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Hello everyone, About a month ago, I bought a Sheaffer Snorkel Valiant and promptly returned it. That was the first fountain pen I'd ever bought for myself. It wasn't a very good experience (and I'm not whining about it either) and I was pretty disappointed. Then, fast-forward to three hours ago, the mailman rings my doorbell, I sign the receipt paper, and I whip out a box knife to unpackage my newest purchase. I'd bought it from a reputable fountain pen dealer in Wisconsin as a New Old Stock pen, and made sure that I had good communication with the seller. I play with the snazzy touchdown mechanism with water for five minutes, then fill it with Waterman Mysterious Blue... Without delay, the pen lays ink, but it is quite dry. The line is a faint shade of blue, and has gotten darker over the past two hours, but is also quite scratchy. I read that Waterman inks are supposed to be lubricating, but this pen is nowhere as smooth or as wet as my friend's $15 Pilot Metropolitan using the same ink. There doesn't look to be anything wrong with the pen, visibly I mean. Is this normal for a brand-new fountain pen to be scratchy and dry? I've only tested various fountain pens in stores and used vintage pens. Please help. I like this pen a lot and I hope to be able to use it for at least decades. By the way, it's a fine nib pen.