Pelikan M400 Tortoise

[jbex]

Not sure if this an old topic, if so please direct me to the link. Thank you. I picked up this new old stock Pelikan M400 in Tortoise at a local stationary store here in Northern Italy. The pen is in mint condition given that it has never been used until now. I was able to date it back to the early 90’s or so I thought. After further examination I notice the cap band was stamped W. Germany. I started looking for the same exact pen with this marking and I keep coming up short. It was to my knowledge all the M400's made during the 90's where just stamped Germany. Any information would be illuminating. Thank you for your time. 
 

 

[Claes]

Ciao @jbex!

 

Perhaps this link will give you some more information?

https://www.pelikan-collectibles.com/en/Pelikan/Models/Souveraen-Series/M400-Basis/index.html

 

Cord. Sal.,

Claes a Lund, Svezia

 

[Carrau]

And this:

https://thepelikansperch.com/2015/03/19/pelikan-west-german-production/

[joss]

Hi, Pelikan re-introduced this model in 1982 and the M400 with W. GERMANY imprint on the cap band can be dated to 1982-1991.

[jbex]

Thank you so much. This has been helpful. 

[inkstainedruth]

My first Pelikan was a 1990s era M400 Brown Tortoise -- bought on eBay for a special occasion (my husband was freaking out a bit at the price and I told him that NEW M400s cost WAY more -- and that they no longer made the Brown Tortoise; then a couple of years later, Pelikan re-introduced that color and made a liar out of me... although the part about the price of a new one was definitely the truth ) .  A few months later a friend of mine gave me a "gag gift" -- an M200 with the Bayer logo engraved on the barrel.  I contacted Pelikan to get more information on dating that pen, and was told that every few years they change the logo (the Pelikan in its nest) -- changing the styling, number of chicks in the nest, etc.  

That might also help you in tracking down when the pen was made.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Bo Bo Olson]

How did I miss this.

You do have to have a springy W.Germany nib to 90/91, and a Germany springy '91-97 pen to compare to see the small difference in springiness.

 

W.Germany nibs '82-90/91 400...are a slight tad more springy than the '91-97 pens. (I don't have one of those early semi-vintage 400's...but my reading say it matches my other W.Germany nibs.)

Those ran some 40% more than the normal springy regular flex..'91-97 400's back then in German Ebay.

I also have a small W.Germany 600/ (or 400 deluxe) 18k whose nib also matches the 400.

I have a '85-91 W.Germany 200, and a later 200 so I can if I nit pick well enough say the W. Germany nib is that ever so slightly more springy.

My W.Germany 800 matches, that but once an 800 had it's very own and thinner nib width than the 400/600/200.

.....................the slight springiness is there....but it is not '50-65 factory stubbed semi-flex.

[jbex]

Thank you all for the information and for helping me to narrow down the age of this pen. Since owning this pen it has become my daily writer. I used to use my M1000 quite regularly, but I found this pen a bit more convenient to carry in my pocket. Sure I doesn't have as big of a presence as the M1000, but it does the job just as good. Thank you all again. 

[Bo Bo Olson]

I have a number** of 400's, 200's and three 400nns. I find them very well balanced...and I prefer the vintage '50-65 factory stubbed semi-flex, or the springy tear drop regular flex from '82-97.....both those nib sets write in a very clean line.

 

**One knows one has too many pens when one knows he has to go off and count pens to know how many 400 or 200's he has.

[inkstainedruth]

Bo Bo, I solve that problem by saying (if anyone asks how many pens I have): "Somewhere between too many and not enough...."   Although if they were to ask my husband, HE'D say that the pens were just the gateway to the ink collection.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Bo Bo Olson]

I can still remembering so ... noobie ... I thought 10 pens would be all I'd ever need, and the same for 10 inks....

Sometimes one is wrong. Sometimes one is Dead Wrong. Then sometimes there is pens and inks. cubed.