fountain pen taboos - don't enter if you're easily offended

[trdsf]

The only other thing I can think of that I hate seeing occurs in all collector communities and isn't FP specific -- it's those who mistake their opinions for settled fact.

 

I can respect "I've never had anything but trouble with (brand z)." That at least allows for someone else to have a different experience and make up their own mind.

 

I have no use for "(brand z) is (epithet)." That's someone who takes their own opinion way too seriously.

[GabrielleDuVent]

Pens? Nope. I'm not a fan of the Nakaya torpedos (for some reason I need my pens to have the clips or I won't register them visually as pens) and I get irritated with very thick nibs because of the paper quality, but that's just a preference. I won't go crazy over either.

 

What I do get irritated with is people who go bonkers over someone else's statement and start questioning the person's integrity as [insert noun here]. It's A PEN, not a religion.

 

Actually, it's worse. You aren't supposed to go bonkers if someone says "you're stupid for believing in God", but apparently it's okay if you get called names for liking a certain brand/type of pen. Wonders of humanity.

[79spitfire]

Snakes on anything are just plain vulgar.

Well, I like the Agatha Christie MB writer's clip, but yea, it's easy to go "Over the Top".....

[Mickey]

1. The MB cigar-shaped black and gold pen (along with its copies) has to be based on some deep-seeded Freudian issue,...

 

Hmm... deep-seeded? Very clever pun or deep-seated Freudian issue?

 

BTW, it's hardly deep-seated, considering the word pen is from the same root (whoops, another Freudian slip) as you-know-what...

[Xand3]

I can't seem to develop even the slightest attraction to Parker pens. They strike me as fairly ugly, and every time I have held one, construction quality felt rather lacking.

 

My views on Cross are very much the same.

 

Maybe their lower end models (sub $100) are tainting my perception of these brands, but other pen manufacturers can churn out quality pens at this price point. Parker and cross simply seem to be cutting corners left and right. I would never purchase from one of these brands.

 

There, I said it.

Edited June 24, 2014 by Xand3

[Garageboy]

That's because Parker is a mere shadow of it self- go play with a Vacumatic or a Duofold

[Kutch]

Monteverde pens.

[pajaro]

I can't seem to develop even the slightest attraction to Parker pens. They strike me as fairly ugly, and every time I have held one, construction quality felt rather lacking.

 

My views on Cross are very much the same.

 

Maybe their lower end models (sub $100) are tainting my perception of these brands, but other pen manufacturers can churn out quality pens at this price point. Parker and cross simply seem to be cutting corners left and right. I would never purchase from one of these brands.

 

There, I said it.

 

I think that, with respect to their prices, they are all lacking. I have had enough new pens that used ones are OK.

 

What are you comparing the pens to as a paragon of quality?

 

There are some like Cross Townsend, not so bad.

[Xand3]

 

I think that, with respect to their prices, they are all lacking. I have had enough new pens that used ones are OK.

 

What are you comparing the pens to as a paragon of quality?

 

There are some like Cross Townsend, not so bad.

 

I am comparing them to several different pens I have owned, from several different brands, at several different price points:

 

In the entry level, my Lamy Safari, Sheaffer 100, and Faber Castell Basic all offer wonderful performance and build quality for sub $50 each. I find that these pens somehow feel more substantial, durable, and valuable than similarly priced Parkers (in which I perceived some corners had been cut).

 

Likewise, my Pelikan M405, Graf von Faber Castell Guilloche, and S.T. Dupont Olympio all seem to offer higher quality finishes and better designs at their respective price points.

 

But alas, this is surely just one fountain pen collectors opinion.

[The Blue Knight]

 

I think that, with respect to their prices, they are all lacking. I have had enough new pens that used ones are OK.

 

What are you comparing the pens to as a paragon of quality?

 

There are some like Cross Townsend, not so bad.

 

I agree the quality is good as I have been using modern Parker's most of my and the quality is just as good as any brand which aims from the bottom to the lower upper tier of pens. Of course a Vector that costs £5 isn't going to feel like a £250 Pelikan.

 

But I do agree about uninspiring designs and lack of choice. I personally think if stopped concentrating on building up the I.M, Urban,Premier ranges and brought out some new Duofold designs and more ink colors it would make far more sense.

[bokchoy]

I don't know if this counts, but... Stinky pens! They're horrible!

 

I have a ballpoint made of some translucent plastic and the sharp aroma of baby vomit is just as potent as the day I got it. Even my hands stink after using it.

 

I'd love to know why the smell doesn't bother some people. My initial thoughts about that pen were, "The manufacturer must have made a mistake" and "Is my friend's nose congested?" Why would a manufacturer use a material known to offend some people's noses?

 

I'm afraid to get a Noodler's resin pen.

Edited June 25, 2014 by bokchoy

[Kilroy]

On Noodler's resin, if you feel inclined, you could try a demo. The clear resin has less of the smelly chemical. My clear Ahab aired out pretty quickly so that all that really stuck around was the inside of the body. I just don't make a habit of taking the body off to sniff it.

[ceac]

(semi-)hooded nibs

[trdsf]

Cartridges. Hate 'em. I've passed on otherwise nice pens because they were cartridge fills and no converter came with, or was easily obtainable.

[Ted A]

Picking your nose with a MB 149....

 

Capped or posted?

[Michigan]

I love Montblanc but I am upset they are trying to make a lifestyle brand out of a pen maker. Too much non-pen stuff. And precious resin. If it is really precious, how would your wife feel about a precious resin necklace? Do you also give precious resin flatware as a wedding gift? Precious resin cannot be precious because it is resin. The dollar stores sell lots of resin. They call it plastic.

 

The clip on the Cross Townsend ruins my shirts because it is unfinished rough steel where it meets the top of my shirt pocket. It has by now cost me more in ruined shirts than I paid for the pen.

 

Converters in a two-thousand dollar pen as big around as a cigar. I am calling you out, Onoto.

 

Outrageous prices--I paid one-sixth of retail for a NOS Montegrappa on ebay. I would own only Bics and goose quills if I paid full retail.

 

I have over $100 of Iroshizuku ink on my desk--that is four bottles. Why the crappy styrofoam under the cap that falls off? Is there a glue shortage on the island of Honshu? Seriously, if Coca-Cola can seal a bottle for a buck, can't Pilot do that just as nicely for 28 times the price?

 

Noodler's ink. Why buy it and complain about it? You could get good stuff and not have those issues. You really need to buy ink for pennies a gallon? How do you have an internet connection but Diamine is a distant dream?

 

 

 

 

[sotto2]

Michigan:

 

Ha ha. You win the prize. That is a pretty dang funny post. And pretty spot on.

Edited June 26, 2014 by sotto2

[GeneralSynopsis]

.... Today at least nine out of ten aeromatic P51-s still work flawlessly.

 

I'm not that keen on pen related hyperbole disgused as a statistic. What we know is that there are a lot of them still around, but then there were a lot made. Unless you have actual statistics to contradict it I would hazard a guess than over 90% of aerometric P51's have disappeared. That may well be a better survival rate than most contemporary pens but is still a long way for "nine out of ten".

 

[GTOZack]

pelikan caps, looser than a wizard's sleeve

[Garageboy]

OH- captive piston pens- don't glue a barrel around a CC pen and tell me it's a piston fill, just, dont...