Lamy 2000 2021 edition?

[A Smug Dill]

8 minutes ago, MuddyWaters said:

The Lamy 2000 is the worst pen to release in special edition. The original version is already perfect!

 

I disagree. Releasing the Lamy 2000 in (numbered, or unnumbered) limited edition or special edition, and watch fans climb over each other to get one before the pens are sold out, is a great way to demonstrate that there is yet more to be desired over the black Makrolon version, even if it means having yet another Lamy 2000 and/or taking a hit to one's wallet; they just aren't necessarily aware of those desires until being shown. 😈

[otinokyad]

50 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

 watch fans climb over each other to get one before the pens are sold out. 

Reminds me of this scene from ‘World War Z’’.  Maybe they were really chasing a 2000 LE?

[Mr.Rene]

1 hour ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

I disagree. Releasing the Lamy 2000 in (numbered, or unnumbered) limited edition or special edition, and watch fans climb over each other to get one before the pens are sold out, is a great way to demonstrate that there is yet more to be desired over the black Makrolon version, even if it means having yet another Lamy 2000 and/or taking a hit to one's wallet; they just aren't necessarily aware of those desires until being shown. 😈

I agree absolutely  ! ☝️

[jann3]

5 hours ago, otinokyad said:

Even better listing of the Lamy 2000 LE Brown, with some great photos:  https://blesket.com/products/lamy-2000-brown-limited-edition

 

9 hours ago, otinokyad said:

Probably old news by now, but here is the first place I’ve seen it actually listed for purchase:  https://wonderpens.ca/collections/just-in/products/lamy-2000-fountain-pen-anniversary-edition-brown

Thanks for dropping the links! 

 

It doesn’t look bad in my eyes. Actually, it looks pretty good. However, I'm not willing to pay such a price for it...

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

It. Is. Beautiful.

 

It is also outrageously overpriced.

 

Unfortunately (for those of us who DON'T think that a 2000 is worth that kind of ridiculous money), they will sell out.

So also unfortunately; next year's model will be at LEAST as expensive.

 

They will continue to pull this kind of price gouging for as long as people continue to buy them.

 

Too bad really, because it just makes them look greedy (as they are)

Makes me want to buy my next Lamy second hand...

 

You could of course always rationalize it as being a 247$ pen with a $428 book...

 

Or you could buy TWO regular 2000s with different nibs and have money left over to buy an Opus 88 OMAR

 

 

[PAKMAN]

I got the blue one but this is just too expensive!

[A Smug Dill]

40 minutes ago, PAKMAN said:

I got the blue one but this is just too expensive!

 

All the more reason for some Lamy fans to now retrospectively lament, “Damn, I should've joined the fray or fought harder to get one of the blue Bauhaus edition pens while it was possible, because future limited editions are just going to even more far out of my comfort zone, now that Lamy seems to have a better handle on number of units and pricing that don't work (cf. the Black Amber) and what does with its target market for such.

 

I certainly wouldn't have been overcome with curiosity and snagged a Bauhaus edition as my first Lamy 2000, if I had to pay ≥US$500 for it and enter a lottery (or waiting list, for that matter) for the privilege. In retrospect, I wish the pricing for it was different and had been more of a disincentive.

[peroride]

4 hours ago, otinokyad said:

That would be me at the lower left corner being thrown after the helicopter dust plume 🤕 

 

To all the detractors, the missing piece of information is that "14-carat gold nib in the width F, refined with platinum."  Single nib width in singular superlative alloy. Perhaps the premium metal is worth a picogram of further consideration? Also rumor suggests that the aged brown patina of 55 years on black makrolon of this jubilee limited numbered edition is most certainly a prime wine ready for its time!  Give in to the FOMO !!💩

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

53 minutes ago, peroride said:

That would be me at the lower left corner being thrown after the helicopter dust plume 🤕 

 

To all the detractors, the missing piece of information is that "14-carat gold nib in the width F, refined with platinum."  Single nib width in singular superlative alloy. Perhaps the premium metal is worth a picogram of further consideration? Also rumor suggests that the aged brown patina of 55 years on black makrolon of this jubilee limited numbered edition is most certainly a prime wine ready for its time!  Give in to the FOMO !!💩

https://lamyshop.ca/ca_en/fountain-pen-lamy-2000.html?sel=1619

The regular 2000 also has a 14k gold nib with platinum coating.

has for years AFAIK. Maybe someone who gets the brown one with the book of the history of the 2000 can tell us what year the 2000 got the platinum coating.

oh, and in Black, you have a wide variety of nib widths to choose from.

 

 

 

 

[maclink]

I consider myself an addict of sorts, having so many pens and still desiring others to get that pleasure out of it, and having too many in storage. 

