Mystery Sheaffer

[Nihontochicken]

Bottom trawling on Fleabay, as usual, and came across these fotos:

 

http://i18.ebayimg.com/07/i/000/8c/00/6f60_1.JPG

 

http://i24.ebayimg.com/01/i/000/8c/00/7370_1.JPG

 

Pointed clip? "Star Trek" inlaid shell bling? What is the model/date of this Parker style Sheaffer ripoff???

[randyholhut]

Looks like a Stylist, one of the few lousy pens Sheaffer ever made.

 

Apparently, it was a short-lived design from the late 1960s to replace the Imperial. It was so bad that Sheaffer started making Imperials again by the end of the decade.

[sexauerw]

That would be a Sheaffer Stylist from 1966 to 1968. According to Richard Binder much of the design was inspired by the Parker 45. New however was a double-sided nib with feeds on both sides, typically medium on one side and fine on the other. Parker later ripped off the double-sided nib design for their 180. Have to admit Parker did a way better job though.

[Nihontochicken]

Thanks, Randy and Bill, I didn't recognize the model at first. I actually have a Stylist Flighter that I rather like, but it is the later effort with the Palladium Silver Triumph nib as used on the Imperial II. It's actually a nice writer, and not a bad looker to my eye, though the pen is overall a bit more slender than I prefer. I have another Stylist Flighter coming in the mail (an Ebay bottom feed, the way I like 'em, as I say, "Cheep! Cheep! Cheep!"). I never got to see the nib, and so I hope it's the earlier flat sandwich one, and though it wasn't well liked back then, I want to see one in the flesh. Kinda funny to me why the somewhat later and equally well disliked (back then) Parker 180 with a similar nib is now a desireable three digit dollar collectible, whereas the Stylist is still in the dog pound. Go figure.

[psfred]

Funny how market duds become highly desirable "collectables" isn't it? I suspect the original notion was that they had to be expensive and "rare" and hence inherently valuable (fine china, sliver, and goldware when only the very wealthy had them for example), but lousy sales and hence low production seems to, in certain cases, lend the "rarity" glamour to work-a-day manufactured objects.

 

Some pens that have this happen to them are also very nice pens (Sheaffer PFM, Parker 180), but there isn't any real rhyme or reason to it. They were both top line pens, but hardly out of the reach of most people who really wanted one, unlike the "collectable" lines produced today, where the purchase price and limited availablity really do make them a plaything of the rich.

 

Me, I write with my pens, or intend to, so anything to fragile, rare, or excessively priced (not I did NOT say too valuable!) will get ignored. I'd love to have a PFM just to see if I liked it, but I'm not paying more than $20! There is most likely a good reason it was a market dud when the Parker 61 was not.

 

Peter

Edited February 21, 2007 by psfred

[Nihontochicken]

Yes, Peter, I agree re the Sheaffer PFM. A two year dud when originally released, now a three digit collectible! Well, it has the "bigger is better" consideration going for it, just like the pecking order in the Parker pearl ring Vacs. But while I actually like a bigger body pen, and find it less tiring to hold than a sleek and slender pen, I see the PFM as aesthetically bloated and chunky and not as attractive as the supposedly more pedestrian Imperials. Then again, none of the Sheaffers were real lookers in my book, not in the same league as the Parker pearl rings and the 51, especially the 51 Flighter (top 'o' the heap!!!). Luckily, there are no Sheaffer PFM "Flighters", or even Triumph nib Touchdown filler "Flighters" to tempt ravage to my wallet. As I asked on another thread, given past marketing failures that are now mucho collectible, why is the Parker 180 now such a hotdog, whereas the earlier and similar Sheaffer Stylist (first model, flat sandwiched nib) is still in the collectible dog house???

[Richard]

QUOTE (Nihontochicken @ Feb 20 2007, 10:50 PM)

I actually have a Stylist Flighter that I rather like...

Umm, no, actually what you have is a Stylist in Brushed Chrome. It's chrome-plated brass, not stainless steel. I have one, too, and I've got it tweaked so it writes halfway decently.

[Nihontochicken]

QUOTE

Umm, no, actually what you have is a Stylist in Brushed Chrome.

