what is the consensus on marlen pens. i see they are piston fillers and some look nice. there is an ebay seller selling some africa limited editions for $240 and one journal blue demonstrator for $259. they seem well made and i dont know how they compare to say a bexley or pelican, two brands i am considering

the seller has buy it nows and is out of san francisco, if anyone has dealt with him. dont know if the prices are the market or represent a great deal

sam

I bought a Basilea. Very smooth but rather wet fine nib, almost a medium really. Piston fill but I think it is a converter inside the barrel rather than what many people would see as a "real" piston.

Strangely enough there does not seem to be a chance in holy heck that this cap could every post. Maybe it is just my pen, but the cap can't even make an attempt to post.

To me, some Marlens have nibs that are too small for the body of the pen. I prefer a large nib. (hope Freud is not reading this post).

Sorry I can not really help you, as I have only seen and owned one. I like the pen and I am glad I got it. jc

Hi ML, I have a Marlen and wrote a review about it, which you can find at:

http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...?showtopic=4344

It's called a dotcom (for no good reason that I can discover!) and I think is quite similar to the Africa LE. $240 sounds a bit high to me for that pen, I must say.

I think they're very distinctive pens design-wise, which is another way of sayng some people love them and some hate them. I had some trouble with mine skipping, but a bit of nibwork on my part has largely cured that. It's a wet writer, feels nice in the hand and I like its quirky looks. There always seem to be a good few on Ebay.

Hope this helps,
RichardS

I have two Marlen pens. The manufacturing is first class, with so much attention to detail, that it makes you think that they are not mass produced. The piston filling mechanism works great, but doesn't hold as much ink as, say, a Pelikan M800. Both pens wrote perfectly out of the box. The nibs tend to be on the wide side, so the Extra Fine is almost a Fine, but they are very smooth and reliable. No skipping or hesitation at all.

I have a Marlen Chagall and just love the bejesus out of it. Unique posting and great manufacturing. Flexxy nib, writes to the B side of M and as has been noted on the wet side.

I generally do not use it as an everyday pen, I relish jotting notes to friends and journalling with it.

Don't think you will be disenchanted with your purchase...

Bill