I fit everything I wanted to know in the subject and description... haha.

basically, how good are Pelikan nibs out of the box? Are they frequently good with only a few bad apples every once in a while or the other way around? Is it worth the extra cost to buy from a vendor that tests/tweaks the nibs first?

Some models the difference I would pay, but when its a $100 difference, I'll have to think twice.

Well, I have a couple off pels now. None of them are tweakt. They all write very nice right out of the box. I did chance the nib off my m420 with a nib from a m450, when buying it in the store. However this was only because the original F nib was to wide for my idea.

There is, however, a big variety in nib withs. I only have F nibs, about 2 of them are the same.

Pelikans work fine right out of the box - unless you are extremely unlucky. No tweaking needed.

Customisation, however, is a totally different kettle of fish. Then again, not everybody need customisation (they may want it, though... )

I never had issues with Pelikans out of the box. There are people out there who want their nibs tweaked as there is a perception that Pelikan nibs are somehow "not right out" of the box and a few dealers play this up as they tune nibs as well.

I think a lot of people do not want to go to the trouble of writing the nibs in.

It all comes down to the pen... like for a M600 its a $50 difference between a bargain site and buying from Richard. And I would likely pay that difference to ensure a quality writing pen. However a M800 can be had for almost the same price as a M600 from Richard, almost a $90 difference. I wanted to spend about $200 on a Pelikan (my first pen over $100) I have a M200 that I love... And I do like the size of it... Somehow I have a feeling I'll end up with one of each... except the M1000 and M300 because of their size (too big and too small). Ahh the choices... Whats your pick of the 3 colors? Green Red Or Blue? I like red and am thinking that... Black is a bit plain and I think I'll get an M200 in black as it would look 90% the same as a M400 in black (except for the nib, trim ring around the section, and smoke vs. green ink window...

well I did it... don't know if I should have... but I ordered a M800

I have to inject a differing opinion here. I have seen a few Pelikan nibs in the past month which were not great starters out of the box. In each case the nib had a slight baby's bottom that, when removed, ceased all issues with the nib. The pens were smooth, wet and great performers once the tweak was done.

Are all Pel nibs like that, no. Can one tell from a casual dip in the store, not with 100% certainty. I find that a dipped pen will be smoother and flow much better than one which is filled correctly and then trialed for issues. Thus I check all pens that I restore by filling them prior to sending them out. The good news is that the fix is easy and quck, and relatively cheap. The bad news is that you need to send the pen out or purchase it from a dealer who will fill test the pen and correct any issues prior to sending it off.

BTW this is not a Pelikan only situation, my Omas 360 Magnum did not flow at all until I tweaked it. Now it is the best performing pen I have ever tried.

Cheers,
Sean

Not that U doubt what SMG says, but being a restorer he sees more pens that the typical user and people specifically send him pens that have problems. So it is not surprising that he has seen Pelikans with nib issues. I wonder how the percentage of Pelikans sold to those which need work?

In my experience Pelikans have great nibs right out of the box.

I have an M800 and it's a great pen.

I started with Pelikan with an M150 XF. That nib was excellent as is the replacement (the first one went through the wash). My amber M250 XF had an okay nib which I sent back after a month. The new nib was similarly okay, but developed a nasty bite in the past few days. I pondered over my unused M205 and put its F nib onto my M250. The smoothness is much better than my M250 has ever been. So today I sent back the bitey XF nib, asking for a regular fine-point to be sent back. I can't really afford a Richard-ground XF nib so I'll make due with F for now. The difference doesn't seem like much, particularly since the XF nib was very wet.

I've come to the conclusion that Pelikan has a severe quality control problem with its XF nibs. Is there anything that can be done to convince Pelikan to take a serious look at this problem?

I knew the issue with XF nibs and got a F. I like the F nib on my M200 a lot so I decided to get that on the M800. I may get a thicker nib on the 200 later on (or get another M200... or an M400 with a thicker nib) I do like M nibs too.

Don't get me wrong, I love Pelikans, they are wonderful pens. The last Pelikan that I bought was a M200 with a bold nib and it came to me out of the box misaligned. I also have had in the past a 400 and 800 that were perfect out of the box. In fact the 800 came to me with a wonderful XF nib that I had Chartpak exchange for a B nib. Both worked perfectly out of the box.

Honestly, right now on the number of pens that I have seen right from the factory, I would have to say that Pelikan is about 50-50 on making awesome sweet writers out of the box. The other 50% are really close and only need slight tweaking to make them sing.

Cheers,
Sean

Delivery date: Saturday... which is good because someone will have to sign for it... bad because I won't be home! ahh!

