Adding To The Flock

[chromantic]

The Smoky Quartz arrived today. This is the first time I've actually seen a gift set in person and I must say the presentation is nicely done. The other thing that struck me is how small the ink bottle is. I know it's only 50 ml but from photos I always imagined something bigger, like Iro bottles (I'd add GvFC to that but they may also be smaller than I imagine).

 

The pen itself looks quite striking (in its cellophane sleeve) but I've set the whole thing aside for the nonce. Perhaps the seller will send me an unsolicited offer on the Olivine, too.

[Misfit]

I hope you like the Smoky Quartz set. I got one too for my birthday. I wish I could have chosen a broad nib, but I was being cheap shopping on eBay. So it has a medium nib. 
 

I got a broad nib on the Moonstone pen (set), and really prefer it to Pelikan’s F and M nibs. I chose B nib thinking about having it ground to a cursive italic. 

[A Smug Dill]

@Misfit You can always just buy standalone ‘spare’ Pelikan M200 or M205 nibs, in any of the normal nib widths, from Cult Pens in the UK (or other retailers, too, if you prefer). They're pretty cheap, such that it didn't stop me from getting one of each width for the M205 (and several EF nibs at that) — even though I never write with a round-tipped Broad nib — and some spare M200 nibs too, so I can have a go at ‘stubbing’ them for thinner cross-strokes and sharper corners myself. Certainly cheaper than sending my pen by post to a master nib technician and have him/her regrind the nib(s) for me!

[mana]

7 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

@Misfit You can always just buy standalone ‘spare’ Pelikan M200 or M205 nibs, in any of the normal nib widths, from Cult Pens in the UK (or other retailers, too, if you prefer). They're pretty cheap, such that it didn't stop me from getting one of each width for the M205 (and several EF nibs at that) — even though I never write with a round-tipped Broad nib — and some spare M200 nibs too, so I can have a go at ‘stubbing’ them for thinner cross-strokes and sharper corners myself. Certainly cheaper than sending my pen by post to a master nib technician and have him/her regrind the nib(s) for me!

Good advice! Also, grinding nibs for adjusting or modifying them is a fun hobby and a good skill to have. Kind of like sharpening knives too...

[Bo Bo Olson]

Well, I hooked a neighbor on to fountain pens....before, he only had a cheap Parker of one type or another. A nail M. I gave him a regular flex Reform 1745 in EF (luck, in normally they are only F) but that was replaced with a Marbled Brown Pelikan in EF. I'm not into real thin nibs, but sometimes need an EF for editing.

The Geha school pen was sold as a hell of a bargain considering the grand nib, very unusual in the F nib was a maxi-semi-flex. Normal Geha school pens are a regular flex F.     Sometimes it's not about making money or even the now true worth of a pen, but the smile one sees when exposed to such a nib the first time.

 

Then I won two marbled blue 200's one old style but not W.Germany and the other newer; both in M. He needed an M in regular flex. The bargain I gave him only hurt for an hour.😎 After all he didn't have a Pelikan!!!! Regular flex M is a very good nib for two toned shading inks.........finally he needed a B and an OB at that....and Oblique are only worth it if buying semi-flex '50-65. I sold his wife my very first semi-flex, a 140 at a fair price for his birthday. Now he's set......of course I gave him inks two toned shading ink, deep monotone inks..... told him of Clairefontaine Velout and Oxford Optic in 90g. 

One hooks the fish, tosses over it a net and decide it's too much trouble lighting dynamite with one hand, so use a hand grenade. Mission accomplished. Fish chowder. 

............................................

I'd always said, having tried one, I'd only buy a W.Germany 800; the W.Germany nib is a tad more springy than the '91 or so to '97 regular flex; the nail 800 and semi-nail 400/600 came in in '98. (I have a W.Germany OB on a small 600 and a OM on a 200) ...So it came to be; an 800 (hell of I know what nib it has, I wasn't going to get it anyway...I was just there to drool over the Toledo in the live auction lot. It was the second Toledo I ever saw or touched.) A Toledo of course is out of range as it always would be.....and who needed a 149. C d'A of course is a great made pen. ....IMO so what, it is a nail...don't know what to do with Waterman and if that's a Parker....well do have a few; I never, ever wanted a 149. Never expected to own a Senator. Well, surprisingly to me, I got use to the 1000's size, if so then could be I'll get use to that big fat clunky 149.

