Visionnaire Fountain Pen

[bigd]

At the very least, he will be able to speak from experience to those people who find FPN because the Visionaire whetted their appetite for fountain pens.

 

That's me. Since I canceled my pledge for the visionaire I have acquired 4 pens that I write with and I have about 6 more that I am restoring. I have gone a little crazy.

[OnePenGuy]

FWIW - another person's pov. Don't know if the points bring up anything new, but I just noticed it.

[gerigo]

FWIW - another person's pov. Don't know if the points bring up anything new, but I just noticed it.

Thanks for pointing out the entry. It was a good read, and the evidence quite compelling. The point made at the end though is the one that really brought home the original intention of Kickstarter for me.

 

That they are a platform for people to try ideas that are new to the world. So that others would benefit from this new idea once it's supported by a larger group of people. Selling snake oil is as old as time itself, and am happy that the general public is able to quickly sniff this out and let the project fall by the way side, as the creators of Kickstarter would want the platform to do. I have met with Kickstarter before and they have said they don't interfere in the progress of the projects for this very reason.

 

I am a designer and have worked in the design consulting business for many years, and also in China for 5. I have visited enough vendors and manufacturers, done enough work, and know the mind of the designer enough that I can tell almost immediately this is not the work of a designer but a person who saw an opportunity to source wholesale and sell at retail prices directly to the end user. It's not a kickstarter program worth supporting. But that's my opinion of course.

[RMN]

Interesting Blog.

 

I can fully relate to these remarks.

 

 

A pity really as it was my first contact with Kickstarter.

 

You know about first impressions. First impression of Kickstarter is not favourable.... Hope I get reason to change that impression.

 

D.ick

[GClef]

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496/gclef1114/Tutuguans/IMAG0464-1_zpsf4d6e66e.jpg

[heymatthew]

Interesting Blog.

 

I can fully relate to these remarks.

 

 

A pity really as it was my first contact with Kickstarter.

 

You know about first impressions. First impression of Kickstarter is not favourable.... Hope I get reason to change that impression.

 

D.ick

 

I wouldn't be so quick to judge Kickstarter as a whole because you didn't like this particular project. I have had far more positive experiences with Kickstarter than negative. It's totally worth keeping an eye on KS for upcoming projects that you might be interested in.

Don't write off the experience of crowd funding yet. It's fun to watch a project grow. Even the crappy ones.

[GClef]

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496/gclef1114/Tutuguans/IMAG0468-1_zpsc1e9e735.jpg

 

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496/gclef1114/Tutuguans/Screenshot_2013-11-01-15-50-42-1_zpsc6874bd1.jpg

 

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496/gclef1114/Tutuguans/IMAG0469-1_zps2fc10f37.jpg

[welch]

It's hard to understand the hostility to this $45 pen. Priced about $10 more than a Safari, and a clean, simple, and more "middle-road" design than the Safari's "disciplinary" grip ("you will hold a Safari like THIS...or else!") and the Safari's paper-clip-clip. Yes, we all know what "Irridium point Germany" means. I'd guess the pen is manufactured in China.

 

FPN has several (many?) threads asking, "How do I get the Ahab / Konrad to behave?" Those pens were made in India; the Ahab is shaped like the Camlin SD, a first-rate pen. Ahab seems to have changed the filling system from the SD, but probably not for the better. Yet, people suggest do-it-yourself suggestions to fix Ahab problems, rather than throw bottles of BSB at Noodler.

 

I wish the Visionaire had been manufactured in Camden, NJ, and designed to take a twist-in swapable nib-unit. So, it's not an Estie. It is priced higher than many Chinese pens, but the mark-up is not far off the mark-up at XFountain Pens -- an outfit I like because of the way they name their pens and because they remarket Diamine ink (my all-around favorite). The Visionaire is probably not far off the markup Noodlers puts on its Indian pens.

 

Would I buy a Visionaire? Only after other pens, now, and not as a first pen after having been spoiled, 50 years ago, by getting a Parker 45 dark blue gold nib. A different time.