I think you will enjoy it. I have 2 M800s, one fine and one medium, and I love them both. /Craig

So what colour did you go for in the end? I'm in the same quandary....my finger keeps hovering over the M800 "Buy" button for one colour, then I chicken out and change to one of the other colours, them back again....and so on!! I still haven't ordered it yet. Trouble is, they're not cheap enough to say 'S*d it', I'll have one of each.

Since the M800 is going to be the highest Pelikan (non-special edition) that i'll ever buy, I got my favorite color: red. Although this will be the one exception to my "ink needs to match the pen" rule. The green pelikans don't really strike me as fantastic... I still want to get an M600 too and will probably get that in blue. I like black, but I find it hard to justify buying a black M400 when a black M200 looks the same. I actually like the black 200 better because of the smoke colored ink window instead of green...

I keep looking at the special edition pens and wanting to buy...

Unfortunately, there are no pen shops near me, so I cannot go and see one "in the flesh", but, from other threads on here, I gather the red/black is very classy, so I'll probably follow your example.

You WILL let us know what it's like, when it arrives?

With my M 400 nibs I had no issues so far.
All of them worked fine ootb. I prefer M and B nibs so they might be less inclined to cause problems anyway.

I don't like the modern nibs very much because they are significantly stiffer than the pre 97 nibs or even the vintage nibs from the 1950s - 1060s. But this is a totally different story ....

IMHO one of the great things about Pel's is that you can choose the pen independent of the nib. Don't get me wrong, nib choice is still what our pens are about, but what I like about my M800's is that I can have lots of them for the price of the nib. Buy 1...and used ones do happen once in a while....in great condition...for less than new. My last one cost $200 and was like new. Most importantly, however, is that I can buy a second, third....even a fourth nib for the price only of the nib. And, if I want something special I can order and get immediate delivery of a new nib from someone like Richard Binder for say $200 or a like new nib for $40-80 plus Richard's regrind of, say $50...so for a $200 pen with a stock nib I can buy a second nib for $100 and for a total investment of $300 I've really got 2 pens....my favorite m800 and, for example, a fine nib for everyday and a BBB reground to an Oblique BB for addressing Xmas cards.

If you love the fell of a Pel....200 or 1000....you can have multiple pens you love for the price of the nib only. After all...you can only write with one at a time!

Randy in Florida

Estimated delivery is today... and it's not here yet... come on FedEx...

Hope it comes soon and you can tell us!

Erick

Bah... it didn't come today. Now I'll have to wait until Tuesday...

If I ever buy a new Pelikan, it's my plan to buy a pen in fine from whatever vendor I prefer (likely based on price) because I have gotten the idea from various places that the fine nibs are the most likely ones to be in good shape right out of the box. I will then very likely buy a medium nib from Richard Binder when I'm ready for it.

I've gone through a few Pelikan m800 nibs:

18KM -- skippy, balky. Sent back to Pelikan.
18K F -- too dry, skippy. Adjusted by Sailor and myself, now super smooth.
18KF -- skipped. Reground, adjusted by Sailor. Now a very nice writer
14KB -- didn't write. Adjusted flow and alignment to make it a very nice writer. After my Nagahara Togi, my favourite nib.
18KM -- skippy. Adjusted & reground by Nagahara-san to write properly.
14KM -- toothy. I've been working on this one for a while, but i hate this nib.
14KF -- made into an XF by Mottishaw. Worked properly on arrival.

7/8 needed after-service. Thank goodness for Sailor pen clinics.

Sorry to hear about this!

My Pelikan nibs are very different. In my eyes they are individuals. Each of them is giving me a different writing feeling. Especially the vintage nibs. Sometimes I have to adjust to the nib before I feel comfortable with a pen. And for some strange reason these "difficult" nibs are growing on me and I am using them more often than the ootb perfect nibs. So there is always an excuse to look for a new pen!

But this is, why I like them! I am not expecting a nib to be exactly like all the others I have so far. My Lamy 27 OB nibs are like clones. They are perfect writers but it is somewhat boring.

I had 2 recent ones with problems. I had one with a nice F nib and I sold it, but the person who bought it wanted an M nib.
I had just bought a Honey from Pam Braun with an M, which I did not try it other than dipping it. I switched them and the buyer reported problems with the M nib. He showed me that the horizontal lines were sort of skippy - with dry-ish, inconsistent flow. I asked to be sent back and am waiting to see what the problem is.
In the mean time I got a M800 with an M nib and it seems that it has similar problems. When I press hard it works OK (with some minor feedback).
But with light touch - you know this whole idea that FPs are supposed to write with light to no pressure - it is awful. It barely lays a line.
I have the feeling that the companies design on purpose their nibs for heavier writers. Maybe the infamous breaking in period is needed to slightly open the slit channel. So I will try to tweak it.