Hello Pen Freaks!!

Yesterday I was chosen to be the Moderator for the “Fountain Pen Reviews” Forum. I am very excited about this because this happens to be a place were a lot of people express interest. To me, this is a great honor. I only have been using and collection fountain pens since 2004, so I am still a newbie in the world of fountain pens. I have been a member here since October of 2004 and I have seen this place grow tremendously. FPN has provided me with a wealth of information about this new hobby and passion of mine. Now it is my turn to repay everyone who has helped me though my beginnings up to now. Fountain Pen reviews something I could have used a long time ago when I first started out. I have made some bad decisions in choosing fountain pens in the past. I wish there were more reviews out there that would have steered me in the right direction. Well, I don’t want other people to waste their hard earned cash on a pen that really isn’t all that it is hyped up to be. I want people to know which pens I have bought and why I feel they are the best bang for the buck. I hope to steer people into the right course and to buy pens that they are happy with. Unfortunately, you cannot make everyone happy and people have different tastes than mine or others. Opinions in the reviews are somewhat subjective and they need to be taken as such.

Regardless, this is a great place to post your personal experiences with particular fountain pens and I encourage you to post good and bad experiences. I find that pen reviews are an invaluable service to the fountain pen community, especially FPN. When doing my reviews I use the following criteria and I will give you the reasons why I do it this way. This is in no way meant to be a mandatory criterion for reviewing pens. Please feel free to do the reviews in any way you see fit. My way may not be the best way for everyone, I like to see how people judge and review their own pens. There maybe something in your judging criteria that I would like to adopt in my reviews. This is a place to share and pass along information and opinions to other members of our pen community. Anyways, here are my general criteria for my fountain pen reviews.


1. First Impressions - I use this as an introduction as to the reason why I bought the pen in the first place. Why was I drawn to this pen?, A little bit of history behind this particular pen and your reasons for selection? Where did you see it first? What was the Shipping time and condition of the package when it arrived? What kind of box did the pen come in? Was the box made out of Leather, wood, cardboard or was there a presentation case? Was there anything of interest such as registration/warranty card or a booklet with interesting information? Where there any extras in the package like a bottle of ink, polishing cloth, eyedropper...

2. Appearance & Finish - This is a good way to judge the construction and finish of a pen when it arrives. Is the pen a high gloss polish, or was it dull or matte finish? What is the color of the pen? What is the name of the color of the pen, like “Dove Grey”? Did the manufacturer pay attention to detail? Is the pen uniform or are there inconsistencies such as an uneven finish, loose cap bands, loose clip, dull metal section band and a shiny cap ring, general consistencies or inconsistencies. Does the pen look like it is supposed to? Do the appearance and the finish meet or exceed your expectations or were you let down by a pen that didn’t meet your expectations?

3. Design/ Size/Weight- What is the pen made out of? Is it celluloid, ebonite, acrylic, or metal? What is the general design of the pen? Is it a cigar shaped pen, does it have a flat top, faux blind cap, spring loaded clip? What is the overall design of the pen? Does the design meet, exceed or your expectations or were you disappointed? What is the size of the pen? Is the pen a small Demi, medium, regular, full size or oversize pen? What are the dimensions of the pen, how long capped, uncapped, posted and the girth. How much does the pen weigh? Sometimes you cannot answer that but is the pen heavy, light or average? How is the overall balance of the pen while the pen is uncapped or if the cap is posted?

4. Nib Design & Performance- What size nib did you get? What is the contents of the nib, is it gold plated steel, plain steel, monotone gold, 2 tone rhodium plated gold nib. What is the gold content, is it 14kt, 18kt or 21kt gold? Why did you choose this particular nib? How does the width of the lines on this particular nib compare with other nibs you have used? Is the nib large, small, toothy, buttery smooth, flexy, semi-flexy or is it a rigid nail? Who does it perform? Does it live up to your expectations? What kind of flow is it? Heavy flow, medium flow or is it a stingy writer, is it a dry writer? What kind of feed does this nib have, is it plastic injected mold or is it ebonite. Does the nib screw out or is it friction fit? Is this a good writer, is it fair, does it suck or is it a primo writer? Were you impressed, disappointed or were you indifferent?

5. The Filling System- What is the type of filling system on this pen? Is it an Eyedropper, Vacumatic, touchdown, piston, cartridge, converter, button, and crescent or lever filler? How much ink does it hold? Does it hold a boatload, medium, not enough ink? Do you like the filling method, would you change anything? Were there any issues like the converter not filling up to capacity? What is your overall experience with this pens filling method?

6. Cost/Value- Approximately or roughly, how much was the pen and how much is the MSRP. Where did you get it, did you get it on the Green board, Ebay, Brick and Morter store, internet store , a friend or was it a trade? Did you buy the pen new or used? Was it worth the money you paid or you think it costs too much than what it is worth? What is the overall value of the pen in comparison to other fountain pens you have bought? What was your overall buying experience?

7. Overall Opinion/Conclusion- What are your OVERALL feelings towards this pen? Did it live up to its hype? Was this pen under rated, over rated or was it right on par? How does this pen compare to other pens you bought in the past. Did you have any issues, small or large? If you could turn back the hands of time, would you have bought the pen or would you have passed on it and bought something else? Was this pen really worth the money and would you recommend this pen to others. Would you give it a full endorsement or would you give it a maybe or would you tell others to steer clear of this pen.

