Montblanc 149

[georges zaslavsky]

Well I had my 1977 149 serviced in December I had a pristine service from Montblanc France. After it was stolen two months ago, I bought two vintage 149 with a full year of warranty serviced by Montblanc France. The two 149 I have write perfectly and never caused me any troubles like nib scratchiness, poor ink fly or crack on the barrel.But as it is the case for watch servicing restoring or fixing the customer service of Rolex or Omega in USA is not on par with the quality of the customer service offered in Europe.

[sleek_lover]

Well I had my 1977 149 serviced in December I had a pristine service from Montblanc France. After it was stolen two months ago, I bought two vintage 149 with a full year of warranty serviced by Montblanc France. The two 149 I have write perfectly and never caused me any troubles like nib scratchiness, poor ink fly or crack on the barrel.But as it is the case for watch servicing restoring or fixing the customer service of Rolex or Omega in USA is not on par with the quality of the customer service offered in Europe.

 

Now, Georges, I am just a dumb ole hick from Southern New Jersey. Drive a truck. Wear jeans and ratty running shoes. Don't hold much with bird poop pens as most folks know...

 

But we hicks got a sayin'. These here parts, we call'em "ole adages". The ole men and wimmin use'em to make points about life and stuff. You folks with the long heritage and Greek and Roman history...well, you got all kinds of fables from Aesop and tales and epic poems an' like that.

 

Us hicks, we ain't got that kinda stuff...we just watch nature and the things around us...and make our observations from that...

 

So I done went and looked at the MB forum an' Writin' Instrue-mints an' other places here on this here Web-sight an' I done come up with a conklusion...and my granpappy done had a adage that done fit finer 'n' frog hair---

 

EVEN A BLIND HOG FINDS AN ACORN ONCE IN A WHILE

[Dan Carmell]

Fur a country boy, you done shure got you a mighty dainty, darn near effete pair of hound doggies!

 

Georges might not quite get the broadly laid-on dialect or attitude, but I'm sure he won't be deferred from enjoying his Montblancs. No matter what is said in these threads, people will continue to buy and enjoy Montblanc pens. The new and timid may think twice or thrice about buying one, but folks will believe their own experience over all the polemics in the world.

 

Dan

[sleek_lover]

Fur a country boy, you done shure got you a mighty dainty, darn near effete pair of hound doggies!

 

Georges might not quite get the broadly laid-on dialect or attitude, but I'm sure he won't be deferred from enjoying his Montblancs. No matter what is said in these threads, people will continue to buy and enjoy Montblanc pens. The new and timid may think twice or thrice about buying one, but folks will believe their own experience over all the polemics in the world.

 

Dan

 

Yah, Dachshunds are da only ones that do field trials both above AND below ground...and were bred to hunt to the death what many consider the world's toughest animal..pound for pound...the European badger.

 

Chloe..the red female in the picture...had four confirmed kills last year...two moles and two birds. I have NO idea how many other critters she got. Jayke...the black and tan male...is her bondmate and is our resident excavation expert. We have one area of the quarter-acre we have fenced for our house pack and fosters set aside for digging...I don't have to trim Jayke's claws much...

 

So..effete? Nah...people make fun of weenie dogs...but they really have NO idea of what they are discussing...the breed is over 500 years old...and the list of teckel lovers include John Wayne and Queen Victoria...effete...Nah...

 

Edited July 9, 2007 by paircon01

[Dan Carmell]

Okay, moles, I get, doxies are earth dogs. But birds? Does she stalk them? That is impressive!

 

My terriers are too far from their roots, neither have a kill instinct, I don't think. They love to chase the jack rabbits out on one of our walks, but whenever they flush one right under their noses, it's like watches a game of blind man's bluff, with the big jack dodging away and the dogs simply not willing to go in for the kill. I thought it was just surprise and awkwardness the first few times, but no, they didn't want to close. And the winter mice in the garage? No interest at all!

