And so what one “needs” versus what we enjoy can be different and that’s okay.
I agree wholeheartedly!
@@craft-o-matic399 Diamine has literally an infinite collection of inks and you would voluntarily deny yourself pretty much all of them? - if so, can I gently steer you to my favourites: Oxford blue, midnight blue, imperial blue, 1864 regency blue, oxblood, royal Akkerman blauw, Conway Stewart sapphire . . . and that’s just one ink manufacturer! - don’t get me started on Montblanc, Pelikan, Lamy, GvFC, R&K, STDupont, Waterman, Aurora, Sailor, Pilot Iroshizuku, Colorverse; just 10 bottles is the tip of the iceberg:)
i have been using and owning FP for over 50 years. I am not understanding the sudden need to minimize. If you enjoy having the selection of pens of X quantity, then that amount is perfectly suited to you. I am quite happy owning over 3k pens; Surprisingly 90% of them are not only unique in the model but every nib (at least the antique and vintage ones that were hand ground) have a unique writing experience. Whenever its time for a new inking I go to the drawers, enjoy a cup of coffee and make my weekly selections.
3 thou. WOW. you sound like you have one awesome collection.
For me, this need is not sudden. I might not have said it in this specific video but for a long time, I have been afraid to amass too many pens because from previous hobbies I learned that I'm easily overwhelmed by too much. And so I've been always trying to keep the collection small. However, allowing myself to hypothetically talk it through, one of the main takeaways of the exercise was that I'm enjoying every pen in my current collection.
@@seemownay I apologize that I did not clarify my statement , by sudden need , as I do not believe this statement began with you. It just seems that this hobby tends to get waves of "demanding hot topics / ideas" and lately some of the buzzwords and or statement trends are minimize, burnout , etc. I just feel at times this amount of pressure from one pendulum swing to another places undue stress on others to follow suit.
@@ironmic9244 oh, there are plenty of folks like Pier Gustafson with far better collections than my own. Tho, I enjoy what I have and continue to add to it on a regular basis.
While I could live quite comfortably with only ten fountain pens, I choose not to at this point in time because my current collection brings me joy.
Is anybody else like me? - Monday would be a different line up than Tuesday which would be different again on a Wednesday - I find I am more emotional/sentimental with my love / attachment to a pen and even inks - than I am an introspective, logical selector of pens - so the day’s mood would totally impact the line up
Yes, this is me. I like having options because I never know what I I’ll be in the mood for, or what I will be needing the pen for. Is it to draw, is it for my planner, is it to write a letter, address an envelope, or just a carry around pen for work?
I was inspired to do this exercise. I got mine down to twelve pens. That being said it was purely hypothetical, none of my pens are leaving!😂
You win.
I don’t have a lot of pens, considering I’ve been buying them for four years. I never let myself get too carried away, and I stayed away from the small company brands with their dizzying array of colors all with the same basic nibs, and I think that helped. I care more about how a pen writes than how it looks. I’m at around 25, and out of those 25, I use 20 pretty regularly. Like with everything else, I think people do get out of control and we do need to move away from this over consuming…and I’m glad to see the pen channels here suggesting that, especially when their review videos are kind of encouraging over consuming. I am averaging 2-3 pens a year and I’m comfy with that. I could probably trim it down to 10, though, if I had to…but I don’t, so I won’t.
PS - I vote you keep ALL the Benu pens! If I were to pare down my collection, the Benu would be a keeper for sure, they are just so pretty and also awesome writers…I actually am planning on getting a Briolette, maybe this year….
I think that everyone should have a collection that makes them happy. And that is not necessarily bound by a specific number.
1. Thanks for the fun and inspiring video. I also want to cull my collection.
2. I use a broad variety of different nibs, 13 to be precise. Intellectually, 13 would be the sufficient minimum. However, sometimes I use several (2-8) colors of ink simultaneously, so practically, it would be convenient to have duplicates or triplicates at least of those sizes I use the most. So 39 would be a reasonable maximum.
