Atlanta Pen Show draws hundreds of collectors

For lovers of writing instruments, it was almost overwhelming. Thousands of pens — ballpoint and fountain, vintage and new, from $10 to $10,000 — were on sale at this weekend’s Atlanta Pen Show.

Mark Bacas of Cumming, president of the Southeastern Pen Collectors Club said pen collecting is much like collecting art — “but at least you get to use them, and they don’t take up a lot of space.”

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Donna Lewis/dlewis@ajc.com

Stacy Robinson, president & CEO of Pens by Design of Atlanta, shows off one of his own creations, the ‘Stars and Stripes’ pen, Sunday at the 14th annual Atlanta Pen Show at the Crowne Plaza Atlanta Hotel.

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More than 400 people showed up to caress and test-drive pens offered by at least 60 vendors at the 14th annual Pen Show. The event, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Atlanta-Perimeter Northwest, was presented by the Pen Collectors Club, Visconti pens and Smyrna-based Total Office Products.

The show featured pens made by local hobbyists as well as the top names in pen manufacturing.

One of the stars was the grand prize for Sunday’s drawing, a Visconti “Bible” pen etched with scenes from the Scriptures. Value of the Christian version: $4,250.

J. Bud Holcomb showed off a replica of the first ballpoint pen marketed in the U.S., circa 1945. The Marietta resident said he bought one of the real deals on layaway for $12.95 when he was 14 years old.

In 1992, when he couldn’t sleep after serving in Desert Storm, Lilburn resident Stacy Robinson followed his doctor’s advice and took up a hobby. He started making pens. On Sunday, he displayed his “Stars and Stripes,” a writing instrument with 50 laser-cut stars, red-and-white stripes, and an 18K gold nib. The price: $600.

Carmen Henderson of Alpharetta, a veteran pen show patron, said she doesn’t just collect pens. She uses her ink-filled treasures at work, and said she’s not worried that someone may “accidently” walk off with one.

“I keep my cheap pens in a cup,” she said.