Who Is Gullible Enough To Buy Third Tier Pens?

[Gump]

I received a shipment of pens from ebay last week and found this little gem included, after corresponding with the seller and explaining that I had not bid on such a lowly item I was told to keep it. Obviously, I was obligated to give it a bit of a cleaning and resac it. I can't possibly be seen using this warped beast, but it's really a pleasure to write with.

http://i.imgur.com/QdhT2V1.jpg?1

[jdllizard]

I am one of those suckers. I love 3rd tier pens...fun to take apart, clean out, re-sac. I like reviving a pen that ordinary people -- like my parents (HS class of 1940) would have used. Also fun when I stumble across a variation I've never seen: sometimes, I think "oops. I didn't know that clear piece was part of the section..." If I break one (or two or three) it's not a $-catastrophe. Also fun to spot the striped Majestic that might have been colored to follow a Striped Duofold.

 

Then there was that grimey third-tier pen that had three layers of dirt and oil...just a dark blur in the photo. Hopeless pen, but I let it soak. Clouds of black ink. After working some with sunshine cloth, I found a name: DelaRue Onoto Penmaster. Levered in some ink and found the smoothest near-broad nib ever.

 

I too am one of those suckers, and for all the same reasons, except my parents graduated in 59 and 62. I was first attracted to fountain pens by rich friends who use MBs. Knowing I would never own one of those, I decided to go for the old colorful vintage pens that no one else cares about. Cheap, easy to fix and I still get that warm fuzzy feeling when I resurrect one.

[jdllizard]

Sorry, no,that would require me to uncloak and disclose the user name which I use to overpay for pens.

 

Open a second account and bid against yourself, that way you really can't win!

 

gary

 

This is whay I like this place, the brain trust gathered here is impecable.

[Cryptos]

Just try to picture a wedding cake...

[JonSzanto]

Have you ever seen a really horrible third tier pen and thought: ''Oh man I want that pen!'' Then you saw it was only $6.50 and you just couldn't do it. There are so many third tier junk pens out there and it's just not fair! Share your opinions!

 

You are shameless in your attention-whoring. Nonetheless, here I go.

 

Isn't starting this off with the word "gullible" turning it into a loaded question?

 

You'll catch on eventually.

 

I still do not understand what third tier means...

 

Stick around, it will become clear. Or Google it. Hallowed territory, it is.

 

http://i.imgur.com/QdhT2V1.jpg?1

 

That pen is TWERKING!!!

 

Ok, now for my story:

 

OF COURSE I DO!!!

 

3rd-tier (not to be confused with 4th- through 17th-tier) pens are the sweet spot of the vintage industry: if you are lucky, they work; if you are lucky, the hardware doesn't crumble into dust; if you are lucky, they are moderately straight (unless you like to write around corners); if you are lucky, those aluminum foil nibs are as smooth and even as the day they were made.

 

No, naysayers, these are not pens to be overlooked, but it requires a market-savvy mind of the highest order. It is far too easy to overpay on these items (just ask me, one who paid a dark lord far, far too much for a box of junkers that can only dream of being writers, much less respectable writers). But, in time, you know the ones you want (well, *I* do - FarmBoy still pulls in the totally oddball pieces of junk): those pens that, well, meh on the hardware, the nibs probably need to go, and you'll have a bit of a time getting the guts sussed out, but... Talk About Wild Celluloids and Plastics!!!

 

So much fun to collect the lesser-knowns. I am certain that I have, or will certainly, in not too much time, I am just sure of it, corner the market on the venerable Wearbrook Esterevers:

 

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb204/EnvoyC/FP/ee2x_zps0a8d4b88.jpg

 

And, yeah, I'll upload some more pics of those, as soon as I find them. Buried under all the Stratfords, Travellers, and other gems.

Edited October 20, 2014 by JonSzanto

[pajaro]

Ya gotta have some FP that you can lend out.

 

Esterbrooks. There's a program for it.

 

I have seen a few third tier pens I liked the look of.

 

The antiques ripoff place up the road a piece has a box of third tier pens for sale, with nothing priced at less than about seventy dollars.

Edited October 20, 2014 by pajaro

[Bearcat]

....And here I always thought that they were called third "tear" pens, because they mostly made one cry..... ;-)

[pen2paper]

gullible as in ironic perspective..

 

a boring little story.. the sib picked up their wheels at, and was given a tour of the plant in Stuttgart, soon learning the subtle road salute of headlamp flicker

 

to my utter surprise, still, after many years, the humblest ever numbered rally wheels, likewise saluted, (point a-b most fun Ever heel/toe stories)

 

interesting observing play from Millbrae? third tier lamp flicker?

been to Peter's, but never one of the pack ; )

[zchen]

I always wanted to try some, but it is too overwhelming to figure out the choices.

 

or I just go like ohhhhh there's another Sheaffer Touchdown I don't own.....

Edited October 20, 2014 by zchen

[amk]

For those who don't know: collectors tend to divide pens into 'first tier', the big and high quality companies like Waterman, Parker, Eversharp, Sheaffer, Pelikan, MB, then the second tier, quite good 'close but no cigar' pens, and then third tier manufacturers like Wearever.

