Getting Acquainted: A New Old Stock 1998 M800

[TheDutchGuy]

 

A friend of mine who used to be into fountain pens inquired if I might be interested in his M800, which he bought new in 1998. To be totally honest, Pelikan just never ticked my boxes. The design just isn't my thing and no sparks ever flew writing-wise either. My friend's M800 lacks its box and accessories, seems to be unused and its piston was pretty much frozen in place.

 

I gave the pen a bit of maintenance, greased the piston slightly (it now works smoothly and securely), inked it up with J. Herbin Lierre Sauvage and gave it a go. The nib is an 18K F and it's lightyears ahead of any recent Pelikan nib that I've tried. To my hands, modern Pelikan nibs tend to feel overly smooth and a bit "lifeless". Not this one, it has a wonderfully tactile feedback which makes it a breeze to write in a tidy manner. If a pen makes my sloppy writing look good, then it's got my attention! Of my two-dozen pens, this nib easily sails into my personal top-5 of nibs and it wouldn't surprise me if it ends up somewhere in my top-3. This is a truly wonderful nib!

 

 

Line width is on the M side of F. As expected, the pen is quite wet and makes Lierre Sauvage sheen a bit. I might have to revert to a somewhat drier ink like Pelikan or Kaweco, but we'll see.

 

I was a bit apprehensive about the girth of this pen, as my hands tend to favour slimmer pens. Not to worry, this thing just melts into the hand. It's a very ergonomical pen, pleasant to use for long sessions, making me forget it's even there.

 

Obviously I knew that Pelikan makes very good pens, even if they're usually not my cup of tea. This particular pen is not just another good pen, it's a pen that really suits me. It's a keeper and I'll be glad to take it off my friend's hands.

[Hans01]

It's nice to see that you have taken your first step in your Pelikan addiction. You'll see that in a year or so, a few more of these pens will be lying around your house

[TheDutchGuy]

You'll see that in a year or so, a few more of these pens will be lying around your house

I doubt that, but we'll see!

[Bo Bo Olson]

Looks like you lucked into a '97 made pen, sold in '98. In or for '98 Pelikan stopped making nibs and had Bock make it's nibs.....as it wished....stiffer, fatter and blobbier....out side the 1000 which was then semi-flex & as blobby.. (I say as it wished in the 200 remained what it was before '98, a tear drop tipping, 1/2 a width narrower and regular flex....is still today.)

 

Fat side of F......depends on how many semi-vintage or even vintage Pelikans you have, and what one is using as a base scale, Euro or Japanese.

(I have a chart....pre Japanese that showed Pelikan as once narrower than Parker and Sheaffer and that Pelikan had the 400/200 width and a slightly narrower extra 800 nib width. Pre'98 and the fat new Pelikan nib.) Waterman was then the narrowest nib........except then the Pelikan EF was the narrowest of the nibs (Not Now of course)...........as I said pre-Japanese.

Do think, five years ago was basically pre-Chinese.

 

Tolerance allows a Fat F that is exactly = to a Skinny M.....and slides all the way down to Skinny F=to fat EF.

 

I really don't see any big difference between your other two F nibs. Are they nails? Semi-nails?

The Visconti is a Bock nail from my reading. (I have nothing against at all against Bock. Bock did make Pelikan nibs for some 10-15 years after yours....to Pelikan's new standards.)

 

If so, and yours is a regular flex, if one don't have a real light hand it will write a tad wider...due to a slight tad of tine spread. That would also explain it's being a wetter writer.....which is nicer than blaming that on a big fat blobby double kugal/ball nib.

Well being designed for the dry 4001 inks, it is a wet writer due to that too.

 

 

I trans-mailed a W.Germany 800 to someone I knew in Spain, in some idiots in Germany refuse to mail outside of it. I got to play with it for three days.

That W.Germany regular flex nib is a tad springer than the '90 and after regular flex nibs. I have a post '90 Germany 400, 381, and a couple Celebry's with nice springy regular flex nibs. My W.Germany 200 and small 600, are that slight tad springer.

