Sheaffer Vfm Review

[CoolFool]

Like many fp users my age and older, I discovered the pleasures of fountain pen writing through use of the old Sheaffer “School Pens.” I used to buy at the “student store” at my high school. They weren’t expensive, and they were fun and different, and I was the type of kid who always looking for something that would set me apart from the crowd.

 

I loved those pens and still do, and I have plenty of examples of the old school pen both for their nostalgic value and their dependability.

 

 

I got to wondering whether Sheaffer had a product that could capture the imagination of a teenager the way the old “School Pens” did. So I bought their bottom-end product: the VFM (“Vibrant, Fun, Modern.” The name, ironically, seems a little retro, doesn’t it?) Here is the review of that experience:

 

The pen costs $15.00, plus shipping on the Sheaffer website, but I got mine for $15.00 and free shipping on eBay.

Even allowing for inflation over all those years, the pen is a little on the expensive side, but that’s to be expected, given that the pen is made of much sturdier stuff.

 

My VFM arrived in a handsome enough box - a far cry from the blister pack of the old days…

 

 

 

 

I chose the “Maximum Orange” (to go with some shirts I have in that color range).

 

 

Out of the box, the pen had a decent heft to it for its size. I don’t have a scale to weigh it, so here are some specs “borrowed” from fpgeeks.com. (I hope I didn’t commit a faux pas in doing so.)

Overall Weight: 20 g / 0.71 oz


Cap Weight: 6 g / 0.21 oz


Body Weight: 14 g / 0.50 oz


Overall Length Capped: 138 m / 5.43 in


Overall Length Posted: 152 mm / 6.00 in

 

I noticed immediately that the pen felt a little slippery in my hand despite what looked like a textured surface, and at only 12 mm at the grip, the pen is a little difficult to grasp with my fairly large hands.

 

 

Because of the smallish size of this pen posting is almost must for me, but there’s a problem with that. Although the barrel is tapered, giving the VFM a very torpedo-like look, the cap really doesn’t want to stay posted. You really have to jam the cap on there to get it stay. Otherwise it falls off without warning.

 

The only option for filing this pen is a cartridge. My personal preference is for a converter – for all the typical reasons, so that‘s kind of drag. Oddly the VFM doesn’t accept the proprietary Sheaffer cartridges, which is actually a good thing. If you don’t have the freedom of ink color a converter gives you, at least you aren’t limited to the relatively few colors available in Sheaffer cartridges. The downside is that this pen doesn’t have room for a spare cartridge, and, the international cartridges being much smaller than the Sheaffer cartridges, you really have a pretty small supply of ink. Because of the metal interior of the barrel, you don’t have the option of converting this pen into an eyedropper. So you’ll need to carry some cartridges with you.

 

Although this is a Chinese-made pen, I decided to pop in a cartridge without rinsing first – because that’s what you could do with Sheaffers of old. The ink filled the nib amazingly quickly for a cartridge-filler. I wrote a few words and felt that familiar Sheaffer ease of writing. …Then it started skipping. Then it dried completely. Okay. Not rinsing was a mistake, but now I know.

 

 

I thoroughly rinsed my new VFM and let it dry. Take two. Same thing. More rinsing, different cartridges, same story. This could only mean one thing – I must now fiddle with the nib… I HATE fiddling with nibs!! My fingers are big and clumsy, and my eyes now have trouble focusing on tiny objects – even with reading glasses. Besides, I’ve never been the “good-with-his-hands” type anyway.

 

 

So too much ink, not enough, scratchiness. After a couple of hours, somehow I got it right. And yes, writing with it is reminiscent of the Sheaffers of my youth. But so what? If nostalgia were all I was after, I could’ve (and even have) bought plenty of old, perfectly good, School Pens. The question that began this little quest was whether Sheaffer made a cheap pen today that could grab some young person and turn him/her into a fountain pen user. The answer, I’m sorry to say, is, “I don’t think so.”

 

The VFM is a nice modestly attractive, if somewhat uninspired, little pen. But it’s too expensive for a kid looking to buy something that will set him apart, and too ordinary for a serious fountain pen user. And it’s not like someone would buy this pen on an impulse at his local drug store. You can’t buy fountain pens like that anymore. Besides, no novice just looking for an okay, but nice, pen for everyday use would want a pen with a nib he/she has to “fiddle” with. So who would use this pen? I don’t know… maybe just some guy with an orange shirt.

 

Summary

 

Appearance and design: Not bad. Nice box. Pleasant colors to choose from, nothing terribly original, dignified, or “Wow.” Kind of slippery in the hand. C+

 

Construction and Quality: Sturdy to the point of industrial, cap goes on & off a little hard, cap doesn’t stay posted very well. B-

 

Weight & Dimensions: Smallish pen, but good weight for its size. B

 

Nib: M Sheaffer, plain old steel nothing fancy to look at, not very expressive in the writing, took some work to get it started, but once it going was good and reliable, just like you would expect from a Sheaffer. B-

 

 

Filling System: 1 international cartridge only, works okay, but very limiting. Easy to flush and durable. C -

 

Cost & Value: Pretty good. This is a durable, dependable pen, not too exciting, but what do you want for 15 bucks? B+

 

Conclusion: If you like the look and feel of this pen, the price makes it worth while. But personally, I think there are better pens to be had for either more or less money. I would recommend passing this one by.

[jacksterp]

Great review if somewhat disappointing results. At some point I had a green Sheaffer school pen as my first fountain pen.

 

Looks like the "entry" level Sheaffer is now the 100.

[raging.dragon]

So it's a Sheaffer pen that won't take Sheaffer cartidges. That's bound to confuse somebody new to fountain pens.

