M400 Brown Tortoise

[The Good Captain]

I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on one of these little beauties!

 

 

September, here in the UK, it seems. Wonderful!

[Misfit]

I'd like to have a brown tortoise also.

[Bo Bo Olson]

I don't like the modern nib, but could put a vintage nib on it. I do like the gold bands at the piston cap.

 

My '90's W. Germany tortoise 400 don't have that.(My first Pelikan) I was at a live auction, and there it was listed a '50's 400 tortoise.I thought the dealers would snap it up, so it was out of my price range.

 

I'd some interest in getting a couple of brick orange old '50-60's Lamy's at the start price of 25 euro's, so put up my paddle, in seconds I got my paddle down as they hit 75.

So I 'knew' I had no chance at the 400....start bid of 70....going once.....going twice...I yanked that paddle out of my wife's had so fast it left skid marks on her palm. I got it for minimum bid.

 

Shortly after I found out it was not a '50's pen, (W, Germany) nor was it semi-flex, that I had only read about. Pretty though.

 

Now I'm more appreciative of the springy 'true' regular flex nibs of that era with the cleaner line and the 200's that are it's equal, than I was for a while. Yep.... for a while I was a semi-flex snob.

But true regular flex depending on the ink and paper often shades better than the wetter semi-flex.

And semi-vintage or vintage M is good width.

 

My 400N and 500 have a lighter tortoise.

 

As soon as I hit the lottery, there are the '30's tortoise pens.

[sargetalon]

It's a beautiful pen with a barrel that seems to be made from the same material as the M800 tortoise from 2013. I think the vintage tortoise material had a bit more character but these productions are wonderful and I'm sure destined to fly off of store shelves.

[hilsedwards]

Very tasty but with a quoted price of £295 a tad overpriced in my opinion.

[Matlock]

Just reserved mine.

[mitto]

That is a beautiful pen.

[white_lotus]

It's really lovely, But in the US a regular M400 goes for $375 to $400 now, which is 20 to 25% off the list of $500, I'll have to pass. Given that I can get a 1950s M400 Brown Tortoise for about $300 here in the US, I don't understand Pelikan's and the US importer's pricing strategy. They'll just price themselves out of their market.

[PAKMAN]

Very glad they decided to re issue the m400 in tortoise. I will probably not pick one us as a have a nice example of a much earlier 400 with a nice flexy nib.

[mitto]

Very glad they decided to re issue the m400 in tortoise. I will probably not pick one us as a have a nice example of a much earlier 400 with a nice flexy nib.

 

Same here. I have one from early 80s with a flexy M nib from 50s' 400.

[a m a r g o]

Tempting, but as many have said, they out priced themselves on this one...

[Calabria]

I don't like the modern nib, but could put a vintage nib on it. I do like the gold bands at the piston cap.

 

My '90's W. Germany tortoise 400 don't have that.(My first Pelikan) I was at a live auction, and there it was listed a '50's 400 tortoise.I thought the dealers would snap it up, so it was out of my price range.

 

I'd some interest in getting a couple of brick orange old '50-60's Lamy's at the start price of 25 euro's, so put up my paddle, in seconds I got my paddle down as they hit 75.

So I 'knew' I had no chance at the 400....start bid of 70....going once.....going twice...I yanked that paddle out of my wife's had so fast it left skid marks on her palm. I got it for minimum bid.

 

Shortly after I found out it was not a '50's pen, (W, Germany) nor was it semi-flex, that I had only read about. Pretty though.

 

Now I'm more appreciative of the springy 'true' regular flex nibs of that era with the cleaner line and the 200's that are it's equal, than I was for a while. Yep.... for a while I was a semi-flex snob.

But true regular flex depending on the ink and paper often shades better than the wetter semi-flex.

And semi-vintage or vintage M is good width.

 

My 400N and 500 have a lighter tortoise.

 

As soon as I hit the lottery, there are the '30's tortoise pens.

