Cheapies : Loving Them!

[Anirban4u]

It was a horrible month at office, too many activities and too little time. But that period is over and we got ourselves a nice long weekend.

So greetings for the Holy Good Friday and a Happy,fun-filled Easter to all.

 

I have in my possession quite a few pens, I think a shade over thirty, I need to sort them out and do a giveaway soon.

[Ok, already gave away 2 vectors, a few walitiys (walities ?) and a nice Schneider ID, but that's not the point.]

 

So I took notice of which pens I tend to use more and I noticed that I am slightly inclined towards cheapies, when I carry to workplace or elsewhere.

And I did a quick calculation, the costliest among them is a parker Frontier in matte. I paid 425 INR. That's 7 USD or 5 Euro.
(A few chapies don't count as they are yet to see the sunlight. or feel the touch of paper).

Of course, the most I spent on a pen is 2500 INR, roughly 30 Euro or 40 USD. But that'll change the day I buy a Sailor 1911L And hopefully, that's next month.

 

So my dear friends and peniacs, do you love your cheapies ? Do you use them as your daily carry pen ?

 

And just for the curious soul, my current cheapies are Pierre Cardin Masterpiece & a baoer.

 

[Stowford]

I use a Parker Frontier with a fine nib every day! I take it to work tucked into the side of my pocket notebook and it's never let me down. Looks great, writes well and I love the click of the cap.

[Steven]

My favorite cheepie is the Platinum Preppy. It costs less the $4.00 US. Buy two or three and hand them out to friends.

[Gump]

There's always a safari or vista on my desk or in my pocket, I have accumulated 3 now, plus a few of their Jinhao cousins

 

Todd's sale a few weeks ago took me further down the Lamy rabbithole, several new nibs and lots of ink.

[melissima]

I do love my cheapies. I'm back in college (one more month of undergrad!) and I've become much too protective to carry a "good" pen to class with me.

 

I have a Hero 616 in daily rotation since about 1998. Other cheapies I really enjoy are my Sailors - I have both a High Ace Neo and a Clear Candy inked up at the moment, and both are reliable writers.

 

My Jinhao x750 was a bit of a disappointment--it's a pretty pen and seems very well made for the price point, but it's a bit too big and heavy for me to love.

Edited April 19, 2014 by melissima

[Pentulant]

I have pens of all price ranges. I always have a Safari inked. Well, at least one.

[KBeezie]

Some of my 'cheapies' make very practical pens, granted I haven't been using FPs in general as long as the rest of the folks on the forums. But I know what I like.

 

The cheapest one I have that I use regularly (though not daily) is my Jinhao X750 "Shimmering Sands", and is probably the only one of the X750 I've taken a liking to. However I've replaced the nib on that with a Monteverde black Fine nib, and the converter with a better quality one, so two of the three internal components are not original to the pen's price. But it's a decent writer, especially with some iroshizuku thru it.

 

Shown here with the Goulet Extra-Fine (which is now on my Monteverde Invincia Deluxe Nighthawk, and the X750 with the black fine from that)

http://static.karlblessing.com/pens/intro/x750_ef.jpg

 

 

The one for under $20 out of the box that I'm already taking a liking to is the Pilot Metropolitan (Bronze Lizard), bout $15 by itself, a medium that writes about the same as the Monteverde or Goulet Fine (ie: Western vs Japanese sizing), it feels decent in the hands, similar in size to the X750 but thinner at the ends and of lighter materials. It's stock nib smooth out of the box and probably one I'll possibly use as my carry-around pen when I'm concerned bout taking one of my more expensive ones. Right now I'm just using the Pilot Black Cartridge it came with which seems to be doing rather well. I also have a pair of Pilot 78G, but I don't see myself using them a lot like I would the Metropolitan.

 

http://static.karlblessing.com/pens/pmetro/uncapped.jpg

 

The one I have had with me 99.99% of the time as of late as being "inexpensive" but not "cheapie" is my Faber-Castell BASIC. Works wonderfully with some Waterman Intense Black and it's also one of the smoothest nibs I've used, the body can be a tiny bit unwieldy sometimes (posting the cap is like I'm writing with a walking stick). But it starts right up and I haven't run into a flow problem with it yet. Ran me about 45 USD, so like I Said, not a cheapie.

 

http://static.karlblessing.com/pens/fabercastell_basic/uncapped.jpg

 

However this is the pen I'm always reaching for first for just day-to-day writing. A vintage Montblanc 225 with a fine gold nib (platinum plated nib and cap), piston filler with a very ample reservoir and probably the smoothest nib I have in the 'extra fine' line width, I never took myself to be a fan of the skinnier pens, but I'm almost always writing with that one. Cost me about 50 USD.

 

http://static.karlblessing.com/pens/montblanc225/1.jpg

 

 

 

But I think out of all the pens I have under the 20-30 range, the Pilot Metro is probably going to end up being my 'everyday' cheapie, especially if I can find myself a suitable blue ink to use with it (don't like it too bright, but not too dark, so far I've taken a liking to Tsuki-yo, but it's a tad expensive, I use Noodler's Black Eel as my primary black especially in the MontBlanc).

