Adding To The Flock

[mana]

25 minutes ago, stoen said:

…and here’s a close look at the wonderful OBB nib in my “new” 100, shown in a previous post:

It’s the only OBB nib I’ve ever seen in a 100.

Inked with 4001 Violet.

🙂

Yowzah! 😍 Very nice 👌🏻

[stoen]

1 hour ago, mana said:

Yowzah! 😍 Very nice 👌🏻

Thanks so much, @mana.

Your comment reminds me of my own reaction when I first saw it - love at first sight. And beyond being just a 89 year old nice little pen,

… what a unique and wonderful writer! 

[mana]

On 1/5/2023 at 5:24 PM, stoen said:

Thanks so much, @mana.

Your comment reminds me of my own reaction when I first saw it - love at first sight. And beyond being just a 89 year old nice little pen,

… what a unique and wonderful writer! 

I really love the profile, precise geometry, cuts, and crisp/deep lettering of the imprints on those early Pelikan nibs. The later ones are great too but usually a bit soft in comparison, those are just... *right*.

[senzen]

With an Iconic Blue M120 (M) and a red M205 (M) that makes it twelve Pelikans.

 

 

I'd given up on the M120, the m205 was more of taking a chance; to my eye they couldn't be more different, the Iconic Blue really needs to be seen in person (no chance of that though) to appreciate its colour, it's a little greener.

 

 

Alas no tortoiseshell and with the shock of receiving six pens bought little by little during 2022 at the same time... That's it for me.

[chromantic]

Lovely collection! The red really stands out.

[amberleadavis]

On 11/11/2022 at 3:55 PM, Mercian said:

I fancy an M620 ‘Chicago’ (as long as its barrel is translucent enough that one can see how much ink is left in it) but I, like you, find that I do not currently have enough ‘loose change’ to afford to buy one (if one were even ever come up for sale, that is).

 

In that respect I find the M620 ‘Chicago’ to be somewhat akin to the M800 ‘Brown Tortoiseshell’ from 2013 😪

#FirstWorldProblems

 

Did you ever find one? I can't see the ink level in mine, but it is a great looking pen.

[carola]

Today I added very impulsively an M200 Café-Crème and an M205 Clear Demonstrator to the flock, the two of them for the price of one.

[LeakyLandy]

A 400nn (F) that looks to be mint from the kind Mr. Propas. I love writing with it.

 

[inkstainedruth]

1 hour ago, carola said:

Today I added very impulsively an M200 Café-Crème and an M205 Clear Demonstrator to the flock, the two of them for the price of one.

Great deal!  I lost TWO Café Crèmes (although I keep thinking the second one will turn up in a storage tub in my house someday), but at this point the prices on eBay are just thigh to justify the cost.  Got lucky on the second one, in that I got it used for a decent price on eBay, a few months after losing the first one, but then had to get a B nib for it (the "wide" nib turned out to be an Italic M, which is now living on the M200 a friend gave me as a joke -- she had gotten it on Freecycle, not realizing that it was probably a $100 US pen, in pretty much mint condition, because it had the Bayer logo on it).  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[carola]

7 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

Great deal!  I lost TWO Café Crèmes (although I keep thinking the second one will turn up in a storage tub in my house someday), but at this point the prices on eBay are just thigh to justify the cost.  Got lucky on the second one, in that I got it used for a decent price on eBay, a few months after losing the first one, but then had to get a B nib for it (the "wide" nib turned out to be an Italic M, which is now living on the M200 a friend gave me as a joke -- she had gotten it on Freecycle, not realizing that it was probably a $100 US pen, in pretty much mint condition, because it had the Bayer logo on it).  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Just had a look at the prices on ebay... Well... okay then. I got both pens for € 125 (which is more or less the same in US$ right now).

Guess I got very lucky!

[Mercian]

10 hours ago, amberleadavis said:

 

Did you ever find one? I can't see the ink level in mine, but it is a great looking pen.

I haven’t managed to find one yet 🙁

I have only ever seen a couple of them come up for sale.
Each of those pens was ver’ ‘spensive 😔 Both had nibs that I don’t want, so I guess I could say that I saved some money 😉

They are elusive beasts <sigh!>
Or, rather, I ought to say that the M620 Chicago is a rara avis - I suspect that their owners love them and hang on to them.

 

Then again, if the barrel of yours is not translucent-enough to be able to see the amount of ink that you have left in the pen, it may end my desire to own one.

I also like the looks of the M800 Renaissance Brown, and M805 Ocean Swirl - but not being able to check how much ink I have in a bottle-fill-only pen is a deal-breaker for me.
Even though I think that the Chicago is 🤤

 

Can you see the ink level in the Chicago if you hold the pen in front of e.g. a torch with LED bulbs?

