What Pen Won't You Buy?

[matteob]

Best Parkers for me are the 25 and 45: great lightweight steel pens. I have a 1940s Victory Mk4 on the way which was recommended to me by a dealer. I grew up on the workaday Parkers in the 80s and they were terrific. The fact they stood up to years of schoolboy abuse and still write well is a testament to them. Sadly the French made pens do not compare to the British and North American pens in quality due to Diamond Rubbermead or whatever they are called cost cutting. I will quite happily though give Noodlers a chance and any one man band. Anyone who can compete against big time corporate dominance and intimidation gets my backing!

[pajaro]

I guess it's not fair to say that the 51 was their only good pen. I like the 51Vacs and the Vacumatics, because they are fun to resac. The ballpoints are truly great as well.

[Manalto]

I have an old Duofold (1930s) that's a gem. It's not built for abuse but, then again, neither am I.

[pajaro]

I have an old Duofold (1930s) that's a gem. It's not built for abuse but, then again, neither am I.

No pen is meant to be abused.

[EricTheRed]

I am open to a pen from any country and have had mostly good experiences from manufacturers around the world. I also generally prefer clear demonstrators as it allows me to easily see the amount of remaining ink and better enjoy the color I am using.

[EricTheRed]

The pen I will not buy or use is one with a scratchy nib, dented body, or metal section.

[vicpen123]

Re Sonnets. I have three, all with a fine nib and acquired in 2008, 2009 and 2013 as new.. None have hard starts or dry out excessively fast (note that converter has limited capacity).

 

They all write well, are lovely to look at with a simple elegant design and are a joy to use.

 

Cannot find vent holes under clips in the caps.

 

I must be one of the lucky ones.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Parkers...Vac, P-51, P-75 and P-45 work.....I heard so many tales of the horrible Sonnet....and hear them in this thread also.

I may have a few flighter sets...but somehow they never counted when I was thinking of fountain pens....I must have three of them. Nails and nothing special.

 

I have some 70 pens and only needed 5 nails....EF-BB...don't know how I ended up with more, but I did. Should get down to 5 or even less. I do need EF in nail....none others when it comes down to it.

I hear it's possible to get a 'true' regular flex nib in a P-75...which is a semi-nail.

 

Pens I'd not buy...with the nib....a 600/400. Body is ok...I can take good nibs out of my '50-60's 400's.

The modern 400/600 nibs are fat blobby semi-nails only good to be made Stub or CI.

I have a 605...I like the girth, the balance posted. I have a '54 semi-flex B on it.

There are many very pretty 600's to be had.....unfortunately with lousy nibs....of course they are butter smooth....so what.

 

I have enough nails...and could get rid of them....In I don't reach for them....not even my Dupont.....

 

Don't like step down sections....I can get by with metal sections...my Celebry pens have that...but it's not step down.

 

If someone can tell me a modern pen has at least 'true' regular flex I could buy it ( other than the 200)....but see no reason to buy semi-nail or nail nibbed pens.

My 200 Amethyst is close to being a demonstrator...but not quite....and I did buy it because it was pretty.

 

Do not buy chrome pens, they are fingerprint traps. I had a Waterman Graduate that was so...first pen I bought on Ebay and the first I sold there.

[parilla]

I will not buy a pen from Germany made prior to 1946 because of a fear that it may have been used to sign some document connected to Nazi policies. It may not be a logical thing - a German from that era may well have used an imported pen - but I suppose it is one way of retrospectively protesting.

I would always look at the pen and wonder...

[TheRealMikeDr]

I will not buy a pen from Germany made prior to 1946 because of a fear that it may have been used to sign some document connected to Nazi policies. It may not be a logical thing - a German from that era may well have used an imported pen - but I suppose it is one way of retrospectively protesting.

I would always look at the pen and wonder...

 

Interesting. I respect that but feel differently. I love history and of special interest to me is the era from the 1930's to the mid 1940's. I would buy a German pen from that era. In fact at the Ohio pen show I held a Montblanc from the late 30's - the asking price was well beyond my budget. I own several other pens from the WWII era (several Parkers and a Sheaffer and a Waterman) and would like to have some pens from other areas as well - Britian and Germany would be of interest as well as Italy and Russia. In fact it would be something to have a pen from every country during the WWII years - maybe that can be a collection focus for me!

