Mhr twisted stiffbone

This post is too long so I included sections 2.1+ in this post below
https://www.reddit.com/usethrowawayslave678/comments/103m6fp/tombs_of_amascut_in_depth_dps_calculations_pt2/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
Hi guys I decided to put together some dps calculations for all of the bosses in tombs of amascut. This is similar to my CoX, GWD, Nex, KQ, and other posts on my page. In these dps calculations I include BGS specs, invocation dps differences, different weapon choices used in the raid, and a TLDR section along with links for each dps calculation at each boss.
If there's any calculations I missed, or any way I could make these a bit better to read, feel free to leave some feedback.
​
Important things to note!
For BGS specs on the Obelisk the max damage for defense reduction is 40.
For BGS specs on all bosses, the defense reduction only goes to 20 damage. This means that after hitting atleast 20 on a bgs spec on the boss it won't reduce defense any further. If defense for boss is 100 for example it will only be reduced to 80.
----------Sections
----(1.) - Akkha
1.1 - Akkha TLDR calculations
1.2 - Akkha's Shadow TLDR Calculations
1.3 - Akkha in depth calculations w/ links
1.4 - Akkha's Shadow in depth calculations w/ links
----(2.) - Kephri
2.1 - Kephri TLDR Calculations
2.2 - Kephri in depth Calculations w/ links
2.3 - Arcane Scarab TLDR Calculations
2.4 - Arcane Scarab in depth Calculations w/ links
2.5 - Spitting Scarab TLDR Calculations
2.6 - Spitting Scarab in depth Calculations w/ links
2.7 - Soldier Scarab TLDR Calculations
2.8 - Soldier Scarab in depth Calculations w/ links
----(3.) - Zebak
3.1 - Zebak TLDR Calculations
3.2 - Zebak in depth Calculations w/ links
3.3 - Zebak in depth Calculations w/ links(Bowfa only)
----(4.) - Ba-Ba
4.1 - Ba-Ba TLDR Calculations
4.2 - Ba-Ba in depth Calculations w/ links
----(5.) - Wardens(All phases of Warden are calculated with salts for stat boosts)
5.1 - Obelisk TLDR Calculations
5.2 - Obelisk in depth Calculations w/ links
5.3 - P2 Wardens TLDR Calculations(phase that switches between mage/range)
5.4 - P2 Wardens in depth Calculations with links(phase that switches between mage/range)
5.5 - P3 Wardens TLDR calculations
5.6 - P3 Wardens in depth Calculations with links
5.7 - P4 Wardens TLDR Calculations
5.8 - P4 Wardens in depth calculations with links
----(1.) - Akkha
----------1.1 - Akkha TLDR Calculations
-----------Akkha(not shadow form)
----150 invocation
Tumeken's Shadow(12.60 dps)(salted w/ augury)
Tumeken's Shadow(12.43 dps)(salted no augury)
Tumeken's Shadow(11.09 dps)(imbued heart w/ augury)
Tumeken's Shadow(10.93 dps)(imbued heart no augury)
Blowpipe(10.82 dps)(salted)
Osmumten's Fang(9.59 dps)(salted)
Blowpipe(9.52 dps)(no salt)
Bow of Faerdhinen(9.15 dps)(salted)
Osmumten's Fang(9.05 dps)(no salt)
Sanguinesti staff(8.91 dps)(salted w/ augury)
Sanguinesti staff(8.52 dps)(salted no augury)
Bow of Faerdhinen(8.28 dps)(no salt)
Twisted bow(7.73 dps)(salted)
Sanguinesti staff(7.48 dps)(imbued heart no salt w/ augury)
Sanguinesti staff(7.11 dps)(imbued heart no salt no augury)
Twisted bow(6.61 dps)(no salt)
----300 invocation
Tumeken's Shadow(12.33 dps)(salted w/ augury)
Tumeken's Shadow(12.1 dps)(salted no augury)
Tumeken's Shadow(10.82 dps)(imbued heart no salt w/ augury)
Tumeken's Shadow(10.59 dps)(no salt no augury)
Blowpipe(9.57 dps)(salted)
Osmumten's Fang(9.08 dps)(salted)
Bow of Faerdhinen(8.60 dps)(salted)
Osmumten's Fang(8.51 dps)(no salt)
Sanguinesti staff(8.27 dps)(salted w/ augury)
Blowpipe(8.25 dps)(no salt)
Sanguinesti staff(7.72 dps)(salted no augury)
Bow of Faerdhinen(7.72 dps)(no salt)
Twisted bow(7.01 dps)(salted)
Sanguinesti staff(6.86 dps)(imbued heard no salt w/ augury)
Sanguinesti staff(6.34 dps)(imbued heart no salt no augury)
Twisted bow(5.90 dps)(no salt)
----500 invocation
Tumeken's Shadow(11.96 dps)(salted w/ augury)
Tumeken's Shadow(11.65 dps)(salted no augury)
Tumeken's Shadow(10.45 dps)(no salt w/ augury)
Tumeken's Shadow(10.14 dps)(no salt no augury)
Osmumten's Fang(8.16 dps)(salted)
Blowpipe(7.90 dps)(salted)
Bow of Faerdhinen(7.87 dps)(salted)
Osmumten's Fang(7.52)(no salt)
Sanguinesti staff(7.41 dps)(salted w/ augury)
Bow of Faerdhinen(6.98 dps)(no salt)
Sanguinesti staff(6.68 dps)(salted no augury)
Blowpipe(6.56 dps)(no salt)
Twisted bow(6.04 dps)(salted)
Sanguinesti staff(6.02 dps)(imbued heard no salt w/ augury)
Sanguinesti staff(5.31 dps)(imbued heart no salt no augury)
Twisted bow(4.95 dps)(no salt)
----------1.2 - Akkha's Shadow TLDR Calculations
----150 invocation
Blowpipe(12.70 dps)(salted)
Tumeken's Shadow(12.60 dps)(salted w/ augury)
Tumeken's Shadow(12.43 dps)(salted no augury)
Blowpipe(11.43 dps)(no salt)
Tumeken's Shadow(11.09 dps)(imbued heart w/ augury)
Tumeken's Shadow(10.93 dps)(imbued heart no augury)
Osmumten's Fang(10.05 dps)(salted)
Bow of Faerdhinen(9.98 dps)(salted)
Osmumten's Fang(9.54 dps)(no salt)
Bow of Faerdhinen(9.13 dps)(no salt)
Sanguinesti staff(8.91 dps)(salted w/ augury)
Twisted bow(8.82 dps)(salted)
Sanguinesti staff(8.52 dps)(salted no augury)
Twisted bow(7.67 dps)(no salt)
Sanguinesti staff(7.48 dps)(imbued heart no salt w/ augury)
Sanguinesti staff(7.11 dps)(imbued heart no salt no augury)
----300 invocation
Tumeken's Shadow(12.33 dps)(salted w/ augury)
Blowpipe(12.15 dps)(salted)
Tumeken's Shadow(12.1 dps)(salted no augury)
Blowpipe(10.87 dps)(no salt)
Tumeken's Shadow(10.82 dps)(imbued heart no salt w/ augury)
Tumeken's Shadow(10.59 dps)(no salt no augury)
Osmumten's Fang(9.95 dps(salted)
Bow of Faerdhinen(9.74 dps)(salted)
Osmumten's Fang(9.44 dps)(no salt)
Bow of Faerdhinen(8.88 dps)(no salt)
Twisted bow(8.50 dps)(salted)
Sanguinesti staff(8.27 dps)(salted w/ augury)
Sanguinesti staff(7.72 dps)(salted no augury)
Twisted bow(7.36 dps)(no salt)
Sanguinesti staff(6.86 dps)(imbued heard no salt w/ augury)
Sanguinesti staff(6.34 dps)(imbued heart no salt no augury)
----500 invocation
Tumeken's Shadow(11.96 dps)(salted w/ augury)
Tumeken's Shadow(11.65 dps)(salted no augury)
Blowpipe(11.42 dps)(salted)
Tumeken's Shadow(10.45 dps)(no salt w/ augury)
Tumeken's Shadow(10.14 dps)(no salt no augury)
Blowpipe(10.13 dps)(no salt)
Osmumten's Fang(9.78 dps)(salted)
Bow of Faerdhinen(9.41 dps)(salted)
Osmumten's Fang(9.25 dps)(no salt)
Bow of Faerdhinen(8.55 dps)(no salt)
Twisted bow(8.08 dps)(salted)
Sanguinesti staff(7.41 dps)(salted w/ augury)
Twisted bow(6.94 dps)(no salt)
Sanguinesti staff(6.68 dps)(salted no augury)
Sanguinesti staff(6.02 dps)(imbued heard no salt w/ augury)
Sanguinesti staff(5.31 dps)(imbued heart no salt no augury)
​
----------1.3 - Akkha in depth calculations w/ links
----150 invocation
Tumeken's Shadow(10.93 dps) vs Sanguinesti staff(7.11 dps)(imbued heart no salt no augury) https://imgur.com/a/1dNjsUA
Tumeken's Shadow(11.09 dps) vs Sanguinesti staff(7.48 dps)(imbued heart no salt w/ augury) https://imgur.com/a/S8VDnuD
Tumeken's Shadow(12.43 dps) vs Sanguinesti staff(8.52 dps)(salted no augury) https://imgur.com/a/S83Acnv
Tumeken's Shadow(12.60 dps) vs Sanguinesti staff(8.91 dps)(salted w/ augury) https://imgur.com/a/euHmPrz
Osmumten's Fang(9.05 dps) vs Blowpipe(9.52 dps)(no salt) https://imgur.com/a/qKfGimS
Osmumten's Fang(9.59 dps) vs Blowpipe(10.82 dps)(salted) https://imgur.com/a/TXTyZLQ
Bow of Faerdhinen(8.28 dps) vs Twisted bow(6.61 dps)(no salt) https://imgur.com/a/GCQuc8G
Bow of Faerdhinen(9.15 dps) vs Twisted bow(7.73 dps)(salted) https://imgur.com/a/c5HgS3l
----300 invocation Tumeken's Shadow(10.59 dps) vs Sanguinesti staff(6.34 dps)(imbued heart no salt no augury) https://imgur.com/a/bSzQClE
Tumeken's Shadow(10.82 dps) vs Sanguinesti staff(6.86 dps)(imbued heard no salt w/ augury) https://imgur.com/a/HwLaddh
Tumeken's Shadow(12.1 dps) vs Sanguinesti staff(7.72 dps)(salted no augury) https://imgur.com/a/ol7u7Ee
Tumeken's Shadow(12.33 dps) vs Sanguinesti staff(8.27 dps)(salted w/ augury) https://imgur.com/a/jhhGQux
Osmumten's Fang(8.51 dps) vs Blowpipe(8.25 dps)(no salt) https://imgur.com/a/eq0xawS
Osmumten's Fang(9.08 dps) vs Blowpipe(9.57 dps)(salted) https://imgur.com/a/1Uz3lgi
Bow of Faerdhinen(7.72 dps) vs Twisted bow(5.90 dps)(no salt) https://imgur.com/a/sqKk9HP
Bow of Faerdhinen(8.60 dps) vs Twisted bow(7.01 dps)(salted) https://imgur.com/a/rLlaOaM
----500 invocation
Tumeken's Shadow(10.14 dps) vs Sanguinesti staff(5.31 dps)(imbued heart no salt no augury) https://imgur.com/a/Ih83ArC
Tumeken's Shadow(10.45 dps) vs Sanguinesti staff(6.02 dps)(imbued heard no salt w/ augury) https://imgur.com/a/r7fxB9k
Tumeken's Shadow(11.65 dps) vs Sanguinesti staff(6.68 dps)(salted no augury) https://imgur.com/a/jaODcWV
Tumeken's Shadow(11.96 dps) vs Sanguinesti staff(7.41 dps)(salted w/ augury) https://imgur.com/a/zZG10FM
Osmumten's Fang(7.52) vs Blowpipe(6.56 dps)(no salt) https://imgur.com/a/OUtXTHC
Osmumten's Fang(8.16 dps) vs Blowpipe(7.90 dps)(salted) https://imgur.com/a/rUFiBjo
Bow of Faerdhinen(6.98 dps) vs Twisted bow(4.95 dps)(no salt) https://imgur.com/a/9mrmQai
Bow of Faerdhinen(7.87 dps) vs Twisted bow(6.04 dps)(salted) https://imgur.com/a/LSRI4UI
1.4 - Akkha's Shadow in depth calculations w/ links
----150 invocation
Osmumten's Fang(9.54 dps) vs Blowpipe(11.43 dps)(no salt) https://imgur.com/a/WW4Mwnh
Osmumten's Fang(10.05 dps) vs Blowpipe(12.70 dps)(salted) https://imgur.com/a/pPDmYfA
Bow of Faerdhinen(9.13 dps) vs Twisted bow(7.67 dps)(no salt) https://imgur.com/a/vdtnj03
Bow of Faerdhinen(9.98 dps) vs Twisted bow(8.82 dps)(salted) https://imgur.com/a/5WYbetn
----300 invocation
Osmumten's Fang(9.44 dps) vs Blowpipe(10.87 dps)(no salt) https://imgur.com/a/QzRV2dH
Osmumten's Fang(9.95 dps) vs Blowpipe(12.15 dps)(salted) https://imgur.com/a/W3Xcone
Bow of Faerdhinen(8.88 dps) vs Twisted bow(7.36 dps)(no salt) https://imgur.com/a/0hVkcty
Bow of Faerdhinen(9.74 dps) vs Twisted bow(8.50 dps)(salted) https://imgur.com/a/6P1yPjd
----500 invocation
Osmumten's Fang(9.25 dps) vs Blowpipe(10.13 dps)(no salt) https://imgur.com/a/wIjbc5C
Osmumten's Fang(9.78 dps) vs Blowpipe(11.42 dps)(salted) https://imgur.com/a/lBtg0cG
Bow of Faerdhinen(8.55 dps) vs Twisted bow(6.94 dps)(no salt) https://imgur.com/a/ffcOmJA
Bow of Faerdhinen(9.41 dps) vs Twisted bow(8.08 dps)(salted) https://imgur.com/a/jV3pp77
​
----(2.) - Kephri
----------2.1 - Kephri TLDR Calculations
----150 invocation
Keris Breaching(10.93 dps salted 20 bgs)
Keris Breaching(10.27 dps salted no bgs)
Keris Breaching(10.26 dps no salt 20 bgs damage)
Tumeken's Shadow(10.14 dps salted)
Osmumten's Fang(9.82 dps salted 20 bgs)
Keris Breaching(9.59 dps no bgs/salt)
Ghazi Rapier(9.58 dps salted 20 bgs)
Osmumten's Fang(9.59 dps salted no bgs)
Osmumten's Fang(9.30 dps no salt 20 bgs damage)
Ghazi Rapier(9.11 dps no salt 20 bgs damage)
Osmumten's Fang(9.05 dps no bgs/salt)
Ghrazi Rapier(8.92 dps salted no bgs)
Tumeken's Shadow(8.61 dps no bgs/salt)
Ghazi Rapier(8.44 dps no bgs/salt)
Bowfa(7.28 dps salted 20 bgs)
Bowfa(6.36 dps no salt 20 bgs damage)
Bowfa(6.31 dps salted no bgs) Bowfa(5.37 dps no salt/bgs)
​
----300 invocation
Keris Breaching(10.07 dps salted 20 bgs)
Osmumten's Fang(9.51 dps salted 20 bgs)
Keris Breaching(9.40 dps no salt 20 bgs damage)
Keris Breaching(9.16 dps salted no bgs)
Osmumten's Fang(9.08 dps salted no bgs)
Osmumten's Fang(8.97 dps no salt 20 bgs damage)
Tumeken's Shadow(8.96 dps salted)
Ghrazi rapier(8.73 dps salted 20 bgs)
Osmumten's Fang(8.51 dps no salt/bgs)
Keris Breaching(8.48 dps no salt/bgs)
Ghrazi Rapier(8.24 dps no salt 20 bgs damage)
Ghazi Rapier(7.81 dps salted no bgs)
Tumeken's Shadow(7.40 dps no salt/bgs)
Ghrazi Rapier(7.30 dps no salt/bgs)
Bowfa(6.02 dps salted 20 bgs)
Bowfa(5.07 dps no salt 20 bgs damage)
Bowfa(4.76 dps salted no bgs)
Bowfa(3.94 dps no salt/bgs)
----500 invocation
kephri Osmumten's Fang(8.96 dps salted 20 bgs)
Keris Breaching(8.93 dps salted 20 bgs)
Osmumten's Fang(8.37 dps)(no salt 20 bgs damage)
Keris Breaching(8.25 dps no salt 20 bgs damage)
Osmumten's Fang(8.16 dps salted no bgs)
Keris Breaching(7.70 dps salted no bgs)
Ghrazi Rapier(7.58 dps salted 20 bgs)
Osmumten's Fang(7.52 dps no bgs/salt)
Tumeken's Shadow(7.34 dps salted)
Ghazi Rapier(7.07 dps no salt 20 bgs damage)
Keris Breaching(7.0 dps no bgs/salt)
Ghrazi Rapier(6.34 dps salted no bgs)
Tumeken's Shadow(5.80 dps no salt)
Ghrazi Rapier(5.80 dps no bgs/salt)
Bowfa(4.50 dps salted 20 bgs)
Bowfa(3.73 dps no salt 20 bgs damage)
Bowfa(3.49 dps salted no bgs)
Bowfa(2.89 dps no salt/bgs

