Platinum Preppy: Possibly The Best New Fp In The World Right Now?

[TheDutchGuy]

Priced at under 4 euros, the Platinum Preppy might just be the best pen in the world. I love mine. Here's why.

 

I don't have that many pens, althought some people around me think I'm nuts for even having the number that I do have (about 20). The most-heard comments are:

"Oooh, that one looks nice!"

"Pens? Really?" (This is a polite version of "Dude, seek help")

"That must be expensive!"

"Which one is your favourite?"

"Which pen is the best pen?"

These last two questions, those are tough. It's not so easy to pick a favourite pen, at least not for me. Nor to pick the best pen. I can think of several possible criteria to select a favourite/best pen:

A aesthetics, design, beauty, materials used

B collector's item (rarity)

C practical every-day use (size, sturdiness, reliability)

D the writing sensation

E the neatness of your handwriting with a particular pen

F emotional bonding with a pen for no apparent practical reason (you know you love it)

G price/performance ratio

 

For me, a different pen wins out for each possible criterium although some score high in multiple criteria.

 

 

Anyway, at some point I bought a Platinum Preppy and promptly gave it away to a colleague who fancied it. Then I bought two more and those also disappeared like snow before the sun. By now I must have given away ten or more Preppy's (I try not to write Preppies), mostly to lefties, and they adore them. Initially I dismissed the pens as cheapo throwaway stuff, but my colleagues do everything to them that you should not do to a fountain pen and so far none of the pens has been damaged in any way. So gradually I started using Preppies myself more and more. I use the 0.3 mm nibs and the more I use them, the more fun they become. Preppy's have a *huge* feed and the trick is to have about 50% of the fins covered in ink. It takes a while for a brand new one to reach that, but it can be sped up. Once half the feed is saturated, the pen writes fantastically well with a nice, wet line that nevertheless dries quickly. There's a slight stubbiness to the smooth, pleasant nibs that really appeals to me. Also I definitely prefer the feel of the Preppy's plastic over the Plaisir's rather flimsy aluminium.

 

I'll always love my Sailors etc, but my two Preppy's grew on me. They're usually on or near me and they never disappoint.

 

(Inevitably people will claim that their Montblanc 149, Visconti Homo Sapiens or Pilot Custom 823 are infinitely better pens. I'm not disputing that - I love my own higher-end pens as much as anyone. But priced at about 450 street, the Homo Sapiens is about 110x more expensive. Does it perform 110x better? Or even 10x better? The Preppy is an incredible feat of engineering at this price point.)

Edited October 7, 2018 by TheDutchGuy

[sciumbasci]

Hm, yes I fully agree.

Over the last two years I have bought and gifted Preppy to kids I used to help with homeworks, as reward. I usually flip the leftovers on eBay so I always have fresh pens the next summer.

Some pens have survived, others had their barrel cracked from thinkering, all of them had their clip snapped a (apparently kids like to break the clip of pens, for some reason).

 

Last summer I had the brilliant idea of giving away Dollar 717 pens, as I had bought a large lot.

 

Since then, I learnt that ink wars are a thing.

[TSherbs]

I've had too many Preppies crack (5 out of 6). But I love my Plaisirs and use them every day.

[Tas]

Wholeheartedly agree.

 

Kind of looking forward to the Procyon though 🤭

[Honeybadgers]

My only complaint is that I think the nibs are really ugly and the printing on the plastic body looks really cheap. I still think it's a better deal to just drop about five more bucks on a chinese pen like a wing sung 601 or 698.

 

I also hate plastic clips, but I'd be willing to overlook it if the preppy just came in a "crystal" variant in more colors and solid colors.

Edited October 7, 2018 by Honeybadgers

[tamiya]

Haven't yet gelled with the dozen+ Preppies adopted so far

 

They've all inked up rather dry & draggy... so out comes the nib tuning toolbox and a fair bit of honing & flossing goes on... then they become sortof acceptable to write with. Mine get converters & usually refilled with pelikan 4001.

 

At least they don't dry out as quick as others but the clear plastic does crack before long. (But in the same pencup we've got Pilot Varsity that's stayed inked up for 30+ years & still starts fine every go)

[TheDutchGuy]

Mine get converters & usually refilled with pelikan 4001.

 

 

That's one of the driest inks around. Just out of curiosity, if you consider the pen to be on the dry side, why use that ink?

