Any fountain pens you have which you once thought of as great but now think of as less than great given the others you have used? Or, pens that you hated until you went back to them having used a variety of others?

Just curious. We all offer our comments on pens and their quality and I wonder if in some cases those comments would change with time and experience.

I am not looking to bash any pen maker or model, just curious as to how your reactions changed once you had a greater understanding of the wide variety of pens out there. jc

My first fountain pen was a Parker Duofold Red Mosaic. I bought it on looks alone. To that end, I thought that modern Pelikans were not acceptable, again based on looks alone.

I purchased a Lamy 2000 from Pam, and had trouble with it. I returned it and asked her for something of similar cost. She sent me an M400. I like it! I didn't care for the gold trim, but I still like the pen. It was well made, and it had a pistion filler.

I now have 15 modern Pelikans. So, my initial reaction to Pelikans has certainly changed!

One of the first pens I ever bought off of eBay was a copper Esterbrook J with the enchanting name 'Raquel Mendieta' engraved. It had a 2668 nib in it that I found scratchy and well below par. So, after a couple of months and in the quest for more, pricier pens, I sold 'Raquel' and thought "Esterbrooks aren't for me".

However, after about 15 more pens crossing my path, I fondly remembered the screw-on cap, durable body and reliable ink flow of that Esterbrook. A few months later, I saw the right deal for a beaten up Esterbrook with a 9556 nib and am I ever glad I went back. The higher-class nib is super smooth, the marbled celluloid is pretty and feels great. I do miss 'Raquel', so I picked up a copper dollar pen in a trade (thanks, Angelo!). Now I've got another fancy nib on the way and I'm solidly in the Esterbrook camp.

I have a couple in this boat. One was a Waterman Carene, which I still own. When I first purchased it I thought that I had found the best pen ever made. This was, no doubt, informed by little in the way of experience with a broad range of pens. I even bought a second to have in reserve (which I sold). But in all honesty, I've generally been able to tell if a pen was for me or not right out of the box.