[BillH]

 

Interesting. I respect that but feel differently. I love history ...snip... from every country during the WWII years - maybe that can be a collection focus for me!

 

 

I love history too, including the war years, although 1800-1880's American West draws most of my interest.

 

In the gun safe is a Garand, a Mauser, and a Mosin... all shooters, not safe queens. Would love to find a decent Japanese rifle to round out the set, but so far it eludes me in the quality and price range to match the others. I do have a Japanese sword from the time, from my father, but not the rifle... not yet.

 

I know, not pens. Sorry. Where were we? Oh yeah, another one I won't buy (anymore of) are the extremely low end Chinese and Japanese pens. Been there, etc.

[pajaro]

No more lacquered over brass pens, no more anything over brass. Heavy, and all have been disappointing performers.

Edited January 9, 2017 by pajaro

[creeder14]

I probably won't ever own a Montblanc. I don't like the looks of them, except for some vintage ones and the modern Rouge et Noir in red. I find them boring, and the price charged for them is exorbitant. When you buy a Montblanc, you're buying the brand, not the pen. The exact opposite of owning a Conid, which will be my next purchase. Plus, Montblanc has truly awful customer service, which I always object to, and will go out of my way to avoid. Montblancs, especially modern ones, feel like pens that you get as a gift from someone with a lot of money who doesn't really know fountain pens, so they just give you a Montblanc. Lamy 2000s give me the same impression. (I actually bought a 2k, and hated it. Currently selling it) SMALL possibility that I'll get a vintage Montblanc, but I don't even want to add to the second-hand market tbh. I just object to the company.

 

Doubt I'll ever get any pen in charged green or lime green or whatever a given company wants to call it. I just don't like the color. No lime Eco for me, no charged green Al-Star either. There'd have to be something special about the pen to buy it if it were that color.

 

Won't ever buy another pen labeled "tactical". Bought a Schrade Tactical Pen. Actually a good pen, tbh. It's heavy and big and doesn't fit in shirt pockets, but it's got a great nib. Only bought it because Brian Goulet personally recommended it. Realized afterwards how stupid buying a tactical pen is. Not worth the price I payed for how much I enjoy USING it, but I like to fill it with bright, colorful ink and let others use it. It's fun to see their reaction to pastel pink ink coming out of a matte black pen.

 

No more Snorkels, unless I happen to find a great deal for me to resell. I've got my grandpa's, and I've got another I bought in "working" condition the other day (Crust all over the body, snorkel tube rotated ~150 degrees, won't fill, and to top it off, the section is shellacked on. I've got it soaking in water, and I'm gonna try to heat it soon. Hopefully not glue). The filling mechanism is cool, and great for emptying sample vials, but it's such a pain in the ass to clean. I *might* get a PFM, just to try it. More likely I'll get something similar without a Snorkel mechanism.

[JakobS]

The only pens I try to avoid are modern C/C pens. I have been interested in a few of these over the past nine years, and have continued to pass on them because they don't have a more interesting filling system. I expect all of them to be fine writers, so I guess I am looking for something else to have them stand out to me. I suppose too, it has to do with being able to find a writing experience in a pen that has been around for decades (vintage), versus needing a newly manufactured pen to get that result, and so far I haven't felt I am missing out.

[Manalto]

I have been interested in a few of these over the past nine years, and have continued to pass on them because they don't have a more interesting filling system.

 

This reminds me of the apocryphal Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times."

 

I want my filling system to be so boring that I don't think about it until it's time to refill the pen. Capacious would be nice but, above all, BORING.

[JakobS]

 

This reminds me of the apocryphal Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times."

 

I want my filling system to be so boring that I don't think about it until it's time to refill the pen. Capacious would be nice but, above all, BORING.

 

 

More interesting doesn't always mean less dependable, or higher maintenance, that will depend on how one uses it really. But I feel there is a large group of C/C pens that have similar writing behavior, and though may look interesting would be a poor investment as far as gaining much from them. I suppose you could say that about a number of filling systems, but that is what has me avoid most purchases of newly manufactured pens.Does it need to be new for me to need it as a tool? I have found that it doesn't, and have had the greatest satisfaction from the variety of vintage pens that exist. Then, its a matter of getting through the muddle of the selection, to find something that truly differentiates itself from the others.