[Brianm_14]

The Preppy is the Model T of the current fountain pen world. (The Esterbrook once held this lofty position, in my opinion; did we go up, or down?)

 

It is the pen of Everyman/Everywoman; Walt Whitman's pen, it can be found in a workingperson's hand as likely as that of the student, the grocer, or the lawyer, if they are unpretentious and value simple, raw capability in pens and people. Inside, the Preppy contains words in their liquid, naked fecundity, red as blood or blue as sea, before the fluid words are cast into specifics forever on the page to ignite a conversation or cool an argument. A Preppy takes on and serves all comers. It welcomes the hand of the poor as readily as it welcomes the grip of the rich, that of young and the old, the happy and the despondent, the free and the incarcerated, those falling into and those tumbling hard out of, love. The Preppy will not discriminate for or against you based on your wealth or status.

 

Polish off the advertising, remove the maker's writing off the pen. Surely it deserves this much of a sign of respect. Fear not: It will retain it's utilitarian badge nonetheless, and like all sow's ears resist transformation into that which it is not, and will never be.

 

Fountain pens and good pencils are the tools of proletarian craftsmen who care to feel the words enter and engage the fibers of each page; in a time when every desktop is a printing press that is also a radio and telegraph-telephone, only handwriting suggests these words might actually bear precious freight. Only the pen make sense of payment "by the word." The pc isn't even mightier than the letter opener, no less the sword.

 

The Preppy mocks the superior airs of all fantastically expensive brethren. It challenges those words written by tools of the aristocrats of technology which claim to be worth more, and which seldom are. All, all are mere ink splotches on paper, unless, like Yeats' old man, ". . . Soul clap it's hands and louder sing, for every tatter in it's mortal dress." In Byzantium, I suspect, fountain pens are the rule and Preppies the common kind.

 

There is no irony, and nothing unintentional, in the Preppy's excellence. It was necessary to keep balance in a world that was too easily made into an uneven, unequal, playing field. The rich ride, when the common people walk; but at least both write freely.

 

The barrels of my older Preppies have yet to show even little cracks; none have failed outright. They are durable and thus endure. The utilitarian nibs, tauntingly, are often better adjusted than those on very expensive pens. Preppies rarely show distain and then only for few types of paper; more than can be said for their pedigreed, tempermental, ever-aloof inky cousins. Preppy nibs never forget their purpose, which is to write, and not to impress by style or any sort or manner, except in execution of their duty to get the job done.

 

We own Preppies, I submit, out of pure love for fountain pens. How could one possibly adulterate such love? The other pens we buy in fits of lust to satisfy portions of our nature best left behind (or at least left unexamined). It seems romantic, the idea of penning a poem, a play, a polemic, a story about lost love or first kisses, with a fine Visconti or an elegant Montblanc. It is not an impossible task, nor even an improbability; but it denotes, not connotes, well-washed, sweet-smelling bodies, clean sheets, ample food, and the rare security of a position in life.

 

The Preppy advertises nought and guarantees nothing. The bed implied may be soft and clean, or a nearly-fetid straw, the food hearty and wholesome or ghastly stale, just a day and night too-old. The Preppy sets and obtains no conditions.

 

The Preppy simply writes, and it writes, very, very, well.

Edited October 8, 2018 by Brianm_14

[49erfantom]

I would not say that I love the Preppy, but I do like them a lot. I've purchased around 10 or so, some I've kept and currently have inked up, a couple I even eye droppered. The others I purchased for my wife and daughter, they like their's a lot too. And yes they can write on the dry side but when it does write nice and wet, it's a great writer in my opinion.

[TSherbs]

 

 

It is the pen of Everyman/Everywoman; Walt Whitman's pen, it can be found in a workingperson's hand as likely as that of the student or the lawyer, if they are unpretentious and value ability in pens and people. It contains words in their liquid, naked fecundity, for all to see, before the words are cast into specifics on the page to ignite a conversation or cool an argument. A Preppy takes on and serves all comers....

 

 

Brian, I love this entry. But I associate Whitman with the pencils of his journals (like Thoreau). He bought pen ils and papers for some of the soldiers in the DC military hospital wards. It's fun to imagine him handing out Preppys and perhaps little Rhodia flip pads.

[Brianm_14]

TSherbs,

 

 

 

I am aware of Whitman's pencils. I love pencils, too! But I thought that today, he'd buy Preppy's by the box if he purchased any fountain pen. It was a fun image that came to me late at night by a guttering candle, of that grand man.

