Alan, I did the same thing this year with my pens. I've carried the Baron since we started doing shows and sales were so so. I have both Fountain pens and Rollerballs available and even sold a couple where the customer bought one or the other(FP or RB)and came back and bought the front section to convert. Still the Baron was a sporadic seller. This year we added both Statesman and Jr Statesman. It gave me a flashier pen the same size as well as something in a price range between the Baron and the Emperor.( I carry the Churchill but it seems to appeal to different customers) The addition of the Statesman, Jr and Sr, has helped my sales. I even keep a couple of Gents for folks that dont want flash but want a bigger pen. BTW most of the Statesman I stock are Fountain pens and so far that's working. I've been surprised at the number of people who ask specifically for FP's. Had a Father and son look at my pens back in the spring. The son was graduating high school and the father wanted him to have a nice pen. It had to be a fountain pen though. He wanted his son to learn, as he had, to write with one.
