2020 Philadelphia Pen Show Recap

January 22, 2020

The Philly Pen Show is relatively modest in terms of the numbers of vendors and attendees. While not a purely regional show like the Arkansas Pen Show, it’s still smaller than Atlanta. To illustrate, apparently this was the first year where the show took up two ballrooms. Vendors present included retailers such as Dromgoole’s, Fountain Pen Hospital, Lemur Ink, Federalist Pens, Total Fine Writing, Bertram’s Inkwell, and Bittner; makers such as Franklin-Christoph, Matthew Martin Custom Pens, Schon DSGN, and Hinze Pens; and pen repairers and nib workers such as Mark Bacas, Custom Nib Studio, JJ Lax Pen Co., and Jim Baer (Monomoy Pens). Distributors such as Coles of London (Visconti, S.T. DuPont) and Luxury Brands (Platinum, Colorverse, Noodlers) were also in attendance. The one thing that the Philly Pen Show noticeably missed, in my mind, was one more larger ink and paper dealer such as Vanness or Anderson Pens. Both normally attend but could not this year. :(

I tried to do panoramic shots of both ballrooms at the Philly Pen Show. This is the first ballroom, where you entered the show. The top photo is the second ballroom, containing most of the vintage vendors.

Overall, crowds seemed a bit thin on Friday, though from what I heard, those who were present came ready to spend after going months of pen show deprivation. Attendance picked up on Saturday despite blustery winter weather, and though I couldn’t stay to attend on Sunday, others reported that the show saw steady traffic. Whether or not vendors make money attending shows is the key factor driving growth, and Philly remains a show to keep an eye on for future expansion.

Check out Saturday’s post for more pictures of the show layout and various vendor tables.

Classes and After-Hours Events

Retail is only a part of what makes a pen show “great” or not, and like last year’s Baltimore Pen Show, what made this one exceptional was the range of classes and after-hours events available to attendees. In particular, Salman and Azizah of the Toronto Pen Company held various workshops all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, ranging from a Comprehensive Intro to Fountain Pens to “Pilot Parallels 101” to more advanced lettering classes. I took the Pilot Parallels 101 class and thoroughly enjoyed it, and have to admit (somewhat embarrassingly) that despite 10+ years in the pen world I had never used a Parallel. They’re a lot of fun, are a great way to test out inks, so I highly encourage you to pick up a set to play with. The Toronto Pen Company also sells Pilot Parallels modified to write like ruling pens, as well as several folded nibs and some forthcoming inks. Check out their store for more details.

Check out those inks! Both are from the Toronto Pen Company, though they aren’t on sale yet. Stay tuned.

I’m looking forward to having fun with my Pilot Parallels, and possibly incorporating them into future ink reviews.

Other seminar options included a “Casual Uncial” class with Michael Ward, a Schon DSGN open house on Friday night, and the Saturday Night “Pen Mixer.” I didn’t get the opportunity to attend the Uncial class, but both of the other events were two of the best times I’ve had at a pen show. Ian Schon’s workshop is something else, and it offers a new appreciation for what it takes (in terms of both personal skill and machinery) to design and create quality pens on even a modest scale. The “Pen Mixer” offered the opportunity for registrants to spend 15 minutes at various tables with individuals such as Brad Dowdy (The Pen Addict), Ryan Krusac, Mark Bacas, Dan Hoizner (@Dandon), Azizah Azgarali (Gourmet Pens/Toronto Pen Company), and Scott Franklin (Franklin-Christoph) learning about their individual businesses, handling some of their favorite pens and inks, and discussing anything else they wanted to share about their careers and lives in the pen business.

This picture gives you an idea of the scale of the Schon DSGN workshop!

My newly purchased Schon DSGN Pocket 6 joined me for a little Pen Shows After Dark.