 

I would prefer a W.Germany 800, but if push came to shove I could deal with a '90-97 800.

 

Dutchguy....you don't have a semi-flex?.................you don't have a oblique semi-flex?..........so the chances you will get another Pelikan. If you Hunt and take your time with luck, E-90-100-120 Max.

 

There has been a Cartel of dealers putting Pelikans up in the regular auction section at @ E10 less than the Buy Now Idiot section....(E250 +). To drive up the prices so the Idiots will Buy Now..............where before a noobie would put a Gramps Pelikan up for E1.00 now he will put it up for E250 or more.

Do hunt.

 

Geha will do the trick in they Cartel hasn't arrived there yet. Can still get a good 790 semi-flex for under E60. They are the best buy in Semi-flex and the School pen is the best buy in regular flex (E-12-19).

Semi-flex Geha nibs are a slight tad better than Pelikan.

Edited May 6, 2019 by Bo Bo Olson

[Glenn-SC]

I apologize to the OP for having their thread hijacked.

[TheDutchGuy]

Looks like you lucked into a '97 made pen sold in '98. In or for '98 Pelikan stopped making nibs and had Bock make it's nibs...

That's interesting. I didn't know that.

 

I really don't see any big difference between your other two F nibs. Are they nails? Semi-nails?

No. The two Leonardo pens are super-soft and bouncy. The Visconti is also quite soft and bouncy. The others are hard.

 

If ... yours is a regular flex, if one don't have a real light hand it will write a tad wider...due to a slight tad of tine spread.

My nib has some give to it, leading to nice, subtle line variation if I want it. But I have a light touch so it's not really noticeable. Edited May 7, 2019 by TheDutchGuy

[Barutti]

Very nice and warm first photo on this thread and of course, perfect classic Pelikan pen!

I have couple pre 1997 M800 with different nibs from OBB to F and all gives subtle lines variations and acceptable flexibility for my taste. All 800's, after 1997 I sent to nibmaster for upgrade to CI or stub.. great lines, but still quite hard response..

[TheDutchGuy]

Is there a way to recognize pre- and post-Bock nibs?

[Barutti]

I can be wrong, but may be from one chick (pre) and two chicks logo (after)?

I remember that already was the thread regarding in-house vs outsourced nibs in this forum, but can't find on mobile.

[Calabria]

Didn't two chick go until 2003? Is the PF stamp a pre-Bock sign? I'm too lazy to look up the thread. Anyway, that's one beautiful pen.

Edited May 7, 2019 by Calabria

[JHumbert15]

Didn't two chick go until 2003? Is the PF stamp a pre-Bock sign? I'm too lazy to look up the thread. Anyway, that's one beautiful pen.

 

Yes it did, everything after '03 was the single chick.

 

~ Jake

[Bo Bo Olson]

WOG is '98 and a decade to 12 or so years later is Bock..........that is when the wished for stiffer blobby nib came in.

The 1000 was the last nib taken back from Bock. The Bock 1000 nibs are semi-flex.....Pelikan a springy regular flex.

 

Quite awhile ago....when I was more nooble, there was disagreement if the 1000 was a springy regular flex or semi-flex. I went down to my B&M with a semi-flex pen in my pocket and tested. That pen was semi-flex so for years I wrongly insisted all 1000 were semi-flex. Bock is semi-flex, My Pelikan made nib 1005 is a blobby regular flex.

 

The modern OBB is 1/2 a size wider than the pre'97....I have a small W.Germany 600 in OBB. Got a whisper of line variation........not up to snuff, which would be vintage '50-70 era, '65 for Pelikan.

 

Many folks use to the 'better' '82-97 regular flex nibs complained bitterly about the Bock made nib....as well they should....Pelikan wanted a stiffer, blobby nib often with baby bottom from over polishing....in Butter Smooth was so IN....outside the 200/100 nibs that remained the same as before.

