Parker Urban Metro Metallic Fountain Pen

[icardoth]

Well, this is my first review. Hope it will be fine.

 

Parker Urban Metro Metallic Fountain Pen - Medium nib

 

First Impressions (7/10)

I bought this pen from the venerable seller Lewertowsky. It arrived in the small Parker Frontier plastic box with an outer cardboard cover. This outer box arrived somewhat crushed because the bubble envelope was not enough to protect it. Seller must improve packaging to avoid damage while in transit.

 

Appearance (10/10)

The exotic pen shape surprised me. Parker describes it as “bullet shape”. It resembles a bowling pin, or a juggler stick to me. It’s different from any other Parker I know of, and I really like it. The brushed stainless steel cap & body is combined with chrome-plated trim in the cap ring, clip and both tassies. It looks and feels sturdy. Really elegant and impressive pen.

 

 

http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/ad236/icardoth/Urban%20Review/P6090014_ReviewUrban.jpg

 

Design/Size/Weight (9/10)

The design looks modern and also elegant. Not a cheap school pen at all. Sizes are:

 

• Pen capped: 13.89 cm (5” 15/32)
  
• Pen posted: 15.14 cm (5” 31/32)
  
• Cap diameter (max):137 mm (17/32”)
  
• Barrel diameter (min): 102 mm (13/32”)
  

The Urban is a quite fat and heavy pen. I cannot use it posted because the pen loses balance. Anyway, I usually write with the pen in one hand and the cap in the other, and the balance in that condition it really good. Gripping section is made of shiny black plastic with a polished steel ring near the nib, and it’s somewhat short. Big handed people may find difficult to accommodate their fingers on it.

 

The cap clicks securely into the section. The force needed to uncap it is pretty similar to the Parker Latitude, and lower than the Frontier. Nothing to worry about.

 

My pen has the old Parker logo with the stylized P in the cap. Surprisingly, no “Made in...” imprint nor date code are present. As the Urban fountain pen was introduced in 2009, and Parker changed its logo in the same year, I suppose my pen was produced in late 2008. But who knows...

 

 

Nib (10/10)

The pen is fitted with a steel medium nib. Parker catalogs say this pen can be obtained with fine nib also, but I couldn’t find it in the seller’s online store. This medium point is not as wide as other Parkers I have. Narrower than a Frontier or a Parker 100, I feel very comfortable with it.

 

The nib is really smooth in all angles. It always starts immediately and never skips nor slips, like Frontiers and Latitudes do. Flow is somewhat dry but consistent, but as a left-handed writer the dry flow is a must. I’m using it with red Quink cartridges, and the flow is really uniform. A pleasure to write with.

 

 

http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/ad236/icardoth/Urban%20Review/P6090017_ReviewUrban.jpg

 

Filling System (8/10)

The Urban is a cartridge/converter pen. However the converter is not included. Neither the cheap plastic, syringe-type Parker converter came with the pen. It did have a blue cartridge inside the box. The problem with Parker cartridges is about identifying the exact ink color inside, as the cartridge does not have any markings.

 

Cost and Value (10/10)

I paid GBP 8.50 (USD 13) for it plus shipping. This is not the retail price, as my pen was won in an auction. The same seller offers the Urban FP for GBP 18.99 (USD 27.50)

 

Conclusion (9.5/10)

Usually I don’t like modern Parkers, like Frontiers or Latitudes. But the Urban amazed me. I’m very satisfied with it. I already bought another Urban in the “Cool Magenta” lacquered finish, but it’s still sealed and uninked as it arrived in an ugly blister presentation. Probably I will get one more in blue or black.

[IWantThat]

Thanks for the review The Urban really is a nice looking pen. I just got the gunmetal Parker IM myself, which is cheaper, but was also impressed with the elegance, weight, finish, etc. The nib is the one problem I found with the IM. Do you know if the Urban has the same nib? It looks very similar, so I'm wondering...

[Jimmy James]

The IM nib looks like the Vector nib to me whereas the Urban looks like it has the same nib as the Inflection.

[mr T.]

The IM nib looks like the Vector nib to me whereas the Urban looks like it has the same nib as the Inflection.