Philadelphia Pen Show Purchases

I didn’t exactly meet my stated goal of attending a Pen Show without buying anything, but I did manage to make these purchases on a “one-in, one-out” basis, meaning that I picked up a few pens and sold the same number (to Patreon members who I was lucky enough to meet up with through the weekend). My first purchase happened ten minutes after walking through the show doors on Friday, when I snapped up an OG1 fountain pen from Matthew Martin Custom Pens in a combination of zirconium and blue anodized titanium. I’ve been looking for the right MCM pen to add to my collection ever since I first saw these in Atlanta of last year, and I finally found it in Philly. While Matthew was setting up to charge my credit card, I moved on to the Schon DSGN table next door, where I purchased the one pen I actually had planned on acquiring at the show: a Pocket Six fountain pen with a JoWo nib section (coming soon to the Schon DSGN site). The specific color I chose was a blue/purple/black swirl that sold out quickly - as in, within the first hour of the show.

My Philly Pen Show haul, clockwise from top: Montblanc Irish Green ink from Dromgoole’s; Franklin-Christoph Model 31; Schon DSGN Pocket Six; MCM OG1; and my Pilot Parallels I received for attending the Toronto Pen Company Seminar.

That did it for Friday (which was enough damage). The only thing left on my list was a handful of ground nibs from Franklin-Christoph, which I put off until Saturday morning in order to see the available prototypes. I wanted a Masuyama-ground needlepoint nib, which is only sold with a pen, so I chose a prototype Model 31 in a transparent Amber acrylic with a Cinnamaroon finial. I added an EF SIG nib and a Steel Flex nib to pair with my other Franklin-Christoph pens (as well as my other JoWo compatible pens), so look for reviews of those nib grinds in the future.

Takeaways and Final Thoughts on the Philly Pen Show

I had a great time in Philly, and plan to add the city to my annual pen show rotation as long as my day-job schedule cooperates. The Philly show continued a promising trend that I first noticed last year in Baltimore - an “updating” of the workshops and after-hours events that make pen shows more than a three-day shopping spree. I’m interested to see if other shows follow suit, and I may consider doing hosting a class or seminar myself in the future. If there’s something you’d like to learn more about, feel free to hit me up with suggestions.

Next, on to the 2020 Baltimore Pen Show, where I plan to have a table! Stay tuned for more details.

Disclaimer: This post contains links to paid sponsors and affiliates.

There used to be three of those blue-patterned pens on the bottom left….

Scenes from the 2020 Philadelphia Pen Show

January 18, 2020

I’ll have more of a write-up later this week, but I wanted to post some pictures from Friday at the 2020 Philadelphia Pen Show. Highlights included getting to hit up both the Matthew Martin Custom Pens and Schon DSGN tables first thing, and getting to visit the Schon DSGN shop later in the evening. I didn’t exactly survive Friday without purchasing anything new, but I did manage to unload a few pens to Patreon members I had the opportunity to meet in person. I’m still “in the negative” and moving towards my overall goal of fewer pens overall!

I’ll be at the Philly Show for Saturday but not Sunday, and plan to attend the “Pen Mixer” tonight. Stop by and say hello if you’re there!

A MCM Pen may or may not have come home with me…

The new Esterbrook Camden, which turns out to be an extremely comfortable pen to hold.

New tester pens from Franklin-Christoph!

Ian Schon of Schon DSGN gives a presentation at the open house at his design studio.

And, of course, some “Pen Show Food” pics!

Disclaimer: This post contains links to paid sponsors and affiliates.

My pens for January 2020: Leonardo Momento Zero Grande Arlecchino (in case); Lamy 2000 Bauhaus 100th Anniversary (in case); Kanilea Mauna Kea (top right); Nakaya Decapod in Kuro Tamenuri Finish (second from top); Lamy 2000 standard (second from bott… — My pens for January 2020: Leonardo Momento Zero Grande Arlecchino (in case); Lamy 2000 Bauhaus 100th Anniversary (in case); Kanilea Mauna Kea (top right); Nakaya Decapod in Kuro Tamenuri Finish (second from top); Lamy 2000 standard (second from bottom); Platinum 3776 Oshino Demonstrator.

Pen Show Prep 2020 and My One-Pen Challenge

January 15, 2020

Pen Show Season is here, and I’m about to kick things off by heading to Philadelphia late Thursday night for the 2020 Philly Pen Show! Philadelphia is the first show of the year, and I’ve never been able to attend despite hearing great things. What am I looking forward to the most? Just hanging out and walking the show. I’m not working for anyone this time, and while I plan to make time to meet up with readers and Patreon supporters, I don’t have any set obligations, much less a list of anything specific that I’m looking for. The lack of a plan, of course, can be a recipe for disaster at a pen show, but this year feels different.