 

I am a big Lamy 2000 fan and have bought 3 over the years and one other nib. I would love a different colour but I can see the price pulling at our drawstrings. Too much from where I’m sitting but I would imagine there are many whose pockets can easily deal with that twinge of desire. Even if they sold it for over $1000. 

[MuddyWaters]

12 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

I disagree. Releasing the Lamy 2000 in (numbered, or unnumbered) limited edition or special edition, and watch fans climb over each other to get one before the pens are sold out, is a great way to demonstrate that there is yet more to be desired over the black Makrolon version, even if it means having yet another Lamy 2000 and/or taking a hit to one's wallet; they just aren't necessarily aware of those desires until being shown. 😈

 

Could you clarify this statement a bit more? Not sure I follow...

 

Anyway, to those who say this is price gouging... it is, but Lamy offers a most classic fountain pen in the best colour (black) in a great material (makrolon) with the same nib, all year round, at a very reasonable price. Let them have their fun too.

[Uncial]

Yeah, but red would be an even better colour. At one stage there were people offering red ones they made themselves and for a lot less money than this.

[N1003U]

9 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

All the more reason for some Lamy fans to now retrospectively lament, “Damn, I should've joined the fray or fought harder to get one of the blue Bauhaus edition pens while it was possible, because future limited editions are just going to even more far out of my comfort zone, now that Lamy seems to have a better handle on number of units and pricing that don't work (cf. the Black Amber) and what does with its target market for such.

 

I certainly wouldn't have been overcome with curiosity and snagged a Bauhaus edition as my first Lamy 2000, if I had to pay ≥US$500 for it and enter a lottery (or waiting list, for that matter) for the privilege. In retrospect, I wish the pricing for it was different and had been more of a disincentive.

 

Be it tulip bulbs, or high-tech stocks, exclusive art, or limited-edition fountain pens, where and when the music stops when prices are rising, it seems, no one really knows.

 

8 hours ago, peroride said:

That would be me at the lower left corner being thrown after the helicopter dust plume 🤕 

 

To all the detractors, the missing piece of information is that "14-carat gold nib in the width F, refined with platinum."  Single nib width in singular superlative alloy. Perhaps the premium metal is worth a picogram of further consideration? Also rumor suggests that the aged brown patina of 55 years on black makrolon of this jubilee limited numbered edition is most certainly a prime wine ready for its time!  Give in to the FOMO !!💩

 

 

I own Lamy's, but I wouldn't call myself the worlds biggest fan of them (they are "value" pens for me--i.e., I find their performance/price ratio to be above average: 15-20EUR for a good-quality, robust fountain pen in a convenient size is great, as is 200E for a piston filler with a gold nib with a clean good look). These LE products are perhaps a good test of the elasticity of demand for the "real" fans.

 

But yes, I hear you! There are other products for which I will (or am at least tempted to) cave in and pay an outrageous price for.

 

4 hours ago, maclink said:

I consider myself an addict of sorts, having so many pens and still desiring others to get that pleasure out of it, and having too many in storage. 

 

I am a big Lamy 2000 fan and have bought 3 over the years and one other nib. I would love a different colour but I can see the price pulling at our drawstrings. Too much from where I’m sitting but I would imagine there are many whose pockets can easily deal with that twinge of desire. Even if they sold it for over $1000. 

 

One of the advantages of developing an unique brand and a unique product (be it via trademarks, patents, secret processes, magic alchemy, whatever) is that it is possible to extract monopoly rents (i.e., as sole source, one may ask whatever price the market will pay for a given output quantity).

 

It is always a good and often a difficult strategic question, from the perspective of the manufacturer, when is a good time to build a brand, when is a good time to maintain a brand, when is a good time exploit a brand (and yes, when is a good time to kill off a brand). This particular LE series seems to me to fall into the "exploiting-of-the-brand" territory.

*******

 

Has anyone else actually seen the brown 55th Anniversary model 2000 mentioned/displayed on any official Lamy corporate site? I have not. Is so, a link would be appreciated.

 

 

[A Smug Dill]

1 hour ago, MuddyWaters said:

Could you clarify this statement a bit more? Not sure I follow...

 

You made a strong assertion that the original version of the Lamy 2000 is already perfect, and seemed to imply that is the reason why the pen model is, or would be, the worst candidate for which to release a special edition, although it was unclear it was ‘worst’ or bad from whose perspective: Lamy's, because it wouldn't recoup its costs in releasing and marketing a special edition, or the black Makrolon's fans, because it gives room to shake their faith and/or resolve.