 

I hope the guy sells his pens and makes some FP converts, and makes more pens.

[TheGreatRoe]

It's hard to understand the hostility to this $45 pen. ..

 

While I hold no hostility toward him or his project, I get why people might be adverse to it.

 

1. Kickstarter is a way for people to raise money for new creative projects. This project isn't that.

2. Reading the description of the project the "designer"is clearly using advertising double-speak to avoid the whole truth (at best).

 

So it's easy to see why people might be against the project.

[fpconverted]

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/730727524/visionnaire-fine-writing-instruments-0

 

No affiliation.

 

Looks neat. I was a big TWSBI fan and this seems like another inexpensive alternative for folks looking to get into fountain pens.

 

I will probably back (haven't yet). I'm a big kickstarter fan, use it almost daily.

Looks like a sheaffer copy!

[stopher]

WOW. I just read this full thread and agree with most comments. Not sure where to start...

 

1. Marketing can sell headphones to a deaf person (forgot who said this already)

2. Manufacturing anywhere in the world is difficult. QC is paramount and very hard to maintain in any industry.

3. I am a designer and artist by profession and agree that this is not the work of an engineer. His first, if that is even true, prototype was much closer to what an engineer would design. Clean straight lines.

4. Check out this scam. Not pen related but I am designing a speaker for a client and he showed me this. http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/rebel-speaker-water-resistant-bluetooth-speaker-speakerphone

Chinese supplier

http://transway.en.alibaba.com/product/1060552004-0/lovely_mushroom_shape_bluetooth_waterproof_speaker_small.html

 

5. This is what will hurt real campaigns as people fall for this (bleep) with a little bit of marketing.

[heymatthew]

Still at it, I see...

 

http://awesomegifs.com/wp-content/uploads/dead-horse.gif

[stopher]

LOL

[MisterBoll]

That image needs to be changed to a dead fountain pen.

[stopher]

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/698964398/Good_price_for_metal_fountain_pen.html

 

I have found one of the suppliers for the Visionnaire Fountain Pen. It really is too bad that this guy is pulling the wool over thousands of peoples eyes!

[heymatthew]

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/698964398/Good_price_for_metal_fountain_pen.html

 

I have found one of the suppliers for the Visionnaire Fountain Pen. It really is too bad that this guy is pulling the wool over thousands of peoples eyes!

 

Okay... Now this is compelling. I've reached out to Kickstarter to let them know about this. I also posted it in the comments section on the actual project page. If this is true, then this guy is screwed. I'm pretty sure KS doesn't put up with this kind of stuff and they may end up requiring him to refund the contributions. At the very least, I'll have my cousin draft up a letter for me from his attorney's office and address it legally on my own.

[stopher]

I feel horrible finding this. I was looking for FP tips to use for a pen I am actually designing and happened to come across this. I feel sick and hope that I am wrong.

[tijntje]

WOW. I just read this full thread and agree with most comments. Not sure where to start...

 

1. Marketing can sell headphones to a deaf person (forgot who said this already)

<SNIP>

 

The other day I heard someone say that even with a handful of ISO certifications, a company may still be in the concrete life jacket business...

Edited November 7, 2013 by tijntje

[recluse]

I feel horrible finding this. I was looking for FP tips to use for a pen I am actually designing and happened to come across this. I feel sick and hope that I am wrong.

 

Why it changes anything? Let's assume they needed to secure the first batch and KS project provided the money. Pens are made and most likely will be delivered to customers. The whole project worked as it's supposed to.

[stopher]

 

Why it changes anything? Let's assume they needed to secure the first batch and KS project provided the money. Pens are made and most likely will be delivered to customers. The whole project worked as it's supposed to.

The way I see this project now is that he didn't design the pen. He simply saw a business opportunity and capitalized with marketing and a made up story. Normally I have no issues with this, but in this case he put together a story around him designing the pen and that is a lie. Some of the comments in thread are holding more weight as you can see he really doesn't know too much about FP.

If this was not done on a crowd funding site under the pretense, of check out the pen I designed, then power to him for creating a new brand.