This is a new one for me ... I had no idea that Esterbrook knock-offs exist.

The top pen in this picture was sold on Ebay as an NOS - Never Inked Esterbrook Icicle. Besides the obvious errors (clip, band, lever), it is poorly made - the plastic is thin, the color banding is poor, the barrel imprint reads Esterbrook, Made in USA, but wraps around the pen instead of being lengthwise. In addition the end of the cap is rough and unfinished and the section is off-centered.

Holding a poorly made knock-off like this really makes one appreciate the quality that Esterbrook put into their pens.

Click to view attachment
(top pen is the knock-off * bottom pen is a real icicle)

Click to view attachment
(cap and clip of the knock-off)


Todd

Though the pen is not an Icicle, what features make the pen not an esterbrook? Is it possible that the clip, lever, and band were made by esterbrook late in the production of esties?

Just asking some question
George

Looks like a very late Esterbrook. Prone to shrinkage and the trim is plated and wears thin fast. Barrels also warp easy.

Todd

I would suggest that while there are knock-off Esterbrooks, I don't think that this is one of them. Here is a link to a similar red pen from David's site;

http://vacumania.com/websitesalespics/pen1721lg.jpg

Thinner plastic and poor fit and finish are a reality with all late Esterbrook/ Esterbrook-Venus pens, so it is not in and of itself a reason to believe the pen to be manufactured by another company. Now even David seems to be leaving the door open for another answer other than very, very late icicle but it seems odd that a contemporary of Esterbrook would produce such a poor copy of a J pen. I have seen "Misterbrooks" and "Adam" branded J's that are close enough to share sections and caps with real J's but they were produced much later in other countries. I would suggest that you have a very rare Esterbrook.

Adam

Really!?! My goodness ... the quality is soooo poor I just couldn't believe this was real. It has never seen ink and is in perfect condition (the seller stated that it was from an old store that went out of business).

Any idea of what this guy is worth on the open market?

Todd

A perfectly legit icicle from Esterbrook. I have two of them.
They appear to be very late (60s?) pens. The quality is indeed attrocious.
The plastic seems soft, there are common injection molding defects like parting lines etc.
As for value. In a good day where a crazy esterbrook collector might want to complete his
collection of N-variations of icicles you may get as much as an icicle. Otherwise I would guess this would be
lower enough than the regular icicle due to the quality.