Like let's be honest, ready stance and phial follow up: firing pin? Like really, firing pin is OK as it gives us our Iceborne charge blade back but with a MHR: Sunbreak twist however it nothing revolutionary. But ready stance is so obviously garbage, it's half as good as counter peak performance or morphing advance which we already have access to in Rise.
Ready stance absorbs a hit like CPP then follows into return stroke and element discharge 1 and just like CPP it cant gain any guard point buffs, because it's a skill not a mechanic.
Counter peak performance absorbs a hit, fills your phials and also let's you UAED or straight up charge your weapon (not shield). It obviously ALSO suffers from lack of guard point buffs like I said /\
Morphing advance let's you literally do EVERYTHING ready stance can do, but better. Instead of absorbing a hit; it let's you reposition, and that's about it besides having better follow up attacks that can guard point. And "follow ups" are practically all ready stance has to it because you can have both CPP and morphing advance equipped. The charge blades base mechanic of guard pointing works better then ready stance, you can absorb multiple hits if you have guard up/stamina, you can follow up with UAED or AED which is pretty good for KO'ing, all while benefiting from fucking guard point buffs like offensive guard or the passive to counter morph slash.
Like why couldn't we get ripper shield, energy blade or 2 - 1? It could've even had a cool little mechanic in which if you have condensed element slash or spinning slash equipped it changed the move to its what it's related to.

This week's batch features Flat Tops with flex nibs from the 1920s. Nibs range from Semi-Flex to Wet Noodle. As always, all are fully restored and ready to write.
 
ALBUM & TIMESTAMP
 
Pastable link: https://imgur.com/a/JsuGaBY
 
Condition (n.b.): All pens listed below have been disassembled, cleaned and restored with new sacs installed in the last couple weeks. Each of these pens is guaranteed to fill and write as designed without leaks or other problems. Nibs have been adjusted when necessary to ensure that all lay down a smooth and consistent line.
THESE PENS HAVE NO CRACKS, CHIPS, PERSONALIZATIONS (except #2), LOOSE OR MISSING PARTS, BENT NIBS, MISALIGNED TINES, BROKEN/WORN OFF TIPPING, OR THREADING ISSUES.
 
Line Widths and Writing Samples: To provide buyers with as much information as possible, I have started to adopt the following line width standards: XXF (.1-.2mm); XF (approx .3mm); F (approx .4mm); M (approx .6mm); B (approx .8mm). Nib flexibility is determined by variation (max line width under pressure) and softness (amount of pressure). Flexibility designations based on variation generally run as follows for an XF/F nib: Semi-Flex (approx. 1mm); Flex (1.4-1.9mm); Superflex (>2mm). All line width measurements are taken with a digital caliper but should be considered approximations providing a general guide. Width may vary slightly depending on type of ink and paper used as well as amount of pressure applied. All writing samples are on Rhodia dot paper using Waterman Serenity Blue.
 
 
1. 1920s Townsend (MHR, NPT, lever filler, 14k XF Superflex nib). Measures 5 3/8" capped. All my efforts to uncover more info about this pen run aground on the Cross Townsend, so I'm afraid I can't say much about the maker of this pen or the 'H' logo on the lever. It's made of mottled red and black hard rubber with nickel-plated trim. Replacement Super-Flexible 14k nib is an early A. A. Waterman #1. It lays down a smooth and consistent XF line that widens to a 4B+ (approx 2.1mm) under light pressure (see WRITING SAMPLE). Thin hairlines, strong snap-back, and reliable flow over its full range of flex make it an excellent choice for calligraphic writing styles such as Copperplate and Spencerian. Condition: excellent [B]. Hard rubber retains its vibrant red and black color with virtually no fading. Surface is smooth a lustrous with no deep scratches or other notable blemishes. Nickel-plated trim is clean aside from light wear to the clip. Price: $180 $165 SOLD
 
2. 1920s Diamond Medal (Woodgrain, celluloid, GPT, lever filler, 14k XXF Wet Noodle nib). Measures 5 1/4" capped. Diamond Medal was the house brand of Sears, Roebuck & Compan yin the 1920s and early 30s. Pens like this one, available exclusively through this retailer, were made by the National Pen Products Company based in Chicago. Like other early celluloid flat tops made by National, Diamond Medal pens have gained quite a following in recent years due to their solid construction and unusual color patterns. This one is a simulacrum of a simulacrum, featuring a celluloid woodgrain pattern originally found on pens made of hard rubber. Heavy gold-plated clip, lever, and wide cap band. This pen is equipped with a replacement nib: a long-tined 14k L. Jackson #3 dip pen nib from the late 1800s-early 1900s. Makers of the period such as Wirt outfitted their pens with nibs lacking breather holes from the factory. And this nib was a perfect fit for the section and feed (DETAIL PHOTO). So I thought I'd give it a try! I think the buyer will be very pleased with the results. It's a Wet Noodle with paintbrush like flow and softness, laying down a smooth and consistent XXF line that widens to a 4B+ (approx 2.2mm) under minimal pressure (see WRITING SAMPLE). Needlepoint hairlines, superbly responsive snap-back, and reliable flow over its full range of flex make it an ideal choice for calligraphic writing styles such as Copperplate and Spencerian. Keep in mind that due to the nib and feed design, flow is less consistent if you try to write as fast as you sign your name. But if you slow down just a little bit, as you do for calligraphy, then the flow is reliably consistent. Condition: excellent [B]. The cap band has a monogram (M) professionally engraved in elegant Copperplate script on the backside of the cap (see timestamp photo). Gold-plated trim shows no plating wear or other noteworthy blemishes aside from the typical sliver of brassing on the clip ball. Celluloid surface is smooth a lustrous with no deep scratches or other notable blemishes – just a handful of short, light scratches here and there. Manufacturer imprint on the barrel is sharp and fully legible. A lovely pen with a wild nib for those pining for the writing characteristics of a dip pen with the convenience of a FP. Price: $290 SOLD [before listing]
 
3. c. 1928 NOS Ingersoll 1 1/2 with Sticker (dark red and black mottled, Bakelite, GPT, twist-filler, 14k XF Superflex nib). This oversized model has a thick girth that doesn't even fit into the slots in the box and a capped length of 5 1/4". Founded in Newark, NJ in 1924, Ingersoll made a name for itself by producing pens of surprisingly high quality at a modest price. Today they are perhaps best known for their innovative twist filling system, as exhibited by this pen. This pen is New Old Stock replete with its original sticker band exhibiting the model number, price, and filling instructions. Instead of being made of celluloid, the pen is one of those rare birds that's actually made of Bakelite. Despite what uninformed antiques dealers will tell you, fountain pens made of Bakelite are actually a very uncommon. Not sure why this was, since they have the reputation of being just as durable. This Ingersoll has an impressive appearance: darkly mottled red and black with gold-plated trim. To fill you simply submerse the nib to the section in ink, turn the silver knob on the back of the barrel and release, then wait about 10 seconds for the sac to inflate. The instructions on the sticker advise 3-4 turns, but I've found this to be unnecessary. 1 full turn (even less) suffices for a good fill while having less wear and tear on the sac. This big pen holds a lot of ink. Super-Flexible 14k Ingersoll nib lays down a smooth and consistent XF line that widens to a 4B+ (approx 2.0mm) under light pressure (see WRITING SAMPLE). Thin hairlines, strong snap-back, and reliable flow over its full range of flex make it a good choice for calligraphic writing styles. Condition: near-mint, inked [A1]. This pen is like something plucked from a time capsule. Gold-plated trim shows no plating wear or other noteworthy blemishes. The only noteworthy flaw on the pen is a bit of corrosion on the steel turning knob (DETAIL PHOTO). Bakelite surface is smooth a lustrous with no deep scratches or other notable blemishes – scarcely even any microscratches. Manufacturer imprint in relief on the captop is factory sharp (DETAIL PHOTO). Price: $280 SOLD
 
4. 1920s P.R. Lisieux (MHR, NPT, lever filler, 18k F Superflex nib). Measures 5 1/8" capped. Another mysterious pen, this one from France. There is a town in Lower Normandy called Lisieux with a famous fountain at its center. Whether this was the inspiration for the name or it was simply the surname of the company's founder I can't say. The nib is stamped "Paris," so the maker was likely located there. In any case, it's an eye-catching pen, made of red and black hard rubber with nickel-plated lever. It came clipless from the factory (no holes drilled for a clip). Super-Flexible 18k nib lays down a smooth and consistent F line that widens to a 4B+ (approx 2.2mm) under light pressure (see WRITING SAMPLE). Another excellent nib for expressive writing styles with reliable flow over its full range of flex. Condition: excellent+ [B+]. Hard rubber retains its vibrant red and black color with no discernible fading. Surface is smooth a lustrous with no deep scratches or other notable blemishes – scarcely even any microscratches. Nickel-plated lever shows no notable wear. Manufacturer imprint on the barrel is sharp and fully legible. Price: $190 $175 SOLD
 
5. 1920s Unbranded Flat Top (MHR, GPT, lever filler, 14k XF/F Superflex–Wet Noodle nib). Measures a hair under 5 1/4" capped. This Parker-inspired pen resembles a Lucky Curve pen, having the same profile and knurled BHR clip-lock. It's made of red and black hard rubber complemented by gold-plated trim. 14k nib yields Super-Flexible variation with softness verging on a Wet Noodle. It lays down a smooth and consistent XF/F line that widens to a 4B+(approx 2.2mm) under light to minimal pressure (see WRITING SAMPLE). Note that this nib is so soft that you have to have a really light touch to produce those XF unflexed lines. Strong snap-back and reliable flow over its full range of flex make it another great choice for calligraphic writing styles. Condition: fine [C]. This one shows moderate trim wear but the rest of the pen is super clean. Gold-plated clip shows scratching while the lever is mostly brassed. Hard rubber retains its vibrant red and black color with no discernible fading. Surface is smooth a lustrous with no deep scratches or other notable blemishes – scarcely even any microscratches. Price: $180 SOLD
 
6. c.1928 Parker True Blue (blue and cream, celluloid, GPT, button filler, 14k F Semi-Flex nib). This is the standard-sized model, measuring 5 1/4" capped. In 1928 Parker introduced one of the most sought after of celluloid pens they would ever make. Known to collectors as the "True Blue," this scarce color pattern figured into Parker adverts as "Modernistic Blue" or "Modern Blue-and-White. This is the later version with smooth, streamlined ends. The cream and blue colors on this pen appear to be interwoven or braided on some sides and more like a lava lamp or swirls of syrup in melting ice cream on others. The effect is quite pretty. Gold-plated trim includes double cap bands and washer-style clip. Modeled on the Duofold of the 1920s, these pens are button fillers. To fill, simply unscrew the hard rubber blind cap, submerse the nib, and depress the brass button once. Semi-Flexible 14k Lucky Curve #2 nib lays down a smooth and consistent F line that widens to a 2B or so (approx 1.3mm) under moderate pressure (see WRITING SAMPLE). Not a full flex nib but the softness gives it a smooth, springy feel. Condition: excellent/fine [B/C]. This pen would grade as near mint were it not for the discoloration of the barrel, a problem that sadly affects the overwhelming majority of True Blues. Celluloid surface is smooth a lustrous with no deep scratches or other notable blemishes – scarcely even any microscratches. HR ends are factory black with no fading and factory sharp knurling. Gold-plated trim is pristine aside from the typical sliver of brassing on the clip ball. Manufacturer imprint on the barrel is factory deep and fully legible. Price: $190 $175
 
7. c.1929 Parker True Blue (blue and cream, celluloid, GPT, button filler, 14k D Superflex Factory Stub nib). This standard-sized streamlined model measures a hair under 5" (like the Duofold, Parker shortened this model when they streamlined it). See description above for more info about the True Blue. 14k Parker Pen nib appears to be a Canadian replacement. A Factory Stub with Super-Flexible softness and variation. Unflexed, it lays down a smooth and consistent F line on the down-strokes and XF line on the cross-strokes. Under light pressure that line widens to a 4B+(approx 2.1mm) (see WRITING SAMPLE). Easy unflexed variation, strong snap-back and reliable flow over its full range of flex make it another great choice for calligraphic writing styles. Condition: excellent- [B-]. The color of this one isn't perfect, but it's better than the vast majority of those you see out there, having only mild darkening. Celluloid surface is smooth a lustrous with no deep scratches or other notable blemishes – scarcely even any microscratches. HR ends are factory black with no fading. Gold-plated trim is pristine aside from a sliver of brassing along the lower edge of the bottom cap band and the typical sliver on the clip ball. Manufacturer imprint on the barrel weakened in the center but still mostly legible. Price: $220 SOLD [before listing]
 
 
 
Shipping: Pens purchased on the weekend are mailed on Tuesday. Otherwise they are mailed within 2 business days of payment. All pens that do not come with their original boxes are packaged in PVC or thick plastic tubes to protect them in transit. To CONUS locations the following shipping options are available:

• USPS First-Class with tracking for $5 Due to the delivery delays brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and worsened by postmaster general DeJoy, I strongly recommend that the Priority shipping option be chosen. All packages will include full insurance (covered by me). Rest assured that a full refund is guaranteed (issued through Paypal) in the event of a lost parcel and you will not have to wait until I receive a reimbursement from the USPS.
  
