Review: Delta Indios Le

[terminal]

Off topic, but I have to ask. Why does the nib on your TWSBI look like its got a fungal problem? Aren't those nibs normally supposed to be shiny and smooth like the other two in the image?

 

You know... this was probably not the best choice for the review, I should have used another TWSBI nib. I apologize for that I know it's confusing.

 

So THIS TWSBI nib is a Pendleton Brown Bad Boy With Angel Wings. It's a custom grind by pb2 on these forums. It's a marvelous grind, truly. Completely transforms the nib. But anyway, thanks for pointing that out, again, it was a poor choice to use it as a comp.

 

More info:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/214254-introducing-the-bad-boy-with-angel-wings/

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/223449-pendletons-bad-boy-twsbi-now-even-badder/

[olivier78860]

I agree on the nib. At that kind of street prices, a pen has to be absolutely perfect in terms of writing.

The clip looks like it was put on the pen unfinished indeed. The empty square in the middle looks like there should have been a jewell or anything to fill it up, and the engraving looks like someone got bored half-way of doing it.

Also, in 2006, the price of gold was very low. It was before the subprimes crisis and the gold run that ensued. So I think it was more the "limited edition", which seems to be a business model for a few brands, that determined the price.

 

I bought a LE pen too, a Visconti (Forbidden Ciry, reviewed on the site), but got it for a third of the street price. I would never have bought it otherwise.

If I may ask, how much did you end up paying for it ?

[wyldphyre]

Off topic, but I have to ask. Why does the nib on your TWSBI look like its got a fungal problem? Aren't those nibs normally supposed to be shiny and smooth like the other two in the image?

 

You know... this was probably not the best choice for the review, I should have used another TWSBI nib. I apologize for that I know it's confusing.

 

So THIS TWSBI nib is a Pendleton Brown Bad Boy With Angel Wings. It's a custom grind by pb2 on these forums. It's a marvelous grind, truly. Completely transforms the nib. But anyway, thanks for pointing that out, again, it was a poor choice to use it as a comp.

 

More info:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/214254-introducing-the-bad-boy-with-angel-wings/

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/223449-pendletons-bad-boy-twsbi-now-even-badder/

 

Neat. That's a pretty serious nib customisation. Not sure I like the look, but cool anyway.

[terminal]

I bought a LE pen too, a Visconti (Forbidden Ciry, reviewed on the site), but got it for a third of the street price. I would never have bought it otherwise.

If I may ask, how much did you end up paying for it ?

 

Only if I can ask how much 1/3 Street Price is

 

I paid < $200...

[terminal]

Neat. That's a pretty serious nib customisation. Not sure I like the look, but cool anyway.

 

It absolutely isn't any better looking in person than in the picture LOL. See I'm not all about aesthetics! See??

[olivier78860]

In my case, the street price was 3700 dollars, and I got it for a little bit less than a 1/3 of it, thanks to a slightly broken outer box (and possibly difficulties to sell it). It was a pretty good deal, considering the incredible amount of work on the pen. But in general, the limited editions are way to expensive in my opinion.

Edited July 28, 2012 by olivier78860

[georges zaslavsky]

In my case, the street price was 3700 dollars, and I got it for a little bit less than a 1/3 of it, thanks to a slightly broken outer box (and possibly difficulties to sell it). It was a pretty good deal, considering the incredible amount of work on the pen. But in general, the limited editions are way to expensive in my opinion.

Good for you but the general overall finish and quality of built leaves a lot to be desired.

[Koyote]

I'm confused, and this is a serious question: you surely must have seen photos before buying the pen, so you were aware of its aeshetics (which you seem to despise). And your review states that the nib writes nicely, and you mentioned no performance issues, so presumably it writes about as you expect. So, I am wondering why you bought the pen in the first place. I know you didn't pay $900, but you surely paid a few bucks for it -- why do that, if you have only criticism for the pen?

 

No you bring up a good point. I guess, the short answer is, it's a combination of things.

 

1. 
    
   
2. I got it for an absolutely amazing price, by any standard
   
3. I wanted to try a Delta
   
4. I knew it was ugly, but see #1
   
5. I bought it for the nib and was disappointed... even though it's extremely smooth, it's nothing special (unlike a Visconti). So I guess it didn't really write as I expected.
   