 

For that reason, I think it would be interesting and entertaining to watch Lamy release limited or special editions of the pen, as if it were — should I say — sport. If the lower priced Lamy 2000 in black Makrolon is already perfect, and Lamy is targeting existing fans of the model, instead of those who has never owned a Lamy 2000, as the primary market for the higher-priced LE/SE pens, then there is every disadvantage for the customer in buying such a pen: it's drastically more expensive, but far less accessible or convenient to buy than the black Makrolon version and, if your assertion is commonly held to be true, one would get at best equal but most likely inferior (since perfection, by definition, cannot be improved upon) product for the pain, even if the buyer is actually in the market for another Lamy 2000 as an additional (or backup) writing instrument in one's stable. In turn, that would put Lamy at a great disadvantage and make it more unlikely for the LE/SE release to pay off commercially; everything would be biased towards your claim being vindicated.

 

However, we all saw what happened with the release of the blue Bauhaus LE. It quickly sold out in spite of the high asking prices; fans of the Lamy 2000 were very actively competing with each other to get one, and (so it seemed to me) some who missed out were prepared to bend to those who aimed to profiteer and flip the units they secured as soon as retailers' stock was depleted. I'd say Lamy's business decision was demonstrably vindicated; and thus it was not bad in any way for Lamy that it released that LE. To be perfectly honest, other than having paid perhaps uncomfortably more for it, I have not really noticed any comments from owners of the blue Bauhaus pens that they think the the black Makrolon version is superior, when quite likely most of them have both versions at hand for direct comparison.

[Calabria]

I’m kind of intrigued by the clip and would like to know what the coating is. 
 

The 2000 F nib is too broad for me; also, like many of you, I’m not looking to spend that kind of money on a brown pen. 3300 seems like a large number to me at that price. Let’s see what happens! I got my two Black Ambers at 50% off and although both have issues with the coating (rust spots and flaking at the tip) it’s an amazingly tactile, well balanced, and functional writing instrument. In comparison, this looks kind of cheap.

[peroride]

On 5/30/2021 at 5:11 AM, MuddyWaters said:

Lamy offers a most classic fountain pen in the best colour (black) in a great material (makrolon) with the same nib, all year round, at a very reasonable price. Let them have their fun too.

Well said, I'm glad Lamy does not gouge on the L2K. They really provide a service to the community to continue to put out such a affordable quality classic. Let them have their fun, indeed.

 

Here's Doodlebud's appreciative take 

 

I do wonder if the Bauhaus anniversary edition taught them a thing or two about demand pricing. It reminds me of Platinum pricing after the 3776 Rokka and how they balanced a fine line between demand and what the market will bear. This looks like a fun marketing econ problem: fountain pen pricing algorithm. I would love to see odd pricing like $278.86 for the L2K Premium Maroon 2023. 🤓

[Nurmister]

On 5/26/2021 at 7:26 AM, cbmd said:

 

https://www.lamy.com/en/urushi/

 

Oh yea, this is something I definitely wanted to forget. Haha. German brands: Pelikan, Montblanc also offer Maki-e on their really high-end offerings, but for some reason I never like it as much as Japanese brands' implementations. In the Lamy case, I feel that a "vague design" doesn't suit urushi. This feels like something that could be replicated better with a pretty acrylic, and that is not the point of urushi to me.

[Nurmister]

 

 

This is actually pretty great; the "tinted metal" clip implementation is really tasteful, and the contrast of the blue ink window is great. This looks really well thought-out, although like the rest I'm not sure brown really suits the modern shape of the pen. This reminds me of the brown Safari "LX".

 

Speaking of the Safari, hopefully Lamy keeps trying different colors with the 2000, although they seem to overprice them every time. I think there's a huge market of people who would collect sets of the 2000, as people do of the Safari. Muted colors like burgundy, blue (done), forest green, etc. would probably look nice, especially if ink windows and clips complement the body color as they do here.

 

However, I suspect one reason for the overpricing is that unlike the Safari, the 2000 requires (a little) more hand-work, and so they need to temper demand:

 

 

[A Smug Dill]

1 hour ago, Nurmister said:

… hopefully Lamy keeps trying different colors with the 2000, although they seem to overprice them every time.

 

It's only overpriced if the price causes supply to far exceed demand, and force subsequent clearance of the unsold stock at significant discounts, thus demonstrating obvious, perhaps even embarrassing, commercial misjudgment. How those prospective customers who make up latent demand at typical asking prices for run-of-the-mill Lamy 2000 pens feel about the MSRPs of limited and special editions is no yardstick.

[jchch1950]

Nice colour.expensive pen. Black, blue,2 stainless steel versions , do I need the brown one?.....Maybe yes .