Platinum Preppy

[burmeseboyz]

Hi folks, here's my review of a great little cheap pen that I acquired a week ago. It's awesome and cheap. Hope you enjoy my review.

 

 

First Impressions

Well what would you expect in a pen whose converter costs more than the pen itself? I wasn’t expecting much but the pen looked good with good clean plastic and a solid feel. I wouldn’t mistake it for a $100 pen, but it looks more expensive than the $3.75 that I paid for it. Just slightly more expensive than a Pilot Varsity.

 

(5/10)

 

Appearance

The nib looks just like the one on the varsity and the clear section shows the feed is just like the feeds of many other disposable roller balls that I’ve seen. Uni-balls come to mind. But don’t get me wrong, it does look slightly different and looks pretty well made. The clear cap revealing the spring attached inner cap gives me confidence that it won’t be a dry starter or risk losing ink solvent due to evaporation.

 

(5/10)

 

Design

It’s simply designed and it does look pretty professional. Not the school kid style of the Lamy safari or Pelikano. A pen you won’t be embarrassed about carrying. Maybe I’m being too sensitive.

 

(8/10)

 

 

Nib

The nib is very similar to the Pilot Varsity. It’s uber smooth, smoother than some of my more expensive pens, Pelikans, Parkers, etc. But it doesn’t have a good feel. Zero flexibility. But it’s a good writer. No looking at the nib flex a little and enjoying the free flow of ink. There is great free flow of ink though.

 

(7/10)

 

 

Filling System

The filling system, well it’s designed for use with carts. but I bought a Platinum converter and used that with the pen. On filling it up, the problem is that the converter fills up the feed and so you’ll see ink going all over the place due to the clear section. Also, ink will form a little ring around the nib since there is some separation between the nib and the section. The nib/feed is slightly smaller in diameter than the section plastic and so I had to pump some ink out so as not to have ink falling out due to slight taps. But it’s still not too bad. Just return three drops of ink back into the bottle and flip the nib up before pulling the piston completely down. Just like you would do with piston fillers anyway.

(6/10)

 

Cost and Value

This was a great deal and looks like a fountain pen you should give to non-fp folks. Nothing precious to damage and the overall pen costs just a few bucks. It’s a better deal than getting a Hero pen.

 

(10/10)

 

Conclusion

Overall and excellent pen. I would rate it high just because they’re so darn cheap! Does it have soul? Not really, but it’s a great writer and if your writing doesn’t need to be soulful, I’d go with this one. Plus it’s cheap!

 

(8/10)

 

 

[sam]

nice review.

for the price and quality,

you can buy a dozen

and fill each one with a different ink/color

[Possum Hill]

The printing on Preppy pens disintegrates after a few days' use, leaving the pen clean.

 

There are a couple of ways to convert them to eyedropper fill.

 

Last, and best, Pendemonium sells them five for $12.

[sam]

The printing on Preppy pens disintegrates after a few days' use, leaving the pen clean.

 

There are a couple of ways to convert them to eyedropper fill.

 

Last, and best, Pendemonium sells them five for $12.

at that price, i could ink them up with different inks...

and the color would show through the clear barrel, so no confusion.

thx for the heads up on the pens possum hill.

[takkun]

These are pretty nifty looking. They remind me a bit of uni-ball Fusions (one of the few ballpens I'll use)...I wonder if I should pick up a couple of them and give them out as gifts to all of those that love *my* FPs?

[jonro]

How large or small are they? What size is the nib (F/M/B), or do they come in a variety of sizes?

[burmeseboyz]

How large or small are they? What size is the nib (F/M/B), or do they come in a variety of sizes?

 

Sorry for the lack of details. I forgot about putting a ruler in for scale when photographing. They're about the size of a full sized Parker "51" and they only come with a medium japanese nib to the best of my knowledge. They do come in a variety of colors though but the only color is on the cap and the stainless steel nib. I should also add that the overall construction is much better than that of the pilot varsity.

[Hélène]

I have never seen a 51 in person so how does the size compare to a Pelikano, Esterbrook SJ, or Varsity, those are the pens I have with me at school that are not cheap European pens (the cheap pens do write well, and they are affordable, which is good seeing as I am a student)

[nmxcop]

The Preppy's are about 17 to 18 mm (a bit less than 3/4 inch) longer than an Esterbrook SJ and a bit larger in diameter. The ones from Pendemonium do have fine point nibs.

 

Robert

[Goodwhiskers]

Thanks for the great review! I like my five Preppies, too. The floating seal in the cap is both effective and nifty-looking.

 

In answer to someone else's question, only Platinum's converter fits in the Preppy. The stem that the converter plugs onto is wider than Sheaffer, standard international, Parker (and Aurora), and Lamy sizes, and narrower than the Pilot/Namiki size.

 

One of my Platinum converters has leaked around the piston. The other four work well.

 

The converter does not grip the stem quite as tightly as the converters on some other brands do. This means it can slip down or off of the stem when the pen falls to the floor or is stored upright in a briefcase/bookbag that gets jostled a lot. With the clear body, this problem is easy to notice and fix (just clean the inside of the body and section socket with a twist of tissue paper and push the converter back). The section-body threading keeps a seal that is good enough to contain such small, internal leaks.

 

I agree with the filling method with the converter: About three or four twists before the piston reaches the back of the reservoir, take the pen out of the bottle, turn the pen upward, angle it so that the feed's air hole becomes a drain at the base of the nib, and twist the piston the rest of the way to pull the excess ink through the air hole.

[Joly]

You can buy a small black adapter.

Fit that in the preppy and you can use it with international cartridges.

[Mags]

Are these the free pens the Noodlers inserts in their larger 4.5 oz bottles of ink?

 

Wonderful review.

[CAG_1787]

Are these the free pens the Noodlers inserts in their larger 4.5 oz bottles of ink?

 

Wonderful review.

 

Usually, yes.

 

The pen is also a very simple eyedropper candidate.

[dkirchge]

Sorry for the lack of details. I forgot about putting a ruler in for scale when photographing. They're about the size of a full sized Parker "51" and they only come with a medium japanese nib to the best of my knowledge. They do come in a variety of colors though but the only color is on the cap and the stainless steel nib. I should also add that the overall construction is much better than that of the pilot varsity.

JetPens carries the Preppy in both fine and medium nibs. Here's a link to their Platinum Preppy page.

 

EDIT: Whoops, didn't see how old the thread was before I replied...

Edited April 14, 2013 by dkirchge

[DaveBj]

[maverink]

the pilot varsity is cheaper and better and not prone to cracking issues

[tinysnail]

Nice review! I'm not a huge fan of the Preppy, but I have one converted to eyedropper devoted for use with J. Herbin 1670 Rouge Hematite. Feels funny using an ink with gold in it in a $3 pen, but it works for me!

[jdc4]

Although many consider this a starter pen, I would happily use one of these day to day. I have had one or two where ink flow seems to be a problem, but for the most part the experience has been a pretty satisfying one. Trick I believe is to find the ink cartridges at a reasonably price and you're good to go. An alternative is the Platinum Plaisir which houses the Preppy nib. So you can just but the Plaisir and interchange different color Preppy nibs. The pen is relatively inexpensive (it sells in Japan for US$10.00 and is really not a bad looking writing instrument). I highly recommend it if you want something that looks great and maintains that Preppy feel.

Edited August 17, 2014 by jdc4

[ecologito]

Has anybody tried a 0.2 nib?

[bone215]

yes