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Do You Think There Is A "snob Factor" With Fountain Pens Or Pens In General?


aussielondon

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Well, as someone who just got into fountain pens about four weeks ago, there certainly seems to be some snobbery. I lurked on FPN for a while before joining several days ago and have seen enough MB and other high-end pen threads to form some sort of opinion. Call it what you may, be it snobby, pride, or enthusiasm, but I have yet to (I'm sure it's out there) find anyone that is so high-brow that I felt that they were looking down on others. If they have the income for it and enjoy MB or other expensive pens, more power to them. If you (and I) enjoy cheap pens, too, more power to us. Personally, one first pens was a Jinhao X450 and I was amazed at how good it wrote compared to other (some more expensive) pens. I'm not a huge fan of it simply because I find the medium nib a bit broad for my tastes, but I think it's a terrific and smooth-writing nib, though very, very heavy. Shunning the pen? I would assume most avoidance of the pen would simply be because it falls so far outside of the "normal" price for fountain pens - cheap or inexpensive certainly isn't known for quality. I was quite pleasantly surprised with the X450's (and other even cheaper Chinese pens) writing performance.

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Reading comments regarding "Snob", I'm wondering if the word is appropriate with regard to those who prefer better quality made writing instruments. A snob is someone who looks down on another of supposedly inferior rank. The fear of being ranked too low.

 

Those members who buy Mont Blanc, Montegrappa et al, have the resources to do so. make a valuable contribution to this network. If I had sufficient disposable income I would do the same, and hope I wouldn't be deemed a snob!

 

There are forums on this network set aside for those who want to discuss the properties of the higher priced pens. But in the main I haven't noticed any member looking down on those collecting "so called "Third Tier Pens". In fact a some members have also acquired a number of these pens, and have been a great deal of help to others.

They came as a boon, and a blessing to men,
The Pickwick, the Owl and the Waverley pen

Sincerely yours,

Pickwick

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Like any other hobby, I think snobbery comes more from two factors than anything else: a few high-end collectors who thinks that their X is better than his Y; and some lower-end collectors who assume that high-end collectors think their X is better than my Y. I'd agree that snob (in most cases) would probably not be the most appropriate term.

 

For me at least, especially since I'm just getting into this hobby, I'm very curious to see what the performance difference between a $52 Monteverde Intima (an expensive pen for me) or a Pelikan M1000, Visconti, Montblanc, or other high-end pen is like. Or even a $50 pen vs. $100-200 M200. Of course, that'll have to be way, way down the road as it's far outside the realm of my budget.

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I suspect that someone who showed up at, say, a meet and greet with a few low end pens would not garner the same reaction as someone who brought a case of limited edition Mont Blancs or Pelikans.

 

I further suspect that many people will take offense at that suspicion and that they may well be right, as I am a cynical (bleep).

Edited by tendollarword

"Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."

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Maybe I'm oblivious, but I don't see a lot of interactions on FPN I'd attribute to "snobbishness," or whatever the adjective is. Members certainly differ in age, education, and income, but generally treat each other respectfully. When there are hostile interactions, they tend to be in response to disruptive verbal behaviors, especially those reflecting disrespect for the opinions or taste of others. Otherwise, we are pretty adept at agreeing to disagree while remaining civil.

 

Perhaps this class-blind congeniality is offensive to the snobs, and they have found somewhere else to gather and denigrate the rest of us.

 

David

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But would grabbing attention make them a snob? I'd say that's more on those giving the attention than the owner. Of course, motivations for bringing such pens would could make him or her a snob, but just owning them doesn't.

 

I suspect that someone who showed up at, say, a meet and greet with a few low end pens would not garner the same reaction as someone who brought a case of limited edition Mont Blancs or Pelikans.

 

I further suspect that many people will take offense at that suspicion and that they may well be right, as I am a cynical (bleep).

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Are there snobs here? Of course there are snobs here. Wherever there are covetable objects or where our status depends on what we own or who we know (and that, my friend, is everywhere) there are snobs. And, as someone else here has mentioned, snobbery can be about anything: about out-and-out wealth and the ability to overspend at will, or parsimony and the holier-than-thou "I don't need things to define me".

 

I cannot for the life of me understand the thinking behind the question, unless you're using the question itself as a vehicle to tell us that you aren't a snob or classist or rich. In which case, what a nice person you are.

 

As for the Jinhao in the video, how do you think the manufacturers achieve those extraordinarily low prices? I wonder whether the classless workers who assemble them are paid a living wage or work in conditions that amount to anything more than slavery. Nothing in this world is free. If we aren't paying a price for it you can be sure someone is.

