Goldspot at the Philadelphia Pen Show

We're getting packed up and ready to make the trip down to the Philadelphia Pen Show at the Downtown Sheraton and wanted to give everyone a head's up on what to expect when you get down there.

First of all, weather is supposed to get a little unkind tomorrow, so be careful if you're making the drive. Secondly, we'll be setting up shop to get going when the show kicks off at 10am on Saturday morning. There should be plenty of signage in the lobby of the Sheraton to point  the way up the escalators to the ballroom that the show is being held.

To whet your appetite a little bit, here is a preview of the items we will have on hand to sell during the weekend:

The featured pen this year will be the Visconti Homo Sapiens Steel Age Collection. The lava of Mt. Etna is now available with stainless marine steel trim. We will also have the bronze age versions of the Homo Sapiens on sale as well. My Pen System personalization is free on any Visconti pen purchase.

We will have the very last of our TWSBI Diamond 540 clear pens (in broad point) and the ROC100 pens, which are still available in all point sizes. We will also have all color bands of the innovative TWSBI ink well on hand.

Although we don't have all the colors of the Noodler's flex nib pens, we do have a good amount of inventory that we will bring of the standard nib creeper and the Ahab pens.

We have the very last of the Pelikan m205 Blue Transparent fountain pens, which will be available at the show in extra-fine, fine, medium, broad and italic nib sizes.

Last year, many folks enjoyed the items we brought from the island of the misfit pens and we're doing the same this weekend as well. We will have nearly new pens that have engraving snafus and other slight cosmetic defects for a great value buy.

Of course, what would be the pen without the ink and paper. We will have most (if not all) the colors of the Pilot Iroshizuku ink, Pelikan Edelstein and J. Herbin. We will have Rhodia webbies and some staplebound notepads available as well.

Promotions - this weekend, you'll be able to take advantage of great Pen Show sale opportunities, along with the special promos you've come to know and love on our website. For example, orders over $35 will get a free Parker Leather Pen Case, while supplies last. Anything that we normally offer on the website, but we don't have in-person, you can buy with free shipping if your order is given at the show. Any orders we take for items not at the show will be entered and fulfilled on Monday when we get back.

For those of you that can't make it, we're sorry we missed you this time around! We'll take plenty of pictures of the crowd, the vendors and the PENS!

Ingenious Pen Pocket for Button Down Shirts

First of all, let me thank my lucky stars that my Mother-in-Law and I get along extremely well and that she understands me and loves me like a son. She got me this shirt for Christmas that I picked out today to wear. As a man who buys his own clothes, I was utterly flabbergasted (and slightly embarrassed) when I realized that this button down shirt just wasn't any normal button down shirt - it was a shirt built for a pen geek.

The left breast pocket, my shirt pocket of choice when it comes to carrying my pens, has a stitched separator built in especially for pens! It took me until the first time that I actually wore the shirt to work to realize that it had such a feature and I had to show everyone in the office with the wonder and amazement of a small child in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.

The only downside to this nifty stitched pocket is that it can only hold pens that are on the "thinner" side. My Pelikan m215 fits snugly in the picture above, while I couldn't get the Aurora Optima to fit. Notice how the pen pocket keeps the pen held firmly against the shirt while the regular compartment of the pocket allows for the Aurora pen to sag in the pocket. The heavier the pen, the more of a problem that can be.

Like I mentioned earlier, I feel a bit naive and/or embarrassed that I've never seen such a pocket design on men's shirts before. Does anyone else have a shirt like this? If so, please feel free to exclaim over its awesomeness.

TMZ Reports Sly Stallone Chaos Pen is Ugly

Of course you know TMZ is not going to hold back when it comes to their celebrity commentary. In this video below, they lay into Sylvester Stallone and his taste in pen design.

Pen Manufacturers Not Showing the Love in February

2012 - a New Year means a new set of price lists from many of our prestigious writing brands that we sell over at Goldspot.com. Possibly related to the aligning of the planets and the Mayan calendar proclaiming our inevitable end, 5 of our bigger brands have all decided to increase their prices starting February 1st. The manufacturers are Delta, Sheaffer, Montegrappa, Lamy & Yard-O-Led.

