Yeah fountain pens can be a bit much. I stopped buying the "mainstream" ones just because I can't afford that. Stuff like this one that's just made by one guy is pretty sweet though. I'm supporting his business and hobby, and that makes me feel good.

Yeah I figured that out a while ago, so I "go big or go home" basically. If I'm getting into a hobby, I usually do a lot of research before I make a purchase. For a lot of hobbies, I spent way too much money because I didn't realize how expensive stuff was in the beginning. Fountain pens for example. When I got into it, the Lamy 2000 was my dream pen. But I thought it was stupid to spend that much on a fountain pen, and I'd never be able to get there. Meanwhile, I had bought 10 pens all under $50, so then I had a ton of cheaper pens, but still didn't have the pen that I really wanted. If I just got it in the beginning, it wouldn't have been a problem.

That's what I'm hoping to do with pencils. Rather than get a cheap one and look at the better ones thinking "I could have gotten that" and then slowly working my way up, I'll just get one that's good enough where I won't have to work my way up.

My biggest hobby right now is speakers. When I first got into it, I heard about the KEF LS50, which are normally $1300 (they're on sale for black Friday apprently at $900). I thought to myself "no way I'll ever spend that much on speakers". Yeah, now I've got a pair lol. I don't know if you've ever listened to music on a "proper" speaker setup, but you owe it to your ears to give it a shot some time.

Anyways, hobbies are weird.