I do have (now loose) vintage Bock nibs which were @ the same size as the rest of the '50-60's nibs and have them in semi-flex and regular flex. Bock made and makes good nibs, back then they had to compete with Degussa's Osmia/Geha and Rupp nibs all made in Heidelberg. (Herlitz too come down to it.) There was no place for second class nibs...............and In House being better I think is a myth. Osmia was a great nib when Degussa took over the nib factory for debt in 1932. Osmia and Rupp made nibs for others also, from 1922.

Bock was the new boy on the block starting in 1938.

 

When Pelikan took the nib back In House........the exact same complaints continued in they had kept the exact nib they had Bock make.......Thick tipped double kugal/ball, stiffer nib....less repairs, and ball point barbarians could continue holding a fountain pen like a ball point before the big index knuckle.....................wouldn't want to turn the barbarian off by putting directions of how to hold a fountain pen in the box...........he might just buy the Roller Ball instead of all three.

 

Did forget to mention, the folks had gone away from buying at a B&M which had pens delivered in a big hard to toss box or small pallet, to buying display case packed pens by mail.

Display case is made to display.....it is not bomb proof. Between robots and the Special Postal Olympics participants practicing, nibs become misaligned. Newton's famous law.....a nib in motion will become misaligned when coming to a sudden stop.

Back in Gentle Days....pre Robots, in analog days, some US University wanted to find out about the brutal postal service. They failed, the analog gauge broke.

Edited May 8, 2019 by Bo Bo Olson

[sargetalon]

I'm glad that you have found a Pelikan that suits you. These older M800s really are a treat and the nibs do outperform today's offerings in my opinion. Enjoy!

[Skopa]

Hi, I also have made the acquisition of an old style m800 a month ago. It is from 1990, NOS with a fine nib 18c. Green stripes. I was not fond of the green stripes on pictures.

Now that I’ve been using it for a month I must confess that I am in love with this pen. The more I see it the more I like it. The touch of the celluloïd is great. The green stripes have shades of green and seeing the piston between the stripes is magnificient.

The nib is a little bit springy but not very much. The lines are fine-medium, a little too wet, but what a pleasure !!!

[TheDutchGuy]

Over the past year or so I’ve rarely used my M800. I couldn’t bond with it at all. My tastes have shifted towards narrower nibs and the F in this pen writes quite a wide line, more like M. Also the pen somehow didn’t fit into my hand all that well and the striped Pelikan look... it just didn’t tick my boxes.

 

But the other day I decided to ink it up again and to give it a go. Herbin Bleu Nuit seemed like a good choice. Since then I’ve been using the pen quite a lot and it’s growing on me. The nib is soft and expressive - it “listens” to every nuance of the hand and can go from ”dry-ish and thin” to ”wet and wide”. I admire that in a pen. We’ll see how things go. Hopefully the pen will continue to grow on me.

[PAKMAN]

Glad you are giving it another try! I am a huge M800 fan and have way too many of them!

[TheDutchGuy]

Over the past year or so I’ve rarely used my M800. I couldn’t bond with it at all. ... the pen somehow didn’t fit into my hand all that well ... But the other day I decided to ink it up again and to give it a go. ... We’ll see how things go. ... Hopefully the pen will continue to grow on me.

 

Update. About two months ago I did a subtle nib regrind and changed it from M to something ever-so-slightly on the EF-side of F. Also made the nib a bit more crispy, with a more sharply defined line, and increased the tactile response a bit. Since then I’ve been re-discovering this pen and it’s definitely growing on me. Whereas I had trouble to find a comfortable grip on this pen before, my current hand issues made me like it a lot more. It now feels comfortable and easy. The nib now gives me joy. The pen is currently inked with Edelstein Moonstone and there’s an improvement in performance compared to all the non-Pelikan inks I’ve used in it before. I’m now quite happy with it! It will be in frequent rotation.