What is your maximum price for a nice roller ?


How much in % are you willing to add to this price to get a fountain pen instead ?


Thanks

If I am purchasing a roller ball pen, it is just a cheap Bic. I do not spend lots of money on anything that is not a fountain pen.

I would not pay more than $4 USD on something other than a fountain pen.

For fountain pens my current "maximum" is around $450 USD

No matter how nice a roller might be aesthetically, it still uses standard refills. The writing chacteristics of the refills are numbingly generic. However, the weight, balance and feel of a particular roller might add enjoyment to the writing experience. I do not buy many rollers, but I have a few. I have set a $100 ceiling and I stick to it.

Most I've ever paid is $1500ish. Dont regret it and beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I know the refills are standard, but the weight and the look of the RB mean something to me, too. Besides, sometimes a FP just won't do (doing forms in triplicate, for example, or when flying). I don't think I have paid more than $100 for any of mine, except maybe the Conklin Endura RB to match the FP I already owned. Most recent such purchase - a THiNK RB at Century Pens in Chicago. Least expensive? Either my Retro Postmaster or one of the Monteverde RBs.

Sharon in Indiana

2p.

That's the max I would pay for any pen with a ball at the point.
Strangely enough, I can't find any for that price.

So I don't have any.

Regards

Richard.

I've got a lovely parker 51 with a huge ball of iridium at the point

Sure?

I have to disagree with the idea that all rollerball refills are generic. I have two MBs and two Pelikans. Both are far better than any Parker or Sheaffer or Pentel cheapie.

I paid a little as 10 USD for one and as much as 235 at the other end of the price range. I can't recall ever spending more than around 350-400 for any fountain pen.

Honestly, some people...

Regards

Richard

I have no problem with spending only a bit less on a RB than a FP would cost, but only when the sections are interchangeable and I can convert it to a FP.......

I've done that on several ocassons with Parker 75s just to get the cap and barrel of a rare model.

Certain pen models I would choose to only purchase as an FP, but I would consider paying any amount for a roller as long as I liked the style of the barrel, how well it writes, how it feels in my hand, etc. For example, I tried the Omas Puskin RB. For $2,100 I think it is well worth it, but that's just me.

My favorite RB is my Caran d'Ache Madison "Clou de Paris" in silver. It was an expensive pen, and even though I got a decent discount on it it was still over $200. And it blows away, in beauty, balance, and yes, writing experience, several of my FPs. Unfortunately for my wallet, I seem to need to delight in every pen I use. There are several occasions in my daily life that call for a rollerball, so I want a pen that delivers a similar, very pleasurable sensation that my best FPs do, including aesthetics, shape and balance. As much as I've spent on FPs over the past four years, I almost don't like admitting that my handwriting often looks better using a rollerball .

IF I was to buy another pen that was not a FP, it would be a Parker Jotter BP, just $6-$7. I never did care for RBs - just too much bleed-through for me on paper my FPs don't bleed through.

I can't conceive of paying for a ball point pen; certainly not paying big bucks. They are as common as dirt here at the hotel; vendors give 'em away by the sackload as swag. And they have all that cool logo / buzzword packaging we all love so well: "Synergy in Investment Solutions", or whatever. You just can't buy some of the pens we get.

Maybe I should start a collection of swag pens - but that would require giving them some small piece of my conscious mind. And since they all have RFID tags in them, I'm afraid the Mars Rover may be listening in. Unless I wrap them in aluminum foil, and then I can't see the logos anymore. What to do?

Our disposable world has taught us that ballpoints and rollers should be cheap junk. They don't have to be.

For a fine roller, I'd expect to spend $100-200 less than the equivalent FP, and more of a discount in the $1000+ pens, because they're not spending that money on the nib or fill systems.

I have some remarkably nice ballpoints and rollers from Stipula, Visconti, Marlen, and Montblanc.

I don't see any point in spending money on what is no more than an expensive case for a cheap refill; it's a bit like buying a Georgian vicarage to house a small plastic Ikea coffee table.

Simon

You make an excellent point! I do not even buy cartridges for fountain pens. I strictly use bottled ink. My fountain pens are not expensive cases for cheap refills either. Most of them do not even take cartridges. I usually use pens that are piston fill, lever fill, or crescent fill.

