From the BITS/Buckets: Collectability of big Vacs

(another) David said...

Re collecting Vacs: What is the generally accepted order of collectability of the big vacs (OS, maxima, major) ie what's the cachet order? And then the same question re colors?

I don't know that I can (or wish to) in this small space attempt a comprehensive answer. One could write a long chapter/section on this topic. Still- I will toss out a few ideas. If anyone cares to comment, we can expand on in the comments section.

First, I am impressed and pleased to see people citing cachet, not just price or rarity. This indicates awareness that desirability or allure of any given pen variant perhaps overlaps but also transcends simple prevalence or dollar value.

Second, keeping in mind the usual bromide that one can like/collect whatever he darn well wishes, still there are general tenets of pendom that give some overall structure to views of cachet and value. Rarity adds some cachet. Generally, large model pens carry more demand than medium or small (hmmm...). Scarce and/or appealing colors rate more "oomph" than does basic black. Excellent condition brings more value than does poor. Still, caveats abound. Some scarce pens are appreciated by those who know, but are not widely sought by the hobby. Those can well underprice far more common pens. They probably have more cachet to the cognoscenti, but not to the average collector (oh, the horror to be just an average collector LOL).

Third, if I read your question right, you largely self-answered. Bigger Vacs tend to outvalue Medium or Small. There are some uncatalogued extra-short Vacs though that have added value due to their charm, rarity... cachet (aggh, it's all mixing together!).

Fourth, for Vacs, there are different generations of pens, so we have models of a few sizes for different eras. Oversize has more value than Standard (1st Generation). Senior Maxima has more value than Major (2nd and 3rd Gen).

Crossing generations? It does get fuzzy. I find clean OS harder to find than later Sr Maxima, but Sr. Maxima appeals to many collectors for its fancier cap-band. All else equal (and often all else is not equal) I figure the OS should sell for bit more than Sr. Maxima, Standard a bit more than Major, Slender a bit more than Debutante. There are many caveats.

Fifth... colors?

Generally value ascends from Black to Silver Pearl to Golden Pearl to Emerald Pearl to Azure to Burgundy Pearl, for those years that all the colors existed (really just two years). Blue Sr. Maxima is so scarce that it tops Burgundy in value. Probably should do so as well for Major but in practice does not.

Oddly, while Burgundy today is not that prevalent (why? Another discussion there and maybe no good answers) it saw a long production run and in some models was produced for more years than were other colors.

Thoughts?...