Under-Rated Pens Because I Think Over-Rated Pens Are Over-Rated

[Algester]

so... I just want people to think beyond the glitz and glamor our eyes see on pretentious pens has anyone thought of the under-dogs of the pen community... not well known if not pens that never get to see the limelight of day. Any brand and model you can pop into your mind that you think should ever see the daylight for me I think

Faber-Castell FPs

GvFC FPs

Lamy Scala

Lamy Logo

Lamy abc...

Lamy St

Lamy nexx

Scneider FPs

Kaweco Fantasy

Pilot Legance

Romilio? ok I have to admit I'm ignorant about high tier pens...

Pilot Deluxe

Pilot Legno

Pilot SIlvern (ok this is pushing it as there's also the vintage series)

Pilot Grance

PIlot Custom

Pilot Lucina

Pilot Celemo

Pilot Custom 98

Pilot Cavalier

Pilot CH 91

Pilot Custom 742

Pilot Custom 743

Pilot CH 912?

Pilot 78G

Pilot Birdie?

Bic fps?! (it's laughable)

and a shout out to all pen turners internationally

Edited October 6, 2014 by Algester

[Tas]

While you're bigging up Pilot, please add the Pilot 78G.

(My green one has been through the washing machine TWICE now yet didn't leaked and never skips a beat)

[richardandtracy]

Parker Frontier, 17.

Kaigelu 316, 356, 300

Jinhao Century, 5000.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[pajaro]

Waterman Laureat.

 

Pilot pens and GvFC pens get hyped plenty.

 

You can't use everything, and the front runners get hyped enough.

[Algester]

Waterman Laureat.

 

Pilot pens and GvFC pens get hyped plenty.

 

You can't use everything, and the front runners get hyped enough.

indeed I would be surprised if there's an under-rated MB pen

[shawndp]

I think the best under-rated pens of the world are those no-name eyedroppers that countless kids are writing with at school - A lot of them cost mere pennies and the return on investment is monumental. I mean just think - an ultra-cheap pen that has to live in the demanding hands of a middle-schooler, take almost any ink and write on some of the cheapest paper every processed and still lay down a line, every time, not feather and have enough ink to take you through a multi-page state exam. You know the pens I am referencing but even I am embarassed to admit I don't know the name - how's that for under-rated?

[de_pen_dent]

MB 149. The very fact that people consider it over-rated means people arent able to appreciate all it has to offer - which makes it under-rated.

[erpe]

Maybe add the Pelikano's and (no longer in production) the Silvexa's, they might have the best price/performance ratio in the Pelikan bundle.

[gautampk]

The low end Parkers. The Frontiers (before they were discontinued) and the Vectors are very, very good pens for only £5 to £10.

[arcadeflow]

Pilot 78G underrated? We all love them. We know they are "cheap looking" and dry with some western inks, and that the Metropolitan is much more robust for a few bucks more (to US citizins), but we recommend them every time and usually people buy more than one.

 

I am always looking for an underdog, but when I think I found one, I always find a lot of users complaining about them, then I look at my Pilots that work great for the money (78G/Prera) and I get worried I will waste money on something unreliable (as my Kaigelu 356 was).

 

Right now you can buy cheap Parkers from eBay, as the IM, or a cheap Cross from Staples, in Brazil I can get a Sheaffer for a reasonable price, but I don't trust any of them as I trust my Pilots, they are all made in China.

[Algester]

I think the best under-rated pens of the world are those no-name eyedroppers that countless kids are writing with at school - A lot of them cost mere pennies and the return on investment is monumental. I mean just think - an ultra-cheap pen that has to live in the demanding hands of a middle-schooler, take almost any ink and write on some of the cheapest paper every processed and still lay down a line, every time, not feather and have enough ink to take you through a multi-page state exam. You know the pens I am referencing but even I am embarassed to admit I don't know the name - how's that for under-rated?

no name eye droppers... things come into my mind were the wality pens huh?

[Algester]

MB 149. The very fact that people consider it over-rated means people arent able to appreciate all it has to offer - which makes it under-rated.

and yet for every collector it's the quintessential pen... what I don't get it

[Algester]

Maybe add the Pelikano's and (no longer in production) the Silvexa's, they might have the best price/performance ratio in the Pelikan bundle.

should the twist fall for the same thing?

[Sailor Kenshin]

indeed I would be surprised if there's an under-rated MB pen

The Generation? I love mine. Got it used, has a wet, stubbish, medium nib, lightweight and wide enough, which I need in a pen.

[de_pen_dent]

and yet for every collector it's the quintessential pen... what I don't get it

 

Jokes apart, I actually do think that in its own category, the 149 is under-appreciated. "Oh look, a boring old cigar pen", they call it while Rodney Dangerfield's ghost nods its head in sympathy.

 

I just de-inked mine now (in fact, am back on the computer just after doing so) - it actually came back into my rotation after Those Threads, and I've had a timely reminder about how/why that pen is a classic. The WEs have more interesting bodies, but the 149's nib is really something else. Even the boring old M nib on mine has a little bit of "character". There is something about writing with that nib which is really special - a handful of other pen companies (Visconti and Onoto) also have nibs which fall into this category, although each of them has a different flavor.

 

In fact, I am actually tempted to forego getting the Dafoe for a few months, to sell my 146 and get another 149. I just used up my quota of 3 pen sales for the week yesterday, so perhaps in a week or so.

[Algester]

 

Jokes apart, I actually do think that in its own category, the 149 is under-appreciated. "Oh look, a boring old cigar pen", they call it while Rodney Dangerfield's ghost nods its head in sympathy.

 

I just de-inked mine now (in fact, am back on the computer just after doing so) - it actually came back into my rotation after Those Threads, and I've had a timely reminder about how/why that pen is a classic. The WEs have more interesting bodies, but the 149's nib is really something else. Even the boring old M nib on mine has a little bit of "character". There is something about writing with that nib which is really special - a handful of other pen companies (Visconti and Onoto) also have nibs which fall into this category, although each of them has a different flavor.

 

In fact, I am actually tempted to forego getting the Dafoe for a few months, to sell my 146 and get another 149. I just used up my quota of 3 pen sales for the week yesterday, so perhaps in a week or so.

I still think cigar shape pens are boring... <_< >_> if ever I would have bought a custom 74 instead of the heritage 91 when I was in Japan I dunno maybe under-appreciated but not under-rated...

[purplepen]

Another vote for the Pelikano AND Pelikano Jr. (great little pen even though it is for kids).

[NedC]

Lamy Nexx and Nexx M and the Sailor Neo High-Ace. On the other hand, I'm not too fond of either the Pilot 78G or Metropolitan because their grip section just feels ever so slightly too narrow, though I really like the Nei High-Ace and that is even thinner. The Sailor however is longer and the pen has other virtues. Not a fan of the MB 149 at all, that pen is just too fat to be comfortable, seldom have I held a pen that felt more awkward from the start. It may indeed be a great pen but not in my rather small hands.

[Algester]

and then I was thinking Hakase... Taccia?

[inkstainedruth]

Some of the third tier companies would definitely fall into the "underrated" category. For instance, Morrison: I have a lovely little gold-filigree overlay ringtop, and it's got a nice juicy nib on it. I'm hoping that once I get the silver overlay ringtop and the BHR (?) ringtop re-sacced, they will be nice writers as well. Even the full size one (black chased celluloid) isn't bad.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth