Alan Morrison
Member
I know that Mazzucchelli don't make pen blanks now, but if you turned Vintage Cebloplast in the past, the manufacturing process will be of interest.
Here's an interesting short video
- Thread starter Alan Morrison
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Penultimate
Member
That was interesting, thanks for posting
mark james
IAP Collection, Curator
Fascinating video. I had a rudimentary understanding of the companies and products, but this was nicely informative.
SteveG
Member
This is a little bit of a sales technique suggestion. I am retired now, but was making my living turning and selling "Kit Pens". I offered very high end, high quality pens, and charged accordingly (typical price range: $90~$330). Also, I was fortunate to have my vendor display located at a Marriott Resort on Kauai. Great venue. The resort had a significant portion of guests who were locked into Marriott timeshare arrangements, providing me with a grand opportunity for initial sales, and repeat business.
Whew! All that background info to say this: At the time, I did not have this video provided by the OP, but if I had, it would be queued up on my tablet to present as part of my sales pitch, since I had a nice selection of Cebloplast pens in my lineup. This is the type of thing that could be built into a sales presentation that helped justify the price points I was using. My suggestion here is to encourage you sellers of your pens to think along this line. My approach was to focus on quality sales rather than quantity. To say it another way: fewer sales, but at a premium price point. I also made sure to have a few nicely presented pens on display in the $500+ price range. This was intended to snag the occasional high priced sale, but mostly was there to provide a psychological nudge to the buyer, implanting the idea that: "This pen maker is really high-end, and even though I am not getting that $500 treasure, I think I can go for the affordable $300 one." The approach seemed to work.
Whew! All that background info to say this: At the time, I did not have this video provided by the OP, but if I had, it would be queued up on my tablet to present as part of my sales pitch, since I had a nice selection of Cebloplast pens in my lineup. This is the type of thing that could be built into a sales presentation that helped justify the price points I was using. My suggestion here is to encourage you sellers of your pens to think along this line. My approach was to focus on quality sales rather than quantity. To say it another way: fewer sales, but at a premium price point. I also made sure to have a few nicely presented pens on display in the $500+ price range. This was intended to snag the occasional high priced sale, but mostly was there to provide a psychological nudge to the buyer, implanting the idea that: "This pen maker is really high-end, and even though I am not getting that $500 treasure, I think I can go for the affordable $300 one." The approach seemed to work.
jttheclockman
Member
And just think of all you blank makers who continue to add, subtract materials to make that outstanding product that mimics these old time materials. Sorry to say I never seen any that mimics what those old timers use to produce. But we keep trying. Only Mother Nature can play in that arena I believe.
johncrane
Member
very interesting thankyou Alan.
montmill
Member
I was curious why they were no longer available:
- Production Change: Mazzucchelli, the Italian company that produced Cebloplast (a type of cellulose acetate), shifted away from pen blank production to focus on other products.
jttheclockman
Member
From what I understand, many of those old time materials were hazardous to make both physical and health wise.