Metropolitan Museum Of Art Pens

[MrThoth]

Since I started paying more attention to my hobby of fountain pen collecting, I've been captivated by the line of pens produced for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I love the look of them, and I certainly don't (in theory) mind helping to support the Museum by purchasing one.

 

So one of my earliest "big" pen purchases was an MMA pen -- the Russian Imperial Red. Ever since I got it I've enjoyed using it. The metal barrel has a nice weight to it, the nib feels good on the paper, the ink flows well. My only complaint would be that all the pictures online, such as the one I linked to, show the pen as being a much brighter, more vivid red than it actually is. Mine, at least, is much closer to a burgundy. But still, a great pen by my subjective standards.

 

A week or so ago I finally decided to order another one: the Egyptian Hieroglyphic. As someone who's deeply interested in ancient history and mythology, pens with this sort of theme really appeal to me, and I suspect I'll eventually own plenty (though some, such as the ST Dupont Pharoah and Montegrappa Luxor Blue Nile, are definitely beyond my budget at present ). It arrived today and I was really excited as I opened it -- but that didn't last long, sadly.

 

The cap is OK; metal and plastic, decent weight to it. The nib seems fine. The barrel, though very attractive... is nothing but a simple piece of machined plastic with a metal cap on the end. Not laquered metal, not engraved metal, just ordinary plastic. It weighs less than the nib. Subjectively, it seems less substantial than many fountain pens I've bought for less than one-tenth the price.

 

I haven't tried using the pen yet because I'm honestly not sure whether I want to keep it. The Russian Imperial Red seems like a quality product that's worth what I paid for it. But the Egyptian Hieroglyphic, I dunno. I love the look of it, I really do. But its lack of weight, the cheap plastic sound it makes whenever you unscrew any part of it, they just make me cringe. I can probably get used to them in time, especially with the ink converter/cartridges adding some weight, but it still seems like a crappy move on the part of the manufacturer.

 

Those of you who've tried the Met pens, esp. the Egyptian Hieroglyphic -- what do you think? Do you like the feel of the MMA pens? Am I being too harsh in my evaluation? What are some of the others like?