[Pen/Pencil Review] The Dallas Pen Show 2013 Review

Welcome to Monday. It’s a pen blog day. This past weekend was the Dallas Pen Show. I actually had more than an hour and a half this time, and yet… I think that’s all I spent there. This year the Pen Show and FenCon weren’t on the same weekend, so Jimmy could go with me – but so did our allergies.

I love looking at all the pens at the show. Yet, this year, I wasn’t in the Spend Money mood. As much as I love looking at the high end stuff – Pilot has a new model, I believe it’s the Justus 95, with an adjustable nib – you can make it more or less flexible – that lets you have a finer or broader line. One of the vendors had one available for testing – because at $300-$400 (ish) it’s WAY out of my price range. Several of the

The show had everything from this new Pilot to vintage pieces. I saw several pens on my ultimate wish list up close and personal (but with my hands in my pockets so I didn’t do anything that would cost me a ton of money). Loved seeing all the pens – new an old, as well as being in a room with like-minded pen people.

Some of the new TWSBIs were on site – the new rep for the area is the former manager of my local Paradise Pen Company. I wish him and his family well with this new adventure, because TWSBI is a great fountain pen and they need more inroads in the US. But I was there to do a little bit of business

I picked up one more Sherpa – because the new design is a galaxy/nebula pattern. I managed to get my Sharpie Stainless Steel pen refill to work in it (it’s not built for it…technically, but it does work if you know the trick), so now it’s also my new signing pen. I also picked up some ink from Lucas Tucker’s Scribal Workshop line – it’s a black ink called Kraken. Because come on, it cries out for a “Release the Kraken” joke. Leviathan is next on the list from Scribal Workshop.

Part of the issue is that the Dallas Pen Show is starting to outgrow its space. More and more vendors are coming in and that’s making things tight, which is an AWESOME problem to have. The only issues was that the aisles got really tight and the room tended to be warm, which when you’re having sinus/allergy problems, makes the experience less than ideal. In fact, the silent auction items had to be moved out into the hallway for space.

I’m looking forward to seeing what they do in the future. If anything, it’s where we get around to renewing the PenWorld subscription. I do a little bit of business there, too, so we’ll see where it takes us in down the road.

Tags: Dallas Pen Show, fountain pen, pen show, pencils, pens, Pilot, Scribal Workshop, Sherpa, TWSBI