 

So I guess having confessed this, I cannot pull out my line about doxies being a German engineer's answer to the terriers of the British Isles, can I? But terriers do have one thing up their German cousins: I don't think they were ever taken to war, whereas Airedales and Irish Terriers were used by the English in the trenches of WW I as sentries and messengers.

 

Dan

 

p.s. Maybe it's a left coast, wrong coast thing, but out here and back home in Illinois too, it's the hipsters who were their ball caps backwards, not the hicks! Maybe you're just a hipster with an accent!

[georges zaslavsky]

Now, Georges, I am just a dumb ole hick from Southern New Jersey. Drive a truck. Wear jeans and ratty running shoes. Don't hold much with bird poop pens as most folks know...

 

But we hicks got a sayin'. These here parts, we call'em "ole adages". The ole men and wimmin use'em to make points about life and stuff. You folks with the long heritage and Greek and Roman history...well, you got all kinds of fables from Aesop and tales and epic poems an' like that.

 

Us hicks, we ain't got that kinda stuff...we just watch nature and the things around us...and make our observations from that...

 

So I done went and looked at the MB forum an' Writin' Instrue-mints an' other places here on this here Web-sight an' I done come up with a conklusion...and my granpappy done had a adage that done fit finer 'n' frog hair---

 

EVEN A BLIND HOG FINDS AN ACORN ONCE IN A WHILE

There is nothing with wearing wrong worn out jeans or used tiags that is your choice and everyone is free to wear whatever pleases them. Nothing wrong with driving a f150 heavy duty truck. I know some hicks too so you learn me nothing new. Being observative is good thing but bashing a brand for the sake of it or just because you don't like some owners or the attitude of the employees who work for Mont Blanc, won't solve your problems. You can't like everything and everyone have their very own and defined tastes.

Edited July 8, 2007 by georges zaslavsky

[georges zaslavsky]

Bill...who believes Georges may have not a clue on the down-"homey"-ness, what with him livin' in that high-rent Paris suburb and I am just a hick in the Pine Barrens. I could have said...

Even a blind hog finds a truffle once in a while

but it would have blown the homespun NASCAR-lovin', snuff-dippin', bourbon-swillin', ball-cap-with-bill-in-back image I was tryin' to evoke... I don't want Georges to think I might have a brain, since he believes I am just a dumbass American yokel, based on some of his responses to some of my replies

Georges who clearly thinks that Bill makes only wrong assumptions. I know what is homeyness.

I have never believed that you are a dumbass American yokel even if I rarely agreed with you on something. However you are sometimes rough but that doesn't mean you are a bad guy.

[HDoug]

I usually stay out of these Montblanc wars although I follow along to a certain extent -- they do go on for pages and pages. But I'm calling this one for Georges. He seems to have the most reasonable attitude in this thread -- in my opinion, of course. Plus, he is writing in something other than his native language, and he's ambidextrous. If he's a Montblanc guy, that speaks highly of the brand, and is more influential than their advertising. I think there is a 149 or 146 in my future.

 

Doug

 

 

 

[sleek_lover]

Okay, moles, I get, doxies are earth dogs. But birds? Does she stalk them? That is impressive!

 

Chloe, I think, just surprised them. For a 19 pound weenie, she can move quietly. When we got her, she was a 25 pound butterball...my nickname for her was "Baloneybutt"...She is a trim huntress...

 

Anyway...back to the MB 149 thing...

 

Regardless of the pen...Meanwhile's scoring system is one of th better ones I've seen. Some may conclude it is "subjective", but in truth, it covers the major and important minor points of pen usage...and that is what is important...

 

Bill...

