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

[Algester]

 

(One last word) ...

… about the virulent Montblanc bashing:

I`m sure it`s true that some people hate MB because they can`t afford it.

But …

Where is the Nakaya, Omas (fill in other luxury brand) bashing??? They`re equally expensive!

My reasoning:

Montblanc is the only Fountain Pen Brand which almost everyone recognizes (not necessarily as a FP producer but as a producer of luxury goods).

So it`s really the only brand name pen, with which one is able to show off to people, even to those who can`t tell a fountain pen from a chop stick.

Also, even though this hasn`t always been the case, for many years now MB EXCLUSIVELY produces luxury goods, other then, say Pelikan, who offer everything from cheap school pens to limited editions.

 

Nakaya isnt expensive when strikingly compared to a brand new snowflake heck you can probably get 2 Nakayas for the price of 1 snowflake unless custom made but that's because it's hand made with your design that probably pumps up the price Danitrio however can go toe to toe with the snowflake and Hakase

 

and people already said about the "japanese esthetics" not being their game

 

but say when an elementary student whips out a brand new snowflake 149 what would you say

Edited August 13, 2014 by Algester

[amcityink]

How is $50.00 a cheap pen? To some people, that's all they'll ever own.... Typical bushwa - elitist -nose in the air attitude - , reflecting price to quality and actual usability. The last I looked, nobody has every stood up and said I wrote a great script or book because of my expensive pen... sure you can be inspired buy your instrument... but it doesn't make you a better person or more creative because the brand name inflates the cost... but not necessarily the actual value. Pens aren't musical instruments.

 

In reality, a MB fountain pen should be more money than a Lamy allstar... But $780.00 more???? for resin? If you believe that I have a bridge to sell you. But to each his own... I have both. If you want a pen with diamonds and bells and whistles god bless... doesn't make you a better writer though. The notion that FP's is just a rich mans hobby kills me.

 

I don't think buying less expensive pens is "collecting" pens... they most likely get used more the the $500 pens.

 

Here's some reasons for buying less expensive pens as a Fountain pen enthusiast.... everyday bang around use... you don't want to lose a good $500 plus pen out and about.... or you just like the way they write!!!

 

I'm a FP ink fanatic... for each ink I buy, I buy a Lamy or Pilot for it. My inks get their own pens.

 

People just hate to admit, that a $50 Lamy filled with MB Toffee pretty much does the same job as a $800 MB filled with MB Toffee... on paper there's really not a $750 difference. I remember when MB fountain pens were less than $300.00 the only thing that has changed with the pen all these years later is just the price more than doubled... for the same exact Resin pen... you're actually paying for German employees with 8week vacations,&nice pension plans.

[amcityink]

For me part of the fun of FP's is finding the best pen for it's value... 40 years plus of FP use... and the value for some $25.00 -$50.00 pens is truly amazing.. the quality for the price has never been this good.

 

Trust me as a traveling salesmen and illustrator, I've lost enough high end expensive pens to appreciate the options of less expensive pens with excellent value and quality.

[Moose22]

 

And especially people who DEFEND brand new pens that don't write smoothly and with no skips and hard starts right out of the box.

 

Talking to YOU Lamy fans!

 

Pinnacle of German engineering my keister. Shouldn't take a 2 day bath in ammonia, much less an ultrasonic cleaner, to get my pen writing smoothly.

[lgsoltek]

For me I just can't understand those fancy ink bottles: what's the point of that? Like Montblanc's shoe shape, Eidelstein, J. Herbin's bottles with a pointless pen-rest, the heart-shaped bottles, 1670s with a faux wax seal (seriously?) et cetera et cetera... It's an atrocity to ask costumers to pay a lot than necessary just for the bottle. R&K's bottles seem just the right one to me, solid, practical and not ugly. I know some people like such fancy bottles, but for those like me who don't like to pay for the bottle there's no way to use such ink at a reasonable price then. In an ideal world ink manufacturers should sell inks in two kinds of bottles: a cheap ugly yet sturdy bottle for me and a fancy expensive one for those who like them.

[lgsoltek]

Also a few days ago I was looking at TWSBI pens. I found a lot of reviews of 540, 580 and the like in the forum. Almost every review says it's dry, it skips, but at the end almost everyone says they love these pens. I mean, how? why? How can you like a pen right out of the box that skips?

[Christi0469]

I'm pretty sure that this has already been said but my biggest pet peeve on the board is people whom double (or worse) the budget on pen recommendations. If someone asks for pen recommendations in the $25 or $75 range the aren't ready to pay for a M600, or worse yet a Monteblanc. If you really want to recommend that high end pen, at least put the caveat of "when/if you are ready to spend more on a pen.......".