 

Should we all respect each other and our respective choices? No, not if those choices are made without thought.

Wouldn't it be great if Nakaya used TWSBI piston fillers instead of Platinum cartridge converters?

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I have yet to see a post on here where someone degrades a person's character because they like an inexpensive pen.

 

I don't doubt that a certain level of snobbery exists among fountain pen owners, but the ones who think that way don't seem to post here. I would be shocked to learn that any frequent poster hasn't owned a number of sub-$20 pens.

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No, there is not a snob factor with the simple fact of using a fountain pen. There is a snob factor with some people who use fountain pens; and that's the same as you'll find in literally anything that the human race does, looks at, buys or believes in.

 

Anyway, I don't find it useful to look at it in terms of "snob vs. not snob". Do you notice, those words are inherently fighting words, before the interlocutors have even begun to think or have a feeling about them! There's people who buy Montblanc 149's; and from all the evidence that I have seen, none of the ones who write joyful posts on Fountain Pen Network have anything to do with trying to buy status or identity from a pen with a well-known name. I have seen lots of people who bought a pen that does something that other pens do not; I have seen enthusiasts and pen-lovers paying a premium to expand the dimensions and freedom, of a hobby that they love and of their hand's dance with the paper. But I don't see any of them giving the rest of us a hard time for using cheaper pens.

 

Honestly, everybody be all

 

 

because our culture and politics say we should care what other people spend on their hobbies and passions. But I don't understand because I feel like we all should be more like

 

 

and from what I see from listening to people and hearts that actually love their Lamy Safaris and their Montblanc 149s, that's what we're actually inclined to do! That's what we all naturally tend toward when we get away from the mischievous devils and loud words that are telling us to hate our brother and our neighbor. So why speak into the class war! I've received nothing but support and affirmation into whatever price point I end up finding song and happiness in, so I don't feel a need to engage in the fine philosophic distinctions of the borders between snobbery and class divisions.

 

Besides, it has nothing to do with money and everything to do with how you're doing. (How are you doing? You seem like a wonderfully loving heart.)

 

 


Should we all respect each other and our respective choices [even] if those choices are made without thought?

Hells yes even then. How are we supposed to learn to be thoughtful about our choices if we are never given the chance or freedom to be honest and better? The biggest reason to respect each other, even if we make bad decisions, even if we make choices that look like they don't deserve respect, is that disrespect is the very best way to stifle personal growth and incite civil war.

Edited by Dubin
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The general consensus on FPN, IMHO, is that we all love to write.

 

And if your preferred choice for writing is a M1000, or a Hero 359, then who's to stop you from buying and using and loving it?

 

Yes of course there would be people thinking that X brand is inferior and Y brand is the best yadda yadda, but why let those opinions affect you?

 

They are, after all, just opinions. ;)

 

If you're happy using cheap fountain pens, then do it. Let no one stop you, especially not people who don't agree with your choices.

 

You can't please everyone. Start with pleasing yourself.

 

Is there a snob factor? Well if you ask me, the people around me are amused when they see me using a fountain pen, but they know me, so they don't think I'm a snob. Perhaps to a stranger I would appear to be one.

 

 

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I like fountain pens, but am not fond of much of the FP online community, which does strike me as snobbish most of the time.

Robert.

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I agree that what binds us together should be the love of the fountain pen, regardless if it is a Montblanc £1,000 pen or a $1 Chinese fountain pen from ebay.

 

Not be a curmudgeon here, but quite honestly, I dont think that a shared interest in pens is enough to create a bond. I get that in cycling a lot as well - we are all cyclists, so we should be friends. I find that a shared interest in pens means that I am happy to talk pens, etc with other geeks hobbyists, but it kinda ends there. Requires a lot more than the same hobby in order to become friends.

 

As for pens having snob value - dont see it. Most people dont register fountain pens except as an oddity: whether it is a $10 Jinhao or a $1000 whatever, I dont think anyone knows or anyone cares.

Edited by de_pen_dent

True bliss: knowing that the guy next to you is suffering more than you are.

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I am asking this as from my experience on this board, I seem to feel that the world of fountain pens is inhabited by many different types of people... some are truly "geeks" or "nerds" about fountain pens (such as myself) and some seem to just like the "snob factor" as I call it of a expensive pen.

 

Now please no hate on this thread, I am just voicing how I see it, but feel free to say I am wrong, however can we please not get aggressive to each other.

