Bexley Poseidon (yellow)

[jandrese]

Review with pics can be seen at www.howdoesitwrite.com

 

 

Introduction

 

About a year ago I picked up a Bexley Simplicity fountain pen. I liked the tortoise coloration and the price was right. To my delight, it turned out to be great writer. Later, I caught sight of the Bexley Poseidon. I was immediately intrigued by the shape and color options. I’m told that Bexley feels that they could sell more pens if they made them in basic black. I hope they don’t. Basic black is boring! Being mostly American-made (they use Bock nibs), Bexley is somewhat unusual, and it pleases me that they are producing high quality pens nearby. Additionally, Bexley sets itself apart by offering yearly special edition pens to current Bexley owners first. Although expensive, the yearly specials are interesting pens that may appeal to collectors seeking unique pens.

 

Design

 

Except for the wild color scheme, the Poseidon makes me think of a vintage Pelikan. Capped, the pen appears short and fat, almost squat, but balanced. The clip curves up slightly at the end, and is set relatively low on the cap so that the pen fits well in a shirt pocket. The clip placement, however, is mostly what makes the Poseidon look like a vintage Pelikan. The top of the cap is like a big hat that gives the pen a distinctive, classic appearance. Although it looks squat, it is actually a relatively big pen.

 

Capped, the Poseidon is shorter than a Pelikan M800, but it is larger in diameter. Posted, the Poseidon is longer! The Poseidon is big, but compact. The nibs on these pens are nearly identical. Similar in size, both are two-tone 18 ct gold nibs that are stamped 750. This does not come as a surprise, however, since Bock makes nibs for Pelikan too. This bodes well for the Bexley though, because Pelikan M800 series nibs are highly regarded.

 

Bexley calls the color on my pen yellow. Well, yes, there is yellow in it, but it is mostly blue. The body of the pen is actually clear plastic with mottled yellow and blue highlights. I like it, and it catches people attention, although I appreciate that it may not be for everyone. The two-tone nib complements the color scheme. I also think the red and grey Poseidon is attractive, but to me its appearance is more subdued than the yellow version.

 

Use

 

I like large pens so I took to the Poseidon immediately. Unlike the aforementioned Pelikan M800, the Poseidon is a lightweight pen that can be used comfortably posted, or not. The pen fits well in my hand; the large diameter feels good and promotes long writing sessions. The nib is where it is at on this pen, however.

 

While trying out various nib options on the Poseidon I became smitten with the bold nib. It was wet, smooth, and flexy. It was…sumptuous. I’m left handed though! Damn. I recommend the bold nib for all ya’ll lucky right-handers who won’t smear ink all over the place. Never fear, the medium nib was also smooth, but not quite as flexible, only a little bit of spring on the medium nib. A nice writer in the store, I had to have it.

 

Back home, I put the Poseidon to some serious use over the next few weeks. Using Noodler’s black bulletproof ink I started to notice something that became annoying. After being carried upright the pen tended to dry out. Shaking the pen restored ink flow but it wasn’t too long before I needed to shake the pen again. It was as if shaking charged the feed with ink and writing would exhaust this ready supply of ink. The feed did not seem to continuously refill from the cartridge, as it should have while writing.

 

Although few pens seem to avoid drying out some, I really dislike putting pen to paper and not getting ink out. It makes me cranky. This is especially true when a pen is otherwise a joy to write with, as is the Poseidon. Moreover, it is embarrassing to proudly hand over a pen to someone who is not a fountain pen user and then have it not work. Maybe the ink and pen don’t go well together. Maybe the ink feed could use some modification. I’ll try some more inks before tinkering with the feed though. The nib writes somewhat wet now, and I don’t want to create gusher. So vexing.

 

Summary

 

Originally, I thought that the asking price ($350) was a little too high for the Poseidon. After mulling it over for a few months I came back to the Poseidon and liked it enough to buy it. While it is true that at my pen dealer I paid somewhat less than the retail price, I am now of the opinion that Poseidon is a reasonably good value. It is a relatively large pen with a high quality nib that is very similar to the nib on the excellent Pelikan M800, itself about $325 retail.

 

While I was frustrated by the ink flow, I thought the pen wrote very well on a variety of paper types. Perhaps different ink will be a better match for the pen. Or maybe a relatively simple modification to the feed will fix things up. When I get it correct, I know that the Poseidon will be a pen that I will use on a regular basis.

 

[Stephen-I-am]

Thanks for the review. I'm waiting on a yellow poseidon too (but with silver trim and a custom 0.8 mm stub from Richard B.), and I'm interested in hearing in other's experience with the pen. I'm glad that it feels balanced when posted, since that's how I intend to use it.

 

About the ink flow issue, is it perhaps a converter issue? Sometimes in a new converter the ink can refuse to flow down to the feed. Rinsing with mild soapy water has been known to help, and it shouldn't be an issue in a cartridge.

 

Stephen

[bgray]

The Poseidon is one of my favorites.

 

It's brilliantly designed so that a large pen is in a pretty small package when capped.

[jandrese]

I used the supplied converter. Since I just filled up with ink at the pen store it is possible a good cleaning will help. I plan on trying that.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the review. I'm waiting on a yellow poseidon too (but with silver trim and a custom 0.8 mm stub from Richard B.), and I'm interested in hearing in other's experience with the pen. I'm glad that it feels balanced when posted, since that's how I intend to use it.

 

About the ink flow issue, is it perhaps a converter issue? Sometimes in a new converter the ink can refuse to flow down to the feed. Rinsing with mild soapy water has been known to help, and it shouldn't be an issue in a cartridge.

 

Stephen

 

[JonDoh]

I just got this pen and have the same issue with the ink flow.

[jandrese]

I just got this pen and have the same issue with the ink flow.

 

 

JonDoh,

 

Not long after posting this review I fixed the flow issue. I was not hard because the main issue was a ball bearing in the converter that was stopping ink flow. Platinum ink cartridges have ball bearings, and on some pens with flow problems a ball bearing can fix the flow. My pen dealer had just heard about this fix and for some reason put a ball bearing in the converter of my Poseidon when I bought it. So, I took out the ball bearing. I may have also reseated the nib, but I don't think that this helped much.

 

The poseidon is a very nice pen. I have two and would not mind another.

[stevlight]

I got rid of my Poseidon magnum because of the flow problems!! I tried everything to fix it and I get VERY frustrated when I pick up a pen and it does not write. The sad thing is it has stopped me from getting another Bexley! It has also turned me off CC fillers--I never have problems with my piston or vacuum fillers. I absolutely LOVE the look of the Poseidon though--kinda miss it. My MB 149's are keeping me very happy though.