Pelikan M200

First Impressions—I wanted to try an inexpensive Pelikan pen before deciding on one of its more expensive siblings. It came packaged in a nice box with some instructions on using the piston fill.

Appearance and Finish—The Pelikan M200 comes in a variety of finishes, including transparent demonstrators and two marbled finishes. I opted for the more formal-looking marbled blue finish rather than one of the transparent colors. Only the resin barrel has the marbled blue finish. The cap and piston-fill control at the end of the barrel are black. The Pelikan logo is evident on the black cap button. The trim rings and distinctive Pelikan pocket clip are gold-plated. The grip is also black plastic resin.

Design/Size/Weight—This is a very small, featherweight (only 0.5 oz loaded) plastic resin pen. It is 4 3/4” unposted but grows to a respectable 6” posted. The cap removes with a single turn of 360 degrees, and posts securely. There is only a very small step between the threads and the grip. The inner cap does not secure tightly against the nib section, rather the cap bottoms out against the barrel section when tightened. Becuase it twists off with only a single full turn, it does not tighten as securely as some pens, and the cap can loosen if the pen is jostled. The M200 has a transparent ink window at the bottom of the barrel near the grip section. I initially thought this window seriously detracted from the otherwise reasonable aesthetics of the pen, but I discovered two things in using the pen: (1) when filled with ink, the transparent section effectively looks black when the pen is in use and blends into the grip, and (2) when the cap is threaded onto the barrel, it covers the transparent window. So kudos to the designers for putting in a very useful ink window and managing to hide it in plain sight.

Nib Design and Performance—I selected a fine nib to cater to my small handwriting. Nib construction is gold-plated stainless steel, with the Pelikan logo embossed on it. The nib actually looks very plain, as there is no filigree or other markings other than the nib size and the mall Pelikan logo. But don't let the simple nib aesthetics fool you: this is a nib built for writing. The fine nib writes quite wide, almost as wide as a normal medium, wider than a Sailor medium nib. This nib is incredibly smooth, and it lays down a very, very wet and dark line. This is not a nib for cheap paper. It begs to write on good paper stock. I get some shading with Private Reserve inks, but the line is very dark and tends to be more even in color intensity than drier writers. The feed system is quite reliable, with no evidence of skipping or hard starting. (I subject all new pens to a thorough cleaning with a dilute detergent/water solution, followed by a distilled water rinse.) The nib is not at all fussy about writing angle. The writing experience with this nib is among the very best, extremely effortless for a fine nib. (If you really need fine writing out of an M200, you would have to seriously consider getting an extra-fine nib.

Filling System—The Pelikan M200 of course has the standard clever piston fill that takes on a generous load of ink. The nib is very easy to remove to assist thorough cleaning of the feed and ink reservoir for changing ink color, or just because you are fastidious. Filling the pen does not require the entire nib to be submerged (dipping past the breather hole will suffice) and the nib and grip are very easy to clean after filling.

Cost/Value—This Pelikan M200 costs about $65 new if you shop around. Given the quality of the nib and the writing experience, this pen is an exceptional value.

Overall Opinion/Conclusion—The Pelikan M200 is not the most aesthetically pleasing pen, but it is cleverly designed and certainly among the very best writing pens I own. The M200 is clear proof that a stainless steel nib can be as butter smooth as any gold nib. The small size and weight may be problematic for those with large hands, especially unposted, but when posted the pen is actually quite reasonably sized. This pen has an exceptional performance/price ratio. Dad-gummit, I can see an M400 in my future now...for now the Pelikan M200 and Sailor 1911M are going to vie for the most time in my pen rotation.

Very nice review, thanks! I just ordered one from Richard Binder with a stub nib.

Ron

I bought the blue demonstrator with italicized medium nib for my son. He filled it with turquoise blue ink and loves it!

I must have got a nib that is stingy on my M200. However, I will send it to Richard Binder and let him have fun with it, and order a stub nib for mine, just to have something different in my collection. However, my M800 is a great writer and if you like a larger pen, this is the way to go.