Hi,

Whilst I generally use FPs when I can, I also enjoy using RBs as well, I have a selection favourites are probably my Pelikans, a 200 and a 400 and a CS100 RB that I picked up cheaply a while back.

Not sure how much I would spend on a RB, as I have never paid anything like retail for any of my better ones (the CS was less than £30, compared to a retail price of about £280), I suppose £75 would be the max for a Blue Marble/Crush Duofold to complete my set, but even then I would be thinking of the FP I could have bought.

Out of interest does anyone know if the CS can be converted to an FP, although I have a CS100 FP it is the piston filler version, so I can't unscrew the section to check.

Andy

I tend to to think of only fountain pens being 'nice' pens. Thus, the most I've ever spent on a rollerball was about £8. I lost it, anyway. Otherwise, people give them to me sometimes, and I'll use them if I need to write a quick note and I don't have a real pen to hand. That said, I have seen some nice, more expensive rollerballs, I'd just rather spend the money on either ink or a fountain pen.

Like others here - I use the FP for every situation I can. But, there are times I need to use the RB. I vary between the Vision Elite and my Retro RB. Vision Elite is plastic, and very affordable - refills at any office supply store, and less that $3.00 each. the Retro (purchased at a Franklin Covey store) is the most expensive RB I would ever buy. Can't remember exactly what I paid - about $20. Refills for this are about $10 for a 3-pack. I do like that Retro - heavy metal body - smooth line. Gets compliments when I use it, too (but not as many compliments as I get with my Sheaffer Saratoga!).

GeneF

I keep a Visconti RB in my purse for emergencies. It's a Van Gogh Mini, and I believe I paid $59 for it. It's an insanely bright yellow, so I'm unlikely to lose it.

Since I prefer fountain pens, I limit my roller ball purchases to Pilot G2 pens (pack of 15 about $8.00 at Costco), or I use "swag" pens if they are any good.

I might add.....I used to have a job where fountain pens werent really ideal. I loved my pens and still wanted something nice to use so would use roller ball.

Funny thing though I have a roller ball Omas Europa I got a number of years ago. I was told by the old distributor for Omas back then that the reason they made these few roller balls at the time....some sort of small number might have been because when Boris Yeltzin signed the Maastricht Treaty he couldnt or didnt want to use a fountain pen. Haha

Somebody was telling you porkies. Only EU heads of state signed Maastricht, and Russia has never been in the EU. Amusing story though.

Regards

Richard.

A point? I certainly don't see it. What I see is pseudo-reasoning in the form of dysphemism and false analogy. To refer to his absurdities as "excellent points" is a bit like hearing a baby's goo-gooing and thinking that one is hearing the verses of Thoreau. (Please see the irony here; I am attempting to illustrate a point, not insult anyone.)

Irony aside, I see no reason to scorn rollerballs simply because you prefer FPs. I doubt that anyone here would presume to think that they could argue for FPs being more pratical than RBs, so there should be nothing astonishing about the FP lover enjoying a fine RB as well. If you are one of those who doesn't, there is no need to insult those who do over such a minor issue of preference. Simply state your own preference in rational terms and move along.

In my opinion, one really shouldn't pay much more than $10 for a rollerball pen. The Pilot Hi-Tecpoint V5/V7 is perfectly smooth, and it's light and doesn't fatigue your hand. They're $20 for a dozen, so they're very reasonably priced.

I like RB's almost as much as I do FP's -Sorry!

That being said, I do find a particular RB to be priced too high-
the Monteverde Mega-Ball. This pen retails for $179 (and higher). While it may
be the first RB to draw ink form a bottle (converter), it is far from being the only RB that uses FP ink. Monteverde sells cheaper RB under the YAFA brand, who is the parent company.

These pens are actually made by Borghini, from Italy. Borghini produces RB pens for YAFA/Monteverde that use FP ink/carts. I have two Borghini pens, and they are better made than the YAFA models. They cost more, but only $20- not $200! I bought these a year or two ago from Parkville Pens (FPN Member).

Pelikan and J Herbin also produce(d) RB that use FP carts. The Herbin model though I found to be too cheap in materials.
So yes, I have no problem spending money on RB, just not too much!

No more than $4 and that's about what I'd pay for an imported Zebra Sarasa at a specialty shop.