• USPS Priority with tracking for $9
  

International Customers: Please contact me for shipping quote if located abroad (delivery confirmation required). (Note: due to the issues stated above, my international shipping options are currently limited. PM for more info). Please do not ask me to commit mail fraud by altering the declared value of a pen for customs. Not only am I registered as a business but shipping insurance is based on declared value.
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Ordering: Pens are placed on hold for the first person to reply to the thread and PM me with firm request to purchase (no chat DMs please). A request with the words “I'd like to purchase [pen number]” would be best to avoid confusion), to which I’ll reply with payment details. Please note that a message inquiring into a price discount does not suffice to place a pen on hold. If I haven't received Paypal payment within 24 hrs after a hold is placed, then pen(s) may become available to the next person.
Payment, & Guarantee: Payment by Paypal only. All pens are guaranteed to be in the condition in which I've described them. If I've missed something objectionable or the filling mechanism is not fully functional, the buyer may contact me up to 7 days after receiving the pen for a full refund (issued once I receive the pen back in the same condition as sold). Buyer must ship the return no later than 2 weeks after it was delivered to receive a refund. I've sold pens online for over a decade. Please check my past listings here as well as on the classifieds and historical sales forums on FPN (username: Estragon) and FPGeeks (popcod) for some of my previous offerings.
 
 
OTHER OPEN LISTINGS:

• Superflex Watermans in Ripple, Woodgrain, and BCHR
  
• Parker Vacumatic Long Major
  
• Superflex Waterman 12 PSF
  
• Superflex Jaxon by Conklin, Flex Moore L-82
  
• Superflex Edacoto 103
  
• WASP Circuitboard Clipper
  
• BCHR Mabie Todd
  

Title aside, please minimize nostalgia arguments.
So I replay the MH OSTs including annual orchestra concerts. There's something that makes me interested. What makes it unique? I've heard some good musics from other video game franchises. It can be a full suite orchestra, a rock, or others. But if there's something that looks like MH music, it certainly is MH music. For the record, MH has been existed since 2006 So it's safe to say I can compare to long standing franchises, for example, Final Fantasies, Blizzard classics, and so on. But the thing is, they produce consistent soundtracks until now. I'm speaking composition wise.
I have to answer myself first but with disclaimer, I'm not art/music student in such degree, nor in depth on some cultures. I wont cover Frontier.
Short answer
Composition wise, MH's first identity is to realistic nature, but respect to traditional roots. As it progresses, they tend to use theming to scope how it sounds, but the identity remains. They use some and more traditional instruments than your usual video game OSTs and they way they play is... also traditional like how it usually plays in the real world. It can be derived from your culture so if you know some kind of instruments that exists in your culture, you feel like home. As for classics and orchestras, they somehow use some old movies as the reference, though they have to adapt modern standards so it doesn't feel dated.
Long answer: how Monster Hunter OST progresses over time
Before discussing the OST, MH often sets at the village and go hunting in the nature. The village is the home to hunters. This setting is supported by the village's culture, hence the choice of the instruments used to make the village OSTs. On their work to hunt, the nature itself dictates the setting of the game. It can be where the location is and its contexts or how the situation feels. With those, including what's remain in the village culture, they use some instruments derived from there.
They sell you the first impression of the music direction from the first area of the game/expansion. You can think of Deserted Island, Ancient Forest, Hoarfrost Reach, and more. But lets go to MH1 Verdant Hills theme, the very first battle theme. It's not as melodic like recent trends. However, this is some old stuffs like it's from old movies. This become obvious with the frequent usage of brass, and they're supposed to be loud. I haven't probably seen this kind often. The closest I can think from other franchise is FF12:The Zodiac Age (2017). Now I mentioned that game, so what's similar to them? It's like an old movie style composition (and again, loud brass).
MH2 compositions are like that too, given that the composer lineup was barely changed at that time. But starting from 2nd gen, i noticed something unique, the percussion. It's back to its roots, straight to the bongos (I'm generalizing, please give me more specifics). Old influences still existed, for example, the slow march at the first part of Kushala, the rapid percussion of Tigrex. However, they introduced a bit more melodic side with forest and tribal themed Nargacuga.
As it progresses to adapt trends at that time, there is something shifting from that style. The tone changes. It's getting more melodic, thematic, but can be experimental. However, the first impression is still the same: it's still MH. This is what I describe 3rd gen. It's a different composer lineup. Start from Deserted Island, they started to use motifs frequently and no shy from revealing it. Starting from this, the main theme usually reused in the first area. This increases familiarity so it can make memorable. But then, traditional roots still present, which is their strong identity. There are some stellar compositions from the 3rd gen too, from enchanting Ceadeus, disturbing Devilho, and ominous Alatreon. On MHP3rd, Things are getting thematic, focuses on eastern roots, most notably Yukumo village. On the other side, Zinogre was new at that time, using its standout electric guitar behind the orchestra and eastern influences, something you usually see at some characters embracing modernity. Composition wise, this was experimental for that day's standards
To the 4th gen series, things are split into two sub-gen (let's say 4a and 4b). On 4a, I'll cover MH4 series. It's a detour from island stuffs from 3rd gen to the desert stuffs. They wanted to expand to the culture inside the desert hence why i can count them as the most OSTs of the franchise. The most noticeable are metal instruments and they sell you for it. The way they play remains traditional, somewhat nothing unorthodox. The orchestra is more straightforward than before, but the melody and motif still carries the composition. The old stuffs still left in the bit, for example the western influenced Magalas and Gogmazios. I also noticed some outliers that feels like not belong in the desert, and that's still a good thing. On 4b, it is a celebration with MHGen/U and MHStories. In here, they can play what they want and it's even free to express compared to first stuffs where it's gritty in the mood. As expected, there are remakes in this game. Some remakes are in the village: the true village nature of Kokoto, the welcoming and comfortable Pokke, and the hospitality of Yukumo. But then you get cheerful Bherna village this time. It's bright. I can describe it's more melodic and straightforward than before. Some instruments lead or the whole composition chants the song. This is noticeable from the elegant dancing Mizutsune, or the action packed Valstrax. Moving to its sibling game, MHStories tried to use MH music formula with different approach. the first one they used is back to percussion. The first impression alone makes it obvious the roots still remain. As MHStories has an RPG nature of the game, it's expected to make some cliched turned based RPG music but with twist of MH style.
Something shakes in the 5th gen and it's huge. This is where the franchise makes revolution. They had to divide the western and eastern style orchestra. The style progresses, the instruments change, the composers change, technologies, and so on. I'll divide as gen 5a and 5b here.
For gen 5a, let's start from MHW series, including Iceborne. They introduced western people involved for this, and that's where they widen up the genre. Ancient Forest theme is the bold statement of the MH soundtrack as a franchise going forward, accompanied with MHW main theme. It's a mix of western and eastern influences. It's basically the modern interpretation of first Verdant Hills. While Verdant Hills is more menacing and threatening, Ancient Forest is more to a shocking and adventurous, with sudden loud sounds played on the track. The vibe changes but still stayed at one identity. The village part, however, is not a village, but a rather an outpost. This changes the mood of what you usually take comfort at the village, now you are living in a growing infrastructure, hence the more modern composition of usual village theme (Astera and Seliana). Another standout is Wildspire Waste. It's an outlier that you usually saw them use classic or traditional percussion. This one uses a drum set. It's a modern classic for today's standards. Everything you hear in here is modern, like gothic Vaal Hazak, war march Bazelgeuse, and so on. What highlights from this gen however is many twists. First, there's a callback. The callback used are somewhat subtle and it represents their presence at their generation. Take callback to MHW version of Kushala, Nargacuga, Zinogre, and the most menacing Fatalis. Another twists come from the technology itself: chase theme and layering. Chase theme is self explanatory, but layering here works while mounting, just adding more percussion layer, from bongos to drum sets. This work on MHW version of Rajang which can be caught off guard how the composition feels out of the box. They realize they have to extend the duration and add more dynamic layering to reduce music fatigue.
Then we go to 5b which is from MHRise and MHStories 2. The latter parts remains the same as predecessor so let's talk about the former. MHRise is unique, borrowing theming from MHP3rd and back to eastern influences. It focused on choirs and melodies to give a punch to the song. While their music is rather traditional, given the amount of many eastern instruments used as they advertised, they used more modern composition and somehow have to adapt old compositions to match their theming. Since it's getting melodic, it's less dark as before. The music tends to make action more, given the nature of the game that is more to straightforward hunting. The whole battle theme and some monster theme are the examples of how engaging the musics are. Take the example of triumphant volcano area, the showdown of Magnamalo, and so on. Those stuffs are basically more detour from old stuffs so it's understandable those are like it's not from MH but somehow it's still MH. They also leaned into more singable songs with the theme of vocal heavy tracks, most notably Village/hub theme and Serpents theme. For the upcoming Sunbreak expansion, I also notice how thematic this game can be. They have to be consistent for their own theming. This sub gen is the more direct than predecessors.
So, as this franchise progresses, the MH music team have to be appreciated for their commitment of their consistency. There are some evolution from how the composition progresses. There are some constraints landed on them, whether it's from technology, the manpower, the availability (do we have this instrument?), or even the budget. Here I want to focus on technologies:

1. Some bandwidths from old gen were narrow. With that, they use such range. everything was loud but compressed
2. There are also time constraints too, I can see MH4U had some technologies shifted, they used more digital sounds compared to MH4 which was more acoustic. This one is used too during some Iceborne post launches. Raging Brachydios is the blatant one
3. MHW is the hybrid one. With technologies available, they used acoustic + digital sounds, used to make transition for chase themes and mount themes (layering). Soundtrack implementation aside, the sound itself can be considered as a tradeoff. I think somehow they ran out of budget for final production especially the case Iceborne post-launch soundtracks haven't announced yet so I assume they outed it.
4. MHRise realized this, so the game direction was to increase the production budget for the music. Here I can say MHR had better production and marketing for that, given the good sounding and dynamics of the lineup.

Now on to the composition side, especially on some monsters. I have to replay monster themes throughout generations:

1. Each time generation progress, the vibe can be changed by its evolution. Some instruments are changed to the theming of the game. For example
   1. compare Tigrex theme from MH2 to MHR. In MH2, they use a bit monotone sound and narrower range. To MH4U, they make the first part an 8/8 then return to 7/8 beat like usual, drums are less noticeable here. To MHWI they make strong beats of loud drums and they have to extend the music. Finally in MHRise the instrument changed with vocals used with the percussion changed to more action based. Safe to say each adaptation counts with different styles. To say which one is better, it varies and up to you. Many rearrangements can distract some choices.
   2. The same for Zinogre, start from P3rd to MHR. P3rd uses electric guitar as a noise and a standout for the track with low brass as the heavy parts of the track. In fact, the guitar is playing secondary notes. Off we go to IB, people argue it's the lesser version due to how low the guitar sounds. It's because the standout changed to violin parts and more heavier sounds (percussion, electric bass). They did good job on substitution. It extends with the callback to Yukumo and Springs battle theme where the strings shine. Rise backs to its roots with different style of the P3rd, removing the callback, but extends some parts.
   3. Instead of electric guitar on later parts of MHW Alatreon, they used percussion with same note to mimic the sound. I think this one's clever.
   4. MHRise Nargacuga is actually extended hence doubled the length. The first one is vocal heavy, the second replaced by flute like the original.
   5. There are composition where they barely changed at all. Valstrax for example. Because the original is action packed, MHRise doesn't really tweak drastically with its theming (all is in the checklist)
2. Some compositions are considered dated for today's standards. Therefore, there are some remakes for some returning tracks:
   1. MHGen remade some village music to that day's standards, replacing some instruments to high quality stuffs
   2. 5th gen extends the song by ~30-45 seconds and adding more dynamic. This is improvement towards music fatigue, though mount music outed from MHRise
3. Some compositions are shortlived so there's an opportunity to facelift, just like cars.
   1. Personally speaking, of all Fated Four themes, Astalos is the shortlived one compared to safe sounding Gammoth. Its composition felt cheap so its a good time for Sunbreak to remake

So, all these progresses, looks like there are some improvements or adaptations to their own source material. But comparatively speaking, how about we compare to other long standing franchise? I'll take Final Fantasy as example (I wrote about FFXIV OST twice). MH is a contrary to FF. FF does the theming, but it's loose. The roots are depended on the composer that time. If you're an FF player, you probably know how the music progresses from Uematsu > Sakimoto (the strictest) > Hamauzu > Soken. Strict theming can be homogeneous but consistent, just like MH. Back to MH, the composer lineup shared some similar roots, though the new ones can shift a bit. If they have an opportunity to loose, they are still capable if they want to. However, the identity of the franchise still remains so they rather stick to that root.
So the summary, read my short answer. I can only say this for now. As for composer lineup and profile, I think it deserves another post. Let me know if there are resources to MH soundtrack information and interviews. If this post can get a pass, I want to make a continuation for this post.
Thank you

This week's vintage batch is made up of FPs made in Europe and Japan from the 1930s-50s. Nibs range from Flex to Superflex and include a couple of Stubs. Some really great celluloids in this bunch. As always, all are fully restored and ready to write.
 
ALBUM & TIMESTAMP
 
Pastable link: https://imgur.com/a/qKBIftl
 
Condition (n.b.): All pens listed below have been disassembled, cleaned and restored with new sacs installed in the last couple weeks. Each of these pens is guaranteed to fill and write as designed without leaks or other problems. Nibs have been adjusted when necessary to ensure that all lay down a smooth and consistent line.
THESE PENS HAVE NO CRACKS (except #2), CHIPS, PERSONALIZATIONS, LOOSE OR MISSING PARTS, BENT NIBS, MISALIGNED TINES, BROKEN/WORN OFF TIPPING, OR THREADING ISSUES.
 
Line Widths and Writing Samples: To provide buyers with as much information as possible, I have started to adopt the following line width standards: XXF (.1-.2mm); XF (approx .3mm); F (approx .4mm); M (approx .6mm); B (approx .8mm). Nib flexibility is determined by variation (max line width under pressure) and softness (amount of pressure). Flexibility designations based on variation generally run as follows for an XF/F nib: Semi-Flex (approx. 1mm); Flex (1.2-1.9mm); Superflex (>2mm). All line width measurements are taken with a digital caliper but should be considered approximations providing a general guide. Width may vary slightly depending on type of ink and paper used as well as amount of pressure applied. All writing samples are on Rhodia dot paper using Waterman Serenity Blue.
 
