Affordable Pens: Why Never Parker/sheaffer/waterman?

[sciumbasci]

I often read that most the most suggested pens, in the affordable area, according to many tips collected here and there, are the Hero or Lamy or Pelikan (depending on your budget), sometimes Faber Castell (the Loom and the Basic, especially) as an alternative to those. I was just wondering why it's never Parker Jotter or Waterman Graduate, or the Sheaffer VFM.

 

Are those really that bad?

[lmarine0510]

First off, the Parker Jotter is quite an excellent pen, if you want a ballpoint. I don't know much about the Waterman Graduate but from what I've briefly read about it, it seems to be a decent pen. The Sheaffer VFM seems to be hit or miss in quality; some absolutely love it and some hate it. I think the reason that the new pens from the "classic" American brands such as Sheaffer, Parker, and Waterman don't sell well is that they seem to be a far cry from the pens that came from those companies back when they were all made in the USA.

[sciumbasci]

Jotter is also a Fountain Pen

 

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u9G1WW2jUbU/Ugix3TQMnII/AAAAAAAABgY/EI9UgJ-rFnk/s1600/WP_20130812_010.jpg

[Schadenfreude]

And i find Parker Vector and IM to be affordable too

[Ian the Jock]

The jotter is a very small pen and not suited to everyone.

I don't know anything about Sheaffers but Watermans tend to be a bit more expensive.

It all depends on what you consider affordable.

At the bottom end of the "affordable" range some of the Chinese pens are absolutely unbeatable value.

 

Ian

[Ian the Jock]

Oh

And I meant to say.

I actually prefer French made Watermans and English made Parkers.

 

Maybe I'm in the minority though.

[sciumbasci]

And i find Parker Vector and IM to be affordable too

 

I thought the Vector was discontinued? It's not showing up in Parker's official site.

[Schadenfreude]

 

I thought the Vector was discontinued? It's not showing up in Parker's official site.

Oh? My local shops still sell them. Some of them sell it for around 20EUR, the other shop around 12EUR, and i bought mine at the nearest by shop for 5EUR.

 

I don't watch official Parker site because it is easy to get Parker pens at shops here so my excuse

Edited March 17, 2016 by Schadenfreude

[pajaro]

Currency inflation makes a lot of pens high priced today. I''m happy to not need any more pens. I don't like the new pen choices available these days in any price range.

[ac12]

People have their biases and knowledge/experience world, and that is reflected in what they recommend.

As a result, you get a distorted picture of what is available, and some excellent pens get left out of the list.

Edited March 17, 2016 by ac12

[ppdiaporama]

In my opinion a Sheaffer 100 is a great starter pen! I regularly recommend it.

 

I prefer Sheaffer's filling system to the intl cartridges or to Lamy's. Their nibs are consistently smooth and farily wet.

 

They are not easy to come by, at least here. The main pen store downtown carries them but that's about it. All the other stationnary stores seem to all get their pens from the same distributor and carry mainly Faber Castell's and Lamy's.

 

Of course, Staples has very basic and cheap Cross'.

[Runnin_Ute]

The newer Parker's I have tried (2 IM's) left a lot to be desired. The ones I have have a tendency for the nib to dry out. When they write and I am not fighting them? Not bad. I think it is something with the cap.

 

My newest Waterman's? Phileas. Terrific pen - to bad they stopped making them. And to get a previously owned one can run anywhere from about $75-$200 in the secondary market. I paid around $50 for mine, and at that price they are a solid pen. In my opinion at much above $75 or so it is to much.

 

No experience with Sheaffer fountain pens. Have a couple of ballpoints though. They were a gift.

 

I do have a Cross Aventura, and while their styling isn't for everyone, it is a nice writer. (mine is a medium) Showed up in my mailbox one day from a penpal. Totally unexpected.

 

Levenger's True Writer line of pens are good. ($69-$99 depending on model) and on the Outlet you can sometimes get them for even less.

[shawndp]

I went through a Sheaffer phase before I discovered the joy of Waterman back at the turn of the century. BUT when I recently bought a Sheaffer 100 Ferrari, it was an utter disaster. Nevermind that it was heavily discounted - it just didn't write the way a nice pen should nor have the finish of a world class brand. It made me consider that had I started with that pen I may not have considered fountain pens as a serious writing tool.