My One-Pen Challenge(s) and the Year of Reducing My Stationery Hoard

Why? As I previously mentioned, I spent some time around the New Year sorting through my pen collection/accumulation and cutting things hard. I have all sorts of pens, inks, and paper queued up to list for sale throughout the year, and I don’t regret any of it. One of my main themes for 2020 is to acquire and hold onto less stuff, which in my case necessarily involves taking a deep dive into the dozens of pens that remain in my collection and figure out what I want to keep before I cut even more. It bothers me to have pens I like sitting unused for over a year, simply because there’s no feasible way for me to rotate through them. Committing to a quarterly sale, and having a hard backstop like Patreon supporters who have paid to participate in these sales in a timely manner, will keep me honest with myself. My goal is to eventually get to 12-24 pens in my personal collection.

So how do I decide to thin the herd? The only way, in my opinion, is to spend extended periods of time with a pen, compared against a pen that I know I love and will always have in my collection. Here’s what I plan to do:

Limit the Number of Pens Inked. I have to do this, otherwise, it gets stressful because I feel that I have to write each pen dry and I flit back and forth between a dozen different pens and don’t focus on anything. Having no more than 5-6 pens inked at any given time, and carrying no more than 3 with me on a daily basis, will allow me to focus better, not just on evaluating my own pens but on providing more in-depth review content here.
The “One Pen” Challenge. Have one pen that’s with me all the time, all year long, and use this pen as the baseline against which I evaluate others. For me, that pen is going to be a Lamy 2000 with an EF nib, probably my Blue Bauhaus 100th Anniversary edition since it has the best-writing nib in my small collection of Lamy 2000s.
The “Monthly Pen” Challenge. Choose one pen that will stay with me for the month and not get swapped out of the six-pen rotation, even if the pen runs out of ink. For the month of January, that pen is the Leonardo Momento Zero Grande Arlecchino.
Monthly Change-Up. At the end of the month, clean and ink 5 new pens, including a “monthly pen.” Take note of what pens I’m using, what pens I’m not using, and why. If a pen doesn’t work for me anymore, it goes on the block in the next quarterly sale.

Pen Show Goals for 2020

So what am I going to be up to at pen shows this year? Hanging out with people. Taking pictures and checking out new review items for the blog. To the extent I acquire anything, I love the idea of picking a single model of vintage pen that I can use to create a “mini-collection” within my personal collection, as Jacklyn discusses in her recent blog post. I may take a class or two with Salman and Azizah of the Toronto Pen Company, which is something I’ve never done before at a show. As with most pen shows, you’ll find me in the hotel bar most nights, and I’m signed up for the Pen Mixer at 6pm on Saturday. I’m still pulling together pens I’m taking to Philly for Pen Show Show-n-Tell, so feel free to send me a message if there’s something in particular you want me to bring.

My pen show travel over the rest of the year is also starting to take shape. In addition to Philly, I plan to attend the Baltimore Pen Show (Feb. 28-March 1); Arkansas Pen Show (March 13-15); Atlanta Pen Show (April 3-5); D.C. Pen Show (July 30-Aug. 2), and since D.C. is early this year, possibly the San Francisco Pen Show (August 28-30).

So What Am I Going To Do With All The Pens I’m Selling?

The TGS “Gently Used” Sale will go live to the general readership on February 1, 2020. Currently, the sale is open to Patreon supporters as one of the benefits they receive through that program, along with progressive discounting depending on the level of support. Pens listed for sale include some special edition Pilot Vanishing Points, a matte black Leonardo Momento Zero, an Esterbrook Estie, and nearly three dozen bottles of ink, most of which have had 1-2 fills taken, max. I’ve priced all of these items aggressively, with the goal of giving my readers and supporters as good a deal as I can while still accomplishing my goal of shoring up blog finances for the year ahead.

I hope to see you all in Philly, and if you’re headed to the show, safe travels!

Disclaimer: This post contains links to paid sponsors and affiliates.

Recapping the 2019 D.C. Pen Show: It's Still The Big Show!

