Ok, I'm going to just say now that I really really really wanted to love the new Pelikan 200 with its stock medium italic nib... And for $60 from oscarbraun, how can I lose? Well... I guess I've been spoiled by both Binder's nibs b/c there is simply no comparison.

The new nib from Pelikan... it didn't write. I mean, more than 80% of my downstrokes resulted in nothing. Once it starts writing, it's okay. More of a stub than a cursive italic. It's wider than Binder's "stock" 0.7mm cursive italic. At least a 0.9 if not 1.0mm stub. I was writing up a comparison, but the new pen wouldn't really write. I was having to go over and over every other letter to make something appear...

It's not scratchy. The tines are aligned... The feed doesn't LOOK mis-aligned, but I am not very adept at diagnosing such things. I am writing to pam at oscarbraun to see if I should send it to her or chartpak (never had to send anything to chartpak before)... Maybe the replacement will at least write well, but as far as the looks of the line... It's not nearly as elegant.

*sigh*
I thought we finally had a decent-quality lower-priced piston-fill italic - alas. Will keep trying, but for now, I still vote for Binder nibs.

Heidi, I spoke to Kendra at Chartpak yesterday... she said she had a few italic nibs and she had tested one that wrote beautifully. I would suggest contacting Chartpak for a replacement...
I know they will do a thorough test of the nib that they replace so it writes well.... the customer service is fantastic.

I have to say that I was not really impressed with the medium nib on my new 250. Writes OK but is a little scratchy. I dont care too much as I plan on buying a Binder Stub for this pen. When I do, I might send this nib back to Mr. Binder to smooth.

boo I thought we found finally get some cheaper options for an italic

Thanks for letting us know Heidi I hope you just got a bad one & that you'll get a good replacement.

Here, I tried to scan in the image and attach it to this message - I did two, but don't know how to attach more than one file at a time, so here's the first one comparing it to Binder's 200 0.7mm cursive italic nib & then to CS 100 medium italic (1.1 mm according to winedoc). click to see full size.

- whoops double post

Did you flush the nib out with a couple of drops of mild dish soap in a cup of water to remove any residual oils? If so, send it to ChartPak. If not, might want to give it a try first.

yeah, i did - twice - it helped a little... should I do it some more?

Off topic, but your Binder 0.7mm is very cool. Did you get the gold one or a steel one?

steel - it's so cool that I have 2! and am considering sending some others to be customized...