To tell the truth, when drooling   over the lot I only looked at the  two Pelikans.......................that I wasn't going to win in the lot in the auction due to LOM..............well it did cost 1/3 more than my max....then auction and sales tax of 30% is added...................in 2024, I'll be able to buy some Pelikan 4001 ink again. Do have seventy, so will survive the money drought.

I can pick up the pens on Monday. Due to Corona, there is not the regular pay and go on auction day.

 

Sigh cubed...well with luck, I got some good booze cheap on Christmas sale before the lockdown. Woodford Reserve is good bourbon. There are good cheap bourbons as old as Beam (4) or Jack (41/2) due to lack of wasting money on adverting are economical, which will do just fine to make an Old Fashioned with. One of course needs Rye whiskey to make that drink. A shot of each. Rye whiskey is very, very rare here in Germany. There was a bottle of Jack Daniels Rye that I lucked into.

The first and last time I found rye whiskey in Germany was in a Casino half a life time ago. I bartended, and do make a good Old Fashioned.

The things I do for my liver!

 

 

 

[brokenclay]

On 12/9/2020 at 8:57 PM, chromantic said:

The other thing that struck me is how small the ink bottle is. I know it's only 50 ml but from photos I always imagined something bigger, like Iro bottles (I'd add GvFC to that but they may also be smaller than I imagine).

 

 

Everything is relative...I was fortunate enough to receive the Moonstone set, and was so struck by how huge the ink bottle is! But I've been living mostly off samples for the last year, so anything over about 5 ml looks pretty big to me.

[sansenri]

2 hours ago, Bo Bo Olson said:

Well, I hooked a neighbor on to fountain pens....before, he only had a cheap Parker of one type or another. A nail M. I gave him a regular flex Reform 1745 in EF (luck, in normally they are only F) but that was replaced with a Marbled Brown Pelikan in EF. I'm not into real thin nibs, but sometimes need an EF for editing.

The Geha school pen was sold as a hell of a bargain considering the grand nib, very unusual in the F nib was a maxi-semi-flex. Normal Geha school pens are a regular flex F.     Sometimes it's not about making money or even the now true worth of a pen, but the smile one sees when exposed to such a nib the first time.

 

Then I won two marbled blue 200's one old style but not W.Germany and the other newer; both in M. He needed an M in regular flex. The bargain I gave him only hurt for an hour.😎 After all he didn't have a Pelikan!!!! Regular flex M is a very good nib for two toned shading inks.........finally he needed a B and an OB at that....and Oblique are only worth it if buying semi-flex '50-65. I sold his wife my very first semi-flex, a 140 at a fair price for his birthday. Now he's set......of course I gave him inks two toned shading ink, deep monotone inks..... told him of Clairefontaine Velout and Oxford Optic in 90g. 

One hooks the fish, tosses over it a net and decide it's too much trouble lighting dynamite with one hand, so use a hand grenade. Mission accomplished. Fish chowder. 

............................................

I'd always said, having tried one, I'd only buy a W.Germany 800; the W.Germany nib is a tad more springy than the '91 or so to '97 regular flex; the nail 800 and semi-nail 400/600 came in in '98. (I have a W.Germany OB on a small 600 and a OM on a 200) ...So it came to be; an 800 (hell of I know what nib it has, I wasn't going to get it anyway...I was just there to drool over the Toledo in the live auction lot. It was the second Toledo I ever saw or touched.) A Toledo of course is out of range as it always would be.....and who needed a 149. C d'A of course is a great made pen. ....IMO so what, it is a nail...don't know what to do with Waterman and if that's a Parker....well do have a few; I never, ever wanted a 149. Never expected to own a Senator. Well, surprisingly to me, I got use to the 1000's size, if so then could be I'll get use to that big fat clunky 149.

To tell the truth, when drooling   over the lot I only looked at the  two Pelikans.......................that I wasn't going to win in the lot in the auction due to LOM..............well it did cost 1/3 more than my max....then auction and sales tax of 30% is added...................in 2024, I'll be able to buy some Pelikan 4001 ink again. Do have seventy, so will survive the money drought.

I can pick up the pens on Monday. Due to Corona, there is not the regular pay and go on auction day.

 

Sigh cubed...well with luck, I got some good booze cheap on Christmas sale before the lockdown. Woodford Reserve is good bourbon. There are good cheap bourbons as old as Beam (4) or Jack (41/2) due to lack of wasting money on adverting are economical, which will do just fine to make an Old Fashioned with. One of course needs Rye whiskey to make that drink. A shot of each. Rye whiskey is very, very rare here in Germany. There was a bottle of Jack Daniels Rye that I lucked into.