August 7, 2019

Let’s face it … the D.C. Pen Show is always a bit of a hot mess. It’s a 3-day event with hundreds of vendors and thousands of attendees crammed into two hotel ballrooms and a few hallways. Pen shows don’t have the budget of Comic-Con or even major trade shows, so hotels are usually a bit too small and lack amenities that attendees would otherwise be used to, such as ready access to food and beverages.

Yet you still go. Other shows are catching up - San Francisco and Chicago in particular - but D.C. remains the big annual event, and I suspect it will remain so for the immediate future. It’s the only place where you are likely to see brands of all sizes and price points, ranging from Montblanc to Franklin-Christoph to small startups such as Narwhal Pens. Though this year saw a number of notable absences, D.C. is also the show where you can expect to find most of the large pen retailers, high-end vintage dealers, and fountain pen repairmen and nib grinders. Because of this diverse presence, lots of people still attend, regardless of the logistical challenges and bad locations, and the D.C. Pen Show presents one of the best opportunities out there to meet everyone and to catch up with friends. So what were the notable things I saw this year?

Galen Leather. The feel-good story of the weekend was Galen Leather, who attended with a seriously impressive stockpile of inventory, including their leather pen cases, notebook covers, and brass accessories. More on what I purchased below. I’m also happy to announce that Vanness Pens is now the exclusive U.S. retailer for Galen Leather, so you will be able to purchase Galen Leather products from a U.S.-based source, reducing shipping cost and time for those of us in the States!
Matthew Martin Custom Pens. After debuting his pens to much fanfare in Atlanta, veteran knifemaker Matt Martin came to D.C. with a serious stockpile of “The Original,” his machined fountain pen that comes in various designs and materials including titanium, brass, copper, and zirconium. Matt uses a special technique to reduce the weight of the pen, which makes them much more comfortable to use than many heavier machined pens made from brass and copper.
Faber-Castell and Graf von Faber-Castell. For the first time I can remember, representatives of Faber-Castell, USA attended the D.C. Pen Show, and they were a lot of fun to get to know! These two brands, with some of the best nibs on the market, unfortunately tend to go unnoticed at shows, but this year a LOT of people were purchasing Faber-Castell pens, and I picked up my first Graf von Faber-Castell, a now-discontinued Guilloche model.
Kanilea Pen Company Aolani. Apparently a large stock of Aolani pens came to D.C., but only a very few were left by Sunday, making the pen wildly successful. Check out my first impressions here!
Atelier Musubi. Daryl traveled all the way from Singapore toting his gorgeous fabric journals, including some unique prototypes. More on Musubi as a brand here.
Straits Pens. Everyone who came looking for unique sizes of Tomoe River paper was directed to Sunny at Straits Pens, who was attending his first D.C. Pen Show. For future reference, Sunny also does nib grinds, and will be attending the San Francisco Pen Show.
Vinta Inks. Some of the biggest draws at the Vanness Pens table this year were inks from Vinta, a new brand out of the Philippines that has both standard and shimmer options. I’m looking forward to testing these out soon. Blue Blood and Sikatuna Sandugo both caught my eye.

Galen Leather was set up in the front Ballroom, and Zeynep from Write to Me Often was working the table all weekend!

It’s amazing how much self-control you can exercise when you’re behind the table all weekend, and the show is so busy that you don’t have time to browse and find anything to buy until Sunday. My one Friday purchase was something I have coveted for a long time: a Writing Box from Galen Leather, and they had at least 20 of them there to choose from. (Seriously, the logistics of moving the volume of product they had at the show was impressive!) On Sunday, I managed to snag two really sweet deals: a Graf von Faber-Castell Guilloche fountain pen from the Faber-Castell distributor that was on clearance, and a Franklin-Christoph Model 20 “Marietta” prototype in a dark green-flecked acrylic. I also took home a bottle of the special show ink, “Supershow Teal” from Monteverde that will be available at retail at some point. It’s a nice color!

By the end of the day on Saturday, there wasn’t much Colorverse or Akkerman Dutch Masters left, and our stock of both was depleted even further on Sunday.

