Some people collect stamps, others show off their shot glasses from around the world. There are a few people that enjoy collecting plastic pens of all types. A few collectors even have websites that show off their plastic pen collections. Just a few collections are outlined below.

Suzanne’s Pen Collection, Alabama. Well over a thousand pens, this collection is primarily made up of printed plastic pens, mostly ballpoint. She is particularly fond of plastic pens that advertise a particular business, event or place. Her favorites aren’t ballpoints at all but felt tip and gel plastic pens.

Stephen’s Pen Collection, Rhode Island. Steve prefers plastic pens with animal logos and themes. This fourteen year old has been collecting animal pens since before he began kindergarten. Eventually, Steve would like to be a veterinarian and order his own printed plastic pens with animal prints on it.

Georgia’s Writing Instrument Collection, Kansas. Georgia has been collecting pencils, pens and markers since 1998. Her collection ranges from pencils with replaceable lead (marketed for a short time in the 90’s) and bent pencils to plastic pens that fold down to a flat one inch square and markers that look like lipstick cases. With more than five hundred unique pencils and plastic pens, this collection has grown at a slow but steady pace.

The Neilson’s Vacation Pen Collection, California. The Neilson family loves to travel so a few years ago they began collecting metal and plastic pens from hotels and campsites they visit. During one trip, they collected more than fifty plastic pens from Canada to Mexico.

World's Largest Ballpoint Pen Collection, Dinslaken, Germany. When Angelika Unverhau began collecting ballpoint pens as a child, she never imagined she would one day hold a world record for this past time. She has now amassed a collection of more than 220,000 ballpoint pens from nearly 150 countries around the world. In 1990, she began taking her collection more seriously and even founded a pen collectors group in Europe that meets every year for trading.

Start Your Own Plastic Pen Collection

Starting your very own pen collection isn’t that hard. In fact, there’s a good chance you already have a handful of plastic pens laying around your home or office to create the beginning of the collection. Attend as many trade shows, conventions or job fairs as you can to find interesting pens to add to your collection.

Decide which pens you like and which ones you can live without. Will you collect by color or theme or style? Would you prefer to collect plastic pens with unique clips or message windows?

If you need help or want to find other pen collectors, you can visit the Pen Collectors of America group, available online. They host pen shows around North America year round.

Displaying Your Plastic Pen Collection

Many pen collectors use Styrofoam to store and display their pen collections. These can be acquired at craft shops or from packaging. Other collectors drill holes in blocks of wood to display sorted collections.