Price

£6.50 or €9.70 or $12.50 including shipment at eBay.

Overall design

This pen was first launched by Parker in 1960 and has remained in production since then in various incarnations. Parker 45 is no longer marketed in the United States, though, but mine was made in UK as late as the 1st quarter of this year 2006 and these pens can still be easily obtained here in Europe. Prices are not bad either, even for a cheap school pen. The pen is made of red/blue/black plastic with a stainless steel cap. The cap has a black "jewel" on top. The cap closing system is similar to those on Parker "51" and Hero 100 et al.

The Nib (6/10 if you like your fine nib broad)

The nib is semi-hooded, not fully hooded like Parker "51" and Hero 100 but not open either. Parker nibs tend to run broader than others and this is no exception. The nib is marked Fine but it is more like Broad, much broader than my Phileas F and even broader than my Frontier M. I think this nib qualifies as the broadest nib that I have ever owned! The nib definitely has a narrow "sweet spot", but when it is found, it writes perfect broad line. Unfortunately I find it way too broad for normal note taking. I seldom have any reasonable use for broad nibs.

Filling System (7/10)

The pen comes with what Parker calls "refillable ink cartridge". This type of converter uses slide mechanism to suck ink that can be operated with only one hand. Free hand can be used to tilt the near-empty bottle to get the last drops. This thing, however, has rather low ink capacity. It is also handy when cleaning pen of ink. The converter has a metal ball floating inside the tank to make the ink flow better. As a result of this, the pen makes rattling noise when shaken.

Weight & Balance & Materials (3.5/10)

The plastic barrel is light in weight, perfectly fits smaller hand but has nice balance when posted. Parker 45 looks very nice from distance but when examined closer it reveals its humble origins. The modern P45 is not the same as "vintage" P45! Materials have become cheaper during the past couple of years. Posting the cap will eventually scratch the barrel and the cap closing mechanism is not as sturdy as it is on Hero 100 or Parker "51" for example.

Conclusion

This pen does not pretend to be more than it actually is, a cheap school pen. It has no serious design flaws for the price except that the current production steel nibs are all broad no matter what the marking says. If you can find a replacement 14 karat gold nib or a decent fine steel nib, then I am sure that this pen will give you many years of good service.

Here are the missing photos of my P45:

Sad to hear they've been cheapened so much. We still have the Jotter in stores and it isn't the same as the old one either.

Anybody know if these are now made from Chinese made parts? Knowing Newell Rubbermaid this would not surprise me. I've noticed the gold coloured plating comes off the new 45's and Frontiers very easily. Agreed the older ones are much better.

John

I don't know but it says "made in UK" engraved on the cap.

Indeed!
Thanks for the review, LapsangS; I appreciate your honesty in reviewing the pen.
There is a review on "Stylophiles Online" here from Jan. 2003, if anyone is interested (I wasn't sure what a "slide convertor" was until I saw the picture there) I had a vintage Parker 45 but traded it away---nice, solid pen.

I have had a similar experience with my 45 Flighter -- rotational angle is critical, it simply will not lay down ink if the nib isn't exactly correct. Rather "fat" for an extra-fine nib, too, and I've been told it won't push worth diddly, it stabs into the paper for a lefty. May be just the XF nib, though.

I find it hard to use -- it writes very well when I've got the nib at the correct angle, but I cannot see it (presbiopia is part of that!) and I keep getting dry starts.

Otherwise a very nice pen, should last me forever.

Peter

i was just reading this thread and picked up my P45 (newer model) to write a few lines and see if i miss the "sweet spot". well, i didn't. so i think writing with the P45 gets to be like riding a bike. once you get the hang of it you start and keep going writing and never miss that sweet spot (or never fall off the bike).

i do see a problem with the "broad line" it delivers, even if mine is suposed to be "fine" point.

Edited: OOPS! i take it back it skipped a couple of times with cheaper paper!! before i was using HP 24lb, then i switched to 16lb three holes lined school paper and it did it... it skipped.

anyways, my theory about "riding the bike" thing was wrong