Parker 51 Comeback 2020?

[sandy101]

Well, we did have the Parker Ingenuity, which was an attempt at a hybrid between a fountain pen and a rollerball/ballpoint.

 

That was their next big thing, but the cost of the pen and the refills were what I imagine put people off. The pens were too expensive for rollerball/ballpoint users who were happy with what they had and the refills were too expensive for fountain pen users who used a bottle of ink a year.

 

So, it didn't convert many people.

 

The IM has been around for 17years, and the Urban 14.

 

I imagine they learned lessons from their refreshed Waterman "Heritage" line where the got some designers to produce some beautiful looking Hemipsheres a few years back. The went from dowdy, business tools to rather attractive writing instruments (at a slightly higher price). 

 

There is a very big retro.vintage scene in the UK. A pen modelled on a design that was popular from 1940-1960  has some potential to sell well. 

 

I think the Parker/Waterman French operation has started to find its Mojo again. They can get designers in, and can produce pretty writing instruments again - and have a heritage they can draw on.   Something has changed for the better & I think there will be some more exciting developments to come.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Estycollector]

17 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

Well, let us know when you get it what you think.  But I paid $80 US a few years ago for a REAL Midnight Blue 51, and less than that for the Plum Demi (although I lucked out on that one).  Both of those have medium nibs; most of the rest have fine nibs, except for a smattering of EFs, and the OB nib on the English made Navy Grey Aero (which is also the only one I paid more than $80 for....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Ruth, I've noticed a serious price increase at on line auctions for the "REAL" '51's lately. I'm happy I got a couple last Winter and Spring. Even the '21"'s are higher. 

 

I just checked and the new ones are on sale for less than $90. Still no interest for me, but it is not bad if someone does not want to use a vintage fill system. 

[PandP]

I welcome the release of the new Parker 51 and look forward to the reviews. The lack of Aero or vacumatic does not bother me and neither does the threaded cap. I just hope that Parker have made sure the quality of these pens is top notch and they perform just as good as the Mark 2s. After all if that is true then these pens will sell like hotcakes and we are guaranteed new colours and special editions in the future (if Parker play the cards right that is). The price for the new pens is not bad at all either. Especially considering how much the vintage 70-80 year old ones go for on the bay.

 

Sometimes I think that people who are complaining the most are those who have an interest in the prices fo the vintage pens remaining high.

 

I just spent £220 on 3 vintage Parkers (black/rolled gold, burgundy/rolled gold and teal/lustra) so will wait to see the reviews before I go for the new ones.

[peroride]

On 1/16/2021 at 12:26 AM, corniche said:

love the ease of cleaning with the C/C system

Thank you corniche for stepping up as another early adopter. 👋 I too totally enjoy the tank like Parker converter and their standardization across vintage and new. It sure beats button fill, aerometric/vac potential repair and easier faster ink swaps. I also wonder about fit and finish compared to the clones. 🤔

 

If Newell Parker had only recreated the exact same P51 with an octanium nib but with c/c support at these current steel prices and decent fit and finish, I'd be all in. Think of it as a 1961-1963 P51 Converter redux , but maybe Newell lost the octanium alloy formula and steel was easier and cheaper.🙃 Sigh, gone is the cool fountain pen marketing for exotic materials and designs.

[Jerome Tarshis]

A somewhat embarrassing question: Among enthusiasts for the vintage Parker 51, where are our young people? It encourages me that the Queen of England writes with one, but she is looking at her 95th birthday. I may be in second place around here, having entered the landing pattern for 85. Pajaro and Wahl and let us say the usual suspects are younger than I am, but not kids.

 

Surely somewhere, in Singapore or Metro Manila or Wolverhampton, there are enthusiasts in their twenties or thirties or forties. I can remember when George Rimakis was in high school, it seems to me, and later in college, and he liked the World's Most Wanted Pen, but he isn't posting here. He may be a mythical creature, a product of the sleep of reason in my case.

 

I would like to think that someone who has just published her first fantasy trilogy, not her tenth, is writing early drafts with a Parker 51. Miley Cyrus or the two or three Kardashian sisters might suffice. Some Infanta rather than Queen of the historical romance novel. Singer-songwriters as yet unrecorded. Help me.