 

Thank you -I wrote entry out of love for something common, because of it's commoness, and that seemed very like Whitman in feeling. The Preppy could be his democratic pen!

 

Here's a though. Thoreau came from a family of pre-eminenent American pencil makers. I wonder if Whitman ever gave some of Thoreau's brand to soldiers?

[minddance]

I love Preppy. But only those with uncoloured nibs. I do not suppose those coloured nibs are available anymore?

 

The uncoloured nibs are made very well and I agree the nibs are tuned/manufactured better than some gold nib pens that sell at many times the price.

 

If only they made Preppys more easily washed and dried thoroughly, with removable fins. That would be perfect.

Edited October 8, 2018 by minddance

[TheDutchGuy]

@Brianm_14... wow, man, that's not a review, that's not a user story, that's poetry. Awesome.

[Holon]

My only complaint is that I think the nibs are really ugly and the printing on the plastic body looks really cheap. I still think it's a better deal to just drop about five more bucks on a chinese pen like a wing sung 601 or 698.

 

I also hate plastic clips, but I'd be willing to overlook it if the preppy just came in a "crystal" variant in more colors and solid colors.

 

There is a new crystal version of the preppy.

[Honeybadgers]

 

There is a new crystal version of the preppy.

 

It costs more for reasons I cannot fathom.

 

Also the thing just still looks cheap because it's kind of been tainted by years and years of that. The labels are just burnt into my eyes at this point. Also, I've always thought the nib ugly. It needs a minor refresh.

[TSherbs]

TSherbs,

 

 

 

I am aware of Whitman's pencils. I love pencils, too! But I thought that today, he'd buy Preppy's by the box if he purchased any fountain pen. It was a fun image that came to me late at night by a guttering candle, of that grand man.

 

Thank you -I wrote entry out of love for something common, because of it's commoness, and that seemed very like Whitman in feeling. The Preppy could be his democratic pen!

 

Here's a though. Thoreau came from a family of pre-eminenent American pencil makers. I wonder if Whitman ever gave some of Thoreau's brand to soldiers?

 

I wouldn't guess that the Thoreau's company were still making pencils by the Civil War, but I don't really know. Nor do I know what kind of circulation they had.

 

If you have never seen the website whitmanarchive.org, please check it out. It has photograph images of thousands of Whitman manuscripts, letters, and journal pages. https://whitmanarchive.org/manuscripts/index.html

[Pen90rnAddict]

Just saw this as I am going to buy my third set of Preppy's in all the colors. I love this eyedropper pen because its so full of beautiful ink and never has problems burping like some other pens do with different levels of air. They are always full, always write, the fine nib is perfect, and I use them every day!

 

Yes I have a collection of over 100 expensive pens my self, many of them are over $400.00 like our Dutch Guy has. I get you Duthch Guy and yes, the preppy is the best pen for the money and amazing engineering!!!

 

Now I'm looking for a sturdy eyedropper as reliable as the preppy and a nice writing fine or extra fine. Opus has one but I'm not sure about their nib reputation if they could compete with our Preppy! LOL

Edited July 22, 2019 by Pen90rnAddict

[Mr5x5]

It was my first FP and I liked it. lost it for several months once and when I found it again it wrote with no problem which is what I want from a pen. My only complaint is the cost of the converter relative to the pen. I am drifting back to the inexpensive pens, short trip that it is. I will probably end up with a couple of these, a couple of inexpensive Chinese pens, and just two or three of my more expensive pens that have special meaning to me. A lot of people like the Metropolitan for a first pen, but for me the step didn't work so this or a Varsity are what I recommend as a starter.

[JonSzanto]

Life is too short to drink cheap wine. Other than that, to each their own.

[TSherbs]

It was my first FP and I liked it. lost it for several months once and when I found it again it wrote with no problem which is what I want from a pen. My only complaint is the cost of the converter relative to the pen. I am drifting back to the inexpensive pens, short trip that it is. I will probably end up with a couple of these, a couple of inexpensive Chinese pens, and just two or three of my more expensive pens that have special meaning to me. A lot of people like the Metropolitan for a first pen, but for me the step didn't work so this or a Varsity are what I recommend as a starter.

The other thing I do with a Preppy is to put the most monstrous of inks in them and let them sit for months of occasional use. No damage to any parts, no drying out, no worries.