 

Edit

I wonder, if everyone only buys pens that they know they like, and only reviews pens that they feel positive about, how all pen reviews are then not positive. Others must make the same lapse in judgement I made or no negative reviews would exist.

 

Okay, so you really did get a good price, which induced you to take a chance. I've done that. I also agree that there is often a tendency to give only positive reviews, which I suppose is natural since a negative review is an implicit admission of a mistake on the reviewer's part -- so I appreciate your candor. I've made expenditures of far more than $200 that turned out to be mistakes!

[raging.dragon]

1. It squeeks
   
2. It's a good nib, but nothing amazing
   
3. It's incredibly over-priced
   
4. It's a c/c
   

Again, just personal preference.

 

No.

 

The squeeking nib is definetly a flaw.

 

Not everyone wants flex. Reliably boring is exactly what many buyers (even many FPN members) want. I must write with a lighter touch than I think, because I don't notice any flex in my Visconti Pd nibs during normal writing (I can flex them if I try, but the pressure required is high enough that it isn't useful to me). So that is indeed a matter of personal preference.

 

What you actually paid suggests that the price has been adjusted (far) downward. At about $200 this pen was about as cheap as you'll find for an new or NOS modern pen with a gold nib. And again, whether or not this pen is worth $900 or $200 or less to you, is a matter of personal preference. Personally, even at the lower price I'd have spent my money elsewhere.

 

It is an unequivocable fact that the pen is a c/c filler. Whether that is good or bad is again a matter of personal preference. Many fountain buyers prefere c/c fillers. I find c/c fillers are more convenient to flush when testing inks; otherwise, I prefere the more complex integral fillers as pieces of engineering artistry.

 

Obviously this pen doesn't suit your preferences, and I have no objection to you stating that. However, that doesn't make the pen rubbish. Others have different preferences, and some would like this pen.

Edited July 28, 2012 by raging.dragon

[Koyote]

To the third paragraph of raging.dragon's post, immediately above, I add this: this pen is being evaluated as if it is a $900 pen, but it is not. Rather, it is a $200 pen, as that is what the OP paid for it. Hell, they can ask any MSRP they want, but the actual selling price is the item's market value.

[ArchiMark]

Sorry to hear that you're so disappointed with this Delta pen.....

 

Have not seen this one before, but overall it looks quite nice.....

 

As for the squeaking, obviously, it should not squeak....but don't understand what part of the pen is squeaking when writing; the nib or ?

 

As for you TWBI that was worked on by nibmeister, I'm not surprised that it writes better....all of my pens that have been modified by nibmeisters write better than my pens that have not been worked....wish it wasn't the case, but it seems to be that's that way it is today...

 

Think for under $200 you got a great deal...and think it would be worth your having the nib worked on....bet you'd be quite pleased with pen then....

 

FWIW, I've had 3 new Deltas (Stantuffo II, Classico Grande, and Stantuffo Star....) and all are great to use....and very high quality...

[JLT]

To the third paragraph of raging.dragon's post, immediately above, I add this: this pen is being evaluated as if it is a $900 pen, but it is not. Rather, it is a $200 pen, as that is what the OP paid for it. Hell, they can ask any MSRP they want, but the actual selling price is the item's market value.

 

Indeed correct. The price a willing buyer will pay a willing seller when both are in possession of all relevant facts and . . . the rest of it.

 

I agree completely that focusing on the suggested retail price and railing against the product's failure to live up to that number is completely unfair. Just curious - how many have been able to score a Visconti HS for less than $200? If there's a reliable source, someone please tell me!

 

I've been very satisfied with the value delivered by all of the Deltas I've purchased - I'm up to six. And, no, I have not paid MSRP for any of them. And, BTW, I have found most of them to be better writers out of the box than many pens with even higher MSRPs, independent of market price.

 

Sadly, focus on the '$900 pen' thing has resulted in some piling-on behaviors.

 

On a final note, the squeeking is probably due to a very slight misalignment of the tines - this can result in a remarkably loud harmonic vibration. Easy to fix and every manufacturer has had a nib with alignment problems slip through QC on occasion. Even on pens with very high MSRPs. Even higher than the Delta Indios LE. Careful - your favorite manufacturer is certainly among them.