The New Platinum Preppy 0.2Mm Ef . . .

[Water Ouzel]

Mine finally arrived. Actually, they seem to have been delivered a week or two back, but at the frontish part of the house, amongst construction detritus. In a snowbank. It and another package were revealed when the snow partly melted away earlier this week.

 

Anyway, three 0.2mm EF Preppies; one each, red, blue and black.

 

They all write about the same, which is pretty smooth for an EF, and definitely smoother than the Penmanship we've had for a while.

 

Now, if the caps don't crack around the rim, they'll get used quite a bit, by both myself and my wife.

[Tas]

Now, if the caps don't crack around the rim, they'll get used quite a bit, by both myself and my wife.

 

"Speak of The Devil and he shall appear"

 

I wound insulation tape around my first 0.2mm cap yesterday. Grrr.

From the way you said it am I to understand this is a common occurrence?

 

I've had two 0.3mm Preppy's for years and no probs there so far.

[TSherbs]

 

"Speak of The Devil and he shall appear"

 

I wound insulation tape around my first 0.2mm cap yesterday. Grrr.

From the way you said it am I to understand this is a common occurrence?

 

I've had two 0.3mm Preppy's for years and no probs there so far.

half of my Preppies have cracked there (3 out of 6) over the last two years

[arcadeflow]

I've been wondering, does the Preppy have a wick inside the feed as the Pilot Varsity/Petit1?

[DaveBj]

Just got my 0.2 today, already o-ringed and silicon-greased), along with a Rhodia pad holder containing a graph paper pad (for which I have no use) and a lined pad (now installed in the holder). I half-filled it with Diamine Macassar. I've written only a few lines on the Rhodia (the first "quality" paper I've ever owned), and it is smooth with just a bit of feedback. I think I'm going to like this pen

[Tas]

Just got my 0.2 today, already o-ringed and silicon-greased), along with a Rhodia pad holder containing a graph paper pad (for which I have no use) and a lined pad (now installed in the holder). I half-filled it with Diamine Macassar. I've written only a few lines on the Rhodia (the first "quality" paper I've ever owned), and it is smooth with just a bit of feedback. I think I'm going to like this pen

 

Yay !

[cellmatrix]

My preppy 0.2mm EF is scratchy and not that pleasant to use.

after a small alignment of the nib, my preppy is now writing smooth and it's quite pleasant to write with --> I am struck by how incredibly fine the lines are; thanks to the OP for the heads up on this pen!

Edited January 17, 2015 by cellmatrix

[migla9]

after a small alignment of the nib, the pen is now writing smooth and it's quite pleasant to write with!

I've bought two EF Penmanships from Amazon - one was quite smooth and the other somewhat scratchier. A small adjustment to the tines helped a great deal. Of course, I've had to do that with more expensive Pelikans as well.

[DaveBj]

after a small alignment of the nib, my preppy is now writing smooth and it's quite pleasant to write with --> I am struck by how incredibly fine the lines are; thanks to the OP for the heads up on this pen!

 

Yes, on the ordinary cheap paper that I use, the 0.2 puts out a very fine line, but on the Rhodia it gives the finest like that I've ever seen come from any pen. It is one skinny line!

 

(Granted, my experience with EFs and EEFs is very limited. But it's still a skinny line.)

[Abner C. Kemp]

I received mine yesterday and have been fairly impressed with it. The EF nib is extremely fine, possibly the finest line width I've ever used. That said, the pen still has excellent ink flow. The nib is not nearly as smooth as my F Preppy which has a surprisingly buttery nib but considering how fine the nib writes I didn't expect it to exhibit the same smoothness. I wouldn't call it "scratchy" by any means but it certainly has feedback when writing. For the price, it is definitely a great deal especially considering how easily these pens can be converted to eyedroppers.

 

For the sake of comparison, I have done a quick writing sample with both the EF and F Preppy along with two german EF and F nibs so that you can see the difference in line width. Please excuse the handwriting.

