As Martin said, the turnout was really good. Much better than last year.
I also met George and was duly awed by his fountain pens. His attention to detail is impressive. I did not to speak with Barry Gross but I did see his pens, and his cigar pen is outstanding. Martin, I am disappointed I did not get to see one of yours.
My buddy and I have been going to the LA pen show for 15+ years. We started going to collect vintage fountain pens, but since I have started to make pens my focus at the show has shifted (though I still keep my eye out for good vintage pen - one of these days I will show up with $1500 and get that 1920s Mandarin Yellow Parker Sr. Duofold).
A couple thinks of note. Perhaps I am biased (ok, I am biased), but I saw nothing from the big names (Parker, Mont Blanc, Dupont, etc) that I felt was better than what I saw from George, Barry and a couple others who were making custom pens.
Something else I found interesting and encouraging was the prices that some of the custom pen makers were asking for kitted pens. I do not know if they were actually selling for at or near their asking price, but the fact that they were listing their pens at those prices was encouraging, particularly given that the economy is still recovering and expensive pens are a luxury purchase.
Chris