Brands You Will Never Buy From

[myn]

I'd have to say the Noodler's Ahab - it was an interesting pen but I can't get past the perfume of it.

 

I definitely am leery of any of the modern Parker or Sheaffer pens and of course some pens are strictly off

limits because of budget constraints.

 

For the most part though if I like the looks of a pen and it's reasonable in cost I tend to put it on my wish list.

[51ISH]

Some manufacturers make pens that you try and just don't care for. Some great old makers like Parker and Sheaffer have been bought by modern conglomerates and the pens might have lost a lot of their appeal, but who knows whether those and other companies might come to be owned by a person or group who actually cares about reinventing the product and restoring the product appeal?

 

Never say never.

 

What a great reply.

[nana_kathy]

The only pen I've ever thrown away was a Zebra 301 I bought at the drug store... I bought it because I liked their cartridge filler rollerball. It was a disaster, slow start, stalled with only a short pause in writing, nib was impossibly scratchy. It was just terrible. While vintage Sheaffers make up a good portion of my collection, I'm not too fond of their modern pens either. Guess they just don't make them like they used to.

[82Greg]

Interesting topic.

 

I don't believe I would never buy a brand, and would prefer to evaluate each product individually. However, I have bought no Montblanc's or Waterman's (although several vintage models are quite appealing.) Further, the four Parkers and two Sheaffer's I own are all vintage.

 

I charted the comments in a spreadsheet. Montblanc wins the race, followed closely by Parker. Virtually every brand I can think of is mentioned at least once or twice. Japanese brands were much less mentioned than various European brands--perhaps a reflection of the U.S. - Euro centric user group.

 

Dishonorable mentions go to: Cross, Krone, Lamy, Montegrappa, Noodler's, Sheaffer, TWSBI, Visconti, and Waterman.

 

 

http://gyazo.com/4e2732644b92865e06bc2bf7bd7263e6.png?1341448354

Edited July 5, 2012 by 82Greg

[gks]

Interesting topic.

 

I don't believe I would never buy a brand, and would prefer to evaluate each product individually. However, I have bought no Montblanc's or Waterman's (although several vintage models are quite appealing.) Further, the four Parkers and two Sheaffer's I own are all vintage.

 

I charted the comments in a spreadsheet. Montblanc wins the race, followed closely by Parker. Virtually every brand I can think of is mentioned at least once or twice. Japanese brands were much less mentioned than various European brands--perhaps a reflection of the U.S. - Euro centric user group.

 

Dishonorable mentions go to: Cross, Krone, Lamy, Montegrappa, Noodler's, Sheaffer, TWSBI, Visconti, and Waterman.

 

 

http://gyazo.com/4e2732644b92865e06bc2bf7bd7263e6.png?1341448354

 

I'm calling this a win for Edison, not a single mention? That's pretty awesome!

 

Out of the box, the only pen I can't say I've been happy with TWSBI. For the price they're nice, but now that I have much more expensive pens (Edison, Pelikan and Pilot) I would put TWSBI lower on my wish list. In their price range, great pens, outside of their price range, they're just ok.

[hsianloon]

sailor.

have a sailor sapporo and it writes like a rusty nail trying to masquerade as a fountain pen

 

 

You do yourself a disservice by jumping to conclusions based on a sample size of one. Sailor makes some of the most interesting beautifully writing fountain pens out there, yet you have denied yourself the chance of ever finding that out, based on a single pen experience.

 

Presumably if your first dating experience had been similarly unsatisfactory, you'd be writing this from a monastery (or nunnery, whichever may apply).....

 

I see the Sailors have a strong defence team! I'm not particularly loaded so I probably wont go for the same brand twice if the first purchase was a bad one. Maybe someday in the future when I get a better job and wealth flows easier I'll revisit Sailor again..but for now I bought a M600 Pelikan

[asiras]

I have about forty vintage fountain pen/mechanical pencil sets. I buy what appeals to my eye, without regard to brand. This started with two pen and pencil sets that were owned by my father. I do have, I've discovered, some idiosyncratic rules, for example: only fountain pen and mechanical pencil sets. No metal caps. No cracks or missing clips, etc. Must be, in my guesstimate, redeemable by me. I can do buffing, I can polish, I can replace sacs, i can do some nib repair. That is about as far as it goes.

 

The challenge is to make each set operable. I rarely get a pencil that doesn't work, and, so far, all have been repaired, with the help of a few pencils bought for their mechanical parts. I have, in all, two pens that I can not get to write. The others have all returned, some from near death. I will admit that a couple are a little testy to get going, but once going they function for an evening of writing. The last two, or I had better say the current two, as there will be more, have so far resisted me.