The first and last time I found rye whiskey in Germany was in a Casino half a life time ago. I bartended, and do make a good Old Fashioned.

The things I do for my liver!

 

 

 

Bo Bo, enjoy your new pens!
Don't worry, in the worst case you can sell a few to your neighbour!! 

[sansenri]

it's not here yet, but I could not resist the colour combo, an M600 red tortoise is in pre-order...

[chromantic]

6 hours ago, brokenclay said:

 

Everything is relative...I was fortunate enough to receive the Moonstone set, and was so struck by how huge the ink bottle is! But I've been living mostly off samples for the last year, so anything over about 5 ml looks pretty big to me.

 

🤣

 

5 hours ago, sansenri said:

it's not here yet, but I could not resist the colour combo, an M600 red tortoise is in pre-order...

 

Add me to that list.

[N1003U]

On 12/11/2020 at 2:26 PM, Bo Bo Olson said:

 

I can pick up the pens on Monday. Due to Corona, there is not the regular pay and go on auction day.

 

 

You have some lovely specimens there, sir! I hope you are able to enjoy them for many years. I am especially drawn to the green "Hunter." Do take care with that pen as there are reports that the metal finish is somewhat fragile.

 

On 12/11/2020 at 2:26 PM, Bo Bo Olson said:

Rye whiskey is very, very rare here in Germany. There was a bottle of Jack Daniels Rye that I lucked into.

The first and last time I found rye whiskey in Germany was in a Casino half a life time ago.

 

I don't know exactly where you shop, but for reasons not clear to me, the REAL here in Freiburg has an astonishingly good stock of whisk(e)y, including a couple of ryes (at least I saw a Jack Daniels and maybe a Crown Royal Rye the last time I was there to buy bourbon). As I am a newcomer here in Germany (only 10 years or so), and I don't often drink rye, I guess I have never noticed rye is difficult to find or I just happen to live in a strange location (strange is a term that could be applied to Breisgau on a few levels).

[TitoThePencilPimp]

7 hours ago, N1003U said:

 

You have some lovely specimens there, sir! I hope you are able to enjoy them for many years. I am especially drawn to the green "Hunter." Do take care with that pen as there are reports that the metal finish is somewhat fragile.

 

 

I don't know exactly where you shop, but for reasons not clear to me, the REAL here in Freiburg has an astonishingly good stock of whisk(e)y, including a couple of ryes (at least I saw a Jack Daniels and maybe a Crown Royal Rye the last time I was there to buy bourbon). As I am a newcomer here in Germany (only 10 years or so), and I don't often drink rye, I guess I have never noticed rye is difficult to find or I just happen to live in a strange location (strange is a term that could be applied to Breisgau on a few levels).

What is a good, but decently priced rye whisky? I never tried rye whisky before. Mostly a scotch drinker. Or corn lol.

 

How did you like the red and grey/blue m101n?

 

[mana]

...and then there were three... 😂 Just won an auction for a third Pelikan bakelite pen stand...

[Lam1]

1 hour ago, mana said:

...and then there were three... 😂 Just won an auction for a third Pelikan bakelite pen stand...

 

Congrats!

Looking forward to seeing the pics!

 

But... you need to learn to share... you can start practicing by sending one of them to me 😆

[mana]

39 minutes ago, Lam1 said:

 

Congrats!

Looking forward to seeing the pics!

 

But... you need to learn to share... you can start practicing by sending one of them to me 😆

😂

Sharing is indeed caring but let's start with pictures once it arrives...

[mana]

1 hour ago, Lam1 said:

 

Congrats!

Looking forward to seeing the pics!

 

But... you need to learn to share... you can start practicing by sending one of them to me 😆

Actually, on closer scrutiny... I didn't win it... 😅 I left a last second bid, someone bid just after that and got me. I was distracted by a call so I left the app thinking that I had won... oh man, this is funny as heck.

[Lam1]

1 hour ago, mana said:

Actually, on closer scrutiny... I didn't win it... 😅 I left a last second bid, someone bid just after that and got me. I was distracted by a call so I left the app thinking that I had won... oh man, this is funny as heck.

 

Oh, no! Sorry to hear that. 

It’s so annoying when that happens.

 

Those stands are so cool! I might have to add one at some point...

[mana]

1 hour ago, Lam1 said:

 

Oh, no! Sorry to hear that. 

It’s so annoying when that happens.

 

Those stands are so cool! I might have to add one at some point...

I recommend that you do, they are really handy! I keep two of my favorite vintage Pelikans in them and it is so good to just reach out for the pen, pick it up and write without having to uncap it etc.