 

Third tier are, depending on who you listen to, rubbish and not collectible, or wild, wacky, and great fun. I incline more to the latter :-)

[Art]

For those who don't know: collectors tend to divide pens into 'first tier', the big and high quality companies like Waterman, Parker, Eversharp, Sheaffer, Pelikan, MB, then the second tier, quite good 'close but no cigar' pens, and then third tier manufacturers like Wearever.

 

Third tier are, depending on who you listen to, rubbish and not collectible, or wild, wacky, and great fun. I incline more to the latter :-)

 

Thanks for the definition. I had no idea.

[jdllizard]

I just re-sac'ed an EPENCO fountain pen and pencil combo thingy last night, and to my surprise, it's one of the best writing pens I've come across. Now that isn't saying much since I'm new to fontain pens, but this thing just glides across the paper leaving a consitant trail of ink as wet and smooth as anything I can imagine. The NIB is gold plated, marked IRIDOID (whatever that means), EPENCO, then 2 US patent #s, and Made in USA on it.

 

It actually kind of makes me mad since I hate pen pencil combos, but holy ink blots Batman! This thing writes like a dream!

 

I picked it up in a package deal on the bay with a group of parts/rebuild pens for practically nothing. In total I have about $5 in the pen after the rebuiild, not counting my time.

 

So let the haters hate on third tier pens all they want, every once in a while one of them turns out to be a real gem.

Edited October 20, 2014 by jdllizard

[Oldtimer]

My platinum preppies have been very good, so that's a third tier pen I have no problems recommending to anyone else. Same for the Pilot 78G's. Cheap, cheerful and reliable enough for their price.

 

The cheapo pens I got from Blott were just plain nasty. The ink in the cartridges they came with leaked into the cap and the nibs were rusting with in a week, so they ended up in the bin after less than two weeks.

 

If there was no money to assign value to things, i bet the 78G would come out as one of the best. We are wrong to assign value = cost in many instances.

 

[Jerome Tarshis]

I refuse to use third-tier pens.

 

I much prefer my first, second, and fourth-tier pens.

 

I like it that lsmith42 has introduced the idea of fourth-tier pens. Not that I'm trying to hijack this thread, but what about zero-tier pens? You don't see much posted on FPN about zero-tier pens. Is there some kind of prejudice against zero-tier pens?

 

For example, I own some kind of German piston-filler that says 342 on the cap ring. At least by its manufacturer's system of classification, that's a third-tier pen. Such numbers as 146 and 149 are used for the first-tier pens. But I also have a pen out of the same stable that says 042. Should I think of that as a higher form of writing instrument than, say, the 139? Lower form? A piece of dirt? Am I misreading the number? Might it be O42, with the O standing for Obscene?

[Deirdre]

I have a Wearever Dennis L. sent me that was really well tuned. It remains a favorite, and the nib is exactly the kind of spring I prefer.

[GregWrites]

Safari works for me. Metropolitan seems to work for many others. I don't see the problem.

[Sasha Royale]

Often, I read a new convert to fountain pens asking for a starter pen suggestion. It seems to be

the starter pistol for people to recommend a favorite $200 pen. It's a turn-off. I searched the

third tier for a budget pen that is durable and will write continuously until the ink supply is gone.

I found several that would good first experiences.

[tringle]

I still do not understand what third tier means...

Imagine class structure.....or a caste system. First tier, are the well made, brass inserts, solid gold, pens. Second tier are the next level and third tier are the following level, etc. etc. etc.

[inkstainedruth]

Okay, I'll admit it. I am kinda a sucker for 3rd tier pens (Morrisons and Arnolds). I *did* seriously overpay for one of the Arnolds -- in my defense I will say that the seller had dropped the price from $100 (!); but the $30 I paid was still way more than the pen was worth (didn't even have an Arnold-brand nib on it, but one that says "Veri-Smooth". It has a touch of flex to the nib, but the pen itself was really cheap celluloid. It wrote okay, on nothing to write home about.

OTOH, I like the gold filigree overlay ringtop Morrison a lot -- it's a very juicy M or B and a really pretty pen. Liked it so much I got a silver overlay ringtop recently; and then a plain BHR one. And I can't complain about the price of that last -- it was less than $8 US even with shipping. And the cheap pens will be good for practicing replacing the sacs, if nothing else.

Some people on FPN count Esterbrooks as 3rd tier, but I'm not sure I agree with that assessment. Personally I would call them 2nd tier, because they're really well built for the money, and the company seemed to put all their R&D into the nib units.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[jdllizard]

I'm testing out a Duke right now. $17 shipped from China. The converter it came with seemed really cheap and crappy so I've got a Private Reserve cartridge in it for now, but will probably buy a better universal converter later on.

 

So far so good, not the best writing pen I currently have, but not the worst either. Better than most rollerball pens I'm used to. Looks nice, feels good in the hand, and doesn't seem to skip. Much better than I was expecting for $17 all in.

 

I also have 2 JinHao X750's on order from Amazon. Paid less than $5 a piece and got free shipping. If they are at least equal to the quality of this Duke, it's money well spent. And after watching Goulet's video review of the them, I'm guessing they may even be better than the Duke.