3. There are 4 other considerations at play:
1. Collecting: I seem to be collecting 3 sets of pens: Sailor (non-mini), Sailor Mini, and Franklin-Christoph. The first group for performance, and the last two for appearance. Any
additional purchases seem to fall into these categories nowadays.
2. Color: when using multiple pens with different colored inks, it is supremely convenient to have them of the 9 color families that I distinguish in my mind. Any purchases at this point
in time must serve to fill out the color range within each of the 3 sets.
3. Emotion: there are pens I own which fulfill none of the above requirements, but that I am attached to for various reasons, and don't want to get rid of.
4. Recently I acquired my grail pen, which for some reason makes any additional purchases seem pointless.
4. I actually take pleasure in struggling with all these requirements, as I consider both what to purge and what to buy.
X. I have a black 743 that I would gladly send to you, if maybe you had an orange or violet pen (Sailor or Franklin-Christoph preferably) you might want to send back to me.
I bought a 20 pen case. That's my limit which is plenty for me. I'm in a if I have it, I must love it and use it or it goes. If I was on the fence, the answer is nope, gone. Twenty pens is more than I can use honestly and I want to use them.
I'm doing the same with my inks.
I‘m very glad you said in the end hat you won’t make a decision and sell all of those pens :)
you have so many gorgeous and limited edition pens.
Of course everyone should be happy with his/her collection.
I‘m not here in this hobby to have „10 Favs“(like Tom) or „10 best of“ (like Drew).
Honestly I „need“ only 1 pen- because I can’t use more than one at once, but I just enjoy them, looking at them, playing with special grind nibs etc.
There is naturally always change happening in collections, I think that’s obvious.
Some pens „don’t spark joy“ (I like asking that a lot!) anymore and some are cheaper but have memories.
It's a fun exercise!!! I have attempted something a little bit similar ... twice but I kept increasing the case size/number of hypothetical "personal collection". At first, I tried 20 ... that was wild because I have 20 TWSBIs and 20 Lamys ... which I love for color ink matching .... then i thought about 40 keeper pens not counting all the TWSBIs & Lamys ... ! 😂 One thing I did do was separate a bunch of pens out into a Monteverde 36 pen case of fountain pens I'll use for comparison/reference! ❤
I love hypothetical excercises like this! It does clarify a lot of things!
I will say this: I've seen my opinion completely change over years ... I've learned to give a pen a lot of inkings and even more time in case my nib preferences shift! Most drastic was my EF Faber Castell Loom. I completely appreciate it more these days! In October, I'll have 8 years in the hobby!❤
Thanks for a fun video!!!
I liked that I left the outcome completely open. But I also realized while talking through it that even though I could reduce the pens, it's not something I want to do. I love all the pens I have. I will continue letting go of pens that don't work for me but also take the proper time to give them a chance.
I think it’s fine to thin a collection especially when you find that you are ready to move in to something new. It is important to note that Tom has, because of the nature of his job, the ability to curate a pretty streamlined collection. He gets to “scratch that itch” weekly. I know I’d buy less pens if I could just go over to the shelf and try out / handle the new releases. The rest of us mere mortals have to take that risk of the blind buy because of our location / availability. I think we can all use some grace when the inevitable culling happens. 😊
I love your thought process in this video! Even though you were discussing the reduction of your pen collection, the questions you raise can also apply when adding new pens to your collection in the future.
Agree, I didn't even think about it. I'm glad I am not culling my collection because I really enjoy most of them.
watching you go through all these pen gyrations was a hoot!!!! I laughed alot...I'm so curious about your thoughts on the monoc nib from Schon Design. Please consider a video on this...
This was a fun video to watch! I am very early in my fountain pen journey and appreciate discussions around thoughtful curation- my wallet thanks you as well!
I like how you just go through every pen and talk your way through it.
It somehow also reminded me of what I have and what I love about each one!
My Benu and my Lamy pens are not going anywhere! There are a few Jinhao pens I could give away, but I just like looking at them😅Great video
Thanks for sharing!!
