Pelikan M150

[Uncle Red]

In looking over the Pelikan product line, one pen consistently catches my eye. The M150. I don't know why but it does. When the Goulets started carrying the Pelikan Tradition Line pens I decided to special order the M150. Rachel replied right away that the pen was availible in fine or medium and the broad was a seperate nib. That didn't sound right so I asked her to contact Pelikan, she let me know they had one broad nibbed pen in stock so I went ahead and told her to order it. On March 5th I placed the order and Rachel said I it would take about a week.

 

I got the pen today.

 

That's great service so let's all give the Goulet Pen Company a big hand. :clap1:

 

When I got through the usual over-the-top wrapping I found this cardboard box

 

 

inside of which was

 

 

A multi-lingual warranty and instruction book and an inner hard box covered in something hard to decribe. In this box I found

 

 

It's a nice touch and removes a lot of worries. Also, brownie points for spelling my name right (people at work I've known for 10 years often spell it wrong). Of course this is the moment of truth

 

 

 

 

Its both small and a good size. I like it. It's light and feels well put together. The pen is a piston filler and it seems to hold about 1ml. The piston is smooth.

Here's the M150 between a TWSBI and an Esterbrook J.

 

 

 

You can see the-pelican-in-her-glory on the cap of the Pelikan. The Estie is longer capped but about the same length uncapped. Both of the other pens are thicker than the M150. I don't usually post my caps so I didn't take a picture that way, also the TWSBI doesn't post well. The M150's cap does post on the body not the piston knob.

Here's the pen in my hand posted

 

 

and unposted

 

 

I do have small hands for a man.

 

The nib is smooth. It writes a true smooth broad line and is smooth. It writes a wet line but it's not gushing, about a 7/10. Here's the best picture I could get of the GP steel nib (which is smooth)

 

 

You can also see the green ink view window, I'm sure that'll be handy. Here's a writing sample

 

 

I'm very pleased with my first Pelikan and I'm going to get some more.

Hope you enjoyed the review.

[Fabienne]

Very nice! Enjoy your Pelikan. I love mine. BTW your hand looks immense in the photo! Heh Pels now feel perfect in my hand.

[bluejay]

Great Pen! I'm waiting for Goulets to start offering nib adjustments before I buy Pelikans or Higher end pens off them. That would make them the PERFECT company to order from.

[Biber]

Great for you! The M150 is a fantastic pen and I have really come to appreciate mine though I'm looking for a much finer (XXF) nib. It's a very underated pen overshadowed as it is by the nearly identical M200.

[jandrese]

Good stuff, thanks for sharing. Pelikan is interesting in that I pretty much like their less expensive pens just as much as their higher end stuff. I have M150s and M200s that write awesome and make me just as happy as my M910 Toledo.

[Bigeddie]

I have an M200 and use it just as regularly as my M40x pens. The steel nibs are different to the gold, but I couldn't say which was better.

 

The only thing that has put me of buying an M150 is the cost is so close to an M200 here in the UK, I don't know if thats any different in the states?

 

A nice review, thanks for sharing it.

[Uncle Red]

Thank You all for the kind replies.

 

@ Bluejay, what is it you're looking to have done. BG did a quick test on mine.

 

@ Biber, I'm sure you could get someone to grind down a Pel nib for you. Have you looked at a Sapporo Mini though?

 

@ Big Eddie, About $30USD difference depending on where you get it. I paid a bit more because I wanted to get it from the Goulets.

[welch]

Thank You all for the kind replies.

 

@ Bluejay, what is it you're looking to have done. BG did a quick test on mine.

 

@ Biber, I'm sure you could get someone to grind down a Pel nib for you. Have you looked at a Sapporo Mini though?

 

@ Big Eddie, About $30USD difference depending on where you get it. I paid a bit more because I wanted to get it from the Goulets.

 

I think the 150 price has increased a bit since I bought one from Swishers about three years ago. Was it about $50 or $60? At the time, the 200 was about $100. Nibs for the 150 were about $15; nibs for the 200 were more...$20 or $25.

 

I use my 150 more often than the 200...it is small enoough to fit in a front pants pocket, and they don't leak or break. Very handy if you're visiting Greece in August!

[Biber]

I did a lot of research here at FPN before I bought my 150. I was basically torn between the 200 and the 150. In the end I came to the conclusion that the differences in size were negligable so I opted to save a few dollars. My initial impression was that the pen was relatively cheaply made, but I've quickly come to appreciate how well it's made. I just haven't been over joyed with the XF nib. It's smooth and all but it easily writes on the medium side of fine and really doesn't afford much character of line. As I'm really not into (yet) inking $$ into a custom grind I'm hoping a plug in and go option will present itself at some point. I've already had good results with toying with a franken nib made from an Esty nib, but still not an unqualified success. At any rate my 150 isn't in rotation at the moment.

[trurl]

I just haven't been over joyed with the XF nib. It's smooth and all but it easily writes on the medium side of fine and really doesn't afford much character of line.

 

Yep. I've got a green M151, which as far as I know is a special edition of the M150 for the italian market, whose nib is an XF that writes slightly thicker than, say, a Sailor medium.

[Uncle Red]

I'd heard that Pelikans had wide fat nibs, I wanted a broad so it works for me.

 

Try an Esterbrook J series pen, I've got one with a 2556 nib that's very fine indeed. They'll set you back about $45-60 USD depending on model, condition and exactly what nib it's got.

[fabrimedeiros]

Awesome little piston fill pen! A truly classic!!

 

Enjoy in good health!

 

[PenTieRun]

I've owned my M150 for four years, and it continues to be a favorite and function perfectly. You've made a wise choice.

[MrsGouletPens]

Great Pen! I'm waiting for Goulets to start offering nib adjustments before I buy Pelikans or Higher end pens off them. That would make them the PERFECT company to order from.

We are inspecting every Pelikan pen that comes in now, but we have to be careful not to make *too* many adjustments as that actually voids the warranty! We're only going to list the pens on our site that write well; everything else gets exchanged with Chartpak if it's not a simple adjustments. Generally speaking, we are inspecting the nibs to be sure they are aligned properly, and inking up anything that looks suspect. We don't want anyone to get a bum nib! With any reasonably expensive pen we sell, we're very happy to ink it up and test it upon your request, but we are not equipped to do any adjustments that would require grinding. Hope that makes sense!

 

I think the 150 price has increased a bit since I bought one from Swishers about three years ago. Was it about $50 or $60? At the time, the 200 was about $100. Nibs for the 150 were about $15; nibs for the 200 were more...$20 or $25.

 

Current 2012 list prices are $130 for the M200, and $95 for the M150. Nib units are $32.75 for the M200, and $16.40-$23.40 for the M150 nibs (varies by the nib size). "Street price" is typically 20% off of the list price.

 

By the way, I was wrong about the M150 broad being a special order... I had just missed it on my pricer! It's regularly available.

 

Thanks for the mini-review and I'm glad you like your pen, Marc! Thanks for giving us the opportunity.

[Uncle Red]

No Rachel, Thank You