Pelikan To Discontinue Bb, 3B And All Oblique Nibs

[Sach]

I've recently heard that Pelikan have discontinued all oblique as well as BB and 3B nibs. I'm sad, as BB is an exceptional nib, and one that also lends itself well to customisation, which also is the case with the 3B. Anyone else share this view?

[lapis]

Well, that is definitely a bummer because my very most favourite pen (of any brand) is my M900 (green striations) which has a BB nib. I have often thought that my next Pelikan would now have to be a 3B or an oiblique). I think I'll try and find out how likely that is by phoning Pelikan on Monday. Letr's keep our fingers crossed! Congratulations on joining the club. Still bad news as a first posting. BUt stick around... you'll be happy here...

 

Mike

[oknrabata]

I only carer for the finer nib sizes but I care for companies offering more than F,M and B. I always thought that their specialty broad nibs were in high demand but I might be wrong. Would be a shame to drop them.

The BB on the M205 DUO is a real pleasure although I don't know what to use it for

[Mags]

Well I want a M1000 and it has to have an OBB or BB nib when I buy one so discontinued or not I hope there are nibs still in stores for this pen!

[saskia_madding]

Oh man, this is NOT good news. I'd better get an m625 BB immediately! Please let us know what Pelikan says.

[lapis]

I only carer for the finer nib sizes but I care for companies offering more than F,M and B. I always thought that their specialty broad nibs were in high demand but I might be wrong. Would be a shame to drop them.

The BB on the M205 DUO is a real pleasure although I don't know what to use it for

Oops, I forgot that one too. I just use it for any ol' thing, not highlighting. Although I do like it, my forgetting to mention it here probably does shed a hint or two...

[Indy_Pen_Dance]

Would you care to share you source on this rumor?

[Richard]

I've recently heard that Pelikan have discontinued all oblique as well as BB and 3B nibs. I'm sad, as BB is an exceptional nib, and one that also lends itself well to customisation, which also is the case with the 3B. Anyone else share this view?

I'm sorry, but "I've heard" isn't a useful source. Where did you hear this rumor? I'm an authorized Pelikan dealer, and I've not heard any such thing.

[Mr Ink]

I heard this piece of information a week or so ago. If memory serves me well, it was on an electronic newsletter from Niche Pens, UK (but I may be wrong). The reason I can't remember the source is that I had thought to myself that it would not really affect my enjoyment of Pelikan pens (I love their medium nibs).

[encremental]

Mr Ink is correct. Ross Adams of Niche Pens, the UK's main Pelikan dealer sent an email to customers on July 17th. I'm sure he won't mind me quoting:

 

'We are also sorry to say that we have learnt from Pelikan that they will no longer produce nibs wider than B in the standard range. The BB nibs will be available to order, but 3B and all Oblique nibs (OM, OB, OBB & O3B) are no longer being produced. We have a limited stock of these larger nibs either fitted to pens or individually.'

 

Niche have been correct with other stuff (the introduction of theTortoise M800, for example was dismissed as rumour by some) so I'm inclined to believe this. If true, at least BB is better than nothing, but it is an insane decision.

 

John

[Bo Bo Olson]

I suggest buying as many as you can afford...even more and as wide as possible in that some one else can take a 3B down to a BB or make an Oblique out of it.

 

Rats...now there will be a rush to buy vintage OB nibs.

[encremental]

And in spite of Ross's remarks, there are actually no 3B nibs left on the Niche site .

 

Same goes for The Writing Desk and Andy's Pens. As it happens, although I mostly use M, F & EF nibs, I had been thinking for a while that a 3B would be fun to have, given their outrageous reputation and that would actually be feasible as a signature pen, as Pelikans are so good at never drying out no matter how long they are left. Also an excuse to try a black & silver M800 to see if it was nice enough to justify the £100 premium if I wanted a M1005 SE (update: lovely, yes - but no, not really).

 

Ross's email spurred me into action, and last week I found a 3B M805 at Cult Pens (who still have the full range - and am I right that 3B & O3B are only for the M800 and M1000?) and am waving the gorgeously gushy monster around as I type. So if you've ever thought about one, I should be quick.