[OboeJuan]

I love my (newly rediscovered) 149. It has been in the family for 20 or so years, rarely used. A thorough water flush and the thing is golden. Currently filled with J. Herbin Orange Indien, it is a powerhouse. Shading, charisma, balance, comfort, all you people who sit around and snark about bird-splat ought to try this thing out. I am currently experimenting with angles and pressures, trying to find a style of writing that suits me, and this is the only pen that says "OOOh. What mood are you in today? Let's go there and see what we can accomplish. Bring it on." Phhhhhht.

 

 

k

 

 

[Keng]

An honest opnion from Jonahan's point of view. I enjoyed reading it. MB pens are nice writers IMHO but for the same price I will go for a Nakaya anytime...and that's my personal choice

[BrianTung]

Up at my parents' house for the holiday, I discovered that someone had recently given my dad a 149. I asked him about it, and he responded by asking me if I wanted it.

 

Actually, I demurred. I did ask him why he didn't use it. (Those of you keeping score will note that this is now three questions in a row in this conversation.) Was it because it wrote poorly? No. Was it because he was put off by how much it cost (he knows)? No. Two reasons really: He didn't like the ink it came with (MB blue-black, which we both find way way too watered down), and he found the pen too doggone big.

 

I did find it interesting that I didn't want the pen, though.

[meanwhile]

I usually stay out of these Montblanc wars although I follow along to a certain extent -- they do go on for pages and pages. But I'm calling this one for Georges. He seems to have the most reasonable attitude in this thread -- in my opinion, of course.

 

This is the Georges who scared people away from Pilot 823's and into buying MBs at several times the cost (I had mail) based on his "expert" examination of one leading him to conclude the Vac fill mechanism was "unreliable". The pen he looked at turned out to be a smaller, cheaper Pilot, which wasn't translucent like an 823, wasn't plain brown or black like an 823, and most impressively of all, wasn't a Vac fil but a CC. In fact, it was arguably the least 823 like pen that anyone could find short of a Hero 329.

 

Then there was the matter of the Sheaffer Valor that he used to make a point, that could only have existed if it had traveled in time...

 

I'm afraid I have to say that learned caution is not the same as being "reasonable".

 

I'm not raising this for the sake of being mean, but Georges has literally invented faults in non-MB pens to get people to buy much more expensive pens instead, just so that he can feel validated! This really is not playing fair with other FPN users.

 

The reason I put so much effort into writing this review and actually collecting analyzing what statistics I could is that this thing has gone on far too long on the basis of emotion. All sides of in the MB wars have committed atrocities! The evidence is fairly clear: MB's can be great, they cost a lot of money for plastic pens, a fair few do have problems, and they are somewhat delicate. As Georges experience proves, not every single MB is a disaster.

 

Of course, Doug, if you want to buy an MB, go ahead! I will myself shortly, I think, but it will be a vintage pen.

 

 

 

[Ronin]

Well said Meanwhile.

 

Personally speaking I'm not sure if Georges would tell us if there was a fault in one of his MBs. I've just bought a 149 and I am far from convinced by it.

 

Ronin.

[HDoug]

I usually stay out of these Montblanc wars although I follow along to a certain extent -- they do go on for pages and pages. But I'm calling this one for Georges. He seems to have the most reasonable attitude in this thread -- in my opinion, of course.

 

This is the Georges who scared people away from Pilot 823's and into buying MBs at several times the cost (I had mail) based on his "expert" examination of one leading him to conclude the Vac fill mechanism was "unreliable". The pen he looked at turned out to be a smaller, cheaper Pilot, which wasn't translucent like an 823, wasn't plain brown or black like an 823, and most impressively of all, wasn't a Vac fil but a CC. In fact, it was arguably the least 823 like pen that anyone could find short of a Hero 329.

 

Then there was the matter of the Sheaffer Valor that he used to make a point, that could only have existed if it had traveled in time...

 

I'm afraid I have to say that learned caution is not the same as being "reasonable".

 

I'm not raising this for the sake of being mean, but Georges has literally invented faults in non-MB pens to get people to buy much more expensive pens instead, just so that he can feel validated! This really is not playing fair with other FPN users.

