| It seems there are collectors of everything from | | | | "Another big focus was on Cingular, the phone |
| stamps to bottle caps. | | | | company that eventually merged with AT&T. |
| Did you know that there is a large scene of pen | | | | Cingular pens are extremely hard to come by right |
| collectors specializing in promotional types pens? And | | | | now and you can get a good deal if you have a |
| the group is increasing every year. | | | | Cingular collection." |
| Promotional Pens come in all shapes and forms. They | | | | With the financial crisis still ongoing, bankruptcies are |
| used be standard plastic pens that were not much to | | | | more common than ever, and naturally, this is high |
| write home about (pardon the pun). But over the last | | | | times for collectors of pens who are trying to |
| decade, an exciting array of pens have been | | | | identify which company pens to collect. "A lot of us |
| developed and put into the Promotional Pen Catalogs | | | | were looking to the Auto Industry and many of the |
| of Merchandise suppliers worldwide. But it's not the | | | | brands that could potentially be going away. Those |
| type of pen that appeals the collectors - it's what | | | | pens will be worth a lot down the road?" |
| company logo is on them. | | | | So why pens of all things? What is the reason why |
| There are collectors who specialize in collecting pens | | | | somebody would want to collect pens from Fortune |
| from a certain company, for instance GE. There are | | | | 500 companies? |
| collectors who specialize in having a wide collection | | | | "Look - people collect anything and a lot of times it |
| and representation of companies. Some collectors go | | | | doesn't make sense. Why would you collect bottle |
| by geography and collect pens from a certain | | | | caps? The real answer is, you have to be fascinated |
| country, or state. | | | | by what you're collecting, its history, its purpose in |
| "A big thing right now in our sub culture, is collecting | | | | society and the sheer beauty of it. Many of us are |
| pens based on brands that go away. A lot of brands | | | | writers, and appreciate a pen that is well designed, |
| come and go, or change the way they look. When | | | | sits well in the hand and writes like a dream. But |
| Pepsi changed their cans, and therefore all their | | | | being a collector is also about recognition", Mark |
| merchandise, there was a huge spike of collectors | | | | continues. |
| surging the globe for pens both of the old, and the | | | | He is putting his 21,000 pens on display next month |
| new design", says Mark Wistrand, a pen collector | | | | at a pen exhibition in Orlando, Florida. He hopes to |
| since 1987 and founder of the Pen-Collectors | | | | become pen-collector of the year this time - a title |
| Emporium he refers to as the "Rotary Club" of Pen | | | | he lost to his brother, also a prominent pen collector |
| collectors. | | | | here in the United States. |