I also have a hankering for the original terracotta Lamy Safari. I remember when it came out, I was in high school in Germany, and the Safari "look" was all the rage. Nice color, kind of like the Pelikan Burnt Orange.

[sargetalon]

I agree that US pricing is problematic these days and that the M400 tortoise will be tough for many to justify based on price alone but deals are to be had for those willing to purchase overseas and forego domestic warranty support. For instance, the upcoming M400 brown tortoise can be found from $268-300 for US buyers. That's decent pricing for a new tortoise, particularly on the low end.

[Abner C. Kemp]

I agree that US pricing is problematic these days and that the M400 tortoise will be tough for many to justify based on price alone but deals are to be had for those willing to purchase overseas and forego domestic warranty support. For instance, the upcoming M400 brown tortoise can be found from $268-300 for US buyers. That's decent pricing for a new tortoise, particularly on the low end.

 

Any idea where I could find a pen in the U.S. at that price range??

[sargetalon]

 

Any idea where I could find a pen in the U.S. at that price range??

 

 

I would say that that is an impossible task. Sorry. That's part of the problem with the big price disparity between US vendors and overseas vendors. Also, I have not seen this pen offered domestically to date.

Edited August 31, 2016 by sargetalon

[conib]

This past Saturday Mike Masuyama performed a miracle on my modern mushy blob-tipped M101N tortoiseshell brown "F" nib. I had (also) brought with me a M205 "F", and I asked him if he could make my M101N write like it.

 

He did.

 

So now I am no longer stuck with trying to find increasingly expensive pre-'97 nibs for my modern gold-furnitured Pelikans.

 

I have been very, very happy with the service and prices of the overseas dealer Le Couronne du Comte, and I plan to order a M400 Tortoise from them.

[inkstainedruth]

It's really lovely, But in the US a regular M400 goes for $375 to $400 now, which is 20 to 25% off the list of $500, I'll have to pass. Given that I can get a 1950s M400 Brown Tortoise for about $300 here in the US, I don't understand Pelikan's and the US importer's pricing strategy. They'll just price themselves out of their market.

 

And a couple of years ago I got one from the 1990s on eBay for a whole lot less than $300. It was my first bird: it's absolutely gorgeous, and the nib is quite springy (maybe not one of Bo Bo Olsen's wet noodle flexers, but it's got nice line variation). Really thought that I wanted a striated blue, but that one came along first and, in retrospect, it was not a mistake to have gotten. Well except maybe as my wallet is concerned -- because I then ended up buying four more Pelikans (five if you count the replacement M200 Café Crème for the one I lost last spring...). My husband doesn't blink about me now having something like eight Parker Vectors. But the Pelikans? Those cost a whole lot more than a Vector (except of course for the first M200 -- it was a gift from a friend, who found it on Freecycle, so it didn't cost *her* anything except for gas to go get it; but it's probably *worth* about $100...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[LuckyKate]

I feel like I should start a new thread: Pelikan 400 brown tortoise or new vacuum cleaner (my old one is broken)?

[da vinci]

I feel like I should start a new thread: Pelikan 400 brown tortoise or new vacuum cleaner (my old one is broken)?

You need a thread for that luckykate?

[LuckyKate]

You need a thread for that luckykate?

I need some sort of calculus for when to buy a want over a need. Let's say I need a vacuum cleaner 6/10 (the attachments still works so I can use the attachment and my house is small--but still. . .).

 

But my desire for the pen is about a 9. And I have 0 need: I have several m200s and an M800 brown tortoise (this is too big but I could always sell it except that it has a gorgeous nib, a Binder.9 cursive italic that I am in love with).

 

I'd also need to find an equation that would factor in loss of self-respect (a want vs. a need) vs. the gain of pleasure (life is short plus I can vacuum on my hands and knees for a month as penitance).

 

etc. etc. Did I mention I really like the brown tortoise? I'm going to try and be strong!