Why no love for the Parker IM?

[Cuppatea]

My two IMs, purchase earlier this year, are two of my favorite writers. I use them as often as my Pilot Custom 823. For the price and ease of use, I am very surprised by the line quality. They start right on the page after a couple days of idling, or I just start them on my blotter paper. Once they get going they do not skip. The Brushed Metal nib is easier to start than the Blue Mono. Something to do with the blue coating perhaps.

When I say line variation below, I am not trying to flex the nib. It just does it. It is a stiff steel nib.

Maybe I am old fashioned, but I like the styling especially of the monochromes. I'd like to collect more colors in Monochrome. I have more Parkers than any other brand, mostly Sonnets and 45s.

What do you think? I’ve not read anything positive about these wonderful pens.

[Penguincollector]

  I’ve had that blue monochrome on my list for a couple of years now. I should buy it when the price drops again. It was under $40 at one point and I missed out. I really hope your hard starts are not from the blue nib coating, because that is what I love about it. I would suggest running some old Quink with Solv-x through the pen and seeing if that clears it up. It’s what I do with any hinky Parker and it really helps.

[Mark from Yorkshire]

The IM special edition are ace especially the last frontier 

[I-am-not-really-here]

 

29 minutes ago, Cuppatea said:

What do you think? I’ve not read anything positive about these wonderful pens.

The under-$50 price point is very crowded, in what way does this pen stand out from the others?

[Cuppatea]

Let me tell you, the blue mono is beautiful. I bought it for $52. $40 is better yes! 
Perhaps I exaggerated the hard starts. Or not. I don’t know what others tolerate. If I haven't used it for a week, it won't start on my journal page. A few light swipes on the blotter gets it going. A week, I think, is a lot to ask of a pen.

Thanks for the tip about old Quink and Solv-x! I learn so much from you all.

 

[Cuppatea]

9 minutes ago, I-am-not-really-here said:

 

The under-$50 price point is very crowded, in what way does this pen stand out from the others?

I haven't tried a lot of pens under $50.
Certainly I’ve looked at many, online.

The IMs were the ones in that price range that caught my eye. The sheen of the metal, the size, the style, the weight and balance. I'm just not attracted to some other popular brands, though I am sure they are good.

[Cuppatea]

16 minutes ago, Mark from Yorkshire said:

The IM special edition are ace especially the last frontier 

Wow, I never looked closely at the Last Frontier. It is very nice. It is on sale at pensandpencils.com for $34.95

[Penguincollector]

25 minutes ago, Cuppatea said:

Let me tell you, the blue mono is beautiful. I bought it for $52. $40 is better yes! 
Perhaps I exaggerated the hard starts. Or not. I don’t know what others tolerate. If I haven't used it for a week, it won't start on my journal page. A few light swipes on the blotter gets it going. A week, I think, is a lot to ask of a pen.

Thanks for the tip about old Quink and Solv-x! I learn so much from you all.

 

 Oh good, I feel better about it now that you wrote that. I’m rather forgiving in regards to my pens’ idiosyncrasies and grew up with using a bit of water to start a pen. The washable blue Quink works best, but any will do in a pinch.

[Mangrove Jack]

On 12/16/2023 at 9:17 PM, Cuppatea said:

Perhaps I exaggerated the hard starts. Or not. I don’t know what others tolerate. If I haven't used it for a week, it won't start on my journal page. A few light swipes on the blotter gets it going. A week, I think, is a lot to ask of a pen.

 

I don't know what is considered acceptable, or not, but all my fountain pens start immediately upon setting nib to paper after one or two weeks of non use.

 

Over the last 6 month or so I have had the same pens inked and in use. Noodlers Konrad, Parker 75 with XF nib, two Pelikan M200's, Sheaffer Targa and a Cross Solo with XF nib.

I pick 2 pens for the week and use only those 2. Then I put them aside and use another 2 for the next week, and so on. Thus on average each pens gets rested😊for 2 weeks at a time in rotation and yet starts writing immediately, even the Parker 75 which writes a very fine line.