 

The reason I put so much effort into writing this review and actually collecting analyzing what statistics I could is that this thing has gone on far too long on the basis of emotion. All sides of in the MB wars have committed atrocities! The evidence is fairly clear: MB's can be great, they cost a lot of money for plastic pens, a fair few do have problems, and they are somewhat delicate. As Georges experience proves, not every single MB is a disaster.

 

Of course, Doug, if you want to buy an MB, go ahead! I will myself shortly, I think, but it will be a vintage pen.

 

That Georges is so devious! But if you buy a vintage MB, you'll be inadvertently following his advice!

 

Doug

 

[georges zaslavsky]

This is the Georges who scared people away from Pilot 823's and into buying MBs at several times the cost (I had mail) based on his "expert" examination of one leading him to conclude the Vac fill mechanism was "unreliable". The pen he looked at turned out to be a smaller, cheaper Pilot, which wasn't translucent like an 823, wasn't plain brown or black like an 823, and most impressively of all, wasn't a Vac fil but a CC. In fact, it was arguably the least 823 like pen that anyone could find short of a Hero 329.

 

Then there was the matter of the Sheaffer Valor that he used to make a point, that could only have existed if it had traveled in time...

 

I'm afraid I have to say that learned caution is not the same as being "reasonable".

 

I'm not raising this for the sake of being mean, but Georges has literally invented faults in non-MB pens to get people to buy much more expensive pens instead, just so that he can feel validated! This really is not playing fair with other FPN users.

 

The reason I put so much effort into writing this review and actually collecting analyzing what statistics I could is that this thing has gone on far too long on the basis of emotion. All sides of in the MB wars have committed atrocities! The evidence is fairly clear: MB's can be great, they cost a lot of money for plastic pens, a fair few do have problems, and they are somewhat delicate. As Georges experience proves, not every single MB is a disaster.

 

Of course, Doug, if you want to buy an MB, go ahead! I will myself shortly, I think, but it will be a vintage pen.

I have talked about Mr MORA (an owner of the oldest paris penshop) with the 823 and there are several customers he knew who had leaking problems due to the plunger filling systems. There are also problems with Montblancs but you seem to overexagerate Montblanc problems. The plunger filling system is not exactly a vac fill system. There are also problems with Omas, Montegrappa or Pelikan who happened and can happen. About the Sheaffer, I was mistaken, in fact it was with the Legacy which I wanted to talk about but none is infaillible. I have never invented faults in non montblanc pens and please don't tell me that every japanese pen produced has no flaw because it is not true.

What is not playing fair is the constant amount of MB bashing of some people claiming that MB "ruined" them if so to speak. None forces you to buy a MB but not always what is cheaper is systematically better. Then after it is what ever floats your boat and your money. I am not devious, I have been honest with you. Some people have luck with pilot pens and other haven't.

Just my two cents.

 

[HDoug]

Can I take this space to make a very public apology? Sometimes the convivial atmosphere of this forum convinces me that I have been drinking buddies with all of you for decades and my language and intentions become too loose. Peter Tosh speaks truly when he sings, "If you live in a glass house don't throw stones, and if you can't take blows then don't throw blows," and I fully expect any jab I throw to be returned by a roundhouse over my ducked head.

 

First, my sincere apology to Georges Zaslovsky. My response to meanwhile that you were "devious" was meant to hurl some sarcasm meanwhile's way, by pointing out that if he bought a vintage Montblanc, as he said he intended, he would inadvertently be following your counsel and example. Please believe me Georges, I was not making fun of you, I was making fun of meanwhile, but swinging arms sometimes miss their targets, and my imprecision I blame only on my lack of perception.

 

And to meanwhile I also apologize most humbly. I was taking a jab at you, but only in anticipation of a well-placed zinger at my expense and our fellow forumers' amusement. I don't really have opinions about pens or their masters that are so strong that would make me wish anything but the best to all.

