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New Moonman pen. Thoughts? Available on eBay for $42-ish (i could find only 1 listing though..), appears to use a Schmidt nib. Pictures taken from Reddit and Instagram.

Hi everyone, I'm hoping to find a good successor to my Pelikan m100--an NOS pen I bought a few years back--for the position of best writer I've had. And because I know there are a bunch of intelligent, knowledgeable, and good folks on this forum, I thought I would beseech you to aid me via some crowd-sourcing. Here's the history: My m100 is the best writer I've owned, with previous pens including a Pelikan m150, Waterman Phileas, Bexley Corona (steal nib), and a few others that I only had for brief periods. I recently purchased an Aurora Optima, which the seller adjusted and tested before the sale. It wrote with the perfect wetness because of this. It was also gorgeous. Sadly, it was how I learned that I'm not a huge fan of that level of feedback. So I sent it back for exchange or possibly a return if I can't find something I like. Now, to the problem at hand. I have always wanted to try a nicer Pelikan, and my experience with the m100 makes me think this is a good idea. Still, they're a bit pricier than some options, there are just masses of choices out there. I'd heard that Sailor nibs were top notch, and they are usually described as smooth. So I have considered the 1911 full-size. I've also considered getting a Parker, though I've heard mixed reviews about them. What are some pens you might suggest for my predicament? Any thoughts on the ones I've mentioned? I'm shooting to stay at or below the cost of a Pelikan m400. I've comfortably used pens of lots of different sizes, so that's not a huge concern. I just want to know what some good suggestions might be. The more options you guys mention, the more my own creative juices will flow. And often, other people point out options I had never even heard of! A big thank You to everyone who helps! - Tric.

Pelikan M100 Stormtrooper Review (Note: due to restrictions on amount of images I could post, I had to omit a number of photos. If you would like to read the review complete with all photos, please click here to be redirected to my website). Pelikan stopped manufacturing the white Pelikan M100 in 1993, due to low sales. However, especially today, this discontinued Pelikan is in quite high demand, and, after hunting down this pen for the better half a year, I can definitely see why. The brand is a household name in the world of fountain pens. The brand started in 1832 as an ink and chemical company founded by Hanoverian chemist Carl Hornemann. Later, in 1871, Prussian chemist Günther Wagner became the chief chemist, registered Pelikan’s trademark—the famous pelican. Then, in 1929, Pelikan manufactured its first fountain pen, followed by the cheaper M100 in 1934. Since then, Pelikan has boomed, becoming one of the premier manufacturers of fountain pen the world over. The Pelikan M100, despite its name, is actually not the smallest Pelikan still widely available (although not in production) today—that honor falls to the Pelikan M300. However, this is not to say that the Pelikan M100 is a particularly large, or even a medium size pen. It is really quite small (being only 16.5 cm long capped and 15.5 cm uncapped). That being said, it isn’t a very narrow pen, having a comfortable section diameter of about 1 cm.These factors actually make for a very comfortable writing experience. The pen is extremely comfortable both posted and unposted, and I have written with it for hours at a time without feeling very much fatigue. To add to this, the pen is also very light, making it even more comfortable. However, if one does have particularly large hands, this pen may not be so comfortable. But, for most, if you are considering purchasing this pen but may not because you think it may be too small, do not let it dissuade you. This is a very comfortable pen to write with. The design of this pen would seem very familiar to anyone with a Pelikan pen, with only two major differences. For one, it uses the old Pelikan finial, which is essentially a sharp dome instead of the modern three-tiered design. The second difference is that the M100 Stormtrooper has a white plastic body with black furniture. This makes the M100 particularly striking as the contrast between the body and the clip, cap band, and nib are especially stark, being black and white. The pen, while officially called the ‘Pelikan M100 White’ has been called the Stormtrooper by its fans due to its colors which strongly resemble the outfit of a Stormtrooper. It would seem right at home in the standard issue of the Galactic Imperial Infantry.However, there is one downside to this pen’s paint job, and honestly, it drives me insane. This is that, given that the majority of the pen is bright white, any ink that finds its way onto the pen is extremely visible—especially inside the cap and the threads. The ink window in this pen also isn’t of much help as, in poor lighting scenarios, the black coating makes the color of the ink inside rather difficult to see (Although ink level is perfectly clear). However, with a tissue nearby (at all times), both of these issues can be easily overcome. (However, please, for the love of God: Do Not—I repeat Do NOT put any sort of super saturated, easily staining ink *cough* baystate blue *cough* in this pen. It will never come out of the body, and this pen is far too beautiful to ever be stained.) The pen fills using Pelikan’s time-tested piston that is as smooth as butter and never fails. However, as mentioned above, the section does have to be inserted into the ink to fill, and this can be annoying. The pen has a great ink volume for its size, measuring around 0.9 mL and fills up almost all the way to the top every time. The cap of this pen is classic Pelikan, and twists off in just under one turn, revealing the nib, section, and ink window. The section of the pen itself is actually quite small. However, the threads are not at all sharp, so they are easy to put your fingers on. The nib of this pen is absolutely gorgeous, however. It is a black coated, stainless steel EF, that, while tiny (only 2 cm long), sings like no other nib I own. It is quite smooth, but it gives back just the right amount of feedback so that you know that he tines are running over the paper. It has a good amount of variation to boot, and it rarely hard starts. It is a wonderful nib to use. Unfortunately, this pen is no longer manufactured, and hasn’t been for almost 14 years now. However, it is still available from retailers on ebay and other sites, many in NOS condition. I received mine as a gift, although I had picked it out from reddit.com/r/pen_swap. It was in NOS uninked condition, and even came with a K100 ballpoint and its original clamshell case. If you can find this online, I highly recommend taking a close look at it as it is, in my opinion, on its way towards being a classic and well worth the purchase price. _________________ If you liked this review, and would like to hear about more, please consider subscribing to Pens on Park. (We promise to not spam your inbox, and every subscription helps.)

I have decided that I want to invest in a Pelikan, but I am going back and forth on which model to go for, specifically between the M800 and M1000. The next pen show I can attend is the DC show, so I'm looking to compare their sizes to pens I own or can get cheaply. I am using a Pilot Custom Heritage 92 currently, which I am finding too small for my liking (too narrow and the section is too close to the paper). I am a college student, so I don't want a pen that's so large it's uncomfortable to use for a long period of time. The M800 seems similar in size to an Ahab or a Jinhao x750, both of which fit my ape hands well. Is this a reasonable assumption? Unfortunately, I don't know of any cheap pens that match the size of the M1000 (except possibly the Jinhao 159). Anything I can look into here? Thank you!