I finally got my grail pen today!

[Formulansx]

I can't believe I actually was able to get this pen! I've been following eBay for months scouring for any new listings of an Omas Arco brown celluloid with gold trim. Lately it's all been rollerballs and things like that. I would only spend this kind of coin on a fountain pen so a rollerball was out. I put a bid in on a green HT trim Arco about 6 months ago on an off chance I would pick it up but, again, prices went ballistic and I was out. Finally a pen came up for sale in Korea last week. An Arco brown new style Paragon in fine. Stated it was only inked once. I watched the auction intently but things soon got out of control and the price was far out of my range. This is what I expected as Arco brown Omas pens soon go nuclear and the price rockets into the stratosphere. It's not often these come up for sale lately. Another auction was running at the same time, this one in the USA just a few days later than the auction from Korea. In addition to that it had a cursive italic nib! I love cursive italic nibs! This would have been the exact pen I would have ordered years ago before the Omas stocks had run out. A new style Paragon in gold trim, Arco brown celluloid and an italic nib. Unfortunately I missed out back then. I was following the bids on this new Arco listing and noticed a few of the bidders that didn't win the auction from the pen in Korea making a play for this pen. I had an idea what the price might go to so I put in a Hail Mary bid in the last few seconds expecting to lose since it was several hundred less than what the Korean pen went for but at the limit of what I could mentally handle spending on a used pen. A few seconds later, and I couldn't believe it, I won the auction!! It was kind of an oh sh!t moment because I had not planned buying such a pen right now. Thank God it's tax refund season. The seller also had great feedback so I have no worries about the deal. Still can't believe it. This is one of those situations when all the nibs in the sky align and you get exactly the pen you've been looking for! I'm hoping to have it in my hot little hands this Saturday. Here's a random reference pic from the Internet. The auction pics were fair but I trust the sellers description. All other pen projects are on hold until I recover from this one. Ok maybe a few more Jinhao's or a Kangaroo from China but that's it!!