[lionelc]

54 minutes ago, Jerome Tarshis said:

A somewhat embarrassing question: Among enthusiasts for the vintage Parker 51, where are our young people?

we are around!  used an aerometric parker 51 for thesis correction and count both a vacumatic and aerometric parker 51 among rotation pens.  have to admit i couldn't resist putting in a preorder for the 'new' 51, taking one for the team ...

[PandP]

2 hours ago, Jerome Tarshis said:

Among enthusiasts for the vintage Parker 51, where are our young people?

 

Well, I aint no Miley or Kardashian but I am 44. Does that count?

 

Just bought my first vintage P51s (the pen not the plane) and likely will buy the new ones too. I truly hope that they become sucessful like their grandfathers.

 

Perhaps i am getting ahead of myself here but I do hope we see some cool custom colours (and maybe limited editions, urushi, etc) P51s in the future.

[Checklist]

2 hours ago, Jerome Tarshis said:

Among enthusiasts for the vintage Parker 51, where are our young people?

 

I'm 31 and my 51 is one of my favorite pens; I'm either writing with it or looking forward to inking it up soon.  Of course, I have been told that I was born 35, so I'm not sure as I count as "young". 

 

I will say, though, that I can understand the appeal of newer fountain pens to my generation.  Very few of us used fountain pens in school and instead grew up with pens as something disposable.  Buying your first few fountain pens is an adventure; you don't really know what you're getting into.  Newer pens' cartridge/converter setups make that jump a tad smaller by simplifying cleaning and switching colors.  There's also the reasonable assumption that older pens may be degraded somewhat and take some expertise and restoration to coax back into working order.  I've not encountered that with my vintage pens, but my Aerometric is near bulletproof and the rest are either a drawer find that somehow has a good sac or are c/c (except the 61, with no moving parts to wear out).  I still am unwilling to buy a Vacumatic because of the prospect of diaphragm replacement, but I only started with vintage pens less than two years ago.

 

Long story short, give us time to discover them, and we'll be hooked.

[corniche]

1 hour ago, Checklist said:

Of course, I have been told that I was born 35, so I'm not sure as I count as "young". 

 

Hi Checklist,

 

You and me both. When I was a kid, I preferred hanging out and talking with adults - and I never wanted a Porsche or a Corvette - I wanted a Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham in triple black or midnight blue and dove gray. 

 

I've always felt more connected to things from the past, (although, I prefer modern pens ). I've always been politically and religiously conservative, too.

 

My mom still says I was born at 50, (so, I'm really only 2.5 y.o. now); my grandmother used to call me an "old soul." 

 

- Sean 

[coralof]

12 hours ago, Jerome Tarshis said:

A somewhat embarrassing question: Among enthusiasts for the vintage Parker 51, where are our young people?

 

I'm 29 and I purchased my first vintage Parker 51 just this last year. When I found out about the new one, I was fairly excited! If it's a good writer and easier to take apart to clean, then it'll be worth it for me. I just placed a pre-order for a new Teal 51 with a Fine nib yesterday.

[dparker999]

19 hours ago, sandy101 said:

Well, we did have the Parker Ingenuity, which was an attempt at a hybrid between a fountain pen and a rollerball/ballpoint.

 

That was their next big thing, but the cost of the pen and the refills were what I imagine put people off. The pens were too expensive for rollerball/ballpoint users who were happy with what they had and the refills were too expensive for fountain pen users who used a bottle of ink a year.

 

So, it didn't convert many people.

 

The IM has been around for 17years, and the Urban 14.

 

I imagine they learned lessons from their refreshed Waterman "Heritage" line where the got some designers to produce some beautiful looking Hemipsheres a few years back. The went from dowdy, business tools to rather attractive writing instruments (at a slightly higher price). 

 

There is a very big retro.vintage scene in the UK. A pen modelled on a design that was popular from 1940-1960  has some potential to sell well. 

 

I think the Parker/Waterman French operation has started to find its Mojo again. They can get designers in, and can produce pretty writing instruments again - and have a heritage they can draw on.   Something has changed for the better & I think there will be some more exciting developments to come.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I didn’t realize it but did Newall combine the offices and production of both brands in Nantes?    I assume the shifted some manufacturing to China or another lower cost economy.   