 
1. NOS 1930s De La Rue Pen / Onoto Minor 1332 w/ Sticker (gold brickwork, celluloid, GPT, lever filler, 14k M Superflex Factory Stub nib). Measures 4 7/8" capped. At its inception in 1821, the British De La Rue company specialized in printing and stationary. By the late 19th century they entered the fountain pen business, manufacturing some of the most striking and finely engineered pens in the UK. Having weathered the Depression, De La Rue developed a new method for laminating transparent and opaque celluloids. This pen's brickwork pattern, comprised of strands of black and gold woven over a transparent base, is a remarkable product of these efforts. Both the barrel and cap are transparent between the strands when held to light (DETAIL PHOTO). In these years, De La Rue used the Onoto designation, which this pen exhibits on its nib, for their top-tier models. Distinguished as "The De La Rue Pen" on the barrel, the pen predates the "Onoto Minor" imprint later used for this model. Unlike most DLOnotos, which were complex plunger fillers that require expensive restoration, this pen is a lever filler. It bears 2 number codes around black barrel endcap: 1332 and 742. To my knowledge, this numbering system has never been deciphered. This pen is New Old Stock replete with the original sticker on the barrel-end, which reads "MS": a descriptor for its Medium Stub nib (DETAIL PHOTO). That 14k nib is indeed a Factory Stub. But on top of that it yields Super-Flexible softness and variation. Under normal pressure, it lays down a smooth and consistent M line on the down-strokes and XF line on the cross-strokes. Under light pressure, the down-strokes widen to a 4B+ (approx 2.1mm) (see WRITING SAMPLE). A versatile nib well chosen for adding expression to everyday writing as it is to calligraphic writing styles, having reliable flow over its full range of flex while the stub-grind keeps letterforms neat and straight (a cure to shaky handedness). Condition: excellent/near mint [B+]. As expected for a stickered pen, this pen has seen very little use and has nothing more than drawer wear. Celluloid has a smooth, lustrous surface with no deep scratches or other notable blemishes – scarcely even and microscratches. Gold-plated hardware is pristine aside from the typical spot of brassing on the clip ball and some miniscule scratches on the right side of the lever I only mention for sake of completeness. Manufacturer imprint on the barrel is factory deep and fully legible. A stunning example of an uncommonly fetching pen and a delightful writer. Price: $360 SOLD
 
2. c. 1933 Mabie Todd Swan Leverless 312/66 (green swirl, GPT, twist-filler, 14k B Flexible Stub nib). This is one of the larger of the leverless models, having a substantial girth and measuring 5 1/4" capped. Thanks to their unique and attractive celluloid color patterns as well as their unusual filling systems, Swan Leverless are among the most desirable FPs made by Mabie Todd. This 3-sized pen (312) is a case in point, exhibiting a curious, green swirl (66) color pattern I've never encountered before. "Leverless" was MT's designation for their twist filler, which fills by means of oscillating bars that compress the sac when the knob at the end of the barrel is turned. To fill, simply turn the knob counter-clockwise until you reach the stop, submerse the nib, and turn the knob clockwise back to its original position (keeping the nib in the ink for a few seconds to allow for a complete fill). Commensurably large, 14k Swan #3 nib is a Flexible Stub with the feel of a Cursive Italic. Under normal pressure, it lays don a smooth and consistent B line on the down-strokes and XF line on the cross-strokes. Under moderate pressure, the down-strokes widen to a 4B+ (approx 2.0mm) – max line width of a Superflex nib but Flexible in terms of variation from the unflexed B line (see WRITING SAMPLE). Another versatile nib, this one having flow on the wet side, which is reliably wet over its full range of flex. Condition: fine/fair [C/D]. This pen presents well but has a couple of significant flaws that have been factored into the price. First, after restoration, I took another look at the nib under a loupe and discovered a hairline extending from the right side of the breather hole (see nibs photo). It has no discernible effect on the nib's performance and I wouldn't expect it to worsen as long as one doesn't push the nib too hard, but it's something to bear in mind. Second, there was a hairline crack from the cap lip to the lower cap band that I've solvent welded, using a mix of MEK and celluloid paste as recommended by top pen mechanics. I also finished the surface to conceal the crack, but some slight surface irregularity is still visible under a loupe (DETAIL PHOTO). This durable repair restores most of the cap's original robustness, but I'd avoid posting to be safe (it's such a large pen that most wouldn't post anyway). Apart from that, the celluloid has a smooth, lustrous surface with no significant blemishes – just some minor, circular marks on the cap crown (DETAIL PHOTO). Gold-plated trim is clean aside from some scuffs to the cap bands. Manufacturer imprint on the barrel with ornate Swan logo is factory deep and fully legible. An uncommon pen without the sticker shock of a collector-grade example. Price: $225 SOLD
 
3. 1930s Namiki-Pilot (black hard rubber, GPT, lever filler, 14k XXF Needlepoint Flex nib). Measures 5" capped. Located in Tokyo, Japan, Pilot was founded in 1918 by Ryōsuke Namiki and Masao Wada as the Namiki Manufacturing Company, Ltd. Early models like this one were made of hard rubber with barrels imprinted "Namiki MFG CO LTD" with an "N" inside the logo, and equipped with distinctive ball-clips and 14k nibs. Less common than their counterparts from the 1950s. Like the others in this batch, this pen has a nib with a distinctive feel: needlepoint thinness yet smooth, flexible yet responsive with precision snap-back. Marked "Warranted / Pilot / 14k / 0," this Flexible nib lays down a smooth and consistent XXF line that widens to a 2B/3B (approx 1.2mm) under moderate pressure (see WRITING SAMPLE). A nib well suited for fitting calligraphic writing such as Copperplate and Spencerian on thin-ruled paper – superbly responsive and reliable flow over its full range of flex. Condition: excellent/fine [B/C]. Gold plated trim is clean aside from a couple scratches on the lever and marks at the top of the clip. Hard rubber retains its factory black color with no discernible fading. Smooth, lustrous surface with no notable blemishes apart from a couple long, thin scratches toward the end of the barrel (DETAIL PHOTO). Manufacturer imprint on the barrel is clear and fully legible. Price: $190 SOLD
 
4. 1950s Pilot 53R (black and pearl, celluloid, GPT, lever filler, 14k XXF Needlepoint Flex nib). Measures 4 7/8" capped. After suffering the wartime hardships of the previous decade – from the devastation wrought by the Atomic Bomb, to supply-chain shortages, to a trade embargo that compelled them use steel in lieu of gold nibs – Pilot emerged into the 1950s with a perseverant return to their former glory. Their flagship model became the 53R, made in an array of interesting celluloids unseen in the West and featuring their signature "bow-tie" clips and quality 14k nibs. In my experience, these 14k-nibbed pens are in a totally different class than Pilots with SS nibs in terms of quality of construction. This 53-R Type T (T stands for teko, lever) is made of black celluloid embedded with what appears to be chips of something like the abalone Sheaffer used for the Ebonized Pearl Balance: green in the center and crystal white around the edges. Never seen anything quite like it before! Gold-filled trim is finished on the ends by double black jewels. Flexible 14k Pilot #2 nib bears the JIS logo, indicating that it was made in accordance with the Japan Industrial Standards first implemented by the Japanese Ministry of Industry in 1952. Like the one above, that nib displays all the best characteristics of early Pilots: needlepoint thinness yet smooth, flexible yet responsive with precision snap-back. It lays down a smooth and consistent XXF line that widens to a 3B+ (approx 1.6mm) under moderate pressure (see WRITING SAMPLE). Another nib well suited for fitting calligraphic writing such as Copperplate and Spencerian on thin-ruled paper – superbly responsive and reliable flow over its full range of flex. Condition: excellent/near mint [B+]. Gold plated trim shows no brassing or other notable wear – just microscratches here and there. Smooth, lustrous celluloid surface with no noteworthy blemishes. Simple manufacturer imprint on barrel just behind the lever is deep and fully legible. Price: $240 SOLD
 
5. 1950s Pilot 53R (green marble, celluloid, GPT, lever filler, 14k XXF Needlepoint Flex nib). Measures 4 7/8" capped. See description of pen #3 for more info about the 53R. Based on the nib imprint, which lacks the JIS stamp, this pen was probably made in the early 1950s, predating the 53R above. This 53-R Type T (T stands for teko, lever) is made of a vibrant, green marble celluloid. Gold-filled trim is finished on the ends by double black jewels. Flexible 14k Pilot #2 nib lays down a smooth and consistent XXF line that widens to a 3B+(approx 1.7mm) under moderate pressure (see WRITING SAMPLE). Like those above, it produces needlepoint yet smooth hairlines, has reliable flow over its full range of flex, and its responsive snap-back gives one precise control over the line. Another nib well suited for calligraphic writing in a small hand. Condition: excellent- [B-]. This pen would grade as near mint were it not for some plating wear to the top edge of the cap band on one side and thin slivers of brassing to the sides of the lever and edge of the tassie on the barrel-end. Smooth, lustrous celluloid surface with no noteworthy blemishes. Manufacturer imprint on the barrel is weakened but still mostly legible. Price: $220 SOLD
 
6. c.1937 Pelikan 100 Set (smooth BHR, light green pearl Binde, GFT, piston filler, 14k XF/F Flex nib). Received this one back after sending it out for repair only to discover a month later but just before listing that it's only filling to halfway up the ink window in the barrel. So this one is WITHDRAWN FROM SALE until further notice (feel free to contact me for further details if interested).
 
 
 
Shipping: Pens purchased on the weekend are mailed on Tuesday. Otherwise they are mailed within 2 business days of payment. All pens that do not come with their original boxes are packaged in thick PVC tubes to protect them in transit. To CONUS locations the following shipping options are available:

• USPS First-Class with tracking for $5 Due to the delivery delays brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and postmaster general DeJoy, I strongly recommend that the Priority shipping option be chosen. All packages will include full insurance (covered by me). Rest assured that a full refund is guaranteed (issued through Paypal) in the event of a lost parcel and you will not have to wait until I receive a reimbursement from the USPS.
  
• USPS Priority with tracking for $8
  

International Customers: Please contact me for shipping quote if located abroad (delivery confirmation required). (Note: due to the issues stated above, my international shipping options are currently limited. PM for more info). Please do not ask me to commit mail fraud by altering the declared value of a pen for customs.
New York Customers: For tax purposes, I am now required to add an 8% sales tax on any sale made in the state of NY. If your shipping address is in NY state, please let me know before payment to receive an adjusted total. Free shipping is included for NY State residents to help defray the extra cost.
Ordering: Pens are placed on hold for the first person to reply to the thread and PM me with firm request to purchase (no chat DMs please). A request with the words “I'd like to purchase [pen number]” would be best to avoid confusion), to which I’ll reply with payment details. Please note that a message inquiring into a price discount does not suffice to place a pen on hold. If I haven't received Paypal payment within 24 hrs after a hold is placed, then pen(s) may become available to the next person.
Payment, & Guarantee: Payment by Paypal only. All pens are guaranteed to be in the condition in which I've described them. If I've missed something objectionable or the filling mechanism is not fully functional, the buyer may contact me up to 7 days after receiving the pen for a full refund (issued once I receive the pen back in the same condition as sold). Buyer must ship the return no later than 2 weeks after it was delivered to receive a refund. I've sold pens online for over a decade. Please check my past listings here as well as on the classifieds and historical sales forums on FPN (username: Estragon) and FPGeeks (popcod) for some of my previous offerings.
 
 
 
OTHER OPEN LISTINGS:

• Marathon in Moss Agate– Stub nib
  
• Colorful Conway Stewart Dinkie and Carter's
  
• Parker Lucky Curve Ring Top
  
• NOS Black & Pearl set
  
• Parker Duodold Lapis Blue
  
• Oversized MHR Unic #15
  
• Conklin Endura Ring Top
  

 

This week's vintage batch features colorful pens from the 1920s-50s in a smaller package. Nibs range from Semi- to Super-flex. As always, all are fully restored and ready to write.
 
ALBUM & TIMESTAMP
 
Pastable link: https://imgur.com/a/0nHZwYz
 
Condition (n.b.): All pens listed below have been disassembled, cleaned and restored with new sacs installed in the last couple weeks. Each of these pens is guaranteed to fill and write as designed without leaks or other problems. Nibs have been adjusted when necessary to ensure that all lay down a smooth and consistent line.
THESE PENS HAVE NO CRACKS, CHIPS, PERSONALIZATIONS, LOOSE OR MISSING PARTS, BENT NIBS, MISALIGNED TINES, BROKEN/WORN OFF TIPPING, OR THREADING ISSUES.
 
Line Widths and Writing Samples: To provide buyers with as much information as possible, I have started to adopt the following line width standards: XXF (.1-.2mm); XF (approx .3mm); F (approx .4mm); M (approx .6mm); B (approx .8mm). Nib flexibility is determined by variation (max line width under pressure) and softness (amount of pressure). Flexibility designations based on variation generally run as follows for an XF/F nib: Semi-Flex (approx. 1mm); Flex (1.2-1.9mm); Superflex (>2mm). All line width measurements are taken with a digital caliper but should be considered approximations providing a general guide. Width may vary slightly depending on type of ink and paper used as well as amount of pressure applied. All writing samples are on Rhodia dot paper using Waterman Serenity Blue.
 