 

So I beg both of you for forgiveness. And as evidence of my sincerity, I will stand here without ducking while everyone gets a free throw.

 

Doug

Edited July 11, 2007 by HDoug

[sleek_lover]

Bill...who believes Georges may have not a clue on the down-"homey"-ness, what with him livin' in that high-rent Paris suburb and I am just a hick in the Pine Barrens. I could have said...

Even a blind hog finds a truffle once in a while

but it would have blown the homespun NASCAR-lovin', snuff-dippin', bourbon-swillin', ball-cap-with-bill-in-back image I was tryin' to evoke... I don't want Georges to think I might have a brain, since he believes I am just a dumbass American yokel, based on some of his responses to some of my replies

Georges who clearly thinks that Bill makes only wrong assumptions. I know what is homeyness.

I have never believed that you are a dumbass American yokel even if I rarely agreed with you on something. However you are sometimes rough but that doesn't mean you are a bad guy.

 

I propose a truce twixt us. You are a cosmopolitan gentleman, strong in your convictions. I suspect you would be surprised at my credentials...which are not relevant. We will keep on with the gentle fiction that I am a hick yokel..

 

We have taken opposite views on only one thing...the validity of MBs as viable pens in the scheme of things. Suspect we would find more areas of agreement than discord.

 

On that note, that which went before between us is cleansed...and with the slate in pristine condition, we move on, you writing mightily and well with your MBs, I scribbling furiously with my Esties and P51s.

 

Calm is restored...to some extent...in Pendom...Georges has shown himself to be NOT under the influence of the EPC...

 

Bill

[Brian]

I liked your review and having owned 5 149's (now 4) I'd like to add the following:

(1) MB Boutiques are not a good place to visit if you like writing. The focus is really on pushing the boutikiness (I think this is a made up word but you get the idea) of the store, and not necessarily on the "art of writing." I once had a run-in years ago with a salesperon who did not want to accept an early 90s 149 for repair even though it was still under warranty. The explanation was that I didn't purchase it from their boutique and yes, I have had a special regard for their boutiques ever since;

(2) the earlier 149s are pretty good writers and consider yourself lucky if you have one of them. Should you ever have to send it in for service do ask to keep the same nib, feed, and section-barrel. Unfortunately, if the piston needs replacement I think the only option is to go with the heavier brass units v. the earlier plastic units which I love. Also, for some reason MB keeps changing the feed units over time. Why???? IMHO the 2 piece as well as the solid single rib units from the 70s and 80s are excellent and should not have been changed;

(3) while I don't like the boutiques I have had excellent service from their repair center. The service reps were conscientious and for the most part try to fulfill what you ask of them.

(4) the pen landscape today is quite interesting. While the external design of the 149 remains largely unchanged, it is exactly for that reason that this pen has achieved the rare distinction of a design classic. Too bad that with the newer pieces that this beauty is often only skin deep.

 

Best Regards

[Excoriar]

I believe this is my first official post. Anyways, I have a MB 149 75 Anniversary edition which I've been using on a daily basis for the past 7-8 years. Never cleaned it (I just found out that I should), always inked, took it with me on the plane for business trips, never leaked. The pen has never given me a problem, always wrote smoothly, and has actually gotten me some pretty good impressions with my clients. As I work in the reinsurance industry, people usually use what they call an "underwriter's pen", which is basically the fountain pen, to conduct business. Big plus for me!

 

The issue people mentioned with the 144 (?) pens is why I was so hesitant to purchase the 149 to begin with. I had 2 pens and a pencil which all broke and cracked in various places and had to be replaced. In addition to that, my wife and friends have all had their share of stories of their "precious resin" cracking. Now I just leave them in a case and don't really bother taking them out. So I think the issue with the cracked resin is limited to the different model.

 

My 0.02. Thank you for reading.