Very thought provoking, thanks for sharing
There was quite a bit of agnst! 😆Yes, I agree when you've been collecting for 5 yrs plus you do gain experience with pens and the brands. I went through a similar process when I sold some fountain pens late last year. I've been in this hobyy for eight years plus, so it's interesting to see how fast and how many pens folks buy very early in their journey.
It seems like that is an experience many beginners share. I'm trying to slow down as well and give myself more time with the pens I already own.
I'm not sure if I'm at the beginning, middle, or end of my pen collection. I prefer to have fewer pens that each could be the only pen I ever use. One thing I am sure of is that no one cares what fountain pen I use so it doesn't really matter.
I am definitely slowing down acquiring pens because as I've noticed in this video I have a lot of pens that I enjoy a lot. I hope we will never be at the end of the collection.
great discussion, thanks for sharing
Thanks for watching!
Ouuu I love the concept of a reduced amount of pens! Thank you for the thoughtful video!
White lightening is my Esterbrook Estie’s best friend. I load the converter with my preferred ink, then I dip a toothpick in the White lightening then add that tiny drop to the converter of ink. It’s the perfect amount to make that otherwise dry experience dreamy.
I’m in the process of choosing a few faves as I’m in the process of moving cross country. My full collection is crazy to keep all at hand so I’m picking and choosing my faves. My criteria for most of my choices have come down to interesting and/ interchangeable nibs; more variety at my fingertips.
Good luck with the move and choosing the favorites - I would probably do the same while picking pens for this use case!
Interesting process!
Thank you! This was so fun and inspiring to watch. 🌈
Glad you enjoyed it!
This was great to see Simone. I think it is good to review our pens periodically and decide what is working and we use and what isn't being used and can go but I think we all need to remember that Tom works for a pen retailer and gets opportunities to try out pens in a way the rest of us don't so that probably scratches a lot of itches.
While I could pick my top ten pens and could easily only have ten there are pens I wouldn't want to let go because they were gifted to me by my husband and father. None of us NEED ten pens we only need one and for many years that was all I had. All the pens in my collection currently bring me joy and all get used, I have less than 30 pens and I am okay with that.
So interesting to watch your thought process. I should try this. Hypothetically of course 😅
One of the best results of this exercise was that I want to keep most of them. I'm not ready to cull my collection.
I have exactly 34 pens at the moment as well! It’s about to be 35 as someone is sending me a pen in a trade but I might get rid of a pen or two in the mean time. I would love to go down to 18 pens so I can have my currently inked pouch with 8 pens and a 10 pen case. I don’t see it happening but I can dream
Keep dreaming! 😛
I have almost 100 pens from a wide rage of brands. Ten are what I call my legacy pens that were given to me on special o assigns beginning in the late 1960’s. The remainder were purchase since 2023 and range in in price from about $5 up to over $700. I enjoy using of them. So no downswing. I only have one Lamy, an Al-star with all steel nib sizes from EF to 1.5. Still buying but at a more deliberate and slower phase. A Pelican M800 is next up and I would like at least one Esterbrook Estie and one from an independent pen maker that I have been following for a couple of years. Then we will see. Enjoy your videos, so thanks.
Yes, I'm glad you are enjoying your collection! That's how it's supposed to be.
I tried. I got rid of a few. But then another TWSBI special edition comes along and I have to have that one, too!
I love your pens especially the coastal color pen! What brand is that?
If you're talking about the Benu Euphoria Gold Coast, it's this one: www.atlasstationers.com/products/benu-euphoria-fountain-pen-atlas-exclusive?sca_ref=3334637.crfk1M2giz
I own 8 pens, I started the hobby in December last year 😂
Nice - I hope you give yourself a lot of time exploring those and finding out what you like.
You could reduce your hoard of Pens by gifting a pen or 2 to someone you meet that,might have never tried fountain pens.
Getting them into fountain pen writing !
And then maybe 1 or 2 to a co. worker.
Or a great idea, is gift me 1 or 2 !! I would ❤ it !
God Bless, have a wonderful week !
I don't consider my pens a hoard. And I have been giving away a fountain pen every month since the beginning of the year. Thanks for the suggestions though.
27:06 what this pen called I didn’t catch the same
It’s the Scribo Feel.