I am simply bringing up something and I want to know if this is in fact true or if I am mistaken in my assumption.

 

It is just that I am not rich, and I am guessing that not everyone on here is, and as an Australian, growing up in a country that has no class system where lawyers and doctors

 

Snob: person who dislikes people / activities regarded as lower class or believes their tastes

in all things or a particular area to be superior to others.

 

In the matter of "geeks" or "nerds"....me..Neither.

 

You got it..No Hate. Voice away.

 

It is assumption on your part.

 

Depends on definition of rich....1.975 a year or 2.875 or.......

 

 

Classless..I doubt that.

 

Do You Think There Is A "snob Factor" With Fountain Pens Or Pens In General?

 

Hell No!

 

There wasn't that helpful...................................................................................

 

Fred

Close your eyes and tap your heels together three times...and think to yourself..

there's no place like home.

~ Glinda ~

 

Listening to Rhapsody in Blue and sippin' some..........................................................

 

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I grew up in the days of B&W TV, and everyone had a fountain pen....those new fangled ball points also.

 

As a child, it wasn't snob, the Snorkel or P-51. But they cost so much as a worker's kid, it was something I was going to get as soon as I got a job. They were Adult pens....and better than Wearever or Esterbrook (sadly my Esterbrook was the ugly post '60, one color, metal capped pens.)

 

MB & Pelikan were not snob pens.....no one ever heard of them. :yikes:

A gold pen was snob....even a rolled gold cap was snob....or rolled gold trim.

The basic Snorkel was class....not snob. Your name in gold in a pen wasn't snob, it was class.

It was the best, the P-51 by that time second best. Both were class.

 

That P-75 I bought (@1970) certainly was snob....that crosshatched silver BP definatly stomped that snob Cross matt black and gold BP into a mud puddle. The thin Cross had been the snob ball point of the time at $8-10 silver dollars. That Parker silver 75 BP was snob, pure.

So was the fountain pen.

A regular Snorkel wasn't snob....just good taste.

Edited by Bo Bo Olson

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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Reading comments regarding "Snob", I'm wondering if the word is appropriate with regard to those who prefer better quality made writing instruments. A snob is someone who looks down on another of supposedly inferior rank. The fear of being ranked too low.

Exactly, I said "snob" as the way you describe it is exactly how I meant it.

I got no troubles with someone getting a Montblanc because they want one or they love the pen or they have the money and want it just for the sake of the fact they like the pen.

 

But snobbery would be buying a Montblanc and then acting all superior about it (same can happen with Ferraris or Ro-lex etc) if you understand what I mean.

It's not the product itself but rather the reason it's owner bought it.

A person that is into nice cars and appreciates racing or mechanics etc then they could buy a Ferrari for the simple love of the work and the machine, and that is NOT snobbery.

But if someone bought a Ferrari and only got it because they want to have it as some trophy to parade about to act all superior to other people, then that is snobbery... same with pens or watches etc.

 

Btw some great posts on here, I agree that this forum has the most sensible and kind and intelligent people of any forum I have ever been on.

Edited by aussielondon
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Snob factor????-- in this country, if you are seen using a fountain pen you are just consudered wierd

In England fountain pens are seen as rather posh to use.

I used my fountain pen to sign a work document in front of the manager and he was stunned that I would use one (I give off a lower class vibe lol)

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There is the snob factor and there is the anti-snob factor; they are different sides of the coin of caring about what others think about you based on what you own.

I would rather be perceived for how I treat others or for what I do than for my possessions or lack of them. I also recognize that that ain't how social dynamics generally work.

Android vs. iPhone, Mac vs. Microsoft, Coke vs. Pepsi, Montblanc vs. Lamy - so what? How are these products being used? That is much more interesting to me. Except for the Coke and Pepsi. I don't drink sodas.

I think there are more anti-snobs than snobs.

My Collection: Montblanc Writers Edition: Hemingway, Christie, Wilde, Voltaire, Dumas, Dostoevsky, Poe, Proust, Schiller, Dickens, Fitzgerald (set), Verne, Kafka, Cervantes, Woolf, Faulkner, Shaw, Mann, Twain, Collodi, Swift, Balzac, Defoe, Tolstoy, Shakespeare, Saint-Exupery, Homer & Kipling. Montblanc Einstein (3,000) FP. Montblanc Heritage 1912 Resin FP. Montblanc Starwalker Resin: FP/BP/MP. Montblanc Traveller FP.

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