Wow! I just got my first Pelikan M200 in transparent grey from oscarbraunpens within 2 days of ordering! Very fast!

So far, so good. The Pelikan really does write very smooth. The most amazing thing is how it fills ink though. It looks like it's drawing blood when I fill it. It was really cool just to see it fill up. Very fun

I have the transparent blue. That tiny pen can drink a whole lot of ink And it writes very well, it is beautiful, and while it feels small in my hand, I have mostly gotten used to it.

The M200 is a lovely pen. I now have two, and one was the first expensive pen I bought (well, as I've told the story before, not the one I have, because I lost that, but I still have the one I bought to replace it), and they make me very happy. I am in love with the Binderized XXXF nib I bought at the NYC Pen Show, and the balance of the M200 works quite nicely for me.

Hi,

I have the green translucent. Though it is a little big for me, I like it a lot and it is one of my most used pens.

Dillon

Glad to see you chose the 200. I remember your query from a few days ago regarding whether to purchase this pe. I thought you would like the filling system. Pelikan has stuck by the pistion system for 70+ years. It is a solid pen with few flaws. Now you also have a pen that will accept different nibs that are easily interchangeable. My favorite is the Italifine, sold by Richard Binder. Not affiliated with him in any way, just a happy customer...

Most folks here know that I am a Pelikan fan.

Rabid Pelikan fan is probably more fitting.

To add to it, I think the 200 is one of the most intelligently designed/priced modern pens out there. It's a price point many can afford but a quality most can appreciate. It is small for some folks. Fortunately, not for me.

I do happen to love the pre-'97 design more so than the current design. Someday I'll track down a pre'-97 blue marble.

Yup! Once I have most disposable money, I want to purchase an XXF nib from Richard. But the nibs costs the price of one pen, so it's a hard decision of whether I want a new pen or a new nib.

Got a transparent gray one myself with a Pelikan EF nib and a Binder 0.6mm stub. Wonderful pen - wish it were a bit bigger though.

KCat,

What is different about the pre-97 vs. the post-97?

TMann

I have two transparent ones - a red with a Binderised broad cursive italic and a blue with a Binderised medium cursive italic, a green marble I bought from Carrie with a fine nib and a NOS pre-97 maroon coloured one with a broad nib.

These are magical pens.

Ray

hm... best way I know to explain it is to show a pic.

the grey 200 (4th from the left) is a pre-'97 sitting next to a green '97 model.

http://www.ghg.net/schwerpt/kcspages/6pels.jpg

the older pens had the more "domed" cap. The pelikan is engraved on the top (which you can't tell in this image) rather than screened on. There are two cap bands and no piston ring on the older pen. The look just seems more "vintage" to me.

Also, at that time the nib manufacturer changed I believe. But I can't tell much difference between my older nibs and the newer ones. Some say that the older ones are better and had more spring. Which may be true but I never noticed that.

Agree! The new cap top is busier looking. Nothing wrong with it, but 9 times out of 10 I'll show a preference for the older.

BTW, Doc, last time I checked, both Richard Binder and John Mottishaw had the older version in solid burgundy color. NOS and priced the same as the newer M200s. I have it in the burgundy. Nice, simple, clean, utilitarian look about it.

Me likes the newer one

Me too. But my fingers still feel a bit cramped down there on the gripping section. Would an upgrade to the 600 change this, or since the 200 and 600 are the same diameter, would it not make any difference?

The newer 600 is actually larger than the 200, but I think more than the girth, my problem with the M200 is that I usually grip a pen where the M200 screw threads are, or even above it. But if I grip it high to avoid the threads, the pen feels short and/or somehow awkward.

Does the 600 give a proportionately longer grip section, since it is a longer pen? Guess I had better order one to find out. I wanted to keep using my 200 nibs in a 600 rather than going up to the 800, but I am not sure the 600 is going to give enough real estate to make a difference.

Besides being a Bexley fan, I am also a Pelikan Nut!!! I guess thats why I have 11 or so of them not including my Pelikan GO. The only one I am missing in the M models is the M800.

I have to think that piston filling pens are some of highest ink capacity pens besides the Eye droppers. Welcome to the Pelikan club, these are some of the finest writing pens, even the steel nibs (thats saying a lot)

TNS

It is only slightly longer. I had a chance to hastily hold both the M600 and M800 at the L.A. pen show, and the grip sections of both pens seemed not feel immediatly perfect for me. I can probably get used to them, especially since I can deal with the smaller M200, but I prefer to go "ahhh" right away when I hold a new pen The M800 felt clearly fatter though.

I love my pelikan M800. It is a great pen to fill (and to use, of course). Mine is from 1996.

My Pelikan M200 brought me back into the world of fountain pens...and for that I am forever grateful It's a humble little marbled green model with an OB nib but it wrote so smoothly in the store that I had to take it home with me.

THANK YOU, PELIKAN!!!

Excuse my ignorance but what is this customized nib of which you speak?

Richard Binder, nibmeister grinds the nib Velma is talking about. Hence the "Binderized"

He also has a neat questionnaire to help you determine how you might like a nib customized.
Go to http://www.richardspens.com/?page=rep_txt.htm and search for "questionnaire". I couldn't direct link, sorry.