 
1. 1921-9 Wahl All Metal Ringtop (Greek Key pattern, gold-filled, lever filler, 14k F Flex nib). Measures 3 1/4" capped and 4 1/2" posted. Ring top model made to be worn on a ladies' chatelaine or men’s vestpocket chain, like a pocket watch. A relative latecomer to the FP market in the late 1910s, Wahl applied the manufacturing techniques it had long used to make mechanical pencils to the production of a new, "all metal" fountain pen design (as opposed to metal over hard rubber). Over the course of the 1920s, these pens became a canvas for a plethora of Art Deco patterns, which where mechanically engraved into the pens – or "engine turned," as the catalogues put it. This model, marked gold-filled, exhibits what Wahl called the Greek Key/Grecian Border pattern. Flexible Wahl #0 nib lays down a smooth and consistent F line that widens to a 3B+ (approx 1.7mm) under moderate pressure (see WRITING SAMPLE). Strong snap-back and reliable flow over its full range of flex make it a great choice for expressive writing styles. Condition excellent [B]. No dents, dings. The only notable wear are a couple marks on the barrel from where the cap screws on and a negligible sliver of brassing around the barrel-end visible under a loupe. Manufacturer imprint on the cap is deep and fully legible. Price: $130 SOLD
 
2. 1930s-40s Salz Peter Pan Set (red hatch, NPT, lever filler, 14k M Semi-Flex nib). FP measures 3 5/8" capped and 4 3/8" posted. The Peter Pan, made by the Salz company, was a tiny novelty pen that's gained quite a following in recent years due to the array of colors in which it was made. This matching FP and MP set has a faceted design like the Doric. Red hatch color pattern complemented by nickel-plated trim, including clips stamped "Peter Pan." Semi-Flexible 14k Warranted nib lays down a buttery smooth and consistent M line that widens a to a 3B or so (approx 1.5mm) under moderate pressure (see WRITING SAMPLE). Twist-activated MP is fully operational, propelling, retracting, and gripping lead as designed. Condition: excellent [B]. Nickel-plated hardware is clean aside from some thinning to the plating on the lever and a couple small marks on the MP nose cone. Smooth, lustrous surfaces with no deep scratches or other notable flaws. Price: $110 SOLD
 
3. 1950s Conway Stewart Dinkie 550 (blue marble w/ gold veins, casein, GPT, lever filler, 14k M Flexible Factory Stub). Measures 4 1/8" capped and 5" posted. Among small vintage pens, the Dinkie was one of the most popular among writers and remains one of the most collectible today. The longevity of its production, from the 1920s to the 1960s, as well as the recent repros made by Conway Stewart attest to the loyal following this pen has garnered. Among the things that make these pens special is that Conway Stewart spare no expense in their quality and design. Unlike other small pens of the era, Dinkies are proportionate in every respect, made up of parts that are essentially sized-down versions of their full-sized counterparts. In addition, CS made Dinkies out of a wild array of casein plastics in colors and patterns impossible to replicate with celluloid. This Dinkie 550 is made of casein in a beautiful, blue marble color pattern with golden veins. Just look at those colors! DETAIL PHOTO. Gold-plated trim including metal jewel on the cap crown. 14k CS nib is a Flexible Factory stub. Under normal pressure, it lays down a smooth and consistent M line on the down-strokes and XF line on the cross-strokes. Under light/moderate pressure, that line widens to a 3B+ (approx 1.8mm) (see WRITING SAMPLE). A versatile nib well suited to adding expression to one's everyday writing as it is for calligraphic writing styles, keeping one's letterforms neat and straight. Condition: near mint [B+]. Gold-plated hardware shows no brassing or other notable wear. Casein pens are notorious for clouding and crazing when exposed to water or humid conditions. This pen has a smooth and lustrous surface with no such flaws or other noteworthy blemishes. Manufacturer imprint on the barrel is deep and fully legible (see DETAIL PHOTO). A lovely writer in museum-quality condition. Price: $190 $175 SOLD
 
4. c. 1929 Carter's Pearltex Set in Box (Wave Green, celluloid, GPT, lever filler, 14k XF Flex/Superflex nib). FP measures 4 3/8" capped and 5 9/16" posted. Founded in Boston in 1858, Carter's was at on time the largest ink manufacturer in the world. For a brief period spanning 1926-1932, they entered the fountain pen business, producing pens that were every bit as well-made as those from the Big Four companies. In 1929 Carter's introduced "Pearltex," an iridescent celluloid made to resemble mother of pearl. While clean examples are much sought after by collectors, pens made of this fragile material are none too easy to find today without cracks and/or severe discoloration. This Pearltex FP and MP set comes in a factory-made carrying case, which is also made of the plastic (even the hinges!). I believe the color of the box was originally closer to that of the set but has faded over years. The set is of a cerulean color Carter's called "Wave Green" (DETAIL PHOTO), complemented by a deluxe gold-plated trim configuration. Carters are equipped with one of two kinds of 14k nibs: firm/manifold stamped "Superwear" and flexible stamped "Inx." The 14k Carter Inx nib on this pen is Flexible verging on Super-Flexible. It lays down a smooth and consistent XF line that widens to a 3B+ (approx 1.9mm) under moderate pressure (see WRITING SAMPLE). Thin hairlines, strong snap-back, and reliable flow over its full range of flex make it an excellent choice for calligraphic writing styles such as Copperplate and Spencerian. Twist-activated MP is fully operational, propelling, retracting, and gripping lead as designed. Condition: excellent/very good [B/C]. This set would grade closer to near mint were it not for significant wear to the clips. Considering the good condition of most of the rest of the trim, it wouldn't surprise me if Carter's used a less robust base metal or plating for the clips. This is so common, in fact, that even the example photographed for Pennant magazine shows notable clip-wear PHOTO). Trim is otherwise clean aside from a small mark on the lever and the nose-cone of the MP, which has lost most of its plating. I'd grade the color as roughly 8/10, appearing only slightly warmer here and there. Celluloid on both has a smooth and lustrous surface with no cracks, deep scratches or other noteworthy blemishes. Carrying case is in good shape with no cracks – lid snaps tightly shut as designed. Price: $190 $170 SOLD
 
 
 
Shipping: Pens purchased on the weekend are mailed on Tuesday. Otherwise they are mailed within 2 business days of payment. All pens that do not come with their original boxes are packaged in thick PVC tubes to protect them in transit. To CONUS locations the following shipping options are available:

• USPS First-Class with tracking for $5 Due to the delivery delays brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and postmaster general DeJoy, I strongly recommend that the Priority shipping option be chosen. All packages will include full insurance (covered by me). Rest assured that a full refund is guaranteed (issued through Paypal) in the event of a lost parcel and you will not have to wait until I receive a reimbursement from the USPS.
  
• USPS Priority with tracking for $8
  

International Customers: Please contact me for shipping quote if located abroad (delivery confirmation required). (Note: due to the issues stated above, my international shipping options are currently limited. PM for more info). Please do not ask me to commit mail fraud by altering the declared value of a pen for customs.
New York Customers: For tax purposes, I am now required to add an 8% sales tax on any sale made in the state of NY. If your shipping address is in NY state, please let me know before payment to receive an adjusted total. Free shipping is included for NY State residents to help defray the extra cost.
Ordering: Pens are placed on hold for the first person to reply to the thread and PM me with firm request to purchase (no chat DMs please). A request with the words “I'd like to purchase [pen number]” would be best to avoid confusion), to which I’ll reply with payment details. Please note that a message inquiring into a price discount does not suffice to place a pen on hold. If I haven't received Paypal payment within 24 hrs after a hold is placed, then pen(s) may become available to the next person.
Payment, & Guarantee: Payment by Paypal only. All pens are guaranteed to be in the condition in which I've described them. If I've missed something objectionable or the filling mechanism is not fully functional, the buyer may contact me up to 7 days after receiving the pen for a full refund (issued once I receive the pen back in the same condition as sold). Buyer must ship the return no later than 2 weeks after it was delivered to receive a refund. I've sold pens online for over a decade. Please check my past listings here as well as on the classifieds and historical sales forums on FPN (username: Estragon) and FPGeeks (popcod) for some of my previous offerings.
 
 
OTHER OPEN LISTINGS:

• Parker Lucky Curve Ring Top
  
• NOS Black & Pearl set
  
• Parker Duodold Flat Tops
  
• Oversized MHR Unic #15
  
• Conklin Endura Ring Top
  

 

This week's vintage batch features Peter Pans from Salz and a diminutive Black and Pearl set, NOS in its original box. Nibs range from Flexible to Wet Noodle. As always, all are fully restored and ready to write.
 
ALBUM & TIMESTAMP
 
Pastable link: https://imgur.com/a/fZNnUJQ
 
Condition (n.b.): All pens listed below have been disassembled, cleaned and restored with new sacs installed in the last couple weeks. Each of these pens is guaranteed to fill and write as designed without leaks or other problems. Nibs have been adjusted when necessary to ensure that all lay down a smooth and consistent line.
THESE PENS HAVE NO CRACKS, CHIPS, PERSONALIZATIONS, LOOSE OR MISSING PARTS, BENT NIBS, MISALIGNED TINES, BROKEN/WORN OFF TIPPING, OR THREADING ISSUES.
 
Line Widths and Writing Samples: To provide buyers with as much information as possible, I have started to adopt the following line width standards: XXF (.1-.2mm); XF (approx .3mm); F (approx .4mm); M (approx .6mm); B (approx .8mm). Nib flexibility is determined by variation (max line width under pressure) and softness (amount of pressure). Flexibility designations based on variation generally run as follows for an XF/F nib: Semi-Flex (approx. 1mm); Flex (1.2-1.9mm); Superflex (>2mm). All line width measurements are taken with a digital caliper but should be considered approximations providing a general guide. Width may vary slightly depending on type of ink and paper used as well as amount of pressure applied. All writing samples are on Rhodia dot paper using Waterman Serenity Blue.
 
 
1. 1930s-40s Salz Peter Pan Sparkle Set (green glitter, GPT, lever filler, 14k XF Wet Noodle nib). Pen measures 3 13/16" capped and 4 7/8" posted. The Peter Pan, made by the Salz company, was a tiny novelty pen that's gained quite a following in recent years due to the array of colors in which it was made. This matching FP and MP pencil set is no exception. Its color pattern is composed of iridescent speckles of various teal green hues that glint like glitter under light. 14k Warranted #2 nib is a Wet Noodle with paintbrush-like flow and softness. It lays down a smooth and consistent XF line that widens to a 4B+ (approx 2.3mm) under minimal pressure (see WRITING SAMPLE – an insanely wide max line width for a nib this small). Thin hairlines, responsive snap-back, and reliable flow over its full range of flex make it a great choice for calligraphic writing styles such as Copperplate and Spencerian. Note: this pen performs best with wet inks. The nib is so flexible that I had to slow down a bit for the writing sample to ensure that Waterman Serenity Blue kept up with the flow, but the wetter ink I use for testing allowed me to write at a more natural speed. Condition: excellent [B]. Gold-plated trim is clean aside from some general wear to the clips and lever of FP. Plastic has a lustrous finish with no deep scratches or other notable blemishes aside from some roughness around the slot for the lever. Interesting stippled texture from the factory on these. Twist-activated MP is fully functional, ejecting, retracting, and gripping lead as designed when one rotates the nose cone. This set came to me in a matching snap case (PHOTO), which is included. Price: $185 $170 SOLD
 
2. 1930s-40s Salz Treasure Sparkle (blue glitter, NPT, lever filler, 14k XF Superflex nib). Measures 3 5/8" capped and 4 1/8" posted. This appears to be a later iteration of the last pen (see above for full description): a "Peter Pan" pen under Salz' Treasure sub-brand. From a distance it appears blue, but from close up it reveals sparkles in variegated colors that glitter under light. Super-Flexible 14k Warranted nib lays down a smooth and consistent XF line that widens to a 4B+ (approx 2,0mm) under light pressure (see WRITING SAMPLE). Thin hairlines, strong snap-back, and reliable flow over its full range of flex make it another good choice for calligraphic writing styles. Condition: excellent [B]. Nickel-plated trim is clean with no discernible brassing. Plastic has a lustrous finish with no deep scratches or other notable blemishes aside from some swelling of the lever opening one sees on many of these (has no adverse effect on functioning of the lever). Price: $140 SOLD
 
3. 1930s-40s Salz Peter Pan (blue and rose marble, GPT, lever filler, 14k XF/F Flex). Measures 3 9/16" capped and 4 3/8" posted. Another Peter Pan, this one having a similar profile to #2 but made of a celluloid in blue and rose pearlescent marble. Flexible 14k Warranted #3 nib lays down a smooth and consistent XF/F line that widens to a 3B+ (approx 1.8mm) under moderate pressure (see WRITING SAMPLE). Strong snap back and reliable flow over its full range of flex make it a great choice for expressive writing styles. Condition: excellent [B]. Gold-plated trim shows some marks on the clip and thinning of the plating on cap band and lever. Plastic has a lustrous finish with no deep scratches or other notable blemishes. Price: $120 SOLD
 
4. 1920s-30s NOS Unbranded Black & Pearl Ring Top Set in Box (black and pearl celluloid, GPT, lever filler, 14k XF Flex nib). FP measures 3 3/8" capped and 4 1/4" posted. This mysterious FP and MP set came to me in its original factory box (PHOTO). The set bears no maker's marks, but the box is nicer than many from the Big Four makers of the period. Ever wondered at the appeal of those ugly black and orange/brown pens from Sheaffer and Parker? Well, this set is a good example of what such Black & Pearl celluloids originally looked like before subjected to decades of discoloration. Gold-plated hardware includes rings affixed to the tops for wearing on a chatelaine or necklace (the pen being the size of a large pendant). FP has a Flexible 14k Warranted #4 nib that lays down a smooth and consistent XF line that widens to a 3B+ (approx 1.8mm) under moderate presssure (see WRITING SAMPLE). Thin hairlines, good snap back, and reliable flow over its full range of flex make it another great choice for expressive writing styles. Condition: near mint [A2]. I was told that this set is New Old Stock, never sold by the original merchant. Indeed, as it came to me there were no traces of ink in the feed or inside the cap. Gold-plated trim shows no notable wear. Celluloid has a smooth, lustrous surface with no deep scratches or other notable blemishes – just microscratches from drawer wear. Twist-activated MP is fully functional, ejecting, retracting, and gripping lead as designed when one rotates the nose cone. A beautiful set like something unearthed from a time capsule. Price: $160 $145
 
 
 
Shipping: Pens purchased on the weekend are mailed on Tuesday. Otherwise they are mailed within 2 business days of payment. All pens that do not come with their original boxes are packaged in thick PVC tubes to protect them in transit. To CONUS locations the following shipping options are available:

• USPS First-Class with tracking for $5 Due to the delivery delays brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and postmaster general DeJoy, I strongly recommend that the Priority shipping option be chosen. All packages will include full insurance (covered by me). Rest assured that a full refund is guaranteed (issued through Paypal) in the event of a lost parcel and you will not have to wait until I receive a reimbursement from the USPS.
  
• USPS Priority with tracking for $8
  

International Customers: Please contact me for shipping quote if located abroad (delivery confirmation required). (Note: due to the issues stated above, my international shipping options are currently limited. PM for more info). Please do not ask me to commit mail fraud by altering the declared value of a pen for customs.
New York Customers: For tax purposes, I am now required to add an 8% sales tax on any sale made in the state of NY. If your shipping address is in NY state, please let me know before payment to receive an adjusted total. Free shipping is included for NY State residents to help defray the extra cost.
Ordering: Pens are placed on hold for the first person to reply to the thread and PM me with firm request to purchase (no chat DMs please). A request with the words “I'd like to purchase [pen number]” would be best to avoid confusion), to which I’ll reply with payment details. Please note that a message inquiring into a price discount does not suffice to place a pen on hold. If I haven't received Paypal payment within 24 hrs after a hold is placed, then pen(s) may become available to the next person.
Payment, & Guarantee: Payment by Paypal only. All pens are guaranteed to be in the condition in which I've described them. If I've missed something objectionable or the filling mechanism is not fully functional, the buyer may contact me up to 7 days after receiving the pen for a full refund (issued once I receive the pen back in the same condition as sold). Buyer must ship the return no later than 2 weeks after it was delivered to receive a refund. I've sold pens online for over a decade. Please check my past listings here as well as on the classifieds and historical sales forums on FPN (username: Estragon) and FPGeeks (popcod) for some of my previous offerings.
 
   
OTHER OPEN LISTINGS:

• Colorful Flat Tops, Duofolds
  
• Oversized MHR Unic #15
  
• Conklin Endura Ring Top
  

   

I just recently got into the franchise. My first experience with MH has been with Rise. I have reached HR 105 in MHR and sunk in about 110 hours into it. I fell in love and it consumed my life since purchase. This game is on sale so I just purchased it. For a newbie to the series and only playing rise so far. (Which I know has some newer twists compared to this) what should I know before getting into this? What differences should I be aware of? What pointers do you have? Thank you guys!

