Fountain Pen "Quickie": Recent Acquisitions

I had to do a "quick" post about the recent fountain pens I've bought because the selection is rather eclectic. Three of the pens are my first purchases from the small maker brands, while the pen from Pilot is a vintage model.

I got the Pilot Myu with the MF nib from someone else on the Pen Addict Slack who traded for the Omas Ogiva I recently bought but hadn't really clicked with. It was kind of serendipitous how they mentioned they hadn't clicked with the Pilot Myu, and we then agreed to do a trade (plus a little to cover the pen sale price difference). I'd been hearing about the Pilot Myu and its larger sibling, the Murex for a while and jumped at the chance to check this cool integrated nib pen out. I'm still going to add a Murex to my collection some time. I was expecting that the Myu would feel similar to the Pilot Elites I'm used to since the shape is similar, but the fact that the nib is part of the pen body does give it a different feel, like a metal stylus, as I'd seen someone else describe it. And its look, despite being from the 1970s, is pretty modern.

Black pens are normally not my style. I tend towards vivid, shimmery, striking pens that are fun to look at and write with. But I bought a Lamy 2000 a while ago (and a black Pilot Custom 743, but it's been out of commission due to a bent nib 🤦‍♀️), so I've kind of warmed up to black pens that have some kind of unique feature (the Lamy has a custom ground architect nib, and the Pilot has an FA nib). This black pen from Desiderata Pen Company is the BAMF, or Bad-Ass Motherf***er (homage to Pulp Fiction), in black ebonite, with a red ebonite section. Besides the obvious draw of the model name (😆), this is my first ebonite pen. The brushed texture reminds me of the Lamy 2000, despite having a different material. This was another acquisition from someone on the Pen Addict Slack. The price was quite reasonable, which nudged me towards finally picking this up. Desiderata Pen Company, a cool maker based in Chicago, has a couple other models I want to buy some day.

I wrote about the eye-catching Black Robin Pens Puck in Copper Collision previously, so you can check out all the details in that post. It's funny how it stands out among the other subdued pens. It is more towards my typical preference of fountain pen style than the Pilot and Desiderata, though its copper shimmer body is more attention-grabbing than most of my collection.

Finally, my most recent acquisition is yet another Pen Addict Slack purchase. I had grumbled on Slack about missing out on purchasing my first pen from Mad Science Company because it had been purchased out from under me while I was trying to complete the transaction. GRRR! This has happened to me before with coveted gadget launches, so I tend not to try to buy such things under pressure anymore, but this pen had such a cool material and design that I wanted to try. A kind person reached out to me and mentioned they had a pen in the same material that they hadn't used in a long time and would be willing to sell. Lucky for me, this pen has the awesome Raffir material all throughout the pen body, not just the cap and section! It's hard to see from the picture above just how interesting the material is. I made a short video of the pen close up to show off the copper threads that run through the resin. And it's glow-in-the-dark! Surprisingly I haven't inked up this pen yet. I will soon, now that I've cleaned out one of my currently inked.

I plan on writing more about these pens more after I've lived with them for a while, but I had to post a "short" blurb about them now because I was amused at how different they are. If I had to describe my fountain pen design preferences, it'd be hard to do, since I have eclectic taste and eclectic reasons for purchasing the pens I have. I'm glad I have a decent mix of big-brand and small-maker pens, though. A lot of my pens qualify as functional art pieces that make me happy to look at and use. I am definitely not the type of collector who only displays my collection. I want to enjoy them as they're meant to be enjoyed!