Takeaways from this Year’s D.C. Pen Show

The D.C. Pen Show is undergoing some “transition” pains as it recovers from the loss of its long-standing location at the Sheraton Tysons Corner, and new people become more involved in running the show. After a bit of a slow start on Friday, however, Saturday and Sunday were extremely busy and it was back to business as usual for most vendors. The most frustrating thing about this show, to me, doesn’t have to do with the show itself, but rather the location and lack of food and entertainment options within walking distance. This not only hurts the vendors - most of whom don’t want to drive to dinner after having been on their feet for nearly 12 hours - but also the attendees, who lose out on show time, parking spaces, and just an overall better experience. As I’ve mentioned before, taking time out of pen shows - even 20 minutes - to eat, rest, and recover is important, and you don’t have many easy options unless you want to visit the mediocre hotel restaurant and bar.

The two on the left are my 2019 D.C. Pen Purchases, shown here in a Galen Leather A5 Zippered Notebook Folio in Crazy Horse Brown distressed leather. Check out my review of the Galen Leather A5 “zipfolio” here.

That said, I will be attending the D.C. Pen Show as long as my friends are, since I go more to socialize and meet readers rather than shop. People have been talking about the “decline of the D.C. Pen Show” for nearly 10 years now, and nothing significant has changed other than moving locations. As I mentioned above, for the time being D.C. is still the biggest event of the year in terms of sheer numbers of vendors, makers, and attendees, and it’s difficult to recapture the spirit of this show elsewhere.

D.C. was the last pen show that I have planned for this year, though I may try to attend San Francisco (unlikely since it’s so close), Dallas, or Ohio as a last-minute trip. If not, I’m looking forward to the Philadelphia and Baltimore Shows in 2020!

Just a teaser of my new Galen Leather Writing Box - more pics coming soon!

Disclaimer: This post contains links to paid sponsors and affiliates. All of the products purchased at the D.C. Pen Show were paid for by me with my own funds, though I did get a slight discount on the Faber-Castell Pen since I was working at the Vanness Pens table.

Scenes from Friday and Saturday at the 2019 DC Pen Show

August 4, 2019

Friday at the D.C. Pen Show was a bit slow…. Much slower than in previous years. Vendor and attendee traffic seemed a bit down, though it picked up towards the end of the afternoon to the point where we even had a bit of a rush just before closing. Several Saturday attendees told us at the table that the show mailer confused the dates, and did not make clear that Friday was open to the public if they paid the early “Trader” admission. Oh well. It was still the D.C. Pen Show, so there was still a ton of stuff to see and I took advantage of the lulls in traffic to look around the ballrooms. Saturday more than made up for a slow Friday, as the line started forming at 8:00 a.m. and did not let up until an hour after the technical “close.” I actually don’t have many pictures from Saturday since it was so busy, but the pictures from Friday are better anyway because vendors still had most of their stock. Some tables were pretty bare by mid-afternoon on Saturday, which is the sign of a great show!

There’s still one full day left! I’m behind the Vanness Pens table to the right of the show entrance, so be sure to stop by and say hello! We have plenty of pens to sell, along with our remaining stock of Akkerman and Colorverse ink. Hope to see you later! A full show recap will follow this week.

Kanilea Pen Company brought all of their various models of pens, including the new Aolani (shown below)!

I can’t wait to swing by the Kanilea table on Sunday and see how many of these are actually left after the Saturday rush. Check out my initial thoughts on the Kanilea Aolani that I published last week.

Dan Smith at The Nibsmith brought the entire spectrum of Leonardo pens, as well as Sailor, Visconti, and other brands.

As you know, I’m behind the Vanness Pens table all weekend, and while our stock of ink and paper is somewhat depleted, Sunday is a great day to get a good deal on a pen, like this discontinued Montegrappa Passione that has been sitting in front of m… — As you know, I’m behind the Vanness Pens table all weekend, and while our stock of ink and paper is somewhat depleted, Sunday is a great day to get a good deal on a pen, like this discontinued Montegrappa Passione that has been sitting in front of me calling my name for two days straight. Someone come buy this pen before I do! You may remember that I reviewed this exact model/color combination a while back.

Yoshi Nakama was here, though I still haven’t quite found the pen that speaks to me yet!