Pelikan 400

[piembi]

Pelikan 400

 

My dream pen

When I was upgrading from a Geha schoolpen to a better pen in seventh grade, I was dreaming of a real pen a piston filler with a gold nib. A pen like the Pelikan 400. My budget had been good for a Parker 45. At least it had interchangeable nibs. I sticked to the Parker 45 until I finished school and was still dreaming of a real pen: http://s547.photobucket.com/albums/hh474/piembi/pens/FPN%20reviews/Pelikan%20400%20Green/?albumview=slideshow

 

When I started university, I gifted myself with a real pen: a Pelikan M 250. A piston filler with a gold nib. The pen was great but it was not the pen I was longing for. It was the cheaper, affordable model. I loved the M 250 and kept dreaming of the 400. I lost the M 250 and was mad. How could I loose my beloved pen?! And why didn't I have the money to replace it with another 250? I had to get a M 200 that I hated ever since (until I replaced the nib with a 14K nib) and kept dreaming of the 400.

 

When I graduated, my mom gave me my first M 400. I love the pen but the nib was not the sweet, soft nib of my lost 250. This one was stiff! So I kept dreaming of the 400.

 

I had my first real job and went to the fleamarket in Frankfurt. There was a pen seller and he had a Pelikan 400 and a Montblanc 14. I wanted both but could afford only one. I had to decide. The sellers advice had been: Get the MB 14. They are harder to come by than the Pelikan 400. Both had the same price and I did what he said and kept dreaming of the 400 ....

 

Several years later ebay had taken over and I bought my first 400. Finally I had my dream pen and I knew that the fleamarket seller had been an honest man: It is easy to find a Pelikan 400 in working condition but hard to find a MB 14. Back then I did the right thing.

 

Appearance/Finish

The 400 had been my second vintage Pelikan. The first one had been a 400NN. It looks like the pre 97 M 400. At least the design is the same. You have to touch it to realize that the feel of the celluloid binde is completey different! And a second look to realize that the celluloid is much more colourful than the M 400 successors. That is even more obvious with the tortoise 400s. I love the way the pen feels and the erratic greenblack stripes.

 

Comparison between 400, 400NN and early M 400; stripes in detail

 

http://i547.photobucket.com/albums/hh474/piembi/pens/FPN%20reviews/Pelikan%20400%20Green/P1070381.jpg

 

http://i547.photobucket.com/albums/hh474/piembi/pens/FPN%20reviews/Pelikan%20400%20Green/P1070404.jpg

 

Design/Size/Weight

The 400 is the size of the modern Pelikan M4xx/2xx. It has the same weight and girth than it's modern siblings. For me this is the perfect size. I am always coming back to the vintage Pelikan 400(NN)s as my reference pens regarding size and weight. I can write with those pens for hours and did so at university with a M250 and a M200.

 

Nib Design and Performance

The pen is beautiful but the nib is the main reason why I love this pen. Usually I prefer B nibs. Stubbish vintage semiflexible German B nibs. This Pelikan 400 is fitted with a M nib. This is not the usual M nib of the later 400s and the 400NNs. This is one of the earlier nibs and this makes the nib so special. Consider a later 400 nib the nib with the double stripe engraving like today's monochrome 14 K nibs. Those nibs are semiflexible. This one has far more flex! It is somewhere between flexible and semiflexible. One of my best nibs of quite a number of vintage Pelikan nibs.

 

Those earlier Pelikan nibs got me addicted. I was looking for other 400s with those early nibs. After several years of hunting for vintage Pelikans I have a nice flock. If I had to keep only one pen it would be hard to decide if I keep my favourite B nib or this one.

 

Nib details:

 

http://i547.photobucket.com/albums/hh474/piembi/pens/FPN%20reviews/Pelikan%20400%20Green/P1070399.jpg

 

http://i547.photobucket.com/albums/hh474/piembi/pens/FPN%20reviews/Pelikan%20400%20Green/P1070392.jpg

 

The Filling System

The pen is a piston filler. I cannot remember if it was one of those bodys that flushed out easily or one of those that had been clogged badly and needed ammonia soaking and an ultrasonic cleaner. I had both. Now the piston moves freely and the pen fills easily. I love piston fillers because they hold a lot of ink but sometimes it makes me nervous to have such a beauty with a piston because I cannot repair piston issues myself. This will be the next step on my pen restauration learning curve!

 

Cost and value

Like all my greenstriped vintage Pelikans this one had been off ebay Germany. They are still easily available if one is patient but the prices are getting higher and higher. And I am trying to convince myself that I don't need another birds nib. This one had been one of the pens that had been up to 40 Euros. I am bidding low because there had been (and still are) many lemons out there. No matter how careful you are, you will get your share of lemons. I have learned it the hard way and bid accordingly. Now I have some replacement nibs and caps that come in handy every now and then.