 

Surely the USP of Pelikan , and proof of their seriousness as a pen manufacturer, is their range of easily interchangeable nibs. OK, I can see the need for boxed mediums in airports and department stores, but apart from that, doesn't it make sense for dealers to fit the customer's nib from their stock, or if a small dealer who cannot make the investment (and I imagine it is quite a big investment) then getting a nib on special order? The whole glory of our connected age is that the 'long tail' phenomenon should make something like speciality nibs a given. Cutting out obliques? Personally, I can't use them but .... are they mad??

 

In fact, rather than reducing the range of nibs, I would have thought they should be expanding it. A proper set of italics, Conway Stewart Style, available in all countries, not just Germany,for a start. And if the investment is too great, then why not make the speciality nibs only available in steel? In my experience, the in-house steels are more interesting than the newer gold anyway.

 

John

[lapis]

I'll go along with that:

[A] If they consider 3B+ etc a luxury, then why not go ahead and do offer the chance to order it for a small increase in price?

Since I find my own M215 nib better than a lot of gold nibs (with or without rhodium), then why not go ahead and offer at least this type of nib for future 3B+ nibs ???

 

Hmmm??

[Eccles]

Well, that is definitely a bummer because my very most favourite pen (of any brand) is my M900 (green striations) which has a BB nib. I have often thought that my next Pelikan would now have to be a 3B or an oblique)... Mike.

 

I bought my black M1000 with a OBB nib from Niche pens earlier in the year, and love it; I normally keep a pen in use for one fill before rotating, but this combination stayed in use for two refills and remained tempting even then.

 

As suggested, it makes a great 'signature' pen, but it's not limited to that. I find it improves my handwriting, which tends to small and scribbly... the bigger nib and bigger hand improve legibility & style by several orders of magnitude.

 

(I'm slightly miffed they didn't send me the newsletter.)

 

Regards,

Glenn.

[elderberry]

This info has been posted on the German pen board almost a year ago so yes, sadly it is true. Reasons might be low sales and a relatively high percentage of returns because people bought an oblique and expected an italic - at least that's what Pelikan stated on this matter.

 

I used to love Pelikans for their choice of nibs especially since it's so easy to exchange them yourself. Reducing this variety is a sad thing.

[mirosc]

This info has been posted on the German pen board almost a year ago so yes, sadly it is true.

If I remember correctly it was about all oblique nibs, when Pelikan announced to stop producing them and just to sell the remaining nibs.

What they didn't announce last year was to stop the production of anything that's wider than B (i.e BB 3B). That's new, but I might me mistaken - it's a year ago.

 

I'm not surprised if they limit their nib selection even more now, it's just a logical follow-up after discontinuing the obliques.

Edited July 28, 2013 by mirosc

[Fabienne]

Typical marketing decision. They are in business to make money and if the really wide and oblique nibs are not selling, they are going to be discontinued. Too bad.

[legume]

As I use finer nibs I can't say this affects me much but it is certainly a pity that Pelikan is reducing its offerings. The special thing about Pelikan pens was that they had a wide selection of regular production nibs on top of being able to change nibs easily. Without that variety, I can't help but feel that their interchangeability just isn't as valuable. I was hoping to get a BB ground into a stub sometime in the future to see if I would like wider nibs. Now I'm hoping I don't so I don't regret missing out on the 3B nib should I ever want it. But I'm glad the BB will continue to be available.

[Ernst Bitterman]

I might suggest that any energy one has to lament this decision be plowed into communiticating your interest in the wider and weirder points directly to Pelikan. While they're basing decisions on sales, they will be sensitive to a direct outcry and if it's sufficiently numerous they my well review the decision. It's not certain, but it will have rather more effect than any amount of shrieking here-- as comforting as it is to know there's others feeling the same, it's not going into the ear of Pelikan.

 

You might, if you want to keep the shrieking in a forum format, sign onto Pelikan's own forum and repeat all of the above there-- I find there's only one thread about the topic and it's not got a lot of action. If there's a place Pelikan's marketers are apt to attend to, it will be that one.

[mirosc]

You might, if you want to keep the shrieking in a forum format, sign onto Pelikan's own forum and repeat all of the above there-- I find there's only one thread about the topic and it's not got a lot of action. If there's a place Pelikan's marketers are apt to attend to, it will be that one.

Actually there are at least three different threads with quite a lot of responses since the last year, but it's in the German part of the forum. The English forum is a rather underdeveloped and neglected part of it. Actually I doubt that Pelikan's marketers will take that seriously into account when making decisions.