Pens Pens Pens. When I was young, I couldn't keep a pen or pencil. In school I remember buying tons of pens and erasers and keeping them in a tin foil container minus the blade. By the end of the year, who knows where they went. I suppose that's when I became a fan of collecting interesting pens or junk pens. When I started writing, I used one Parker refillable pen. One. Never lost it. Then when I worked at a gig that had a lot of manual writing, I kept the barrels of disposables. I always thought I would be HAWKEYE and have a use for them as a trachea tube.

When I started drawing, I bought a ton of pens and pencils alike when I found that Papermate G-Force seemed the best of the bunch, and were DISCONTINUED. Enter the Dollar Tree which sold them in 4 packs to which I bought crazy quantities,

But this blog is about the junk I keep for no reason. So, here is a smattering of my odd pens/pencils collection.

Left to right. Generic Hyatt hotel pen likely from one of the many Midwest Furfests I've attended. Likewise a tie-dye pen obtained at one of those cons. The next pen "In God We Trust Dollar Store" was a foundling that I find silly. In GOSH we trust crap store. God loves a bargain! The Mitsubishi pen is a "Mits Displays" pen, which I got when I worked for a computer warranty company.  Like a good neighbor, State Farm has pens and a PNC "cardboard/recycled" pen that broke really easily.

Left to right: Progressive pen depository. When they promo, I get pens. "TRON 2.0" light up pen that I got for the special preview of said flick. It lights, but why use a pen that lights? Puzzle Pen, with a metal ball you move around in the maze. Fun stuff for about 2 minutes. A busted Florida pen, I bought this in the Orlando airport when I realized I didn't have one on me. Cheap pen, broke shortly after I got home. Next is a Parker stubby pen, they got cheap when they discontinued them and I bought a ton and only have a few left. Too bad the refills for these pens became ink blopping loads. I bought this blue pen at Walgreens. I loved a nice heavy pen BUT gotta have a sweaty/grippy hand to use it.

This is the case that keeps most of my collectable pens (junk). They were BIC pen promotional kits that had all types of pens that you could get personalized. I remember we got these as promos for the radio station I worked at. I think most went in the trash, but I covet, because it was PENS.

Left to right:  First pen has a lot of memory attached. It's from the Hyatt Regency Dearborn, MI. It's from one of the getaway trips I took with my mom.  I loved this hotel because it had a monorail attached that you rode free over to Fairlane Center mall. This was hot shit to a 14 year old. Plus they had a rotating restaurant on top, and one time I went back, they had a life sized Old English Sheepdog in the gift shop. It was $400, but man...

A Beneficial finance Bic was from Northeast Appliance. They were our favorite to finance and they gave me credit when I had none. TOOT TOOT, you're old enough to be in debt. :)  A generic QUILL pen. A pencil from when I worked at McDonalds! No message other than M-Cor, but a big Jesus Is The Reason message. Ol' Jeezy loves McNuggets. Next is a GE Service Contracts pen. When Northeast was burned by a fly by night warranty company, we switched over to GE nonsense. 5 year magnatron warranty for your microwave? No, labor is not included. Dyna Circ is one from my mom's nursing gig. Next is a grey ACCENT pen, which was the parent company of  Service Net Warranty company. Gee, I really liked that INSURANCE stuff eh? EH? The syringe pen was another from my mom's nursing trade shows.

The yellow pen is a generic clic pen with a labor union message. Then a Dialamerica SPONSOR celebration pen. I worked for them in the old days three or four times. There was nothing better than trying to reup Playboy subscriptions to people that have died. Fun day at work. Next three pens all came from my Northeast appliance days. Product reps come in, explain the latest blah blah blah and leave you with pens. Another con motel pen and a black FLAIR marker and another McDonalds pen. It has the address of the store I worked at. Last, the maroon barrel pen from Electra-Sound. They were a huge repair center for any brand we carried. Bored yet? We do it all for you Rod.

Nice Wally Loafers. Left To Right. You know the drill. The blue pen comes from my grandmother. It was the first and only set of pens with my name on them. I'm amazed I still have this example. The black pen is another glom from the NOFEAST vendor folks. This one a Pioneer, and I will say I earned enough points selling Pioneer crap that I got a 70 Watt receiver out of it that still (barely) works. Then three examples of the pens that came with this promo kit. I think all the rest were used or lost somewhere. They are actually very nice and heavy weight click pens. These were more expensive. Next was something I've had since I was really young. It's a pen, it's a flash light. It never worked well as either. BUT, it did have a removeable AAA battery which, in the 70's, were something of a rarity. I don't think I ever put another battery in it. Another hotel pen and then two more things I got when really young. They are cheap telescopes and they work pretty decent. You could also take them apart and use the view side as a microscope. What would a pubescent kid look at with a microscope? Hmmmm. Another nursing pen and another Bic promo and that's that.

I could show you a lot more, but those are a "collection" for what it's worth. A bonus picture is the Tron 2.0 pen lighting it's way to nothing, but would work as a marital aid in complete darkness, if you get into that sort of thing...

There you have it. The first of my JUNK BLOGS. Thanks Boom. After this test period, I'll get on a schedule. -Ric