[notVirtuThe3rd]

Cool. Thanks for the useful review!

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

I think that they might have used an off-the-shelf nib assembly as they did with the Sheaffer Reacktor. At least the one they put into this is much better quality.

 

Dillon

[rwilsonedn]

Thanks for a very thoughtful and candid review.

I have to say it made me sad. One reason is that if you took the word "Sheaffer" out, your review could have described just about any third-tier Chinese pen that sells for $0.99 on eBay. So apparently Sheaffer, whoever that is now, didn't exercise much influence over the design or manufacturing of this pen. It almost looks as if they had shopped around the third-tier vendors for a pen that looked vaguely reminiscent of a Balance, and then ordered a bunch with white does glued onto them. Another reason is that they chose to put that iconic white dot on the pen at all. The dot used to mean something important.

Maybe I'm just being nostalgic, but to me Sheaffer and Parker brought the entry-level pen to its zenith back in the 1940s-1950s. As you point out, they provided fine, durable writing instruments to students and working people, without compromise in writing experience. To see a great name being used to market garden-variety Chinese pens--pens that do not benefit at all from that great Sheaffer legacy, apparently--makes me sad.

ron

[arunmadhav]

Nice review. A Sheaffer Imperial Flighter was my first "serious" fountain pen as well Brings back a lot of memories from school days !

[Drone]

I got sucked-in by this pen awhile back. This is a $1.50 Chinese pen with a $15.00 price tag. I had all the typical Chinese pen quality issues. Eventually the pen was useable, but not without a lot of fiddling - and "usable" is putting it nicely.

 

I'm not saying all VFM's will end up behaving like mine. Like the cheap Chinese pens, sometimes you get lucky. But how often - who knows?

[plumeau]

With Pelikan 4001 blue-black or black cartridge, a very good pen compred to the scratchy Javelin.very interessant to put international cartridge easy to find, but it'a pity it can take two cartridge or a converter and th level of ink is not visible. An old No Nonsense is better, but VPM is a good fountainpen (7/10 for me).

[Sailor Kenshin]

I got sucked-in by this pen awhile back. This is a $1.50 Chinese pen with a $15.00 price tag. I had all the typical Chinese pen quality issues. Eventually the pen was useable, but not without a lot of fiddling - and "usable" is putting it nicely.

 

I'm not saying all VFM's will end up behaving like mine. Like the cheap Chinese pens, sometimes you get lucky. But how often - who knows?

Mine was about $12, wrote like a train right outta the box, nice wet nib, a touch small, but as for cheap Chinese oens, I guess they love me.

 

PS: Cf, great review, especially the background info.

Edited September 29, 2013 by Sailor Kenshin

[Mathemagician]

thanks for the review. I was thinking about getting one as a backup, but I don't think its worth it now.. Great review though

[The Blue Knight]

Reading this is kind of annoying as I was contemplating buying one in the next week. However I wasn't really sure about he skinny grip section however I really like the design. I can't help but think for even such a low price tag there are far too many compromises being made I'd rather pay £15-£20 if they could make it slightly longer to fit a converter in and put the standard Prelude, agio etc nib in.

 

Good review BTW nice intro.

[Koyote]

My VFM writes okay, but it is a tiny pen and doesn't post well, so it is useful only for quick notes.

[Ted_1944]

With Pelikan 4001 blue-black or black cartridge, a very good pen compred to the scratchy Javelin.very interessant to put international cartridge easy to find, but it'a pity it can take two cartridge or a converter and th level of ink is not visible. An old No Nonsense is better, but VPM is a good fountainpen (7/10 for me).

I found it very easy to push the insert down to the bottom of the barrel, making enough room for a standard international type converter. Just take a medium size phillips head screwdriver, stand the barrel upright on the table top, put the screwdriver into the barrel and push down until you feel the insert move down to the bottom of the barrel. Very easy!

[lovemy51]

thx for the review, CF! I like mine better than the 100 and 300 - and they cost a lot more.

[Mopen]

Thanks for the review. I was just looking at the pen for $28 at Staples. I think I will stick with the Metropolitan for $20 at WonderPens, such a good writing pen for the price, excellent fit and finish. I too remember the Sheaffer and Parkers of my school days. I am still using some old calligraphy Sheaffer pens which I am using as eyedroppers.

[PolarMoonman]

Had one, wasn't super impressed with it, but for a starter there's much worse...

[PolarMoonman]

My VFM writes okay, but it is a tiny pen and doesn't post well, so it is useful only for quick notes.

 

+1

[ecologito]

Well, this is my first fountain pen and I am having trouble with it skipping. I wasn't sure if it was me or it is the pen since this is the first time I try a fountain pen. Been rookie and left handed made the troubleshooting even harder. Now I know the problem could be both and not just me

[jmeldorf]

I just finished a 17-day trip to the rural parts of the Czech Republic (little time in Prague). I decided to use the Vfm as a pocket pen, swapping out every few days with my Kaweco Sport Classic, when i wanted to write in my Leuchtterm 1917 Pocket Journal. I've had the Vfm for about 3 1/2 years and used it this way before. It was more than capable for the task.

 

I wish it posted, but it doesn't, so I was just careful where I laid it down. It's a little longer than the Kaweco, so not my favorite for a pants pocket, but it works that way, too. When I'm traveling overseas, I bring two cartridge fillers: no need for a bottle of ink, and if the nib gets dropped on one, I have a backup. And when I'm hiking or riding my Indian, I always have a notebook and a pocket pen. The Vfm is a very capable, and inexpensive, travel companion.

 

Doesn't get much play, so thought I should mention the merits of a Vfm after just hiking all over Bohemia.