 

Brand quality, for my part of the vintage market, is all over the lot. I think, for the used vintage pens I look at, the brand name is not necessary or largely significant. The writing quality that is there today comes from brand plus storage conditions plus usage. A good brand with a lot of use may not write well if the tip is worn off, while a no-name that saw no use may write just fine.

 

My favorite is a set marked "Skillins Collegiate"

[akrishna59]

i will never buy a montbutcher. they are exactly opposite of what fp culture and tradition is all about.

 

rgds.

 

krishna.

[ERdept]

Unhappy with Noodlers pens, but happy with most all of their inks and the variety the offer.

[plumeau]

Unappy with many differant brant, but I think that a brand can have excellent and very bad pens or inks. I wouldn't generalize.

[derevaun]

I'm pretty sure I can avoid buying anything from Noodler's, simply because of the particular ideological stance they've woven into their branding. More power to 'em, but no thanks.

 

Otherwise, I won't rule anything out. But I feel the need to register advance disappointment in myself should I ever spend serious money on a showy, gold-trimmed, heavier-than-my-hand FP.

[Pen2009]

Cross, Parker and TWSBI.

[dallasjarrell]

Krone

[Algavinn]

There are a few reasons for my first selection, which is Cartier. They are indeed, in large part, gorgeous pens. The materials are beautiful, and the craftsmanship is certainly up there. However their service is TERRIBLE, and their prices for said service are wretched, especially repairs. The pens do not actually write nicely, and are really just status symbol jewelry.

 

Next, Padrino/5280, which are in house brands of Paradise Pen Company. I was an employee of this company, and these pens I can easily say are junk. Some of them write smoothly, but the quality is terrible. Some of the 5280's are solid enough metal components that they may put up with some wear, but sooo many come with defects, and are just so cheap that broken ones are not even repaired, just replaced.

 

 

Otherwise there aren't many companies I'm unhappy with. Some companies, when it comes to fountain pens, I think it's just a better value to go with others, but these are few. Monteverde is among them, though, as I will very strongly urge someone to buy a Lamy over one instead, for example. I just don't think their quality is fantastic and they just don't write very well.

[minimax447]

As we all know, the Emperor's new clothes syndrome affects all personal choice consumer goods. I avoid MB because I think they cost too much for what they are not and are made to be seen and not used. I'd avoid a modern Waterman because I would scratch it within a week

and modern Parkers and Sheaffers because the product no longer matches up to its illustrious name. Then again, tastes and manufacturers change so I live in hope.

[rochester21]

I am very disappointed with Waterman Carene- bought two used on separate occasions, both had flow issues. They are beautiful and built like tanks, the nib is butter smooth, but i had zero luck with them.

Also, the chances are that i will never buy another pelikan M series, since i had a m250 and the pen(even the nib) felt flimsy and the shiny plastic was a fingerprint/dust particle magnet.

[mr T.]

Montblanc wins the race, followed closely by Parker. Virtually every brand I can think of is mentioned at least once or twice. Japanese brands were much less mentioned than various European brands--perhaps a reflection of the U.S. - Euro centric user group.Dishonorable mentions go to: Cross, Krone, Lamy, Montegrappa, Noodler's, Sheaffer, TWSBI, Visconti, and Waterman.

I'm surprised that Chinese brands like Hero, Duke or Jinhao are not on the list (and are not even mentioned).

[Algavinn]

I did also forget to mention Conklin. A month or more back I got a shipment to my store of a selection after having not had them for several years due to quality problems. Guess what? They were all terrible cheap pieces of (bleep). I couldnt get most of them to even write consistently with any degree of pressure, let alone their cheap plastic materials (making a lamy safari look like a Mont Blanc). Utter rubbish. Anything Yafa too.

[Xqmano]

Montblanc wins the race, followed closely by Parker. Virtually every brand I can think of is mentioned at least once or twice. Japanese brands were much less mentioned than various European brands--perhaps a reflection of the U.S. - Euro centric user group.Dishonorable mentions go to: Cross, Krone, Lamy, Montegrappa, Noodler's, Sheaffer, TWSBI, Visconti, and Waterman.

I'm surprised that Chinese brands like Hero, Duke or Jinhao are not on the list (and are not even mentioned).

 

Probably because they are cheap enough that even though you aren't particularly keen on them, you might throw one in the shopping cart because you are curious.

[Xeros]

I don't think I will ever buy a Montblanc for what you get they are way to over priced!