Has The Market for "Limited Editions" Finally Jumped the Shark?

It’s a question I’ve been thinking about for a while, but a combination of things finally prompted me to write this post:

1. A question posed a few days ago on Reddit r/fountainpens about whether limited edition fountain pens appreciate in value, and looking for recommendations on which pens can be viewed as an “investment”;

2. The announcement of Lamy’s “Anniversary Edition” Lamy 2000 in Brown Makrolon, made available for pre-order at Canadian retailer Wonder Pens yesterday at a price point nearly 3x the standard version; and

3. The realization that I am experiencing extreme buyers fatigue, to the point where I can count the number of pens I’ve acquired this year on one hand.

It used to be that companies released “limited” or “special” editions once or twice a year, with “limited” denoting a small, fixed number of pens that are put on sale and then discontinued. “Special edition,” on the other hand, typically refers to a special release made in non-finite quantities for a fixed period of time or until sales drop off. These days, there’s not much that’s either “limited” or “special” about it. Seemingly every major pen company has embraced what amounts to a limited and special edition business model, releasing as many as a dozen of these pens every year supported by aggressive cycles of social media marketing. The point of this post isn’t to blame them for doing so: As long as people are buying the pens, it makes sense for them to do it, since presumably reissuing existing pens in different finishes and materials generates a higher margin that having to invest in entirely new product designs. My question is whether it’s sustainable, and drawing on my own personal experience, how long before the larger customer base starts to lose interest?

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I’m not against limited and special releases, but can we do it with a bit more intentionality? To me, there’s a distinct difference between a well thought-out Anniversary release like the Kanilea Honokalani Mali Lei (top left) or a good homage pen such as the Virginia Woolf Writer’s Edition (bottom left), and most of what we are seeing today. While I could get behind the “Bauhaus Blue” Lamy 2000 as a one-off, I have issues with making this an annual thing, in which instead of expanding the standard range to include additional colors, Lamy will be releasing “limited edition” Lamy 2000s annually or near-annually, in effect selling a $200 fountain pen for $700 plus.

Personally, I’m Over It.

You may have noticed that I’m doing fewer reviews of special and limited edition stationery items on the blog. The main reason for this is that I can’t keep up, and I don’t have the personal bandwidth to follow all the different releases that are announced every week. Another reason, however, is a growing lack of excitement on my part. It used to be that the announcement of a new Montblanc Ink or Sailor Pro Gear was considered an event. Now, for example, five months into 2021, we’ve already seen at least three Sailor releases (that I know of) in the North American market alone, and the announcement of so many new inks that I can only throw up my hands. Years ago, you could be a collector of “limited editions” from a specific brand. Nowadays, most companies have released so many that unless you’re extremely well-heeled, that may be impossible.

Don’t worry - I’m not going anywhere and I’m not giving up the blog, but I’d be lying if I didn’t acknowledge that the past year gave rise to an existential crisis of sorts. When I first got into pens, and fountain pens in particular, the search for a superior writing experience is what drove my experimentation and exploration. Somewhere along the way, I found myself caught up in this FOMO-driven “catch-’em-all” mentality, and perhaps even contributing to it by spotlighting every special and limited edition release on The Gentleman Stationer. Maybe it was the experience of being forced to spend my days working from home amid piles of hoarded stationery that will never get used, but about halfway through 2020, I realized that both I and T.G.S. needed a hard reset.

Going forward, I won’t be reviewing “all the things” but rather only those things that legitimately interest me or that I feel might be of significant interest to members of the community. That’s also why you are seeing a new revenue model featuring less retailer and affiliate advertising in favor of direct reader support via Patreon and my own Curated Shop. Yes, there may be some overlap between what I write about and what I sell myself, but it will be intentional. If I choose to carry something, it’s because I think it’s a quality product that is (1) a worth purchasing for actual, practical use, and/or (2) something interesting that the hype train has left at the station and that I think warrants further attention. So far, I’ve found this new approach far more fulfilling, and I’ve had more fun with T.G.S. in 2021 than I’ve had in years, mainly because I finally feel that I’m charting my own direction as opposed to constantly having to worry about responding to the FOMO and other market pressures.

Limited Edition Pens Have Always Been a Bad Investment. Now They’re Even Worse.

Look, I’m not going to quit buying (or even selling) special and limited editions altogether. Some of them are legitimately interesting, well-thought-out, and fun - especially collaborations with artists, brands from other industries, and community members. There will always be a place for that sort of product. But when the industry itself seems to be headed in the direction of one giant special edition subscription model, something feels off, and certainly a departure from what drew me to this community in the first place. I want to try something different, and if people follow me, great. If not, at least I’ll be having fun again!

And to get back to what originally prompted this post: If I could convey one piece of “wisdom” from my decade-plus in the pen community, please do not buy any fountain pen (or other stationery item, or consumer items in general, for that matter) as an investment. Yes, at one point you could flip that Montblanc Writer’s edition (Hemingway or Agatha Christie perhaps?) for a nice return, but these days there are so many of these pens, and the starting retail price for limited and special editions is so high, that there’s little room for any appreciation in value. Moreover, I’ve begun to see retailers having difficulty moving stock. You can often find these pens on deep discount months, or even years, after they were officially discontinued. Honestly, you’re probably better off buying Dogecoin (and no, that’s not an endorsement).

Editor’s Note: For those who are interested, here is some background on the English-language idiom “Jumping the Shark”.