 

With Waterman the Kultur was a smashing intro pen - it just worked... But good luck finding one in Canada easily or for "starter pen" money.

 

And Parker - the Jotter will always be second to the Vector that was my first good FP - but modern Vectors are infiltrated with Luxor Vectors - which just don't write the same.

 

Now balance all those against a Safari that works effortlessly for under $15 or a Faber Castell that has a nib that will let most people overlook most of the pen's faults and the numerous offerings from Japan - Pilot's and Platinum's and it's not so much that the first three are bad pens and more a case of there being better choices.

[sciumbasci]

I went through a Sheaffer phase before I discovered the joy of Waterman back at the turn of the century. BUT when I recently bought a Sheaffer 100 Ferrari, it was an utter disaster. Nevermind that it was heavily discounted - it just didn't write the way a nice pen should nor have the finish of a world class brand. It made me consider that had I started with that pen I may not have considered fountain pens as a serious writing tool.

 

With Waterman the Kultur was a smashing intro pen - it just worked... But good luck finding one in Canada easily or for "starter pen" money.

 

And Parker - the Jotter will always be second to the Vector that was my first good FP - but modern Vectors are infiltrated with Luxor Vectors - which just don't write the same.

 

Now balance all those against a Safari that works effortlessly for under $15 or a Faber Castell that has a nib that will let most people overlook most of the pen's faults and the numerous offerings from Japan - Pilot's and Platinum's and it's not so much that the first three are bad pens and more a case of there being better choices.

Well, that settles it!

Thank you everyone

[KBeezie]

For under $100 (restored), least for Parker/Shaffer, I find the vintage pens to be of better value since you have your Vacumatics, Parker 51, 21, 45, Sheaffer Touchdown, Snorkels, Touchdowns, Balances, etc.

Lots of options that are quite affordable and good choices to pick from.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Jock...you should have seen the strange looks we were given the first time we drove all around Scotland.....we only got rained on twice in the car and once outside of it and not for long. They had some rainy weather and we drove around in a constant or near constant sunny spot. With just enough rain to know it was Scotland....the land of the brave....their drivers make Germans flinch.

 

We were only there for two weeks the first time (second time was better weather) and five or six B&B or hotel folks apologized for the poor weather; looking so strange at us, when we told them we had had only good weather. Must have thought we were from the Amazon or something.

 

Could be if one went to the Parker or Sheaffer sub sections, there would be different answers to what a 'noobie' should buy.

Once about 7-5 years ago, all 'noobies' were told to buy the $15 used Esterbrook, in one could buy different nibs for it then lots cheaper than now. Now at $30-45 none are told to do that.

Edited March 18, 2016 by Bo Bo Olson

[tinto]

Parker Vector is the common first fountain pen for many, including myself. More affordable than Lamy (costs 3 times less) and you will find cartridges everywhere. Nonetheless, their barrels are too fragile and break shortly. Then, I would recommend a safari because its ruggedness.

[sakayume]

I think people are only able to recommend what they know or have experience with, and then it creates a kind of loop. Where I am at least, Lamy is the most common "affordable" fountain pen (quotation marks because no fountain pen is truly affordable when bought from a physical store in Australia ), and they can be found even in places that don't really sell fountain pens (e.g. the magazine shop and the university bookstore).

[TheRealMikeDr]

Frankly I wish someone would have recommended a Pilot Metropolitan to me as a beginner pen as opposed to the Lamy Safari. The Lamy, while a nice and smooth writer - puts out a wet broad line (even with the F nib) which doesn't fit my style. I do like the Lamy but it works more as a magic marker when I write, versus the Pilot (with a fine nib) which writes like a pen.

 

That said - I'm on a tear buying a new pen every other week so I have no regrets. It's very hard for someone new to this to really know what you want until you try a few different pens in my opinion.

[hbdk]

I have had a lot of trouble with Jotters and IMs - the only cheap Parker I have found to be working out of the box is the Frontier - made in India as far as I recall. The Frontier is a very good starter pen IMHO.