So i """finished""" the 3.0 update and wanted to talk about the game
The monster hunting part of Monster Hunter Rise is amazing, the combat,the mobility,the map, THE MUSIC,the monsters, from a enjoyment/in game hours (200 +) ratio this game get's a 9.5/10
But ... Monster hunter games are a special type of games, they practically are 2 games in one, the second game being the endgame, farming and grinding for better geacharm and imo Monster Hunter Rise gets maybe a 6.5/10 maybe 7/10 when god blesses me with a good charm, so i wanted to talk about why i am so disappointed with the endgame
The rewards you get from the main game/story are real and tangible, when you progress you get to face new monsters see new moves, look at new armors and weapons
On the other hand endgame is a numbers game, and that is fine (i put hundreds of hours in iceborne, i know how that feels like) no game can have infinite new content, at some points every game gets repetitive, it's just a matter of how long you can stretch the fun
Imo if you want to make an endgame enjoyable there is one rule that you have to follow: Make the most efficient way to play the most fun way to play
At the end of the day our monkey brain like number go higher, i think is a relatable feeling for MH fans, that being said you can't just give the option to get numerically stronger and call it a day, you have to make the process of acquiring that power fun
Well MHR has actually a HUUGE advantage, because hunting monsters is fun :" so ok i have to grind for charms, now let's see what monster gives the best part/melding points ratio, oh ok it's Teostra (IDK if it's still Teostra that is the monster that i have farmed for the 2.0 update) soo let's hunt Teostra, and then hunt it again and again and again and again, hmm you know what i am tired to hunting Teostra what is the next best thing to hunt oh Valstrax ok then let's hunt it, and then let's hunt it again and again ..." you see where i am going with this
My problem with MHR is endgame monster variety, when people bring this up they say, :"Base World had bad endgame as well", and ... yes that is true but i don't see how that is an excuse for Rise to have bad endgame, also in World the content was more spread out in time, so that you came back maybe every month or two and had a cool new monster to fight increasing the lifetime of the game, it was like a going to a 5 star restaurant you can't afford to go to there all the time, but when you did they always had something new and interesting, Rise is like a gigantic buffet they give you stuff that tastes just as good as the 5 star restaurant, they give you a Valstrax flavoured pizza a Allmother Narwa Hamburger and then some store-brand Apex Zinogre chips (because Apex monsters are a huge missed opportunity), the food comes at you so fast that you are not able to enjoy it because the second something new comes to the table the thing you are currently eating is now ""old"" ,but after 2 months the buffet restaurant is broke because it doesn't not have any more food to serve... (sorry for the restaurant analogy i am kinda hungry while writing this)
So yeah endgame variety is my problem if you are invested in the grind, fighting just the 4-5 monsters gets boring very quickly, you could argue/say :"Just hunt something else if you are feeling bored", i'd argue that the problem here is me being bored in the first place because the most optimal way to play gets boring
Rampage mode strangely enough in a twisted way tries to solve this issue, rampage rewards are pretty good for melding and you get to """ fight """ a lot of monsters that don't get that much attention, i put fight in quotation marks because you don't really fight them you slap them around with the siege equipment and then they vanish (that being said put GOSS in the rampage anyways pls)
But the concept of seeing a lot of different monsters is very cool, and i am not here only to bitch about stuff, but also give suggestions on how to improve stuff (to be clear i don't want this specific thing added it's just an idea, i am sure that capcom can come up with other ideas)
My idea would be a multiple stage quest with no siege stuff where you start the hunt in a special arena (the new Infernal Springs for example) with a random low tier monster, as you kill them or some time passes harder and harder monsters show up, the last monster can be an apex or elder dragon or Rajang / Bazel, compleating the whole quest gives you very very good materials for meldings, the closest thing we have to this now are expeditions that imo are the best way to play the game right now, the difference being that in this new mode every monster could appear, and it would give an incentive to kill the weaker monsters by forwarding the quest and not avoid them, this would allow all monsters to shine from Tetranadon to Valstrax
P.S. Tetranadon best monster
I love this game i want it to be better, much love stay safe and happy hunting

Current POB: https://pastebin.com/CQPbBcEX
(pastebin seems down)

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 

Defensive Stats:

• 4.3k Life with 50% MOM
• 5.4k unreserved Mana
• 2k life regen with Agnostic + stone golem
• Max block/spell block with Rumi's & Glancing Blows + mana gained on block
• Blind with Evil Eye on curse medium cluster
• Capped Chaos res
• Taunt from 4/6 golems

Realistic Offense:

• 900k clear ignite DPS (0 Doom, Wave of Conviction, Cinderswallow up)
• 4.3 mil boss ignite DPS (max Doom, Sigil, WoC, no flasks)

Have 40ex and I'm trying to figure out what I can do next for my Archmage Ignite Hexblast build. I've done a fair amount of endgame stuff with it, including Maven, A8 Sirus, Simulacrum, The Formed, The Twisted, and The Hidden. I usually have 1 or 2 deaths from not playing super safe in these fights/bad flask management. Current DPS feels pretty comfortable without trivializing the game, and I don't really die in maps unless I'm not paying attention. The build has been pretty fun and I don't have a lot of time to start a new build, so I want to minmax with what I've saved up.
My current thought is:

• Drop 6th golem/3 Primordial Eminence
• Socket Unnatural Instinct by Shaper
• Socket The Vigil by Sentinel
• Either Life/Mana/Burning damage jewel or small chaos cluster w/Blessed
• Substitute Meat Shield/Empower from Chaos golem with Divergent Tempest Shield + Vigilant Strike

That'd sacrifice some golem survivability and buffs (phys reduction, crit chance, cast speed, taunt) for Fortify+block chance at the cost of ~12ex. Not sure what flask I'd sub in for Rumi's. Maybe Taste of Hate or another Granite
Any other ideas on upgrades I can make to improve DPS/tankiness without sacrificing much of the other?

I have written about this before, but too many people fail to use their cardio Quantum Fat Burning System Review time efficiently when it comes to weight loss. By intervals. I mean short bursts of high intensity (90-100% MHR) followed by longer bouts of lower intensity ( 70% MHR). You could alternate between 30 seconds at a sprint, with 60 seconds at a jog, and repeat for 20 minutes. Interval training has been proven to be more efficient at burning fat than continuous cardio session performed for longer periods of time.
There you have it! Now get to work! Remember, if you don't need a shower after your workout, then you didn't work hard enough. I'm not a no gain, no pain type trainer. However, if you want results, you have to challenge your body and get out of your comfort zone. Utilize these 5 tricks and you will be will on your way to shedding those last stubborn pounds.
It is not a secret that most of us want to have the six pack abs, and we truly envy those underwear models that have the shapely abs you want to have. There are some individuals who go with the best ab exercise to get it but not all can achieve the six pack abs that they desired to have. With this, they even end up stop trying and just accept that they can never get six pack abs.
For those individuals who stop believing that their dream abs can come true, you have to keep on reading this article. Do not be frustrated with not having abs after using different devices and different ab exercises, you better check out the truth about abs.You have to embrace the fact that doing the best ab exercises is not the answer in getting the abs you want. Amidst of doing hundreds of crunching and twisting over and over again each day, you will not get that abs since that cannot loosen up the belly fat and love handles.
https://freepdfreview.com/quantum-fat-burning-system-review/