 

It's a bit impossible to escape interesting times though, there is not a year in anyone's life that could be called boring, only they themselves can make it that way.

[Nullis]

I don't think there's anything I've written off completely, but there's definitely some things that will make a pen a hard sell for me

 

• I'm with JakobS - C/C filling bores me half to sleep. It's ok for a cheap pen, but a pricier cartridge converter pen is going to have to be something really special. (I have just ordered a Karas Ink, so obviously I'm not choosing to die on this hill)
• Traditional style Maki-e art makes a pen so expensive that I feel you have to love that art style to go for it. I don't love that art style, though I massively respect the skilled work that goes into it.
• Modern Montblanc pens feel to me like a statement that says "I want you to know I have a lot of money." I know they aren't and that some people genuinely love them for their simple, elegant design, but I don't find them any better looking than a £10 Jinhao. That said, I love Mb inks and I will​ get my hands on a vintage 220 one of these days.
• Anything over £150 with a steel nib is going to have to really knock me down. Edison pens can get away with it, for example, I'm willing to pay for the craftsmanship and the beauty of them. But the Visconti Van Gogh can Gogh think about what it's done.
• Basically any (modern) pen that is plain black with gold trim. I'm not asking for every pen to be as colourful as something from Kanilea Pen Co, but just... give me something.

I'm really excited to watch myself break every one of these "rules" in the months and years to come

[pajaro]

I probably won't ever own a Montblanc. I don't like the looks of them, except for some vintage ones and the modern Rouge et Noir in red. I find them boring, and the price charged for them is exorbitant. When you buy a Montblanc, you're buying the brand, not the pen. The exact opposite of owning a Conid, which will be my next purchase. Plus, Montblanc has truly awful customer service, which I always object to, and will go out of my way to avoid. Montblancs, especially modern ones, feel like pens that you get as a gift from someone with a lot of money who doesn't really know fountain pens, so they just give you a Montblanc. Lamy 2000s give me the same impression. (I actually bought a 2k, and hated it. Currently selling it) SMALL possibility that I'll get a vintage Montblanc, but I don't even want to add to the second-hand market tbh. I just object to the company.

 

Doubt I'll ever get any pen in charged green or lime green or whatever a given company wants to call it. I just don't like the color. No lime Eco for me, no charged green Al-Star either. There'd have to be something special about the pen to buy it if it were that color.

 

Won't ever buy another pen labeled "tactical". Bought a Schrade Tactical Pen. Actually a good pen, tbh. It's heavy and big and doesn't fit in shirt pockets, but it's got a great nib. Only bought it because Brian Goulet personally recommended it. Realized afterwards how stupid buying a tactical pen is. Not worth the price I payed for how much I enjoy USING it, but I like to fill it with bright, colorful ink and let others use it. It's fun to see their reaction to pastel pink ink coming out of a matte black pen.

 

No more Snorkels, unless I happen to find a great deal for me to resell. I've got my grandpa's, and I've got another I bought in "working" condition the other day (Crust all over the body, snorkel tube rotated ~150 degrees, won't fill, and to top it off, the section is shellacked on. I've got it soaking in water, and I'm gonna try to heat it soon. Hopefully not glue). The filling mechanism is cool, and great for emptying sample vials, but it's such a pain in the ass to clean. I *might* get a PFM, just to try it. More likely I'll get something similar without a Snorkel mechanism.

 

Montblancs look a lot like their Pilot and Sailor look-something-alikes. All the Montblancs I have are wonderful pens to use, and the customer service was as good as any.

 

I share the dislike for Snorkels. A cool gadget, but expensive to restore. It works, but the Sheaffer tip dip pens were also able to fill with the tip of the feed in the ink, making the complicated machinery unnecessary.

[pajaro]

Edited January 10, 2017 by pajaro

[Pichak]

The fountain pens I will not buy are those that has slippery section or too small section. I also dislike heavy pen and the pen that cannot posted or unbalance posted. But what I really hate is hard start pen.