[N1003U]

14 hours ago, TitoThePencilPimp said:

What is a good, but decently priced rye whisky? I never tried rye whisky before. Mostly a scotch drinker. Or corn lol.

I am not an expert on rye whiskey, as I don't really drink it very often, though I do have a cousin who likes her rye--I will ask her. If memory serves, she serves Bulleit Rye at home, which is good to my (limited) taste and seems to be a $20-$30 bottle. EDIT: it seems Bulleit also sells more expensive ($45-$60) bottles of aged rye whiskey, but I can not comment on the differences in taste/quality.

 

I am mostly a bourbon drinker (Woodford Reserve is my personal favorite, especially the sweet mash--also available at my local REAL), and for variety I keep some Scotch around (currently a Talisker but I can't say I have a favorite). So yes, I also like corn whiskey.

 

My neighbors from northern Germany are teaching me to appreciate "Korn" (und Doppelkorn, for that matter) which seems to be some kind of grain-based distillate that is an excellent solvent to cut through smoked eel or whatever other fatty seafood that passes for protein up there. I don't think I would recommend it as a pen flush, though. It might be hard on the plastic parts.

 

Quote

How did you like the red and grey/blue m101n?

 

I just got my hands on the M101N Red at the beginning of November, and besides playing with it just to try out, I used 2.5 fills of Waterman Audacious Red in the M101N to write holiday cards (and draw one old-fashioned flow chart to help me structure some computer code). I don't have the grey/blue in my hands yet, but aside from being a different and more interesting color, I expect it to be very similar in performance.

 

The nib, while not the soft, sexy performer folks seem to like in the vintage models, was, in my example, just a little bit "soft", and had a tiny bit of character, and it was not buttery smooth, but had a touch of feedback, which I appreciated compared the typical buttery-and-reliable-but-with-little-character Souverän nibs.

 

I appreciate very much the light weight during long writing sessions.

 

I really do like the M101N, and I think I discovered why. While unposted it is too short for me, the key posted dimensions are almost identical to the modern M120, and except for having a slightly smaller diameter, is also very similar in longitudinal dimensions to my beloved M600s. The M600s seem to be a custom fit for my writing hand. Not too heavy, not too light, not to big, not to small--that Goldilocks "just right". The M101N is similar in size posted, and also very light, which I appreciate. I do think the red flecked material was a fail. I would have rather seen a pure red, or something else, but for the price paid, it is a nice pen.

 

I have attached 2 pictures, capped and posted, of an M101N, M120N, M605, and, for size reference, an M215.

 

 

 

[carola]

Funny... I saw the red M101N live and in person a few days ago and thought the red flecked material was looking way nicer than in the pictures.

[N1003U]

1 hour ago, carola said:

Funny... I saw the red M101N live and in person a few days ago and thought the red flecked material was looking way nicer than in the pictures.

 

The red/yellow flecked material is not terrible, but it just isn't my thing, I guess.

 

Maybe they were trying to go for an interesting "marbled" or "stone" finish, but it simply does not appeal to me. To me it looks like somewhere in the factory wherever the Pelikan bodies and caps are made, someone had some leftover yellow acrylic pellets, and they just tossed them in the hopper and heated and mixed them up with a batch of red, and this is what came out of the extrusion nozzle. Maybe with a black, or lapis base color, the yellow flecks might have worked better, but with the red, for my taste, not so much. Or perhaps if they had gone in a darker ferrite-like color direction and added a bit more sparkle (like red granite), it would have worked better.

 

Even it they had used the same flecked material on the piston knob and cap finial, or just stayed with a pure red for the whole thing, maybe it would have been a bit more elegant, but as it is, it comes off for me a bit little cheap-looking. Or, it could be that I am just spoiled by the lovely depth of the celluloid-acetate stripes of the regular Souveräne. I am looking forward to the seeing the red-tortoise M600.

 

Again, it isn't terrible, but I expect more from Pelikan. If I had paid full price for the thing, I would have been very disappointed, which is too bad, because performance-wise, it is a fine pen. I am looking forward to seeing the grey/blue in person.

 

EDIT: I just looked at the pictures of the new M600 posted by Fritz-Schimpf in another thread, and I am really looking forward to seeing it in person. There are a couple of photos of the new M600 next to both the M101N red, and a traditional red M600 Souverän. I think my comments above still stand. I The M101N is my least favorite of the three.

 

I really like the chatoyance in the stripes of the new red M600.