Very nice review
I have a couple of 200's and I really enjoy writing with them

Ron, before you send it to Richard (who will make it do tricks you never imagined), give Chartpak a chance...
I had a fine nib that was real dry and I did not like it. I sent it to Chartpak with a not tellling them the problem and what I was looking for and it came back perfect and best of all at no charge.... they have fantastic customer service.
I am not saying they retuned the nib, but I bet that Kendra looked for a nib that wrote the way I wanted...
I am now waiting for the new Pelikan stub to arrive... they are swapping my OM for the new stub... and again at no charge...

As for getting a stub from Richard, I have both the .6 and .8 stubs and love them... it gets tough deciding which one to use....

Excellent review - thanks!

Very nice review on a pen that is very popular on FPN.

I'm glad you are enjoying the M200. I've never written with one, but the M75 GO! I have (actually my wife has now) is an excellent writer. Good luck with your M200.

french

Well, it's all your fault , collectively speaking. I've seen a lot of comments about the Pelikans here at FPN and other places, and especially comments about the M200. So, I thought, what the heck, it's not too expensive, and maybe I'll like it enough to think about owning a larger version. And I might as well get something else to amortize the shipping costs for the duplicate ink bottles I need at the office. So what if I already have 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 pens already? Sound like a familiar refrain?

The road to hell must be paved with fountain pens...

On the other hand, I do like the M200 and use it regularly, so I guess that makes it OK. Now about that M400... :doh:

Cheers.

Congratulations on the pen! I agree with OldGriz about trying the exchange first. And if you order one of Richard's wonderful nibs, you can be enjoying that while you wait for the nib to come back!

TO me, the only rub with this pen is the section. Those pesky threads just feel annoying to me when I write. I dunno...maybe I'm just being too sensitive.

Nice review!
I bought a Tradition M200 F nib on my birthday this year.It was my first real fountain pen,after writting for nearly 13 years with a Parker 51 chinese clone.It is my daily writter.Smooth and wet,reliable,starts every time. Never leave house without it.

Wait, are Pelikan M200s available with a stock stub nib? Also, in terms of writing, how does the M200 compare to the M400?

Great review. My M200 was the first Pelikan I owned and have always loved it. I have always recommended it as a good first or second pen depending on your budget.

The m200 and m400 are identical, except for the steel nib in the 200 and gold in the 400. Both good writers. There is no stock stub (AFAIK) but the broad is sorta stubby and gives some (not much) line variation.

Great Review! Awesome pens that are only $55.00 on my site at www.isellpens.com . I sell a ton of them and to many first time fountain pen users too. What's great about these pens is you can easily switch out the nib or have a spare nib for the pen. I am putting extra nibs on sale for $15.00.

I'm a new FNN member and have ordered an M200 on the strength of finding this review recently. This model doesn't seem to be available in Australia so have ordered from Pendemonium - looking forward to receiving the pen in the next few days and hoping it lives up to the rave reviews in this thread.

Hi, inkypete,

The M200 is readily available from such specialist pen shops in Melbourne as Pen City and Taft's. I think it retails in Australia for about $AU140.

Regards

Geoff V

Thanks Geoff - I did call Pen City and was told it wasn't available and it doesn't appear on their web site. I paid about $90 when you take the exchange rate and delivery into account so have probably done OK anyway.

Do you have any local sources for quality paper, notebooks and journals that I may not know about?

Pete

Sorry, Pete, can't help in the matter of paper. I use only what's available here, ie Basildon Bond, Croxley Parchment, etc. These apart, I pay the (evidently) inflated prices asked for Moleskine products though I rarely use them with anything other than a mechanical pencil.

BTW, I've sampled the M200 a couple of times, once at Taft's and again at Pen City. It's OK but I'm not a fan because it's too small for my wharfie-like hands.

Is the M200 secure if carried in one's pants pocket? Any chance it will open and leak? I'm looking at the Pelikan 200 or a Pilot Knight and was curious.

Thanks!

Any pen will find its way open if it is in your pants pocket.

Eventually.

You should at least carry it in a slip case.


You don't want to get used to reaching in to your pocket for you pen to one day find it nib-up, with no cap. Try getting stabbed by an XXF nib right in the tip of the finer.

Ouch.

There seems to be some variation in Pelikan nib line width. My M200 Fine is noticably thinner (~0.45mm) than my Sailor Medium (~0.5mm).