[TheRedBeard]

11 minutes ago, dparker999 said:

 

 

I didn’t realize it but did Newall combine the offices and production of both brands in Nantes?    I assume the shifted some manufacturing to China or another lower cost economy.   

Let's hope the new 51 will be manufactured in France...

Otherwise, it will be derisive to have P51 with "Made in China" mark...

[sandy101]

Special edition jotters, Sonnets. the 51's and the Duofolds are made in France.

 

There are Jotters and Frontiers made under license by a group called Luxor for some markets. 

 

I don't know about the IM - but some of their pens are made in France. 

 

   

[TheRedBeard]

5 minutes ago, sandy101 said:

Special edition jotters, Sonnets. the 51's and the Duofolds are made in France.

 

There are Jotters and Frontiers made under license by a group called Luxor for some markets. 

 

I don't know about the IM - but some of their pens are made in France. 

 

   

Are those low-quality Sonnets appearing from time to time (I do not mean fake Chinese ones) also made in France?

If so, it is quite alarming thing...

 

[sandy101]

I don't know. 

 

The 2018 SE Sonnet, and the London Architecture jotters I got were all Made in France.  As was the Waterman Perspective and Carene a few years back.

 

Some fo the cheap jotters I got on e-bay were from the Luxor offshoot. 

 

 

 

 

[inkstainedruth]

23 hours ago, PandP said:

Sometimes I think that people who are complaining the most are those who have an interest in the prices fo the vintage pens remaining high.

 

Maybe -- but I'm not one of them.  I'm a self-avowed notorious cheapskate.    I LIKE finding deals on vintage pens.  

I only paid >$100 US for one 51 (including repair costs on a few of the 51 Vacs, and a sac replacement on one Aerometric).  The 51 Vacs & Aeros all have gold nibs (a 51 Special has an octanium nib), and they all write fairly well for being more than 50-60 years old,  especially the Aerometrics -- those I just was able to flush out well and they work; except for the Forest Green Aero, which needed a little nib work on its EF nib (ditto for one of the Cedar Blue 51 Vacs which also had an EF nib).  But the Forest Green Aero?  Even with the nib work, cost me under $25 US (the pen was an estate sale find); oh, I guess you have to add in an hour's drive each way, plus breakfast at a diner afterwards, and the fact that I walked out the door at 5:45 AM on a Saturday to get to the estate sale in the first place....   So, less than a third of what the "reboot" pens with steel nibs will cost.  And this was a little under 2-1/2 years ago at this point.  So yes, there ARE still deals to be had.  Maybe not on the Bay of Evil, and maybe not to the extent they were 5-6 years ago.  And maybe not where you are.  But they're out there.  I know -- I've found them (and there's nothing particularly special about me).  You just have to be willing to go out and look for them and keep haunting antiques shops and estate sales.  Two of the pen I got (my first "Sumgai" purchases) -- had the wrong caps on them, and in two booths in an antiques mall which had had almost nothing pen-wise the previous time I'd been in the place except for one junker 3rd tier in one booth.  

It's not rocket science; it just takes a little effort.  Just do a google search for antiques stores near where you live, and/or local estate sales listings, and remember to wear a mask now because of the pandemic....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Estycollector]

I think some of us get what we want and move on, using what we already have. 

[NumberSix]

I just pre-ordered one from Pen Chalet - the standard black, in medium nib. Fortunately, I already have an extra converter, so that saved me a few bucks. 

 

 

[PandP]

4 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

oh, I guess you have to add in an hour's drive each way, plus breakfast at a diner afterwards, and the fact that I walked out the door at 5:45 AM on a Saturday to get to the estate sale in the first place....   So, less than a third of what the "reboot" pens with steel nibs will cost.  And this was a little under 2-1/2 years ago at this point.  So yes, there ARE still deals to be had.

 

These deals are so rare to find and there is so much work involved that I personally find them not worth it. Not to mention that the prices have gone up since 2.5 years ago. I'd much rather pay double and get one from evil bay instead.

 

9 hours ago, sandy101 said:

Special edition jotters, Sonnets. the 51's and the Duofolds are made in France.

 

Glad to hear that. The less we make in China the better.

[PandP]

4 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

a 51 Special has an octanium nib

 

I have heard the octanium name a few times. Are octanium nibs something special? I am not familiar with them.