Shane Ray, OLB (#23)
Pre-Draft Scouting:
NFL.com
WalterFootball
Immediate, Post-Draft reaction:
/DenverBroncos
SI
MHR
Player picked next: D.J. Humphries, OT (#24)
Player at position picked next: Preston Smith, OLB (#38)
2018 BMB Take:
In researching the 2015 Broncos draft class, I’ve learned one thing that should be the key takeaway of this week’s. These players have had a lot of season-ending/career-altering injuries in just three seasons. It’s strange and I’m curious if this is statistically noteworthy or not.
Anyhow, back to Shane Ray. The Broncos traded some baseball player and a slew of draft picks to move up and select Ray. The logic made sense; the Broncos had two (Miller and Ware) tremendous edge rushers but were in need of a third guy since DeMarcus Ware was past his prime. Shane Ray, who was projected as a 5-10 pick, fell into the Broncos lap thanks to a little bit of the devil’s lettuce being caught in his lap. This marijuana, which may or may not have been planted by one of Elway’s assistants, ended up giving the Broncos a tremendous talent to add to their already loaded defense and help them prepare for a season where ever single player on that unit would be needed.
Shane Ray hasn’t shown a lot of the promise his pre-draft hype implied him to possess. He’s been an ok-to-good OLB who has displayed some of flashes of brilliance, but hasn’t developed into the consistent presence the Broncos need opposite of Von Miller. He’s had tremendous peaks, but also had moments where you forget he’s even on the roster.
It’s hard, though, to blame Ray for this. In 2015 he suffered an MCL injury and in 2017 he tore ligaments in his wrist. Both of these injuries altered his seasons and made his subsequent offseasons focused more on recovery rather than getting better. In 2016, the one year he didn’t suffer any major injury, his talented was on full display with an 8 sack season where he also scored his first career TD. The talent is there, he just needs to stay healthy and be able to string together a complete season.
What complicates this, as it relates to his future with the Broncos, is the presence of Shaq Barrett. Barrett, a 2014 UDFA, was a godsend for the Broncos in 2015 and has been one of the more underrated players in the league since that season. A team can’t have too many good pass rushers, so this really shouldn’t be a problem for the Broncos. Where it does become a bit problematic is fitting all this talent under the salary cap. Shortly (like in a few months), the Broncos are going to make a decision with OLB they are going to keep. It’s unlikely, assuming neither take severely below-market contracts, the Broncos will be able to retain both of them on long-term contracts. This decision will come due to shortly with dates on Shane Ray’s fifth-year option (Broncos decide on that in May) and the “deadline” ^{it’s complicated} for signing RFA’s to their tender amount (June, which is sort of a de facto deadline on extensions). Seeing the cap calculus that the Broncos undergo with the OLB opposite Von is one of the lesser-reported, yet highly important stories impacting the immediate future of the Broncos.
With that said, Shane Ray has been a plus player throughout his time as a Bronco. In an ideal world, they’ll keep him and Barrett (using Loomis Cap Magic^™) to make a three-headed monster with the Vonster. However, even if that doesn’t happen and Ray ends up departing the Broncos sooner than expected, he still would be remembered as worthwhile draft pick that had some season-altering injuries that prevented him from reaching his ceiling as a Bronco.
Ty Sambrailo, OT (#59)
Pre-Draft Scouting:
NFL.com
WalterFootball
Immediate, Post-Draft reaction:
Channel 7
/DenverBroncos Day 2 Draft Thread
Player picked next: Randy Gregory, OLB (#60)
Player at position picked next: Jamon Brown, OT (#72)
2018 BMB Take:
Anyhow who follows the draft, even in the most casual of fashions, develops attachments to certain players. This relationship flourishes like a perennial spring romance each year. Last year, I adored OJ Howard and kept a picture of him in my wallet. In 2014, I wrote BMB+DC in the margin of my notebook. In 2016, I wrote Robert Nkemdiche fanfic. Back in 2015, I was obsessed with Ty Sambrailo to the point of plucking petals off of flowers.
My feelings weren’t based on his looks or his side gig as surfeweed dealer. Instead, it was based on his experience in a similar offense playing in Fort Collins as well as his general level of play in college. I’ve never claimed to be an expert in any position and I especially won’t portray myself as some sort of expert in offensive lineman. Me trying to identify quality lineman is throwing darts at a board. Yet, there was something about Sambrailo that just felt natural for the Broncos. I really wanted us to draft him and when we called his name on Day 2 I was ecstatic. I thought that he and Ryan Clady would make a tremendous tackle duo that could push us over the top and into the Super Bowl. If we could pair a good zone run game, with Peyton’s passing prowess (remember: no one thought he was going to fall off a cliff before 2015), and our budding defense, then Denver could turn the clock back to 1998.
In a shot to my dream, Clady tearing his ACL shortly after the draft should’ve been a big indication that 2015 wasn’t going to go as I thought. However, it was a bit rude of the football gods to have the injury bug bite the younger tackle as well.
Sambrailo started the first three games of the season at LT. This wasn’t an easy draw for him, as he would be going up against the Ravens (Suggs/Dumervil) and Chiefs (Houston/Hali) who both featured tremendous edge duos. Yet, he held up and the Broncos were able to hold on for two major, season-defining wins.Sambrailo, however, wouldn’t be around to see the fruits of the offseason of labor realized. He blew out his shoulder early in the season and was placed on IR. The Broncos would have to look elsewhere (As OL Coach Clancy Barone put it so eloquently) to fill their tackle spots.
In 2016, he bounced around the line at various points over the course of the season (starting RT, swing tackle) and struggled in all of them. Whether it was still physical recovery from injury or overcoming the mental block of the process, he wasn’t able to come close to his potential. After the year, he was shipped off to Atlanta for a fifth-round pick.
He never did become the tackle he could’ve become in an offense very similar to that of his college days. He never did live up to the daydreams and fantasies of me and all others who fell in love with him as a prospect. It’s always a shame when an injury so early in a career makes it impossible to know what level of the player may have become. Luckily for the Broncos, Daryl Williams (a good tackle) was the only noteworthy tackle taken below Sambrailo and who knows if he would’ve fit the Broncos ZBS of those days.
Jeff Heuerman, TE (#92)
Pre-Draft Scouting:
NFL.com
Immediate, Post-Draft reaction:
ESPN
/DenverBroncos Day 2 Draft Thread
Player picked next: Henry Anderson, DE (#93)
Player at position picked next: Blake Bell, TE (#117)
2018 BMB Take:
Speaking of players who had their early years marred by injury…
I’ve always been curious about what or where Heuerman would be as a player if he didn’t tear his ACL in his first ever NFL workout. Before we look at his career and I share some thoughts, let’s try to step into his shoes for a moment. You spent a great deal of time in middle school, high school, and college honing your abilities in this craft. You have a clear goal; make it to the NFL. You play for some really great teams in college and start to generate some buzz among NFL scouting circles. You then get hurt in pre-draft workouts but still get drafted in the third round. You’ve reached the goal you’ve had for years (if not a decade at this point)! You are living a lot of young boy’s dream! Congratulations!
And…...you blow your knee out before you even put on a pad.
That has to be a blow to the psyche.
Since recovery from his knee injury, Heuerman has been subpar at best, but he’s been consistently subpar. He’s had 9 receptions each year and nearly identical yardage totals (141 in 2016 and 142 in 2017). Yet, one might argue Heuerman performed worse in ‘17 than ‘16, due to worse efficiency stats (42.9% catch % in ‘17 versus 52.9% in ‘16), though he did hit paydirt twice. Perhaps it was the craptastic performance at QB in ‘17 that limited Huehuehue from giggling his way to mediocrity. Or perhaps it was the general weakness of the TE room (Virgil Green and Austin Traylor) rubbing off on him. Or perhaps he never was a good prospect and he was another in a long line of bad skill position players picked by Elway higher than they should’ve been. Or maybe, as mentioned, it’s lingering physical and mental effects of his injury.
Regardless of the cause, Heuerman needs to have a big year in 2018. It’s the last year of his rookie contract and if he doesn’t show anything of merit, he’ll probably be a second (or maybe even third) FA wave guy that signs for a very cheap contract and is competing for a roster spot come Summer 2019. Perhaps with a new QB in Case Keenum and a revamped offense (hey, maybe it’ll work this time!), Heuerman can show some of the ability that caused Elway to take him so high in the first place. If not, well he’ll always have his degree from THE Ohio State to fall back on.
Max Garcia, OL (#133)
Pre-Draft Scouting:
NFL.com
Immediate, Post-Draft reaction:
SBNation
/DenverBroncos Day 3 draft thread
PFF Day 3 blog
Player picked next: Mark Glowinski, OL (#134)
Player at position picked next: Mark Glowinski, OL (#134)
2018 BMB Take:
As I’ve said before, I know very little about offensive line. I don’t want to go out of my lane and make any hot takes or bold claims about his abilities as a player, simply because I don’t have the requisite knowledge to do that. It’d be like a toddler trying to grade a paper about Chinese relations with Tibet.
With that said, I do want to say one very positive thing about Max Garcia. In 2015, Evan Mathis and Louis Vasquez were the Broncos guards. They were both good guards, but also as old as the attendees on Cruise to the Edge. This meant they both were banged-up and needed breathers. Because of this, Garcia received extensive play time in the Super Bowl season at both guard slots. For a rookie lineman to have to juggle multiple positions at the same time and do a pretty decent job at it, that takes some amount of ability and skill. Because of this, the Broncos gave him the inside-track to a starting guard slot in both 2016 and 2017. He had the ability as the “Sixth Man”, now it was time to see if he could make the James Harden leap to starter.
It, uh, didn’t work out that way.
Now, he did start every game in 2016 and 2017. So, I guess that did work out. But in terms of talent and ability, it really didn’t. I’m not going to blame all the problems on the Broncos line over the last few years on Garcia, but he isn’t immune from criticism in the way that Paradis is. The Broncos most certainly could improve at guard-that’s why Quenton Nelson is being mocked to the Broncos like it’s going out of style-just like they could improve at every other position (sans Center) on the line.
Depending on the results of the 2018 draft, Garcia could find himself as the odd-man out. He could be relegated to a reserve role again, traded, or even just cut all together. The prospects of him becoming a consistent starter are looking dim, if recent words by John Elway are anything to go by. Perhaps he will be traded on draft night like Manny Rameriez was in 2015.
Lorenzo Doss, DB (#164)
Pre-Draft Scouting:
NFL.com
Immediate, Post-Draft reaction:
/DenverBroncos Day 3 draft thread
PFF Day 3 blog
Player picked next: Bradley Pinion, P (#165)
Player at position picked next: Damian Swann, DB (#167)
2018 BMB Take:
Doss was a boom-bust, feast-of-famine prospect who loved the big plays and had a nose for the ball. Throughout his career, this has been one of the most valued in traits in DBs selected by Elway. Roby had a reputation as a ball hog and Talib is a turnover machine. The best defense is taking the ball away from the opponent, while also generating more opportunities for the Broncos to score. Go on PFR and look at the list of league leaders in turnovers each year, those teams tend to be the ones that win more games. If the Broncos could get a little of that stuff on their team, maybe it would be enough to push them over the top and get them that trophy that had eluded them in the Manning era.
They would get that trophy, but Doss wouldn’t be a major part of it. In his nearly three years as a Bronco, Doss would appear in only 15 games in a primarily special teams role. He had his ups-and-downs in training camp and found himself behind three or four better CBs on the depth chart year after year. He was cut by the Broncos in 2017 allegedly for being late to a meeting on Thanksgiving. A bit rude, if you ask me, but I suppose that’s why I’m not the coach. Though, with his inability to break into a role so far in his career, the Broncos could’ve been ready to move on. Maybe they had a talented DB on the practice squad they wanted to get on the 53 and they believed Doss had hit his peak as a player. He would spend the remainder of 2017 on the Bills practice squad before signing a futures contract with the Panthers earlier this year.
Oh, one last thing about. Shoutout to Terry Baalke for taking a punter in the fifth round. Gene Smith would be proud!
Darius Kilgo, NT (#203)
Pre-Draft Scouting:
NFL.com
Immediate, Post-Draft reaction:
/DenverBroncos Day 3 draft thread
Predominately Orange
PFF Day 3 blog
Player picked next: Darren Walker, WR (#204)
Player at position picked next: Kristjan Sokoli, DT (#214)
2018 BMB Take:
KILGO! I AM DARIUS KILGO! DESTROYERS OF WORLDS AND EATER OF PANCAKES!
Kilgo, who has one of the greatest names in Broncos history (yes I have a list), was a fan favorite right here on this subreddit during his time as a Bronco. He was big enough (6’3”, 319 lbs) to fill the gargantuan hole left in our hearts left by the departure of Terrance Knighton. He had all the characteristics of a player who would become the love of Reddit: late-round draft pick, funny name, came from a less-than-good football school, and was a likely bench player. This last one is the old rule of fan discussions about the roster; there’s no one on the roster better than the backup QB.
Reality struck Kilgo like a bus. He made a few sporadic appearances in 2015 and 2016 for the Broncos (who really didn’t have that good of NT depth) before being waived in November of that year. After he was cut, I remember quite a bit of buzz on social media and on Reddit that the Broncos were making a big mistake and he was going to blossom for the Patriots by becoming their next great defensive lineman. Well, he ended up never appearing in a game and being cut as part of roster moves at the start of the 2017 season. Despite that, he did end up getting a ring out of it. So, he was two for two in Super Bowl titles in his career at that point.
He ended up signing a futures contract with the Jags in January 2017 and stayed on their practice squad in 2017. Funnily enough, if the Jags didn’t choke in the AFCCG he could’ve gone three-for-three in Super Bowl trips (and maybe even titles!) in his young career. With him signing with the Texans, perhaps Deshaun Watson could be leading the Texans to their first Super Bowl this year? Stay tuned.
Lastly, here’s a completely meaningless stat. The Broncos went 16-3 in games Kilgo played in, good for a .842 win percentage. Over a season, that’s ~13.5 wins. The Patriots after signing Kilgo went 5-0 in the regular season and 3-0 in the playoffs. After he was cut and signed with the Jags, they had their best season this century and made the AFCCG. Based on correlation being causation, Kilgo is the winningest player in history.
Trevor Siemian, QB (#250)
Pre-Draft Scouting:
NFL.com
Immediate, Post-Draft reaction:
/DenverBroncos Day 3 draft thread
PFF Day 3 blog
Player picked next: Taurean Nixon, DB (#251)
Player at position picked next: None
2018 BMB Take:
There are three Trevor Siemian takes I have that inform basically every discussion I have about him. Some people, on both sides, take the Iceman to the extreme.
Trevor Siemian can provide 1-3 quality starts for a team in a season. Anything beyond that and his weaknesses will become immediately apparent. Trevor Siemian is a great (like, might be among the best) backup QB. Every team in in the league would want him due to the pink stuff between his ears as well as his extremely humble personality. Trevor Siemian was tremendous value as a seventh round pick (near the bottom of the draft at that!) and thinking anything else is just plain wrong.
Yes, we all got a bit overzealous in our love of Trevor Siemian over the past two seasons. I, most certainly, was guilty of saying quite a few hot takes about Trevor Siemian may-or-may-not being the Broncos QB of the next decade in 2016. This “take” is going to be less a summation of his career (because honestly we all know Siemian’s career arc, it’s only been the talk of town for the last two years) and more a “celebration of life” for one of the more controversial QBs in Broncos history.
One of the highest moments of Trevor Siemian’s career happened on opening night, 2016. I just want to take a moment to realize how surreal that game was. The Broncos, the defending Super Bowl champs, were opening their title-defense campaign against the team they embarassed in the Super Bowl the year prior. Despite an offseason of speculation (Bradford, Keenum,Kap ^{love you mister_jay_peg} ) and the team selecting a first-round QB in the draft, Gary Kubiak decided to go with his gut and pet project in Trevor Siemian. That gamble of Kubes would result in a thrilling 10-point 4th quarter comeback and the Broncos escaping with a surprising win thanks to a missed kick. This set off a 4-game winning streak, which included one of the best statistical games of a Broncos QB not named Peyton Manning or John Elway.
Yet, it seemed fate was working against the ultimate Cinderella story. Right as things were starting to “click” for the young gun, he suffered a major (grade 5 AC sprain!) shoulder injury against the Buccaneers. While he only missed one game as a result of this injury, it was clear (with a few exceptions) his level of play down the stretch of the season. Despite this, there still was some very fun games over the remained of the season. The Broncos acted liked a scorned lover on Monday Night Football, they had a wild finish remisicent of the Mile High Magic days, they even had a wild shootout with the Chiefs featuring the Iceman getting let down by the vaunted 2016 defense.
However, the one goal of the 2016 season wasn’t met. The Broncos failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2010. No one (even the most delusional Bronco homer) seriously thought they’d be a legitimate threat to repeat, but it was a pretty reasonable take to think they’d make the playoffs. They even were in the mix for the most of the season, especially after a 7-3 start! But, injuries and poor offensive performances caught up with the Broncos and they sputtered to a 9-7 finish. Most weren’t upset about the lack of playoffs due to the surprising news that Broncos legend and HC Gary Kubiak would be forced into retirement (well, retirement from coaching) due to health reasons.
With a new HC, new OC, and another offseason under the first-round QBs belt, there was no reason Trevor should’ve been the starter for the 2017 Broncos. Everyone crowned Lynch as the inevitable starter, despite questions about whether he earned it. Once the practices started and the preseason games were played, it became clear that Trevor was still heads and shoulders better than Lynch and would be inserted again as the starter.
And once again, it appeared to work out for the Broncos! They exited their week 5 bye with a 3-1 record including a 2-0 division record and a surprising blowout victory over the Cowboys. The winless Giants were coming into Mile High on primetime. The main discussion point of sports radio was not whether the Broncos were going to win or not, but how much they were going to win by. I don’t want to toot my own horn, but I remember cautioning Broncos fans on Twitter and Reddit that the Giants were far better than their record and not to underestimate a team based on poor September ball.
Well….I hate when I’m right sometimes. Yet, I didn’t know just how right I ended up being. The Broncos loss against the Giants started the team’s worst losing streak in half-a-century. Trevor played the worst ball of his career and was unceremoniously benched. By the time he saw the gridiron again, the Broncos were basically dead in the playoff hunt. And then, once again, Trevor would suffer an injury. This time it would end his season and would be the last time he ever appeared in a game for the Broncos.
This, more than anything else, is what hurt Trevor as a starting QB. Perhaps with coaching, the ghosts he was seeing in the pocket could go away. He had a good command of the locker room and was loved by his teammtes. Even with those traits and coaching, there’s no way his propensity to get hurt could be trained out of him. Despite my delusions, the fact of the matter is Trevor Siemian has seldom gotten out of a season (at any level) without an injury. The greatest ability is availability, especially for a QB. Manning, with the exception of his 2011 season, only missed 6 games. John Elway missed only a handful throughout his career, and he played the position extremely physically. Trevor, with the exception of his Septembers, always seemed to have some little injury that hampered his play.
With that, and the general poor play of the position, it became apparent to anyone with functioning eyeballs (and even those with semi-functioning!) that the Broncos needed to make a significant improvement at the most important position in sports. Even so, the fact that Trevor Siemian who had a relatively forgetful college career was able to carve out a stable NFL career as a backup is a testament to the quality he brings to any QB room.
Yes, we never made the playoffs with Trevor. Yes, we had a bad season last year. Despite all that, I choose to look back at the Trevor years fondly. He was a fun kid to root for and was easy to like. When he played well, the rest of the NFL world scratched their heads and dropped their jaws. When he played poorly, we scratched our heads and dropped our jaws. I wish him well in the next phase of his career as Kirk Cousins’ backup and hope he has tremendous success in the rest of his life.
Taurean Nixon, DB (#251)
Pre-Draft Scouting:
NFL.com (Note: They didn’t have their standard strengths and weaknesses)
Immediate, Post-Draft reaction:
MHR
PFF Day 3 blog
/DenverBroncos Day 3 draft thread
Player picked next: Josh Furman, DB (#252)
Player at position picked next: Josh Furman, DB (#252)
2018 BMB Take:
I am not a crook corner!
Presidential puns aside, Nixon never managed to crack the Broncos roster consistently. He was the second of three DBs taken in the 2015 draft (the first being his Tulane teammate Lorenzo Doss) and was a consensus great athlete. He had tremendous speed and “jumped out of the building” during his pro day. He spent most of his collegiate career lined up in the slot. If he was projecting as a slot guy at the next level, he’d have the greatest teacher he could ask for in one of the best inside CBs in recent memory. Even so, he was as raw as sushi and would need to be a little more cooked if he was to be stomached by the Broncos defense. (Except cooked has a negative connotation for DBs, so would he want to be raw? Anyhow, ramen is better anyway).
After spending 2015 on the Practice Squad (though he did make the active roster for SB50!), Nixon spent 2016 doing the Dance of the Unknown Player. What is this dance? It’s when a team likes a guy and they want him on the active roster, but he isn’t good enough to be on the active roster and he keeps bouncing back and forth from roster to practice squad. All in all, Nixon appeared on the transaction report five times in 2016.
In 2017, he would appear one time when he was waived in June before camp began. Perhaps he was a Wade Phillips guy and new DC Joe Woods wasn’t too interested him or maybe he wasn’t showing anything and the Broncos were content cutting their losses and focusing their development on DBs they have more confidence in. Whatever the reason was, he was on his way to the waiver wire with nary a chance of him ending up back on the Broncos like all the previous times he was waived.
Nixon would land on his feet the next day, when the Jaguars claimed him. Perhaps this was Joe DeCamillis, former Broncos ST coach who was now in Jacksonville, trying to get a guy on his unit that he had some familiarity with. However, he found himself back on the skid when he got hurt in July and waived off of IR in August. He was risking falling into the pit that many other young, raw players find themselves into: the coach who loved you is gone, you bounce around the league, you get hurt, you get cut, you get selling used cars. For 2017, he spent his year split between the Chiefs and the Colts practice squad. Trying to just keep grinding and make a name for himself around the league before he runs out of eligibility.
Luckily for Nixon, at the end of 2017 he found himself on the Rams PS reunited with Wade Phillips aiming to make a mark in 2018. Perhaps if he goes nuclear in camp, Nixon can break on an active roster full time and try to show some of the athletic ability that got him drafted in the first place.
Finally, here’s a great read about the man behind the mask of Taurean Nixon and what motivates him to work his tail off even on the practice squads he spent the bulk of his career on.
Josh Furman, DB (#252)
Pre-Draft Scouting: NFL.com
Immediate, Post-Draft reaction:
/DenverBroncos Day 3 draft thread
A more specialized thread talking about him
PFF Day 3 blog
MHR
Player picked next: Xzavier Dickson, OLB (#253)
Player at position picked next: None
2018 BMB Take:
As the last Broncos draft pick in a year they had nine picks, Furman was always going to have an uphill battle to make the roster or even the PS. While teams do play favorites with draft picks, they were loaded with DBs (even selected two ahead of him) and he would have to make a mark if he was to stay. He would need a “Terrell Davis lighting up that Niners player on KO coverage” moment or two in the preseason to get the eye of Kubes and Elway. He would have to put his tremendous athletic ability to use in anyway possible.
Well, he didn’t. Or maybe he did but it wasn't enough.
Either way, he was cut as part of the cut down to 53 and never signed with another team. He ended up participating in the 2017 Spring League to try to gain attention of NFL scouts and kickstart his pro football career. However, as far as I can find, he never got so much as a tryout with an NFL team. (Sidenote: this makes it difficult to write hundreds of words about him)
The Shannon Sharpes and Karl Mecklenburgs of late rounds, heck even the Trevor Siemians and Virgil Greens, are the anomalies. Most of these guys end up like Furman, they get one chance and if they blow it they are going to have a really hard time breaking back into the league. It’s hard to rate picks like Furman as “bad” because that’s what the expected value of a 7th is (well maybe a ST contributor), but it obviously didn’t net anything good for the team.
Oh, and one more thing. For space reasons, I didn’t have a few selected strengths and weaknesses of the players. However, one of Furman’s was Tested like a beast. What does that even mean?
2015 Draft Comparisons
Y’all know the drill by now; click the bottom button for the year.
Patriots:

• As usual for the Patriots, they get a whole bunch of solid guys in the draft. Flowers has been one of the better players on their defenses since 2016, leading the Pats in sacks in both 2016 and 2017. He also had one of the game-changing plays in their historic ^barf comeback in Super Bowl 51. Shaq Mason has been a key part of their revamped offensive line; playing in every game of the Pats since 2016. They even drafted a LS-in the fifth round no less-who has become a part of the vaunted Patriots ST.
  