 

Conclusion

I have many user grade Pelikans. I don't mind. I am a user and I do use them on a daily basis. If I have a pen in very good condition, it has to stay in the drawer. I use the user grade pen to save the good pen. That's crazy, isn't it? I have to confess I am a Pelikan addict. The older, the better. This is one of my favourites and a keeper!

Edited August 9, 2010 by piembi

[Edgar Allan Bo]

[dennis_f]

All the pictures are incredible Piembi... but I LOVE that second one; the way you captured the barrel curve is just amazing (who knew it was so pronounced).

 

Great photos!

D.

[Ondina]

One of the very best sets of reviews ever published here. Detailed, personal, thorough. The grain in the pictures even given them a subtle vintage touch that suits the lighting and the subject. The choice if inks and the handwritind are beautiful. Thankyou.

[piembi]

[GeeTee]

Another great review. Thanks for reviewing some of my favorite pens (400, 400nn and 140).

[777]

Wonderful pen!

[kwisatz]

"Gratulation Dir und Danke für den Bericht...", i would love to say.

 

If it is the nib or the model, i cannot fathom.

I am also addicted to Pelikans.

I stick to the M200 in steel, but the piston filling system got me hooked forever back then in 1990...when i received my first piston filler as a present. I recall it as an M150.

 

ps : to be really honest, Geha and Pelikan was a battle of believs in school back then. It has also been said that those who used Parkers got sexually "different". The latest is a legend.

Edited August 9, 2010 by kwisatz

[jips123]

I love these pens! The flow on these pens is fantastic.

[raulfragoso]

Thanks for the great review ! Coincidently I've received my first Pelikan pen yesterday, and it's also a 400 but in brown color I love the flexible nib and the ergonomics are just right ! I think it will be a new favorite in my rotation and the first of many other Pelikans to come

 

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_MCvBWiEoWE4/TGFb8PUgBcI/AAAAAAAAArk/GNljqsT3AGc/s800/IMG_2809.jpg

 

Here a picture of the 400 next to a vintage MB 146 for size comparison:

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_MCvBWiEoWE4/TGFcB82JRhI/AAAAAAAAAro/2l1Bt_3qbpU/s800/IMG_2816.jpg

 

And the nib is really the shining star of this pen:

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_MCvBWiEoWE4/TGFcGOuXjjI/AAAAAAAAArw/sLBxuOIEnaY/s800/IMG_2817.jpg

[amble63]

Thanks for the great review. Pelikans really are special. My first Pel was a tortoise 400NN and, just like that, I was hooked. Now I have a tortoise M400, a green striped M400, and 2 green striped 400Ns, both OM nibs. They are wonderful writers and beautiful to look at. Now I have my eye on a red striped M600. . .

[jennyjohn]

These were really awesome, I really like all these pictures, I think that Pelikan still offer a pencil option for most of their models, Pelikan 400 in tortoiseshell stripe finish, Pelikan is a German company, founded in the 1830’s, and today they produce a full range of prestigious writing instruments as well as art supplies and everyday office stationery and equipment.

[piembi]

...I think that Pelikan still offer a pencil option for most of their models, ...

 

There had been a ballpoint option for the vintage models (have a greenstriped and a tortoise but don't use them) and there are pencils, ballpoints and rollerballs available for some of the recent models.

[Gerd W]

Hello piembi,

 

wonderful pen and great review(s), what a pleasure to read! The green-black-striped Pelikan 400 and a Pel 100, belonging to my first schoolteacher, had started my passion for fountain pens. It's long ago but I still love these pens.

 

Many thanks and kind regards -

 

Gerd

 

PS: My school-lessons in english are long ago, too, please excuse my diction.

[jniforat]

older pelikan pens rock! and this one is a killer. congrats on such a great pen, and thanks for a wonderful review.

[ilovewriting]

I really like this pen!

[Ellen]

After reading your reviews I just had to get myself a vintage Pelikan! Just recently at the Tilburg penshow I got a nice vintage green striped Pelikan 400. It's gorgeous! Even better than the looks is the nib. You convinced me to get a B-nib. I did and I absolutely adore this vintage stubbish broad and wet nib.....

 

Thanks for the recommendation; this is definitely going to be a keeper

[lewis]

Thanks for sharing that review, I've never seen one of those, only the modern versions. It is beautiful and I love the pictures.

 

Great pic side by side the 146 by another fellow FPN member. Looks like a great sized pens.

 

I don't own any Pels but their owners seem to sing their praises, perhaps a Pel will have to be my next purchase.

 

[85AKbN]

thanks. vintage reviews are timeless.

[tomgartin]

 

Oh my. I've drooled all over my keyboard.