The 19th Annual Michigan Pen Show is coming up fast!
 

Greetings all!

The 19th Annual Michigan Pen Show is coming up fast!
The show is scheduled for September 5th & 6th (Friday & Saturday)

FRIDAY: 12 pm – 8 pm
SATURDAY: 10 am – 6 pm

Located at the Hilton Northfield Detroit
Troy 5500 Crooks Road,
Troy, Michigan, 48098-2806
800-HILTONS

The Michigan Pen Show is the one of the oldest and friendliest. It's
organized by the Michigan Pen Collectors club.
The purpose of our show is to have fun and benefit the attendees in
the form of knowledge shared and camaraderie with other pen folks.
Come join us for the upcoming 19th Annual Michigan Pen Show, September
5th & 6th.

For more information, visit our website http://www.michpens.com

Regards,

Mark

The 19th Annual Michigan Pen Show is coming up fast!
 

I'd like to go to that pen show and cuss out the guy who runs Pear
Tree Pens. Not because I've got anything against the guy. Just on
general principal.

The 19th Annual Michigan Pen Show is coming up fast!
 

Am 11 Aug 2008, The Drunken Lord schrieb:

I'd like to go to that pen show and cuss out the guy who runs Pear
Tree Pens. Not because I've got anything against the guy. Just on
general principal.

OK, i'll bite.

What's the problem with Pear Tree Pens?


--

The 19th Annual Michigan Pen Show is coming up fast!
 

On Wed, 13 Aug 2008 07:02:55 -0500, Barutan Seijin
wrote:

Am 11 Aug 2008, The Drunken Lord schrieb:

I'd like to go to that pen show and cuss out the guy who runs Pear
Tree Pens. Not because I've got anything against the guy. Just on
general principal.

OK, i'll bite.

What's the problem with Pear Tree Pens?

When you order ink from him, it can take a week to get here. And he
was gonna be a sales distributor for Colfer's Imperial Inks and pumped
it up and talked about how great it was, and then Colfer's went belly
up before they even made their first batch of ink.

But he's a nice guy, really. I was probably just in a mood to cuss
somebody when I typed that.

The 19th Annual Michigan Pen Show is coming up fast!
 

Am 13 Aug 2008, The Drunken Lord schrieb:

When you order ink from him, it can take a week to get here. And he
was gonna be a sales distributor for Colfer's Imperial Inks and pumped
it up and talked about how great it was, and then Colfer's went belly
up before they even made their first batch of ink.

Hmmm...

One week doesn't seem too bad unless you're having stuff shipped
overnight, and the Colfer's fiasco hardly seems like PTP's fault. If
i were going to carry something, i'd talk it up too.



--

The 19th Annual Michigan Pen Show is coming up fast!
 

On Thu, 14 Aug 2008 07:53:55 -0500, Barutan Seijin
wrote:

Am 13 Aug 2008, The Drunken Lord schrieb:

When you order ink from him, it can take a week to get here. And he
was gonna be a sales distributor for Colfer's Imperial Inks and pumped
it up and talked about how great it was, and then Colfer's went belly
up before they even made their first batch of ink.

Hmmm...

One week doesn't seem too bad unless you're having stuff shipped
overnight, and the Colfer's fiasco hardly seems like PTP's fault. If
i were going to carry something, i'd talk it up too.

One week might not be bad, but I still think somebody should publicly
cuss him for promoting Colfer's Imperial Ink. It was obvious that guy
was not very stable.

The 19th Annual Michigan Pen Show is coming up fast!
 

In ,
The Drunken Lord wrote:

On Thu, 14 Aug 2008 07:53:55 -0500, Barutan Seijin
wrote:

...the Colfer's fiasco hardly seems like PTP's fault. If
i were going to carry something, i'd talk it up too.

...It was obvious that guy was not very stable.

I don't know if I missed something, but it didn't seem like a fiasco or
instability to me, just someone trying to start a home hobby-oriented
business who had bad luck. Seems like a common occurrence to me.

Here's the bulk of his announcement from last year:

"Late yesterday morning I received a phone call that I still cannot believe.
The sales rep for my dye manufacturer told me that my order has been
cancelled; the company is under a major reorganization/reprioritizing
project and as part of that, all inventory has been frozen and the company
is moving to China, (I'm thinking they may have been bought out- hence the
frozen assets).

"He went on to tell me that since the dyes will have to be exported here, to
keep it cost effective, the minimum order would now be 500 lbs.- per color!
I don't know about you folks, but I haven't the space for several tons of
powdered dye. (I called back this morning for some clarification and was
told that my sales rep is no longer employed there but what he told me was
true).

"At any rate, I am now in the ugly spot of having to find a new dye supplier
and the chances of me being able to exactly reproduce the colors I created -
(and the colors you ordered, for my loyal pre-order customers), - of the
original dye is going to be a steep challenge.

"Furthermore, I do not know how long it will be before I can find another
dye supplier who meets my special needs, i.e., the best quality available, a
dye able to withstand my unique process without breaking down [remember he
wasn't going to make ordinary ink] and a company who is willing to fill
reasonable sized orders."

http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/fo...ost&p=24395 5


So on one hand, he had that situation, and on the other, during the run-up
to production he'd gathered a grand total of 28 pre-orders.