 

So good chance I'll almost always have the Montblanc 225 + Pilot Metro with me (for a black and blue combo), and if I am concern about damaging the MB, it'll likely just be the Metro with me, otherwise probably Faber-Castell if I want Black on me, since normally I would have the X750, but if I only have one pen on me I'm going to want something reliable (not to say the X750 is unreliable, just has a higher chance of being temperamental than the Metro, Faber Castell or even 78G).

 

PS: But yea I don't have anything Fountain Pen wise that falls under the $6 range.

Edited April 19, 2014 by KBeezie

[Cryptos]

For some reason that MB 225 reminds of the Lamy 2000... and I would love to find one for 50 bucks (you lucky son of gun!). One day I shall have funds. Still waiting on that day.

[KBeezie]

For some reason that MB 225 reminds of the Lamy 2000... and I would love to find one for 50 bucks (you lucky son of gun!). One day I shall have funds. Still waiting on that day.

 

The original winning price was around 66, but the item was not as described (ie: described as cleaned by sonic, but the cap, feed and piston all had excess and dried ink in it), Determined to make it work spent all evening cleaning it out, and then a few more tweaks and cleaning couple days later after giving it a fair chance, expressed my displeasure with the seller (especially since I got some ink spill uncapping the pen the first time out of the box), but I left some positive feedback before doing so, because at that point I got it working to the way I liked it. The seller ended up giving me a $15 refund for the inconvenience.

 

I'm not sure what the 'regular' price of it is, since I don't see 225s on ebay that often, it's just something that caught my eye and I was willing to bid up to 75 at most for it based on the description ( seller also said the nib had flex... it's soft but it's definitely not flexy), I see a lot more 220s out there and for more than I'd personally want to spend, so yea I think I lucked out. It's missing a snowflake on the bottom of the pen, but no biggie, cosmetically the one on the cap is more important.

 

Not sure it technically falls in the realm of 'cheapie' price wise, cuz I'm sure if not for my luck it probably could have hit over 100 easy.

[fledermaus89]

I have hero 616s, reform 1745 and noodler's nib creaper in my pen pouch. Used to carry M200 and M300 around but after I broke my M300 in half I try not to carry expensive ones with other pens.

[KBeezie]

I have hero 616s, reform 1745 and noodler's nib creaper in my pen pouch. Used to carry M200 and M300 around but after I broke my M300 in half I try not to carry expensive ones with other pens.

 

Seems like half the time the Hero 616 just needs a little nib smoothing love... and to stay away from soft paper (just a tiny bit of fiber seems to wreak havoc on a H616, and seems easy to get one caught in it).

[fledermaus89]

 

Seems like half the time the Hero 616 just needs a little nib smoothing love... and to stay away from soft paper (just a tiny bit of fiber seems to wreak havoc on a H616, and seems easy to get one caught in it).

hmm, that's weird. I have three of them (10 more coming) but they are all some of the smoothest out of the box I've had.

[KBeezie]

hmm, that's weird. I have three of them (10 more coming) but they are all some of the smoothest out of the box I've had.

 

Hrm, I only had the one, it's a bit scratchy compared to everything else I have, and dries up rather easy, but I've only used that one and I'm not a fan of permanently installed squeeze fillers, so I never bothered to get more.

[WaskiSquirrel]

It depends on what the definition of "cheapie" is. I love my Noodler's pens, and I use them daily. I'm also reasonable happy with my Platinum Preppies, though they're not always daily writers.

 

On the other hand, I don't like my Jinhao pens, so I'll probably be giving them away the next time I thin my collection.

 

I want a pen that writes well. Noodler's pens do this, and the flex nib on them adds a bit of fun to the writing.

[WirsPlm]

I love my cheap pens, and like the OP don't have many expensive pens (the most expensive was $50 for an unrestored Parker 51), I find that the lower cost pens write just as well as the more expensive ones and I'm not afraid to carry them around and use them like I would be with the nicer ones.

[sotto2]

There's definitely a "sweet spot" for value and useability. I find myself going back to my Ohto F-Spirit pens quite often just because they're black and shiny/laquery with bullet proof nibs and a convenient snap-on cap that grabs you like a good pair of Channellocks. My Montblanc Starwalker is sitting in my pen drawer empty while my Ohto Spirit is laying down lines of purply Waterman goodness.

[mhguda]

Those who consider the Parker Frontier cheapies, you're fortunate! Here, they are not cheap. A $35 pen is not cheap, in my book, and that's what I paid for mine.

But I have some new cheapies, $2.50 or so each, that are wonderful writers. The nib is slightly bent, like those Falcon nibs. Only one color, blue translucent plastic, and I put in a converter. It came with two cartridges. I have other cheapies like that, some great writers, and some I had to really work on to make them useable. Good way to learn...

[Inkysloth]

I have a Jinhao x750 with fude nib that cost £5 or so, and it's a great pen. My only niggle is that it's heavy, so I wouldn't use it for writing huge amount, but for sketching & doodling it's wonderful.

[Sallent]

I love cheapies too. Although I don't currently own one, I used a Parker 25 for a while in college, and I really enjoyed it. It may have been a cheapie, but it was my FP, and that's all that mattered.

[Anirban4u]

I almost forgot my first cheapie. A sheaffer NN.

And how absolutely ungrateful of me to forget Schneider base.

 

So good to see the appreciation for them cheapies.

 

I wouldn't consider a pilot metro a cheapie. They cost a little more than 1100 INR . But ymmv and I absolutely love that pen.