Massdrop Insanity Continues---Noodler's Ink & Pen Combo

[Gump]

Looks to be another good deal, with the lowest drop price being $45.00 for two Noodler's Pens (your choice of the Ahab, Creaper, or Konrad), plus two of the following:

At check-out, you can select any combination of bottles of Burma Road Brown (brown with a slight green tint), Black Swan in English Roses (rusty brown), Bad Black Moccassin (black), Baystate Blue (royal blue), 54th Massachusetts (dark blue), Polar Eel Black (black), Bernanke Blue (ocean blue) and Vmail Midway Blue (sky blue).

Register here at my referral link if you so desire: https://www.massdrop.com/r/E4K9KL

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/noodlers-ink

Edited October 11, 2014 by Gump

[KBeezie]

Edit:
Seems the deal comes with 2 bottles + 2 Pens, Not 2 Bottles + 1 Pen.

Original Post:

Doesn't seem like that good a deal, especially when you have to pay extra (ie: the literal difference between the two vs creeper) for the Ahab or Konrad.

 

Retail wise (GouletPens for example) :

 

Creeper : $14

2x Noodler's Bottles : $25 (2x $12.50)

Shipping (for a number of places) : $3-6

Total : $45 (at $6 shipping)

 

Massdrop at Lowest Price for a Creeper:

$44.99 + 4.99 Shipping = $49.98

 

$5 more for an Ahab or Konrad adds up to about the same (since both are about $6 more than a Creeper Flex).

 

So I see next to no real point in ordering it from MassDrop unless I'm missing something. Especially since you can get it cheaper from most retailers with more choices as to which exact pen design or ink.

 

In a nutshell this is far from "insanity".

 

Edited October 11, 2014 by KBeezie

[TSherbs]

There's no ink I want in this list, anyway.

[Jamerelbe]

@KBeezie, the drop includes TWO (2) Noodler's Creaper pens, not one - plus $5 (each) if you want to upgrade to Konrad or Ahab options. So there is a saving of roughly $10, rather than a loss of $5.

 

Which is not exactly "insane", but it's not a bad deal. The postage to Australia kills it for me - that, and the fact that I already have about 5 Noodler's fountain pens, and no need for two more. Oh, and the fact that none of the inks listed are on my personal "must buy" list...

Edited October 11, 2014 by Jamerelbe

[tinysnail]

Thanks for doing the arithmetic on that, KBeezie. I know that Nathan has very small profit margins on his products so I'm really not surprised to hear that the Massdrop deal isn't exactly a deal; he doesn't exactly want to be losing money or anything. It's a good way to get exposure, I guess.

 

EDIT: Oops! Looks like there are some savings after all. My bad...

 

@KBeezie, the drop includes TWO (2) Noodler's Creaper pens, not one - plus $5 (each) if you want to upgrade to Konrad or Ahab options. So there is a saving of roughly $10, rather than a loss of $5.

Edited October 11, 2014 by tinysnail

[Jamerelbe]

EDIT: Oops! Looks like there are some savings after all. My bad...

 

 

To be fair, Karl wasn't TOO far wrong: the savings in this are real, but not exactly stellar. And for Australian customers the additional postage ($14.74) makes it very much a line-ball proposition. Still, if this gives Noodler's inks greater exposure, that won't trouble me - I've got about 8 bottles (or is it closer to 10) that I've accumulated over the past 12 months, and I love them for their saturation, their smooth flow (mostly), and their performance in my pens.

[TheRealScubaSteve]

I've only seen a handful of Massdrop deals so far, but none of them were that great. A couple fountain pens were more expensive at the lowest price than available from retailers online. Unless it was a stellar deal I'd not feel inclined to purchase, especially since they make mention of the potential for manufacturers not honoring the warranty.

[Omnias]

I've only seen a handful of Massdrop deals so far, but none of them were that great. A couple fountain pens were more expensive at the lowest price than available from retailers online. Unless it was a stellar deal I'd not feel inclined to purchase, especially since they make mention of the potential for manufacturers not honoring the warranty.

The current Levenger L-Tech 3.0 is a pretty good deal. The deals OFC vary per manufacturer. However, I must say the current Noodlers drop is an uninspiring selection.

[TheRealScubaSteve]

In fairness, I suppose there is a lot more potential discount for more expensive products. I agree about the Noodler's though. Would have been cool to see a Neponset on there even though I'm not interested in one at the moment.

[KBeezie]

In fairness, I suppose there is a lot more potential discount for more expensive products. I agree about the Noodler's though. Would have been cool to see a Neponset on there even though I'm not interested in one at the moment.

 

 

The deals do seem to be slightly better when we're talking bout a more expensive product (ie: over 100-200 etc) where a 15-20% deduction seems to make more of a difference.

 

After a while you kind of get tired of the 2x Metropolitans for roughly a $5-8 savings popping up.

[Omnias]

In fairness, I suppose there is a lot more potential discount for more expensive products. I agree about the Noodler's though. Would have been cool to see a Neponset on there even though I'm not interested in one at the moment.

I would have loved to see a Neponset too... The only problem is it isn't exactly released yet so I guess we would have to wait at least six months before a poll is actually completed with 200 votes and an offer is made to Tardiff...

[TheRealScubaSteve]

 

After a while you kind of get tired of the 2x Metropolitans for roughly a $5-8 savings popping up.

 

I'd imagine so. I do have two Metros in F and M, but I'm not sure I'd want any more of them. Hard to beat their smoothness and reliability for $15 (or $10 with that savings) though. The $20 Iroshizuku bottle is a nice offering, but I certainly wouldn't buy two pens just to get it, especially since they seem to be available on eBay regularly, at least for Kon-Peki.

 

I would have loved to see a Neponset too... The only problem is it isn't exactly released yet so I guess we would have to wait at least six months before a poll is actually completed with 200 votes and an offer is made to Tardiff...

 

Probably would not happen even if the votes were there. I'd imagine demand is going to be pretty high judging from FPN and YouTube. I'm sure his first batches are already promised to retailers. I suppose the nib only could be possible, but it seems like the nib units take quite a while to become available after a pen's release.