 

The same thing happens when someone specifically mentions reliablity. Someone will invariably recommend TWSBI (cracking) , Noodler's (high dud rate), or even Chinese pens.

[amcityink]

How about people who don't realize that most of the times the inks quality and thickness has a lot to do with clogs, and slow starts and skipping. It's amazing what a few drops of diluted water in the ink does to help the flow and even a quick dip of your pen in water when you it's sat for a while.

 

It's amazing how some inks make any pen feel good.

 

 

Had an art professor who once said, it's not the bum pen, it's the bum holding the pen.

[de_pen_dent]

Where is the Nakaya, Omas (fill in other luxury brand) bashing??? They`re equally expensive!

 

Those are niche brands. It is totally cool to support a niche brand and sneer at mainstream brands. It is a way to set oneself apart from the crowd. Apple was once the brand of choice for those who saw themselves as walking apart from the herd - now, there are people who bash Apple simply as a way to prove their individuality. It's human nature.

 

My peeve would be when someone comes in asking for a $400-500 or whatever pen, and someone has to recommend a TWSBI or a Safari or a Metropolitan. Or when a college/grad student asks for a pen, everyone advises him to get a cheap pen and save money to pay off college loans. Come on people. FPN doesnt stand for Financial Planning Network.

Edited August 13, 2014 by de_pen_dent

[Christi0469]

My peeve would be when someone comes in asking for a $400-500 or whatever pen, and someone has to recommend a TWSBI or a Safari or a Metropolitan. Or when a college/grad student asks for a pen, everyone advises him to get a cheap pen and save money to pay off college loans. Come on people. FPN doesnt stand for Financial Planning Network.

 

I recommend Metropolitans but I try to tailor my recommendations to what the O.P. asks for. I read the expensive recommendation requests but I don't comment because I don't have the knowledge to make a helpful suggestion. I guess my real pet peeve is recommending something inappropriate to the requestor's parameters. I may have accidentally violated that myself but I try harder now to recommed based on the request. For a colledge student/grad I would recommend a cheaper pen if the request is open-ended, but I agree their financial status isn't my business. A pen to celebrate a milestone should have at least a little splurge to it.

[Duke of Buckingham]

I don't understand the hate for C/C fillers. When I actually have a pen in my hand and I'm writing - as opposed to typing on the internet about writing with fountain pens - the actual filling system is immaterial. I like the fact that, even if it runs out while I'm at work, I can remove the converter and put in a cartridge. Although, in all honesty, if a pen were to run out in use all I have to do is open my top drawer where I have a choice of three or so back-up pens to continue writing with.

 

I don't understand why pen companies don't make nibs available to custom makers. If I was CEO at Pilot, I'd have my head of marketing phone each and every custom maker and pen turner writing here and at other websites, to offer them the full range of product. In return I'd ask that they give feedback to the R&D and marketing departments. That info would be priceless. (In the way that kit cars are always a VW Beetle in disguise, custom pens may look like a moon buggy from Mars but are almost always based on one of those German screw-in nibs. New pen, same old schmidt.)

 

I don't understand why the pen market has retreated from hooded nibs. I know there's no bore like a Parker 51 bore, but I believe that particular pen marks a design high point - an understated, practical pen designed to write. Frankly, I use a pen to put ink on the page. If I want to look good, I'll brush my hair and wear a suit. A fountain pen makes you look like a nerd; a glitzy one with a big logo just makes you look like a wealthy nerd. Despite this, all pens available these days have to have nibs like shovels - and a whole bunch of glitzy gold (even if it's just painted on) to make guys sat in cubicles think they have been transformed into the chairman of the board. Look at me! Look at me now! Gold! Logo!

 

And, I know I'm a bit odd, but I find smooth nibs too smooth. I like some feedback. I like to hear the sound of writing. (I'm also a pervert for ebonite.)

 

Reviews. . . Please, please, please don't keep giving it 10/10 just because it's your new pen and you're still in love. Put things into perspective. Also, please don't review Chinese pens by listing the failings and then adding ". . . yes, but for what it cost, what do you expect?" I own a couple of fantastic Chinese pens that live in my briefcase and desk drawer as inexpensive back-ups, but others that are, frankly, a rather nice nib attached to a clunky, heavy barrel with the ergonomics of a brick. (I'll transplant the nibs, however.)

 

Flex appeal. . . I don't get this one. If I want full flex, I'll use a dip pen. There is no point, with my handwriting. I could learn, I guess, but I write fast, and to get a point over. My handwriting just has to be neat enough to be legible.

 

Oh, and a pen is just a tube with a nib attached. Some I've liked more than others, but they've all done a job.

[Duke of Buckingham]

 

Double post - can't stand those either. Focus, people!

Edited August 18, 2014 by Duke of Buckingham

[Christi0469]

I don't understand the hate for C/C fillers. When I actually have a pen in my hand and I'm writing - as opposed to typing on the internet about writing with fountain pens - the actual filling system is immaterial. I like the fact that, even if it runs out while I'm at work, I can remove the converter and put in a cartridge.

 

 

They are also easier to clean than piston fillers and the like.

[Floreat]

I'm fairly new to fountain pens, so am certainly not an expert, but here's my opinion on stuff so far:

 

1) I was given a Montblanc Meisterstuck Classique for my birthday last week by an outrageously generous friend, and out of all of my pens collection this is the only one that skips and has hard starts despite me having flushed it carefully before inking it, using a "wet" ink in it etc. I'm going to try it with MB ink (have to, it's a condition of the guarantee) but foresee a trip to the MB boutique to get the nib sorted or swapped in my near future. It's a shame as I've heard such amazing things about the first time you use a Montblanc pen and had expected to experience an epiphany. Plus, what is "precious resin" anyway? It's just resin, it's nicely made but there's nothing precious about it.

 

2) Out of my collection, the smoothest writer is a pen branded with the "Cacharel" name on the nib which my parents bought from a cruise ship boutique and is probably a cheap Asian-made thing, and the second-smoothest writer is an old pen branded "Pen Ultimo" that appears to be some sort of Waterman ripoff.

 

3) I'm a small female yet I love big chunky heavy pens and my most comfortable pen is a socking great fat heavy Jinhao which writes beautifully and cost about £7.

 

4) Lamy Al-Stars/Safaris are boring-looking but they write brilliantly and I have a bundle of them in various nib sizes, colour-coded to the ink inside.

 

5) I'm one of those people that would pay a premium for a pretty bottle. I prefer Art Deco style ones, so Diamine and Akkerman are my favourite (and aren't that expensive).

 

6) I love glam-looking pens and my current favourite is the TWSBI 580 in rose gold. Those Jinhaos with embossed dragons etc on them are revolting though.

 

7) scented ink rocks.

Edited August 18, 2014 by Floreat

[inkeverywhere]

They say fishing lures aren't designed to catch fish but the anglers looking at a display, aren't we really the same with our FP's!

 

Greg

 

"may our fingers remain ink stained"

[aawhite]

They say fishing lures aren't designed to catch fish but the anglers looking at a display, aren't we really the same with our FP's!

 

Greg

 

"may our fingers remain ink stained"

 

+1 on the fishing lure (also very true for fountain pens).

[kazoolaw]

I don't understand the hate for C/C fillers.

 

Cartridges are little and fumbly.

 

When you pull one out you now have to throw it away. Somewhere.

 

When the insertion goes wrong you have a barrel and a hand full of leaking, oozing ink.

 

You can't top it off, like a piston filler. You can either (1) throw it away, wasting the remaining ink, or (2) use a syringe to refill the cartridge which is more trouble than another filler type.

 

The cartridge is ugly.

 

They come in snarky little boxes (though I must bow down to the Herbin cannisters).

 

Can we waste any more plastic? Maybe refill them with water and sell them for a $1.

 

With most pen barrels twice their size, must they be so little?

 

They have no heart or soul.

[cellmatrix]

What gets me are people who create a new FPN identity, immediately start a thread on their first post usually to promote something, for example the recent what's your favorite noodlers ink thread on inky thoughts, then log off and are never heard from again. It just seems so manipulative.

Edited August 20, 2014 by cellmatrix

[zchen]

The only problem with C/C is the capacity. Why ask us to fork out hundreds of dollars for a pen that use a $5 converter that holds .5~.7ml? how about spending some of that R&D money and start converters at 1ml, There's pleny of space left in that barrel, Yes I'm looking at you, Lamy, Visconti, Delta, Parker, etc etc. The world needs more converter with Con-70 like capacity.

 

Smoothness is overrated. If you want it so smooth go write with a brush pen or felt tip marker.

 

When it comes to that shape of pens people always say oh it's a Montblanc Copy, the Sheaffer Balances sheds many tears.

 

that's it for now.

[Black Spot]

My pen is better than your pen.

Really?

Well YMMV.