 

 

[TSherbs]

yes, mine was fairly scratchy, so I smoothed it (not easy with a such a fine nib). As someone noted above, you must write with a light hand in order to keep this nib from catching in the texture of the paper. But I use the pen and it works very reliably!

[bone215]

[TSherbs]

yes, mine was fairly scratchy, so I smoothed it (not easy with a such a fine nib). As someone noted above, you must write with a light hand in order to keep this nib from catching in the texture of the paper. But I use the pen and it works very reliably!

but now the cap has cracked in two places after about 10 uses...sigh...I own 7 Preppies, 4 have cracked caps (all have cracked where they snap on to the barrel).

 

com'on, man!

[arcadeflow]

but now the cap has cracked in two places after about 10 uses...sigh...I own 7 Preppies, 4 have cracked caps (all have cracked where they snap on to the barrel).

 

com'on, man!

 

That is why I don't use semi-disposable fountain pens anymore, I hate damaged items. But in this case, if you really like this nib, you can order a Platinum Plaisir from a Japanese site like J-Subculture, you can screw in Preppy nib sections in those pens (they already come with one), but you can't turn these into eyedroppers. Maybe you could use the Plaisir for serious activities that you need posting and keep the other Preppies at home for colorful inking (and stop posting them).

[Tas]

Two out of three of mine have now had to have tape added to the caps to hold the cracked lids together.

 

SUCH A SHAME

[DERoadie]

I had a Preppy cap crack and it would not stay on tightly. I carefully put a drop of superglue (low viscosity) on the crack while cap was on the barrel to expand the crack. I quickly removed the cap and let dry in the relaxed state. There was frosting at the repair point but now snaps on and stays on as it did when new.

[Water Ouzel]

 

"Speak of The Devil and he shall appear"

 

I wound insulation tape around my first 0.2mm cap yesterday. Grrr.

From the way you said it am I to understand this is a common occurrence?

I've had three or four Preppys before picking up three EF's a few weeks ago. In, what, two years use, I've had one cap crack after about six months. Just got my attention, as I've had no physical failures of any other pen of mine to date.

 

Now I'm going to be twitching at any noise, day or night...

[jdc4]

The Preppys are great value for money. Interestingly enough the pen has a lot of the same features as other Platinum fountain pens, just an inexpensive nib. I'd like to try some of newer, finer points and am waiting for an opportunity to order them with something else! Really,it costs about as much as a gel writer and is more interesting and entertaining.

[Water Ouzel]

Something seems to be different with respect to the cap on the new EF Preppy; they're definitely different to the caps on the ones I've owned previously.

 

The cap is in two (functional) parts; the outer cap that snaps on to the pen body, and an inner cap that seals the nib/feed from drying out.

 

On the new pens, the outer cap doesn't clip on to the pen, but pops out slightly, moved by the inner cap's spring. The inner cap seals properly, but then ends up being the only thing keeping the cap on the pen, and comes off the pen with very little effort.

 

Maybe my three EF Preppy's are different from everyone else's; I've not heard about the new behavior from other users so far.

[ehebert]

I have been using Preppys for years and many caps have cracked. I repair them with a strip of clear packing tape around the rim. The tape is invisible, and the caps stay on fine. I think I have a few pens over two years old with taped caps that are still going strong. One thing about the Penmanship cap is that it's tiny, doesn't post well, and is practically invisible if it falls on the floor.

 

I think the extra fine nib on the Penmanship is just a hair thinner than the .2 Preppy. Penmanships can be scratchy, but I use Noodler's Navajo Turquoise Eel and Noodler's Cactus Fruit Eel inks and they write great! My one .2 Preppy is smoother, currently using the Platinum ink that came with it.

 

Another great, inexpensive fine nib pen is the Sailor Clear Candy. I think the nib width compares to a Pilot fine (78g or metropolitan) and is super smooth. The nibs are more sturdy than the Pilot, and they come in a ton of colors. I've only seen them available at Jet Pens ($16.50). These are my favorite "cheap" fine nib pens.