Fountain Pen collecting
Earlier this year I treated myself to my DREAM pen. I've been longing for this pen for yeeears, since I first set my greedy eyes on it. So when I saw it second hand, I paid out big money (imo, seeing other people's collections... oioioi) for my Dragon Palace Sailor Pro Gear Slim.
It's not my first Sailor pen; when I heard that Sailors have a distinctive feedback, I had to check that the Dragon Palace really was the pen for me. I got a cheaper Profit Junior model, which I loved. In fact I adore the Sailor feedback so much I really miss it when I use the other pens I own haha.
Somehow, I now have enough Sailors to man a small ship, three of which are from the Shikiori Tsukuyono Minamo collection lmao. I love them, and they were discounted okay, have mercy on my weakness (and I'm shamelessly still searching for the one I'm missing -- for less than it usually sells for anyway lol).
ANYWAY, the point was: my grail. The Dragon Palace.
Was it worth the years of daydreaming, searching and the money I paid out for it? Honestly. H o n e s t l y. Nah. It's beautiful, and writes lovely, but it's just a pen. I do feel the difference with the gold nib vs steel, but it's not enough of a difference in my hand that I... care? I notice it, and I like it, but it's just a little a softer. Nothing really to write home about. In fact, the steel nibs give a little more feedback, make a more of little satisfying scratchy sound, and I prefer that.
I also prefer the cigar shape of all my other pens, the Pro Gear Slim's chopped off ends are kinda boring to my eyes. Don't get me wrong, it's my favourite in my collection but like... if someone handed me another Pro Gear, I would hand it back (jk that shit would be on ebay within the hour BUT. lets pretend).
So I guess the point is, while I love my pen - I have no regrets, and wouldn't part with it easily - I think I'm done with my fountain pen collection (besides the one missing Shikiori). I have more than I could everrrr need, a good range of nibs to play around with, and enough colours to match whatever mood I'm in. Its nice, to retire the part of this hobby that was just endlessly Searching for Something, and to just enjoy writing nonsense on my dumb little notebooks.