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 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!
The Sailor 1911 Large in the “Ringless Epinard” Design. This pen gets a lot of attention, and looks good, but come of the design choices leave me scratching my head. For one thing, the pen has ruthenium trim but a rhodium nib, and I’m not sure how I feel about the cap edge.
Ian Schon of Schon DSGN brought his new pocket fountain pen! I didn’t get a chance to come back and see him on Saturday, but
If you haven’t already, you will her much about Matt Martin Custom Pens. Hands down the best machined fountain pens I have ever seen. He even makes his own screws for the clip!
Zirconium pens from Matt Martin!
On Saturday, the line began to form early.
And by Saturday afternoon, the main ballroom was plenty busy. (This was taken after the main rush, probably around 3:30 or so).
In terms of Akkerman and Colorverse, what’s out is what we have left at the Vanness Pens table! If you want it, act quick and come get it!