Phileas Phever

[Left FPN]

Well here we go again.

Could these be my pension,

 

1 , 2 and 12 are Kulturs

Edited October 21, 2016 by Force

[JonSzanto]

Hardly. They are never going to go as high as the venerable, old, high-end pens.

 

Unless by "pension" you are considering living very, very modestly.

[Left FPN]

Hardly. They are never going to go as high as the venerable, old, high-end pens.

 

Unless by "pension" you are considering living very, very modestly.

 

I bet in 1900 someone said exactly the same...

[JonSzanto]

Hardly. They are never going to go as high as the venerable, old, high-end pens.

 

Unless by "pension" you are considering living very, very modestly.

 

I bet in 1900 someone said exactly the same...

The differences are pretty clear: the Phileas is a fine pen, but they all look exactly alike. There is no variation, to any great extent, as there has been in hand-made pens and all of the variation in celluloids and plastics. No doubt they will still gain some value, but I truly doubt that - in your lifetime - they will attain any kind of high enough value that you can consider anything over a few nice bottles of single malt.

[Trebor]

The Phileas was my first pen. I bought it because it had a reputation as a good, cheap pen.

 

Given this reputation as a cheap starter pen, I can't see the value appreciating. There's really nothing special about the pen -- it was marketed as a budget pen, had a steel nib (not to knock on steel nibs, but you see where I'm going...), and the color palette was boring/gaudy (at least to me, anyway).

 

I'm not sure where people get the idea that out of print/manufacturing automatically means that it has value. For the love of all that is fluffy and adorable, these pens were sold in Staples, or so I have read on these forums. There must be tons of them out there.

 

Having said that, I'll sell you my Phileas at a discount, if you're so insistent on collecting all of them :roflmho: (Note: As I was young and stupid, I also promptly dropped the thing on its nib and bent it Alas, you served your purpose, young Phileas)

[JonSzanto]

Trebor, it appears you are fairly new here. Force knows the Phileas backwards and forwards, and knows the market very well. He and I have discussed this on numerous times, and in the last 1-2 years the pen has, on average, doubled it's usual selling price. I used to buy them used for around $20 to encourage others to take up fountain pens; these days, it is difficult to find one (a decent one) for under $40.

 

My points above still stand: I don't think these will achieve actual vintage pen price points, mainly because of their mass market nature. Nonetheless, you can rest assured that Force certainly knows current market value, which I'm not quite certain you do.

 

The Phileas was my second pen.

[Trebor]

You are indeed correct (new to this particular forum and not particularly big Waterman fan) and I defer to you/Force on the market value of Phileas. Those were my intuitive thoughts. The Phileas was desirable because it was a cheap yet relatively quality pen. My mind can't fathom people buying something that used to be cheap at high prices, but I suppose it's happened before.

 

You've prompted me to do a quick eBay search and I now see that some Phileases are going for... substantially more than what I would have considered the market price for a new one a few years ago (about $40). This leaves me scratching my head, but to each his own.

[mrcharlie]

Hardly. They are never going to go as high as the venerable, old, high-end pens.

 

Unless by "pension" you are considering living very, very modestly.

 

I bet in 1900 someone said exactly the same...

1. Are you planning on living another 100+ years?
   
2. Most of the price increase in 100 year old pens is inflation. The value of a non-black Esterbrook "dollar pen" purchased for $1.50 in 1935 in 2013 dollars is $25.42. You can still buy one now in the $20 to $30 range. Not a good investment.
   

[Sasha Royale]

At the end of March 2013, looks like $60 for a NOS Phileas.

How many ya got ? More than ten, I hope.

[gweddig]

Thanks for posting this, I just found one of these today boxed with papers at the Salvation Army. Green marbled, not really my style but it is in terrific shape. What years was the Phileas active (roughly), 1990s? Thanks!

 

--greg

[mrcharlie]

I bought two new from dealer in 2005 for about $25 each. They were in at least one of the US big box office supply stores at that same time, in a "kit" with a bottle of ink and a handful of carts for about $40.

 

I don't know the exact end of production, but 2005 or 2006 was the last time I saw them in the office supply stores.

[Stylus156]

Investment or not, they're incredible pens for the price. Good quality, unique design, excellent performance.

 

I too will likely invest in one or two if a fair opportunity arises...

 

Impressive photography too.

 

Respectfully,

M.

[nm4]

They are nice pens for sure - my M nib was one of the smoothest pens I've owned. As they pass the $60-70 mark I do think the Phileas are eclipsed by several other pens with higher quality bodies, caps, and clips.

 

Cheers,

NM

[Ray-Vigo]

I see the less common early colors picking up a fair bit of value. I don't think the more common "marble" ones from later will ever be worth big bucks, at least at a market price. There are always a few people around who overpay.

Edited April 12, 2013 by Ray-Vigo

[MarneM]

Perhaps instead of the typical retirement jobs, you can just spend some time on the side of the road with a sign that says, "Will ink for food?"

 

Such a pretty rainbow!

[Left FPN]

you were saying.....here

[RMN]

Force, looks like you're sitting on a goldmine.

 

D.ick

[Left FPN]

I am just lost for words on that...I paid £15 for one a few months ago.

[recluse]

you were saying.....here

 

For the sake of my own sanity I assume that the first bidder put 1200 instead of 12.00 and then two fellows just kept trying to rich the bottom.

[spraine]

Hi-

 

I have two Phileas pens. P/N of the red marbled model is 19714-WA.

 

My wife loves this model with its F nib, but would love a BB nib for it.

(her desire came from writing with an MB 146 BB)

 

Is it possible to get a BB nib for the Phileas?

Can I change the nib myself?

 

* But a concern: I seem to recall hearing that the Medium Waterman Phileas nib is a very wet writer?

(so if a BB exists, how wet would IT be!?)

 

Moot point if a BB doesn't exist.