So in all, this seems to answer a lot of question regarding your feelings towards a particular pen you have reviewed. Like I said, this is not a mandatory way of doing reviews and sometimes making a review takes a very long time. Not all of us have unlimited time to do pen reviews. You can add simple statement about the pen without making it a full on novel!!! ;-) Reviews are invaluable because it can make up the mind of a person who is contemplating buying a particular pen. Your review can be the breaking point for that person. My personal belief is that if you believe in a product and you are extremely pleased with it, share your joy with everyone. There are some people who have never seen a particular pen before except in the review section. Spread the joy and happiness fountain pens can bring to people. Do your reviews on new or used pens, vintage or modern, cheaper pens or limited editions. It doesn’t matter what you review in the way of pens, there is someone out there that probably shares the same tastes as you do.

Honesty is another vital thing when doing the reviews, if something really stinks on this pen, please be honest and let everyone know about it. It may not seem like much but it could be something really important for someone else. If there is an option on the pen that you think is really cool, please explain, this might be a deciding factor for someone that is on the fence.

Posting Images is by far one of the most important things for a review, I cannot stress this enough!! We would like to see what the pen looks like and what you are talking about. You don’t need to be a pro photographer or anything like that. A simple few shots would be great, if you own a digital camera. If you don’t have a camera to take pictures with, please insert images from the manufacturer’s website or someone’s website. Please be sure you give that person’s images credit, it is the right thing to do!!! That is their property and it would be sort of like plagiarism to post something like it was yours and not give the owner their credit for their own picture. Most people really do not care too much about a review without any pictures or if you just post a link with a statement saying that you can “check it out for yourself”. People like to see images and the images say a thousand words to the viewer.

Most of all HAVE A GREAT TIME!!! This should not be work or something to be done under the gun. Take your time and enjoy what you are doing! People will really appreciate the work that you put into your review, even though it may not be really long. Length doesn’t matter but content does!! The main reasons why I do reviews is because I enjoy doing them. I want to showcase some of my investments and if I am happy with a product, I want to tell you about it so that you might experience the same joy that I do!!!

Thanks

The Noble Savage

Congrats here too NS !

At first glance, I thought you were reviewing yourself in that post...

And it's a great review!

I'm a bit confused - I don't understand why you were chosen to moderate this forum? Just kidding. Couldn't have picked a better moderator - well deserved and I'm sure you'll do a great job. Your reviews have become legendary, so you should be the moderator - kind of like Wimg and his ink reviews.

Thank you all for your kind words, it really means a lot!!

TNS

Congrats TNS,

The perfect man for the job.

Gary

TNS, congratulations! I've always enjoyed your pen reviews and it's great to have you as moderator.

Congrats!

Can you provide guidance on how to put the photo, either ours or from some other site, into the post? This has baffled me so far.

Andy

Hi Andy,

there is a very brief tutorial here : How to Post Pictures on FPN.

Denis.

Thanks Denis, this is the best information on how to post. If you still have questions, let me know!!

I hope this works for you

TNS

Your enthusiasm should inspire a lot of good reviews, TNS...But then, you're a hard act to follow! One of these days I'll pitch in with some sort of a review--but it will probably be a short one.

Best, Ann

Participation is the key and if you contribute (even small reviews) then you are doing a wonderful service to all of us!! Thanks for the kind words

TNS

Well done TNS, I have admired your reviews from afar.

Concrats,

Jim

:bunny1: Who's house...? Savage's house! :bunny1: Who's house...? Savage's house! :bunny1:

Congrats, my man.

Thanks G-Hopper!!

TNS

Hi TNS,
Congrats on your new MODeration on here too!!!

Take Care,
Emrecan

Congratulations on your appointment as moderator of the forum I enjoy reading the most.

I serve as editor of a newsletter for supporters of our local symphony orchestra. As such I am always on the lookout for fresh articles and new writers. I suspect you are, also.

I have a suggestion for a review but am not sure that it fits into your format. It's for a pen that isn't made any more (although is still available on Ebay and other sites).

My favorite pen is the Sheaffer Targa. Yes, there are other pens which have a better this or a more desirable that, but I remain convinced that for overall value, the Sheaffer Targa wins when you factor overall value for the price.

Would this review be appropriate for your forum or for another?

David

A review of ANY writing instrument is fine. New, used, discontinued, vintage, prototype or forigen release is fine and is highly encouraged!!! There is NO format for posting a fountain pen review. I would highly encourage posting pictures of the pen, if it is your or not. If it is not your picture, make sure you give credit to the persons site it came from. I put down my format for pen reviews and I explained why and how I do reviews. I also posted that there is NO set format for reviews. You do what you are comfortable with!!! Not everyone has the time to do a 4 page review. Short sweet and to the point is also fine too!! Most of all, honesty, if the pen stinks, say so and support your view. IF the pen is great, then tell people the reasons why and what features makes it a good pen.

Welcome aboard and happy posting!!

NOW GO HAVE FUN!!!!


TNS

Congrats TNS!

congrats, tns! couldn't be bestown on a more deserving fpn'er.

looking foward to more of your reviews - come on man, you've been slacking recently!