Montblanc Skeleton Was Always Very Limited, But The New Skeleton 90 Years Is A Special Edition Without Limitation! Do You Like This New Way?!

[Mr. Montblanc]

I think the Montblanc Company is destroying the successful concept of rarity of their limited editions.

 

I am very afraid about this new way!

 

The limited editions from Montblanc are not increasing in value like in the past and Special Editions - as this Skeleton 90 Years - even with a limited production, can be a disaster for the image of the brand.

Most of the success from the new Montblanc Era, started with the Lorenzo de Medici in 1992, limited to only 4810, very few at that time without the eBay.

The running to get one of them, was the beginning of a hit, followed from the others companies.

[The Blue Knight]

Buying a pen as an investment is a bad idea. Ultimately Mont Blanc is a company that serves it's share holders if they can sell 1000 limited editions versus 90 they make far more money and make there share holders far more happy.

[sd10521]

As long as there is some differences between this and the "Limited Edition" I see no serious problems until they reach some of the Naive / Not So Honest eBay sellers, then it's to old Caveat Emptor.

[Mister Mont Blanc]

Hi Mr. Montblanc, I myself, Mister Mont Blanc, am thinking it may be a way for them to get more revenue. If they normally sell all of their LE pens made and they are popular, this may be their way of reaching more people who want an LE. This way, the profit isn't limited to just the XXXX number of pens normally produced. They can make as much money from everyone who wants one, whether it's 2k or 2mil.

Honestly, these are priced for collectors right? The profit margins have to be huge on these!

[gerigo]

I think there are only a limited amount of these pens. I was told it was not even coming to my neighborhood MB boutique. The production run was "spoken for" and it is a runaway hit for MB.

[BrandonA]

I think there are only a limited amount of these pens. I was told it was not even coming to my neighborhood MB boutique. The production run was "spoken for" and it is a runaway hit for MB.

 

It is a special edition and not a limited edition. The pen will therefore not have a xxx/yyy stamped on it. It will be available for a limited amount of time.

 

I suspect Montblanc have a rough idea of how many pens they will sell and will therefore not make 1,000s of them, thus it may be hard to get hold of them initially.

[mrchan]

As much as I love Montblanc FPs, I care not for the image of the company being "destroyed" by producing a non-limited run of their fountain pens What are you an ambassador of their brand or something? To me that just means that more people can actually buy a rare pen, which is nice for the FPN community.

 

FPs are not meant to increase in value, if you buy them for investment purposes in mind, prepare to lose a lot of money. Even amongst the most finicky of collectors, the skeletonized versions are only worth something if they are number 01/88 or 88/88 in the set or something. I am pretty sure if you can afford all those pens that if you ended up buying a number 47/90 or something, nobody would even care. And yes, those numbers are usually already reserved for special collectors. So abandon ye foolish investment thoughts and be glad you have been diverted away from this folly.

[Opooh]

As much as I love Montblanc FPs, I care not for the image of the company being "destroyed" by producing a non-limited run of their fountain pens What are you an ambassador of their brand or something? To me that just means that more people can actually buy a rare pen, which is nice for the FPN community.

 

FPs are not meant to increase in value, if you buy them for investment purposes in mind, prepare to lose a lot of money. Even amongst the most finicky of collectors, the skeletonized versions are only worth something if they are number 01/88 or 88/88 in the set or something. I am pretty sure if you can afford all those pens that if you ended up buying a number 47/90 or something, nobody would even care. And yes, those numbers are usually already reserved for special collectors. So abandon ye foolish investment thoughts and be glad you have been diverted away from this folly.

1+

[tarheel1]

Anyone know msrp on these? Hopefully cheaper than a limited edition.

[BrandonA]

Anyone know msrp on these? Hopefully cheaper than a limited edition.

 

If you ask, then you can't afford it

 

I can't remember the exact price but I seem to remember it was more than a POA 888.

Edited July 20, 2014 by BrandonA

[Pen Nut]

 

If you ask, then you can't afford it

 

I can't remember the exact price but I seem to remember it was more than a POA 888.

 

Reminds of a pen salesman in Selfridges Manchester saying to me when I asked about the cost of a 149 " they are very expensive " Oh the years of fun I had tormenting him by showing him what I had bought from other shops. The book and cover quote springs to mind

[Mr. Montblanc]

Anyone know msrp on these? Hopefully cheaper than a limited edition.

Europe: EURO$ 8100,00

USA: US$ 8.900,00

[Mr. Montblanc]

As much as I love Montblanc FPs, I care not for the image of the company being "destroyed" by producing a non-limited run of their fountain pens What are you an ambassador of their brand or something? To me that just means that more people can actually buy a rare pen, which is nice for the FPN community.