• I’ve got my head bent in prayer for friends not there. Looking back at the Pats draft brings up the familiar name of one Adam James Derby. Derby, who was a midseason acquisition by the Broncos in 2016, did all of nothing (besides fumble away a game) that season. In 2017, he did have a sick TD catch, but besides that he contributed very little. He was injury waived that season and ended up with Adam Gase in Miami. Maybe he was the cause of the “bullshit” down in South Beach?
  

Seahawks:

• The Seahawks traded four draft picks to draft Tyler Lockett; whom they thought would provide a great element of electricity and speed to their offense. While he’s been an ok receiver, he’s really made his mark as a returner. He’s been a 1st or 2nd-team All-Pro every year of his career at that position and has consistently produced highlight plays and lengthy returns for the Hawks. Despite this, he falls into a Kayvon WebsteCody Latimer category. Is a great ST player worth all that draft capital?
  
• Kristjan Sokoli is a fantastic name. That is all.
  

Packers:

• Speaking of names, AARON RIPKOWSKI is the most fullback name in history. Whenever a fullback gets drafted is cause for celebration. With a name like that, Rip was a lock to get drafted.
  
• I’ve always valued multi-use, Swiss Army players. Sure, there’s something to be said of tried-and-true guys who can do one or two things very well, but every great team needs that guy that can hold his own doing a little everything. For the Packers, this is what Ty Montgomery has became. When they had too many RB injuries, he changed positions to RB and did pretty decently at that new role. Because of this display of skill, not only has he carved himself a little niche on the Packers roster, but he’s also made himself more attractive to other teams for when he hits FA. He isn’t just a WR, no, he can handle multiple hats. Perhaps his nickname should be The Hat Rack?
  
• Remember when Brett Hundley had fringe first-round buzz in early 2015? He fell to the fifth round and looked pretty subpar when he got his first major playing time last season. Thank goodness no team took him as high as some speculate, or else he’d be regarded as one of the worst busts from that year. Speaking of busts….
  

Browns:

• Another year where the Browns have two first round picks, another where neither signs a second contract with them. Hell, neither of these two (Shelton and Erving) lasted more than three years. Erving was traded before the 2017 season and Shelton found himself shipped to Foxboro just a few weeks ago. Erving was a bit more understandable, as he was a bad player (who I wanted in the draft that year but uh let’s ignore that), but the news of Shelton’s trade caused some head-scratching around the NFL. He was a good two-down lineman for the Browns despite two separate coaching staffs, yet he must not have a place anymore in Cleveland. This one might come to bite Cleveland in the hindquarters down the line.
  
• The Browns did manage to come out of 2015 with Duke Johnson, who has been one of my favorites since his rookie year. Johnson is cut from the “dual-threat” line of backs (think Marshall Faulk or Roger Craig but not that HoF-level) who are tremendous receivers in addition to being gifted runners. In the modern, horizontal offenses of the NFL this kind of running back has tremendous utility for an offense. If the Browns could finally figure out that pesky QB situation, Johnson could become even more of a fantasy darling.
  

2015 Concluding Thoughts
If 2011 was the beautiful entryway, 2012 the foundation, and 2014 the nuts and bolts...then 2015 was workplace accidents submitted to OSHA. This class had a ton of potential for the Broncos, but it’s hard to judge it due to all the injuries. It’s almost twisted and humorous the amount of guys in the class who had their careers altered due to injuries early in their career. Yet, even accounting for the injuries it was a weaker class for the Broncos. It’s a darn good thing they one the Super Bowl that season, or else this class might get more flack for not really producing noteworthy or impactful players.
In the entire draft, the Broncos really only netted two quality players: Trevor Siemian and Shane Ray. While it wasn’t 2013 levels of bad, for those two to be the best players in a draft class is a pretty severe indictment on the draft. Shane Ray has been a pretty decent pass rusher who has been hamstrung with a couple of major injuries and Trevor Siemian was a player with sporadic performances at a position where consistency is of the utmost importance. The worst is tough. I don’t really like to say a player was a “bust” because of injuries, because that’s something (relatively) out of a player’s control. Garcia and Doss are the only players on this list who ever received playing time to not suffer a major injury. Picking Garcia as the worst feels kind of cheap, since he has been a starter (even if not good) for two years and has had his moments as a Bronco. Reluctantly, the worst player from 2015 would have to be Ty Sambrailo. While I hate to pick a guy who suffered injuries, he did nothing impactful for the Broncos and was shipped off for a 5th round pick after just two years with the Broncos. This was a weak draft class that could’ve been so much more if the injury bug didn’t bite it hard.

So I've been toying around with a homebrew system i'm creating and I'm now at the point to better explain how initiative and the combat flow works there. In the past version of my game, it was very simple and default: roll for initiative, higher values act before lower values -> end of round, repeat without re-rolling.
But now, I wanted this to change. I received feedback from multiple groups that players used to space out and just wait for their turns, not keeping much attention on combat (as much as I intended to), so it felt kinda boring.
My new system tries to emulate a more dynamic, fluid, and not so set-on-stone initiative way of handling things. I want it to keep people paying attention to the combat, wondering when and how they could jump in and which strategy to use.
Please keep in mind this is a work in progress and I haven't really thought through all the possibilities, exploits and problems (in fact, that's why I want advice from you guys)
So here's how it works so far Disclaimer: It draws inspiration heavily on MHR which if you don't know how it works, I suggest reading it up here.

• Combat starts
• The group and/or DM determine who should act first based on the latest narrative events. Example: Before the battle begins, john was trading punches and kicks with the orc in the tavern. So John goes first based on the latest events.
• After completing his turn, John names someone to go - an NPC or one of his allies. Which one he thinks would be appropriate in the story to act right after (or whoever he wants, despite the metagame problem).
• Now comes a twist: Both the enemy team and the hero team has a pool of points going through 0 to 10. For the sake of example I will call them "Villain Gauge" and "Hero Gauge". Those points can be used by its members to interrupt a certain order of initiatives, specific actions, combos and other cool stuff I don't know for now.
• To avoid the players chaining up their turns ad infinitum, naming a ally after your turn takes up 1 or 2 points of your Hero Gauge. Chaining more members after that costs more since it will start stacking (like 4 points after 2 allies made their turns, 6 after 3, etc). So it's still possible to create cool strategies but not without losing something in return. The same goes for enemies.
• At the same rate, everytime you chain-up turns with your allies, the opposed team earns a certain amount of gauge. The same goes for enemies. Example: Chaining up two turns for the hero team would make the enemy team earn 2 points or something in those lines. This would make things fluid, interesting and with a certain feel of "refresh" on those resources.
• After everyone made their turns, the last person in the initiative order names someone to go and start the new round. This could be an ally or an enemy, following up the same rules as above.
• At the start of every round, both teams regenerate +X points of their gauges (I don't know quantities yet, i'm just brainstorming the idea).

Special cases - Solo monsters/bosses: They could get a trait which allow them to act 2 times/round and or pay resources to interrupt players and act more times in a round or things like that.
So, what do you guys think? Would it be fun in your opinion as a player and a DM? Do you think it's a lot of bookeeping?
What are some exploits or problems you see on this? What are some potentials to expand?
Thanks in advance!

(Okay, this is something we used to do a few years ago and then didn't for a while. Now we're doing it again because few things are as timeless as fighting a dragon with your guitar.)
Here are fifty band pictures. Can you identify which band is in each one?
As before, pics have been painstakingly altered in MS Paint when necessary. This one is harder, so depending on how it goes hints will most likely go up later. Like last week there's a few '70s hard rock bands thrown in, and this time the band who kicked off the entire [NO WIMPS] thing puts in an appearance. Also, there are no repeats from previous weeks since all 50 were guessed correctly last week.
Imgur has been a total pain in the ass all morning, so I wouldn't be surprised if the full album version doesn't work.

1. http://i.imgur.com/LPWJK1j.jpg
   
2. http://i.imgur.com/HxiHW65.jpg
   
3. http://i.imgur.com/LbY2VLB.jpg
   
4. http://i.imgur.com/C3wDwZu.jpg
   
5. http://i.imgur.com/GCCOy7E.jpg
   
6. http://i.imgur.com/XpSwR5T.jpg
   
7. http://i.imgur.com/pwYRgq9.jpg
   
8. http://i.imgur.com/E5DJiPx.jpg
   
9. http://i.imgur.com/2U9X1QA.jpg
   
10. http://i.imgur.com/hAOnOne.jpg
    
11. http://i.imgur.com/kSVfnXE.jpg
    
12. http://i.imgur.com/jIbYyRm.jpg
    
13. http://i.imgur.com/K3mlfcz.jpg
    
14. http://i.imgur.com/WAG8icq.jpg
    
15. http://i.imgur.com/4vc3DRv.jpg
    
16. http://i.imgur.com/2bOW10L.jpg
    
17. http://i.imgur.com/bR3MfDg.jpg
    
18. http://i.imgur.com/9Ao1mic.jpg
    
19. http://i.imgur.com/mX0l7Qw.jpg
    
20. http://i.imgur.com/GfEOszq.jpg
    
21. http://i.imgur.com/VSJsWoB.jpg
    
22. http://i.imgur.com/Qn74Pjb.jpg
    
23. http://i.imgur.com/lycBqYM.jpg
    
24. http://i.imgur.com/S511UTl.jpg
    
25. http://i.imgur.com/mKIcCY4.jpg
    
26. http://i.imgur.com/9bzXsxx.jpg
    
27. http://i.imgur.com/mvDWK0R.jpg
    
28. http://i.imgur.com/vOoRxcM.jpg
    
29. http://i.imgur.com/FJ0XSpE.jpg
    
30. http://i.imgur.com/qih0f0M.jpg
    
31. http://i.imgur.com/1rlkZD6.jpg
    
32. http://i.imgur.com/ocwXq7z.jpg
    
33. http://i.imgur.com/P0IoDSS.jpg
    
34. http://i.imgur.com/tMCEzEZ.jpg
    
35. http://i.imgur.com/SwH3bUj.jpg
    
36. http://i.imgur.com/i8rq2AW.jpg
    
37. http://i.imgur.com/yQaMhrB.jpg
    
38. http://i.imgur.com/osOf0Me.jpg
    
39. http://i.imgur.com/aEIMVxZ.jpg
    
40. http://i.imgur.com/HGPzell.jpg
    
41. http://i.imgur.com/nkOtAs5.jpg
    
42. http://i.imgur.com/bronbYh.jpg
    
43. http://i.imgur.com/No8yHtR.jpg
    
44. http://i.imgur.com/FbvORdp.jpg
    
45. http://i.imgur.com/8N8yx9s.jpg
    
46. http://i.imgur.com/0pLrk7U.jpg
    
47. http://i.imgur.com/KGDKVQR.jpg
    
48. http://i.imgur.com/8eTlolm.jpg
    
49. http://i.imgur.com/E2sqEmw.jpg
    
50. http://i.imgur.com/MZQO37a.jpg
    

Okay, as for the new twist this time around, Jeffuary has very kindly offered to put up a prize each week from his CD collection. In his own words:

Whoever wins I'll mail a random selection of 90's and 2000's CDs to. I have boxes of them, and I don't care for physical media anymore, and I am not a collector by nature so I have no attachment to them. I just want them gone.
No guarantee of quality of material, value or condition. Someone might get a scratched Stuck Mojo album from 1996, or a first print debut album from Cladestine Blaze, Moonspell or Gorguts in great condition.

So winners, once you get them you gotta post them in the weekly thread. i.e. "I got this demo of a retarded kid clapping his hands and doing Cannibal Corpse covers....and this awesome 90's Finnish black metal CD!"
Week One Winner: u/wbeyda
Week Two Winner: u/Gwenhwyfar666
Week Three Winner: u/AcidBastard
From here on out, to be eligible answer posts must be posted and/or edited no later than Sunday evening. Offer void where prohibited.
ANSWERS

1. Darkthrone
   
2. Helstar
   
3. Mortem
   
4. Diamond Head
   
5. Exciter
   
6. Dawn
   
7. Raven
   
8. Fates Warning
   
9. Grotesque
   
10. Solstice (UK)
    
11. Blitzkrieg
    
12. Destructor
    
13. Amebix
    
14. Pretty Maids
    
15. Brutality
    
16. Mortuary Drape
    
17. Thin Lizzy
    
18. Omen
    
19. Vomitor
    
20. Tank
    
21. Warlord
    
22. Demigod
    
23. Warfare
    
24. Coffins
    
25. Attacker
    
26. Malevolent Creation
    
27. Twisted Sister
    
28. Bastard Priest
    
29. Incubus
    
30. Trouble
    
31. Onslaught
    
32. Exhorder
    
33. Asphyx
    
34. Cathedral
    
35. Sadistic Intent
    
36. English Dogs
    
37. Morbid
    
38. Benediction
    
39. Sacrifice
    
40. UFO
    
41. Grave
    
42. S.O.D.
    
43. Massacre
    
44. Witchfinder General
    
45. Carnage
    
46. Sir Lord Baltimore
    
47. Necrophobic
    
48. The Gates of Slumber
    
49. Yngwie Malmsteen
    
50. High on Fire