Old Punxsutawney Phil is going to emerge from his burrow and run back inside, fearful of these pen price hikes. Some of the increases are nominal, while others are very substantial. Sheaffer, we were informed, are making only very slight changes. Their biggest change was the move to make the minimum advertised price (MAP) up to full retail value. That means, a pen that was originally advertised for $39.95 retail on our site is now up to $50 with an estimated $5 - $10 increase on top of that at the end of the month. Yikes.

Lamy is another brand that should have fountain pen enthusiasts clutching their wallets in anxiety. Since the primary reason for these price increases is the rising market value of gold and other precious metals, many of the Lamy fountain pens with 14kt nibs have ballooned in price. Best example would be the Dialog 3, which is going from a $300 retail to $390 on February 1st. Double Yikes. However, Safaris and AL-Star pens will be spared. And the villagers rejoiced.


Slightly less noteworthy, but still significant would be the Delta, Yard-O-Led and Montegrappa increases. Here, you may see ballpoints and rollerballs stay the same, but gold-nibbed fountain pens to increase by $20 - $50 depending on the model. More details on the pricing will be available at the end of the month. If you had your eye on a pen made by these manufacturers, get clicking and snatch one up!

Come Join Us at the Philadelphia Pen Show

To pen-loving folks in the Northeast US and Beyond,

The Philadelphia Pen Show is coming to the Downtown Sheraton (within walking distance of Love Park, the Franklin Institute and the Philadelphia Museum of Art) from Friday, January 20th through Sunday, the 22nd. Attendance has dramatically risen from year-to-year, offering a great cross-section of modern pen manufacturers (Visconti, Delta, Taccia, Sheaffer, etc.), vintage pen dealers, bespoke pen makers, and fine writing retailers. Exhibiting for the second consecutive year is yours truly, Goldspot Pens. We will have a nice selection of some of our best selling fine writing products, along with some special closeout deals, clearance pens and some "nearly new" one-offs and other special items that will be offered for special prices.

For more information, check out this flier (click to enlarge) :

If you're planning on attending, please feel free to stop by our booth and say, "hi!" We'd love to meet you!

The January Carnival of Pen Pencil and Paper

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Welcome to the January 2012 edition of carnival of pen, pencil and paper. The first one of our brand New Year, we hope to kick things off right and feature some of the best pen-related articles that the internet has to offer, collected all here for your exploring curiosity.

pens

Eric Schneider presents The Known TWSBI System, A Timeline posted at FPGeeks.

Alex Witte presents Pilot Bravo posted at Economy Pens.

Alex Witte presents Sharpie Pen Grip posted at Economy Pens.

Steven Horvat presents TWSBI 540 Fountain Pen Review posted at The Original Steven H, saying, "TWSBI 540 Fountain Pen Review"

Brian G. presents the Noodler's Ahab Flex Nib Fountain Pen Review posted at Office Supply Geek.
Elizabeth presents the Sheaffer VFM Matte Black Fountain Pen Review posted at No Pen Intended.

notebooks

Steven Horvat presents Clairefontaine Staplebound Notebook - 3.5" x 5.5" - Orange posted at The Original Steven H, saying, "This is my little staple-bound notebook. It goes everywhere with me."


Cheryl from Writer's Bloc presents What is Fountain Pen Friendly Paper? posted at Writer's Bloc Blog.

Alex Witte presents Doane Paper Leather Works Utility Notebook Cover posted at Economy Pens.

Katie Sorene presents 10 Beautiful Journals to Inspire Your Travel Writing posted at Travel Blog - Tripbase, saying, "Travel journal recommendations for aspiring writers. From the decadence of Smythson of Bond Street to the simplicity of Moleskin's classic pads, water resistent journals, recycled leather and more."

miscellaneous

Steven Horvat presents Custom Made Desk Organizer posted at The Original Steven H, saying, "Custom Made Desk Organizer"

office supplies

Steven Horvat presents TWSBI Inkwells Purple, Green, & Blue! posted at The Original Steven H, saying, "TWSBI Inkwells Purple, Green, & Blue!"

Brian G. presents Best Office Supplies of 2011 posted at Office Supply Geek.


That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of
carnival of pen, pencil and paper
using the carnival submission form.
Past posts and future hosts can be found on the blog carnival index page.