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Dear lovers of Pelikano pens, When I started school in Germany in the 1970s, the use of a fountain pen was mandatory and at my school the teachers strongly recommended the use of a Pelikano with an A nib (A being for Anfänger= beginner). This started my obsession with fountain pens and to this day, my primary interest is in student fountain pens. That said, I am not so enamoured with the current Pelikano line and when it comes to modern student pens, I prefer the Lamy Safari range. This may be anathema to hard-core Pelikan fans, but that’s how I see it. Picture 1 shows my collection from the first model 1 through to model 7S plus a modern Pelikano for comparison: In my view, there was little improvement after model 2 was released in 1965. The feed in model 1 pens is problematic. Both the blue and black versions came into my collection blocked and the pens needed literally months of soaking before they started to work. No other pen that I’ve ever bought (and I’ve bought a few) needed that kind of treatment. I started school with a model 4 and later had a model 5. The Pelikano 5 Super with the metal barrel is my favourite, albeit that it was a flop for Pelikan. Picture 2 shows the box that I made to house my Pelikan collection. The stylised pelican is cut from Queensland Walnut (the name is a misnomer- Queensland Walnut not a walnut tree at all) and has been inlaid into Queensland maple. Picture 3 shows the box with the top layer of pen trays removed. The bottom left tray has no Pelikano pens at all. Instead there is a loose collection of other pens, including two special edition GeHa pens. GeHa was ultimately bought by Pelikan, so I suppose the Geha pens are not that out of place. To the right of the photo are my two Pelikan Pura fountain pens. Picture 4 shows the storage for the original pen boxes underneath the two layers of trays. I like keeping the original boxes, but I like to have my pens in trays. I realise that the Pelikano line of student pens is not everyone’s cup of tea. After all, the nibs are nails and the pens are made to a budget. However, to me the Pelikano line is what fountain pens are all about. The Pelikano pens are robust and write well. I don’t have any problem writing with a ‘nail’. I'd love to hear from other Pelikano fans. Ollie