 

The Urban has the same nib as the Vector.

[IWantThat]

I think any of the low-cost Parkers would make a good 'purse pen.' That's why I bought mine. I wouldn't hesitate to loan it to a friend ( for a minute anyway), which might even instill the love of FPs in others

[hecya]

I have the same pen in black and it is really nice and a very smooth writer as well. I particularly liked the weight and finishing quality.

[lovemy51]

i like that "flighter" look! congrats!

 

i had my eye on one like yours, but forgot to bid... alas!!!

[Pentangeli]

Your Parker Urban FP as well as the Parker Jotter FP and the Parker Vector FP, all use the same steel nibs. They are all great writers IMO.

 

I have a Parker Jotter with a medium nib that I modified into an italic stub that writes with more character now.

My reply to that post has the photos of the italic stub nib and a writing sample which you can see here :

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/156901-parker-jotter-fp-italic/

 

Thanks for looking.

[richardandtracy]

I'm glad Parker has learnt from the mistakes of the Vector & Rialto in that the cap click zone on the section is metal. On the Rialto/Vector it's plastic & wears out after 6 months use when I have them.

 

Thanks for the review. The shape is interesting & I'd love to know how the metal is shaped to the curve. I presume it's spun, but you'd expect the pen to be more costly if that were the case.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[xuan87]

only $13?! i took a look at the picture and figured that $50 will probably be a decent price for it.

[andy1m]

You really have a good bargain. I will buy one for may collection also. But fountain pens are rather expensive in my place.

[rapid_butterfly]

I just got one of these last night at the local Office Max, after the kind of bitter disappointment of the Safari (my Safari is really dry and scratchy and the ergonomic ridges do NOT work well for this left hander).

 

I think it's fabulous, maybe a little heavy, but nicely balanced unposted. I'd have liked a more feminine color - this one is black and gold - but it is certainly a nice, understated pen, easy on the eyes. Most important is a smooth, wet writer and works exactly as I had hoped. It is a medium nib. I am using slovak Skrip blue-black ink.

 

-mina

[boogee]

I had this pen as a birthday gift from my friend's mum a year ago. At the first impression, it looked really nice and fancy since i only have been using hero 316 for my entire life. This pen is truly a smooth write with Noodler Red, i'm very please with it. However I do not like this pen as it is really heavy for my hand ( weight 36g fully filled whereas heroes only weight about 12-14g), and the grip section is short so after a while my hand gets tired and hurt.

[magicryan]

I bought this pen as a gift for my mom. So far it's beautiful. For $27 at a local shop, my mom, who admittedly is not a pen fanatic as her son is, gets a very sturdy and reliable workhorse of a pen

[mel o]

that was a nice review and what a nice colour to pick for a pen. I'm just wondering since i dont have a parker urban fp but i do have parker vector fp since they have the same looking nib do they write the same?

[mel o]

i like that "flighter" look! congrats!

 

i had my eye on one like yours, but forgot to bid... alas!!!

 

what is a flighter look lovemy51? im sorry if im being rude.

[ajcoleman]

i like that "flighter" look! congrats!

 

i had my eye on one like yours, but forgot to bid... alas!!!

 

what is a flighter look lovemy51? im sorry if im being rude.

 

It refers to a Parker with an all brushed steel finish. It goes back at least to the Parker 51 and was inspired by the metal planes of the WW II era, with sleek lines and the brushed metal finish. It is quite popular and most all of the Parker models since have been offered in that style. See this post for example.

[mel o]

i like that "flighter" look! congrats!

 

i had my eye on one like yours, but forgot to bid... alas!!!

 

what is a flighter look lovemy51? im sorry if im being rude.

 

It refers to a Parker with an all brushed steel finish. It goes back at least to the Parker 51 and was inspired by the metal planes of the WW II era, with sleek lines and the brushed metal finish. It is quite popular and most all of the Parker models since have been offered in that style. See this post for example.

thanks ajcoleman because i've always wanted to know, and i just found out that i also have a flighter fountain pen!it's a parker latitude just like the one in that post you sent. it is really nice writer. thanks!!!