I was hoping that the renaissance of new ink brands would continue, but I'm
not surprised that the idea was back-burnered indefinitely. And he did a
lot better than many failed hobbyist-businesspeople do: he refunded
everyone's money.

Brian
--

The 19th Annual Michigan Pen Show is coming up fast!
 

Brian Ketterling wrote:

In ,
The Drunken Lord wrote:

On Thu, 14 Aug 2008 07:53:55 -0500, Barutan Seijin
wrote:

...the Colfer's fiasco hardly seems like PTP's fault. If
i were going to carry something, i'd talk it up too.

...It was obvious that guy was not very stable.

I don't know if I missed something, but it didn't seem like a fiasco or
instability to me, just someone trying to start a home hobby-oriented
business who had bad luck. Seems like a common occurrence to me.

Here's the bulk of his announcement from last year:

"Late yesterday morning I received a phone call that I still cannot believe.
The sales rep for my dye manufacturer told me that my order has been
cancelled; the company is under a major reorganization/reprioritizing
project and as part of that, all inventory has been frozen and the company
is moving to China, (I'm thinking they may have been bought out- hence the
frozen assets).

"He went on to tell me that since the dyes will have to be exported here, to
keep it cost effective, the minimum order would now be 500 lbs.- per color!
I don't know about you folks, but I haven't the space for several tons of
powdered dye. (I called back this morning for some clarification and was
told that my sales rep is no longer employed there but what he told me was
true).

"At any rate, I am now in the ugly spot of having to find a new dye supplier
and the chances of me being able to exactly reproduce the colors I created -
(and the colors you ordered, for my loyal pre-order customers), - of the
original dye is going to be a steep challenge.

"Furthermore, I do not know how long it will be before I can find another
dye supplier who meets my special needs, i.e., the best quality available, a
dye able to withstand my unique process without breaking down [remember he
wasn't going to make ordinary ink] and a company who is willing to fill
reasonable sized orders."

http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/fo...ic=26542&view=
findpost&p=243955


So on one hand, he had that situation, and on the other, during the run-up
to production he'd gathered a grand total of 28 pre-orders.

I was hoping that the renaissance of new ink brands would continue, but I'm
not surprised that the idea was back-burnered indefinitely. And he did a
lot better than many failed hobbyist-businesspeople do: he refunded
everyone's money.

Brian

Don't know the whole story (I've not gone on FPN recently) but the post
sounds reasonable.

I've had the same sort of trouble with an international business. They
moved production from the US to Mexico, but forgot to tell the dealers.
So production is down for a month, which I don't find out 'till I call
to ask where my order is, and I still can't get some basic items. Even
the wholesalers I know can't get this stuff (I have a direct to dealer
contract). This is a core portion of my brick-and-mortar business.
(Sh)It happens.
--
macaddicted
Wisdom is radiant and unfading and she is easily discerned
by those who love her and is found by those who seek her.
Wisdom 6:12 (NRSV)

The 19th Annual Michigan Pen Show is coming up fast!
 

On Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:54:46 -0400, "Brian Ketterling"
wrote:

In ,
The Drunken Lord wrote:

On Thu, 14 Aug 2008 07:53:55 -0500, Barutan Seijin
wrote:

...the Colfer's fiasco hardly seems like PTP's fault. If
i were going to carry something, i'd talk it up too.

...It was obvious that guy was not very stable.

I don't know if I missed something, but it didn't seem like a fiasco or
instability to me, just someone trying to start a home hobby-oriented
business who had bad luck. Seems like a common occurrence to me.

He got into all kinds of silly disputes with people on the FPN boards
and left for good a time or two--only to come back within days--and I
believe he referred to his own instability, though not by that term.
He said he could get upset easy or something like that.

I was reading FPN a good bit then and I made sure I sure I looked up
that guy's post just for the entertainment. Not that he was an FPN
dumbass, but he was always going on in some kind of way that was
hilarious if somewhat embarrassing, even for the reader.

James at Peartree should have waited till he got the ink before he
started pumping it up. He would have looked like less of an idjit.

So on one hand, he had that situation, and on the other, during the run-up
to production he'd gathered a grand total of 28 pre-orders.

He almost had 29. I almost pre-ordered, but for some reason held
back.

I was hoping that the renaissance of new ink brands would continue, but I'm
not surprised that the idea was back-burnered indefinitely. And he did a
lot better than many failed hobbyist-businesspeople do: he refunded
everyone's money.

Let's face it: most people who use fountain pens are into fountain
pens as jewelry. That's most people. And people who are into
jewelry aren't into ink. I'm sure you've seen posts by people on FPN
who have paid over $1,000 for pens who use nothing but Waterman's
Blue-Black.

There are a few of those people who are into pens and inks--and some
of those people post here--but it's generally one or the other.

Then there are people who are much more into ink. Goddamn, can you
tell whether I wrote it with a $4 pen or a $400 pen?

But anyway, until fountain pens are cheap--and some are cheap--but it
will be only the cheap ones that catch on--until lots more people than
just us are using them, there won't be be many ink makers who can make
it.

Nathan is probably hanging on by the skin of his teeth, and I hope he
keeps hanging on. If anything ever happened to him, I imagine a
bottle of Baystate Blue would go for a lot of money.