[Misfit]

I have one, the special edition Midnight Astral. It’s a nice pen. I prefer italic and stub nibs. Space themes always seem to get me though when the price is right. 

[inkstainedruth]

I'll admit that other than Parker Vectors (and most of them are discontinued UK production models from the 1980s to early 2000s at that) I'm not all that enamored of modern Parkers.  The first two pens I bought were Parker Reflexes, and the rubberized grip on the sections disintegrated on BOTH of them (not sure who ended up with them -- I tossed them into a "Pick a Prize" raffle at something I was at a few years ago).  And then after leaving the first Vector and my then current journal in CT one January, and not getting them back for a MONTH, I bought a Parker Urban which I ended up tossing in the trash....  Yeah, I hated the pen THAT much.  Had trouble finding a converter that would fit, and then sending it back to Parker (SOOO glad I paid for the extended warranty) and they were kinda a-holes about the business to get it removed from the barrel and they sent me another SLIDE converter as a replacement.  And then the thing started leaking from under the collar around the nib and feed.... 

Give me an older/vintage Parker ANY day of the week....  My 51s are just awesome writers, and my first semi-vintage pen, a Parker 45 with a 14K nib?    You put the right ink in that pen and it's like dancing on ice across the page, it's so smooth.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Andy1883]

I wouldn't call it love, but I do like the IM.  I've got two that I picked up cheaply (less than £20) and they've both behaved very well, writing smoothly first time, even after months of neglect.  Sadly, they will never compete with my affection for my old Duofolds.............................

[Cuppatea]

On 12/21/2023 at 1:45 PM, inkstainedruth said:

my first semi-vintage pen, a Parker 45 with a 14K nib?    You put the right ink in that pen and it's like dancing on ice across the page, it's so smooth.... 

I love my old 45s too! No experience with the other Parkers you have had. I love my Sonnets too. I have an old Sonnet Flighter that is inked with JHerbin Bleu Myosotis which looks lovely with the M nib. I did coat the cap with glue to make it airtight. Now it writes with no hard starts. 
I have to decide which blue to put in my IM Blue Mono next. It does like the Fighting Fish from Birmingham. 

[inkstainedruth]

Oh I had to look Fighting Fish up on the Birmingham Pens website.  That does look like a nice color.  

I keep forgetting to look at their website.  I had gotten spoiled by when they had the B&M store in Pittsburgh -- especially since they would keep the price of other brands of ink (this is before they started making their own colors) at the price you could get stuff from online.  

I'd wander down there every now and then and go, "So, Nick -- what do you have today?"  One time I had gone in to look at whatever that year's al-Star LE color was, but decided it didn't really grab me.  So I was looking at what they had in the class case at the counter, and ended up getting a pink TWSBI 580-AL.  And three bottles of De Atramentis ink because they'd just got a shipment in -- Nick was still going through them on the counter.  
My husband and I were supposed to be going for a drive, so he dropped me off and then picked me up when I was done, and was NOT amused that I'd spent WAY more money than the al-Star would have -- heck I paid nearly double the price just for the TWSBI....  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Cuppatea]

4 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

 I had gotten spoiled by when they had the B&M store in Pittsburgh

Oh how wonderful it must be to live near a pen shop!

I do like the Fighting Fish ink. Juicy and pretty.

[Cuppatea]

On 12/21/2023 at 9:48 AM, Mangrove Jack said:

I don't know what is considered acceptable, or not, but all my fountain pens start immediately upon setting nib to paper after one or two weeks of non use.

 

Over the last 6 month or so I have had the same pens inked and in use. Noodlers Konrad, Parker 75 with XF nib, two Pelikan M200's, Sheaffer Targa and a Cross Solo with XF nib.

I pick 2 pens for the week and use only those 2. Then I put them aside and use another 2 for the next week, and so on. Thus on average each pens gets rested😊for 2 weeks at a time in rotation and yet starts writing immediately, even the Parker 75 which writes a very fine line.

That's a good system! I have 16 pens inked up, too many. I wish I had more self control!

I think the new Parker caps must be a bad design. My Sonnets and IMs do let a lot of air in. I love them anyway. I'd love to have a Parker 75.