Nice review of the best pen deal ever imho. Why won't Pelikan or Lamy reintroduce a sub-$35 piston filler!!! ;-)



http://pigpog.com/node/2432

I love my Go! The nib is too broad for me, but I use brightly-colored inks in it for all the household jotting that goes on around this place. Works like a dream and never falters. One of these days I will have a Go! modified for a somewhat narrow stub.

You're on to something there.... I like the idea of having my medium nib Go! in to a fine stub nib......


--J. Haney

Because the 200's and 400's stopped selling?

I'll admit - if Pelikan came out with similar pen now (assuming it was a decent quality) I would buy a couple in lieu of another 200.

Did the 400 really take any hits though? It's not really a "cheap" pen by my standards so I can't see it being in the same market as the 200 except by size.

I honestly have no idea.

Maybe pen companies nowadays want to push the piston 'upmarket', where all the other piston fillers by most of the brands are. Even the M200 is not really cheap.

Was the Go! successful on the market? With a convenient c/c pen there is no marketing risk involved, as cheap pens have to sell in sufficient numbers.

I don't like the looks of the Go!, but something of that kind would be great.

Remember, Pelikan also has/had the Level pens with huge ink capacites and a clean filling system. You can dump the ink in the proprietary plastic ink bottles and fill in some ink of your preference instead. If the section of my Level L5 wouldn't be so slim, I would really like it. I got it with a huge discount for only € 10 at a major German department store. It was marketed with a steel nib for MSRP € 75 originally. Way too overpriced, I don't think it was a success.

The Level had problems with the base cracking. At least on the cheaper version.

No, the 200 isn't cheap. But then, for some, even $35 isn't "cheap" and that's what these Go's are sometimes uh...Go-ing for these days. I find that absurd. I think I bought 3 for $33 at some point. Kept none - I didn't care for the nibs. But the folks who got them liked them. I'm just not wild about that nib style. My VP is the closest I get to a nib like that. And I say that having used some very good pens with that nib style. For some reason they just never stayed in the rotation.

I think that it's fair to say that since it was discontinued and since there were many Go's that flooded e-bay for a couple of years that, no, it was not successful. I suppose it was meant to draw in the younger buyer but that even in Europe, the fountain pen market for teens doesn't seem to be very strong. If I was in HS I'd be using a cartridge pen or a ballpoint (eegads!) just as I did when I was in HS. I'd not want to fuss with a piston-filler in the middle of notes.

Thanks, Chris! I wondered where all those visits were coming from - here and pentrace.

I'm really liking the Go!, but I think my Saratoga Snorkel has won its place back at the top. It's just a bit smoother, and a bit wetter and blacker, and much nicer to look at. More fun to fill, too, just a shame I've never any idea how much ink is in there.

The Go! wins on the practical points - big ink capacity, and nice and easy to see when you're running low. I just wish it didn't have the turquoise plastic clip.

Damn, now an M200 is on my wish list along with everything else

That Anthracite Transparant looks very nice...

Very nice review of the Pelikan Go!, pigpogm! Thanks for pointing it out, Chris

I've been checking out your website and have enjoyed reading the other fountain pen reviews---many thanks!

A neglected Pelikan pen seems to be the Pelikan M150

I'm absolutely in love with mine It's a cute little light baby pen (similar size as a Jotter) that is a piston filler

Perfect for everyday jotting.

$45 off Pendemonium
(I received mine as a gift from a very generous person )

http://www.pendemonium.com/pens_pelikan.htm#m150

It's a good pen for the $ if you like small pens. It's neglected perhaps because while it might be suitable for some adults and many young FP users, it's way too small for a lot of us. I'm in a very restricted range. 200 is about as small as I can handle, 600 about as large I as can handle. Fortunately there are a lot of other pens in that range but sadly I can't venture into the 150 zone. Not that big a deal that I can't go past the 600s since they're out of my price range anyway.

Ah - turns out it doesn't - the clip is painted metal. The paint got chipped a little, and I've now scratched the whole of the raised part clear (there's a photo added to the article on PigPog).

I may yet try removing the rest, and either repaint or leave it as bare metal. Just need to work out if I can do something about the turquoise bits in the top two cut-outs in the barrel next...

On the subject of sizes, are the sizes in the diagram posted here actually the posted sizes, as the pens are shown?

If they are, I make the Go! a bit bigger than the 600, which surprises me.

from what I recall, that's a true statement. The Go is longer and fatter than 600. Not entirely sure about the section are size except that it wasn't comfortable for me but I can't recall if it was design or just size.

A black Sharpie marker! I've used it on my bike of all things, to cover up scratches in the paint, etc. Works like charm, and I've only needed to touch it up once.

That is a very smart suggestion that I think I am going to try. I do love my Go! but it is a homely little thing.

Good idea. I'd not thought of that. I did think of using a metallic pen, so it would match the shiny metal clip once it's all stripped of paint. Sharpie might be a bit more subtle, though.

They make those silver Sharpie markers now, if that appeals to you. Sharpie rocks.

Silver Sharpies? I don't think we've got them over here yet. We only get a limited range in the UK, and most people still look blankly at you when you mention a Sharpie.

I was just thinking last night how much better I'd like my Go if it had a fine nib. I considered having it modified but I'm not sure it's worth it. It is absolutely the most reliable fountain pen I own so it has that going for it. It never fails to start even after sitting for weeks and I can turn it at all sorts of odd angles and still write well. It isn't classy enough to take to a business meeting and the design does seem better suited to the youthful market for which it was intended. Yet if the nib was more to my liking, I might be tempted to take it along to meetings and such. Hmmmm. I wonder what it would cost...

A little update in case anyone's interested...

• I've scratched the rest of the paint off the clip - fingernails and an X-acto knife, followed by wire wool. Looks pretty decent, in a rough sort of way.
• I tried Sharpie for the ink window, but it wouldn't get into the corner. On a whim, I tried using the X-acto knife again, and the turquoise is paint again - scrapes off to reveal - more windows! Yep, the other two windows are actually clear underneath, and let you see a bit of the piston mechanism. Cool.

I've taken a few snaps of the results - the windows are a bit scratched up after scraping off the paint. They don't look too messy in reality, but I suspect the photos will show them up badly - I'll try to get the pics added to the PigPog page tomorrow.

Ooo, I wonder why I haven't done this before:

I'll move it to the fountain pen reviews section, as technically the link leads to a "review"


regards, Kissing

Following pigpogm's lead, I tried a little experiment, which failed:

Ooo, I thought - the window paint comes off. I'll try a little of that xylene-based paint remover and see if that works.

Result: Removes paint, sort of. Removes pen also.

Conclusion: Xylene a bad idea. Oh well - no real damage done.

GO! fans may be interested to know that a cartridge/converter version was made. It's the P70 model (the piston version is M75). I purchased one last year from a seller in the Netherlands. It's identical in every other way except that the blind cap holds the ink eradicator. The clip on mine is turquoise. I was a bit disappointed that the plastic blind cap broke but it's a wonderful writer like its sibling.

The instructons say: "The Pelikan GO! is a high quality fountain pen for young people which has many advantages in both design and function." Guess I messed up their marketing plans when I got ahold of 'em.