 

Oops! Forgot to includes the quotes, a la "Flighter". Yes, I know, it's really a brass base. Is your "tweaked" Stylist a flat nib model, like a Parker 180, or the later Triumph Palladium Silver nib last gasp? Mine is the latter, actually writes very well. I'm hoping to soon score a flat nib type for reference. Also have a Hero 360 in the mail. The plot thickens!!!

[Richard]

QUOTE (Nihontochicken @ Feb 21 2007, 11:47 PM)

Is your "tweaked" Stylist a flat nib model, like a Parker 180, or the later Triumph Palladium Silver nib last gasp?

The former. This is it:

 

http://www.richardspens.com/images/collection/zoomed/stylist_brushed_cr.jpg

[Nihontochicken]

QUOTE

Is your "tweaked" Stylist a flat nib model, like a Parker 180, or the later Triumph Palladium Silver nib last gasp?

 

QUOTE

The former.

 

Richard, since you have the flat nib example, can you comment on how it compares to the Parker 180? BTW, I just bagged the pen in question (pic at the top of the thread), but it is coming from Jolly Olde England, and so won't be here for a while. OTOH, I probably won't be getting a 180 for comparison, unless one falls out of the sky into my lap, street price is too rich for me.

[Nihontochicken]

Well, I finally got the pen pictured at the top of the thread, from Jolly Olde. Very excellent condition, but no converter. So I loaded in a fresh cartridge, and set about comparing it to my Triumph nib Stylist (also with cartridge). No contest. The Triumph nib writes very smoothly and with a nice line, not terribly wet, but reasonably well saturated. The "flat nib" model (not really, there is actually a slight side-to-side curve like a normal exposed nib, but also a slight lengthwise downward curve at the tip, the opposite of a Triumph nib) writes, well, "dry'n'scratchy". Yuckaroo. No wonder Sheaffer went back to the older Triumph nib trying to keep this model on life support. Anyone who thinks a Parker 51 nib is the quintessential "nail" ought to treat (?) themselves to this earlier Stylist nib! Given the generally better condition of the pen with the crappier nib, I'm sorely tempted to make a front end switcherooney.

[Nihontochicken]

Well, when it rains, it pours. I got another "flat" nib Stylist "Flighter" (brush chrome over brass), only this one with a fine nib (the previous one was a medium). The fine nib example is even dryer and scratchier than the medium. Ugh! Both would need nib smoothing to be tolerable, IMO. OTOH, the Triumph nib Stylist is a dreamboat, floats like a butterfly, flows like a race horse. So much for "progress".

[johnr55]

I have Stylist pens in both nib styles. Perhaps I just got lucky, but both were NOS and both write beautifully. I still have another in its card/shrinkwrap with the $2.95 price still printed on it. I don't like using the finer side of the nib, though. My Stylist with the Triumph-style nib is a real joy to use, and a regular for me. I wasn't aware the Stylist was considered such a dog; I particularly like the clip as it pivots.

[Nihontochicken]

I just picked up another variant, same cap size, but barrel a quarter inch shorter than the other two Stylists mentioned above, and with a silver color rectangular Imperial style clip. But it has the Triumph nib, and it and the black plastic section are identical to those of the longer, early Stylist pen with the pointed, gold filled clip. Might anyone identify the model below?

 

http://home.comcast.net/~frankbri21/322sh2apart.jpg

 

TIA!

[antoniosz]

Later Stylist I believe - see also: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref_info/triumph_nibs.htm.

I think it shows the common problem of these Stylists - the bottom of the section gets discolored. The left one on the photo below is similar to ours but in GP.

Also I include below an old photo of a fully dissassembed Stylist for your enjoyment

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/azavalia/Stylist/stylists2.jpg

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/azavalia/Stylist/overall.jpg

 

[Nihontochicken]

Thanks, Antonios! I forgot that the Triumph nib was actually a later addition due to the failed "flat" style nib. Though my first Triumph nib Stylist, with the long barrel and long, tapered gold clip, is a very nice writer, this particular Triumph nib is nothing to write home about. Then again, both of my flat nib Stylists are even worse! Interesting to see three major model variations on a failed line!!!