(I was initially going to write ‘a south-facing window’, but I realised that my south-facing windows probably only give about 1/4 of the amount of light that yours do 😁)

 

[amberleadavis]

13 hours ago, Mercian said:

I haven’t managed to find one yet 🙁

I have only ever seen a couple of them come up for sale.
Each of those pens was ver’ ‘spensive 😔 Both had nibs that I don’t want, so I guess I could say that I saved some money 😉

They are elusive beasts <sigh!>
Or, rather, I ought to say that the M620 Chicago is a rara avis - I suspect that their owners love them and hang on to them.

 

Then again, if the barrel of yours is not translucent-enough to be able to see the amount of ink that you have left in the pen, it may end my desire to own one.

I also like the looks of the M800 Renaissance Brown, and M805 Ocean Swirl - but not being able to check how much ink I have in a bottle-fill-only pen is a deal-breaker for me.
Even though I think that the Chicago is 🤤

 

Can you see the ink level in the Chicago if you hold the pen in front of e.g. a torch with LED bulbs?

(I was initially going to write ‘a south-facing window’, but I realised that my south-facing windows probably only give about 1/4 of the amount of light that yours do 😁)

 

 

Next time I am at the office, I'll have to ink it up and check it out.

[Lam1]

On 1/5/2023 at 8:37 AM, stoen said:

…and here’s a close look at the wonderful OBB nib in my “new” 100, shown in a previous post:

It’s the only OBB nib I’ve ever seen in a 100.

Inked with 4001 Violet.

🙂

 

Oh, my! That nib seems amazing!! Congrats!

 

Here is my latest addition, fresh from the bench where it was cleaned up and restored, a Black 400N:

 

[stoen]

12 hours ago, Lam1 said:

Oh, my! That nib seems amazing!! Congrats!

Thanks a lot for your kind words, @Lam1. I haven’t really expected such a sophisticated nib in such a tiny old pen. There are very few of them around.

🙂

12 hours ago, Lam1 said:

Here is my latest addition, fresh from the bench where it was cleaned up and restored, a Black 400N:

A 400N is a fascination as such and is one of my all time favorites - not because of its scarcity but because of its combining the elegance of 400NN with the modular build of 400.

Pelikan has been making it for less than five months (Dec.55-Apr.56) - so it must fave been considered failure at its time. The only one I’ve ever seen “live” is the one I decided to buy immediately - a black/green striped pen, with a great OF springy nib.

 

Congratulations! May I join in sharing your happines. May it give you a long time of writing happiness.

 

[eerestis]

I agree with stoen. To me the 400N is the best of both worlds. I only own the black-striped model pictured above, and it's very beautiful. Maybe some day I can add the green and tortoise models as well.

[stoen]

27 minutes ago, eerestis said:

To me the 400N is the best of both worlds.

Good that it is not really a “hype” pen, selling for multiple hundreds for its scarcity, yet. Perhaps still not in such a high demand…

🙂

Please pardon me if I’ve already posted its picture before, or in another thread. What a combination of elegance, functionality and ease of maintenence!

Inked with Diamine Oxblood.

[carola]

To round it off, I have got the 400N Tortoise here (already purchased in 2016, so technically not new to the flock, but who cares 😉).

 

 

[stoen]

3 hours ago, carola said:

To round it off, I have got the 400N Tortoise here

Great that you’ve posted it, @carola.

I guess many among us care to see another example of such a great pen! What’s the nib? Is it a M?

[carola]

43 minutes ago, stoen said:

Great that you’ve posted it, @carola.

I guess many among us care to see another example of such a great pen! What’s the nib? Is it a M?

 

Yes, unfortunately (as in: I don´t really care for M nibs, I like the slightly stubby vintage B nibs a lot more) it is an M nib. But with the 400N pens, you don´t ask what size the nib is. If you want one and you find one, you buy it or else it might take years before you get that chance again, especially if you have stumbled upon one in nice condition.

And to tell the truth, it is a very good nib. Virtually its only fault is that it is not a B nib. 🤷‍♀️ Which is why I have decided to keep it.

[Lam1]

Thank you so much for the very kind words, @stoen! 

 

I agree with you, @eerestis and @carola that the 400N are some of the most attractive Pelikans. And it is great to see other examples of such a hard to get pen. In this spirit I'll share the (now) two that I have (sorry for the quick and dirty phone pic):

 

 

The Tortoise holds a very special place in in my collection:  as luck would have it, it was my very first vintage pelikan - one may say that I started from the top 🙃. But it was just luck that I was browsing eBay and came across this little gem for a very acceptable BIN price, comparable to the price of a "regular" good condition 400 (by the way, I was very lucky that year, 2018, since my first three vintage birds were the 400N Tortoise, a 300 and a 400 green/green, the last one at bargain price. Nothing comparable ever since...).

 

Both of mine have F nibs, also not my first choice. But, as Carola said, with the 400N you take what you can get, and I am very happy to have them. I have never seen a green one "in person", but I will hunt for one (hunt is, perhaps, not the correct word, since I always wait until I find a decent price).