This year I attended my very first Commonwealth Pen Show. It is actually my second ever pen show (the first one being the DC Supershow) and since I live very close to Boston, it was very easy to go down to Somerville and attend this show.



Just a small taste of what was available at the show

This was the 4th annual Commonwealth Pen Show, and this year they acquired a larger venue to accommodate more vendors and larger tables. The room still wasn’t necessarily large, but certainly had enough pens to entertain for many hours. A few pen repairers and Nibmeisters attended, including J.J. Lax and Richard Binder, and the incredible calligrapher Nikola Pang a.k.a. Entropy Ink was there.



Nik a.k.a Entropy Ink being amazing at calligraphy (as always)



When I first arrived, I was greeted by a nice guy who handed me a small bottle of Noodler’s Washable Blue, and I paid him my admission fee. For the first few hours I did nothing much besides walking around slowly and taking in the sights and selections at each table. I had only brought with me about $100, so I didn’t think I would end up leaving with too much. A few days before, I had made plans with a fellow pen friend on Reddit to sell my Sheaffer Targa that I had acquired in D.C. to him (the broad nib – though beautifully wet and smooth – was just too thick of a line for me to hold on to), and soon after I arrived he approached me. He told me his name and we shared a few minutes oohing and aahing at each other’s pens. He showed me a beautiful Parker 51 Vac that he had but was too fine of a nib for him. We ended up with a deal, and I walked away with some extra cash and a 51 Vacumatic.



An eye-catching collection of Parker Vacumatics I spotted at the show



After walking around more, drooling at all of the awesome pens that I couldn’t afford, one finally caught my eye: a beautiful blue swirled Eagle pen with a 14k nib and functioning lever filler. I bought that pen within 2 minutes of first seeing it and I really could not have been happier with my purchase. Sadly, today the nib broke after I foolishly dropped it on my desk, and I don’t have the means to find a new nib or repair the old one, so it is on sale at https://reddit.com/r/Pen_Swap (if you are interested :P).



The Eagle flex pen – my first purchase at the Commonwealth Pen Show



After buying that blue pen, the pull inside of me to seek out pens to buy was renewed and I made my way over to a table I had hung around for much of my time at the show. I picked up the pen I had dip tested at least 3 times and dip tested it once more just to make sure I loved it, and I bought it. The pen was a stunning grey Waterman with a semi-flex nib and working lever filler.



Nathan Tardif getting along with show attendees



After that third purchase, and the cost of repairing the 51 Vac, my budget was basically gone. I spent the last of my money on a sandwich from a table outside of the show and a small $2 Clairefontaine notebook that is now being used as an ink journal (check my Instagram for pictures coming soon!)



Some of the wide variety of paper available



And this concludes my Commonwealth Pen Show experience. It was a fantastic show. I made a new pen friend, walked away with 2 more pens than I walked in with (because I sold the Sheaffer Targa) and I had a huge smile across my face. I will absolutely be attending the show next year!



Note: Pictures of my complete haul are available on my Instagram account: @8ballpens