 

FPs are not meant to increase in value, if you buy them for investment purposes in mind, prepare to lose a lot of money. Even amongst the most finicky of collectors, the skeletonized versions are only worth something if they are number 01/88 or 88/88 in the set or something. I am pretty sure if you can afford all those pens that if you ended up buying a number 47/90 or something, nobody would even care. And yes, those numbers are usually already reserved for special collectors. So abandon ye foolish investment thoughts and be glad you have been diverted away from this folly.

Everyone who really love a brand become its ambassador.

 

Do you will like, if pay a premium price for a limited edition and then it is reissued as a special edition?!

 

It is what happened with the Montegrappa Dragon from 2005, reissued exactly the same - 2 years ago - with the name of Bruce Lee!!!

Do you think, it was good for the Montegrappa lovers, just because many of them just want to write with their pens?

 

Vintage, you don't buy a pen, but a pen with a brand, full of emotional values!

 

If montblanc do it again and again to get more revenue, maybe even you can see the brand in a different way.

 

Do you remember the Cross Pen?!

In the 70ies, it was the Montblanc, the leader, but wrong decisions made it almost disappear of the writing world.

Edited July 20, 2014 by Mr. Montblanc

[BrandonA]

Everyone who really love a brand is its ambassador.

 

Do you will like, if pay a premium price for a limited edition and then it is reissued as a special edition?!

 

It is what happened with the Montegrappa Dragon from 2005, reissued exactly the same - 2 years ago - with the name of Bruce Lee!!!

Do you think, it was good for the Montegrappa lovers, just because many of them just want to write with their pens?

 

.

Other companies may rerelease like you've stated but MB never will. They make the limited edition pens and then destroy the tools/equipment used to make them, thus removing the ability (or temptation should it ever crop up) to rerelease.

 

I imagine a similar strategy is adopted for the special editions once the period in which they state the pen will be available has expired.

[Dillo]

Other companies may rerelease like you've stated but MB never will. They make the limited edition pens and then destroy the tools/equipment used to make them, thus removing the ability (or temptation should it ever crop up) to rerelease.

 

I imagine a similar strategy is adopted for the special editions once the period in which they state the pen will be available has expired.

 

Are we sure of this? What if the pen needs repair in the future? As far as I can tell, I don't remember if there has been an issue with Montblanc providing repair service for out of production special and limited editions that have needed them. Yes, Montblanc is very good at not rereleasing special and limited editions, but that does not mean that they rid themselves of the tooling used to make the pens. Unlike many companies I can think of, Montblanc actually seems to have pretty decent after-sales support for out of production pens.

 

Dillon

Edited July 20, 2014 by Dillo

[gerigo]

I agree with what lots of people said here. If you want to buy a pen to invest in, don't bother with these so called "special" or "limited" editions. Go get something truly custom made by the Montblanc craftsmen, or get one of the 1/10 editions. Those are truly limited. At that level of collecting, it's not any different than buying art, or jewelry. It's also something that's a little bit different than what we discuss here anyway.

 

Montblanc creates these "limited" editions to create an artificial demand around new product. It's really not to truly make it limited. The sole purpose of the limited edition game is to float their pen business which has been floundering for years. If they said the Writers edition were just regular editions they would keep adding every year, people would have stopped buying them years ago. The fact there is an "edition" of 18,000 is a bit of a misnomer, because quite frankly, that's a HUGE edition for what's supposed to be limited.

 

Look at what's happening. Every year, around this time, we all gather on this board to discuss the relative merits of the Writer's Edition or whatever other special, or limited editions Montblanc puts out. We get interesting new pens to buy, Montblanc designs something nice and different, and everyone's happy.

 

Personally I am interested in this particular skeleton because I am inordinately interested in demonstrators, and Montblanc is the only brand left that I don't have a demonstrator from. I couldn't care less it's limited or special.

[de_pen_dent]

Other companies may rerelease like you've stated but MB never will. They make the limited edition pens and then destroy the tools/equipment used to make them, thus removing the ability (or temptation should it ever crop up) to rerelease.

 

Of course, then they take the same design/concept, make a minor tweak to it, associate with another fancy person and trot it out again. Anyone looked closely at, say, a Brahms and a Solti? Or some of the WEs, for that matter?

 

Thankfully, their last few WEs seem to be a little more original and they've resisted the urge to go back to the same design well.

[tarheel1]

Europe: EURO$ 8100,00

USA: US$ 8.900,00

If that is actually the price, it is much better than the 333 or other skeletons.

[Mister Mont Blanc]

Well if they do destroy the manufacturing materials, I would assume they would make a set amount of parts at the same time that would be kept for later servicing. However as someone on this forum experienced this, Montblanc wasn't able to replace their Bordeaux barrel because it's no longer made. I also am on the hunt for a demonstrator if I can ever afford one but I have yet to see one on eBay of a pen I'll use like a 149

[georges zaslavsky]

For a 149 demo prices are steep between the 3000-5000$ for a 146 demo (yes they exist) price run from 1000-2000$.You better ask max schrage or tom westrich or check gary lehrer site if they have one for sale