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Pelikan M205 blue demonstrator


holgalee

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I’ve always wanted to own a piston fill demonstrator. Like a magpie that’s magnetically drawn to shiny things, my pupils widen at the sight of this polished piece of blue plastic with silver trimmings. When I first read about Pelikan’s new M205 demonstrator in blue, I knew that I would be getting the pen. Images of the pen stayed in my subconscious, taunting me for months, as I patiently waited for the pen to appear in the shops. When I read that the local FPNer printhardcopy had finally received stocks and was offering them for a good price, I decided to get one. I placed my order on Wednesday afternoon and it arrived on Friday. It came in a bubble wrap envelope that contained a golden yellow cylindrical aluminium case and a Pelikan warranty booklet.

 

1. Appearance & Design

There are those who like Pelikan piston pens for their conservative aesthetics, and then there are those who think they look too blah. The coloured demonstrator adds an element of fun to the pen and makes it more appealing to a younger crowd. Well at least that’s what I think! I wasn’t sure about the shade of blue based on photos on the Internet, but it turned out to be a sky blue. Depending on the lighting, it can look like closer to cobalt blue too.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v601/lubitel/DSC_9147er.jpg

 

I’d previously considered the colourless M205 but it did not attract me as I could see the grey and black plastic innards too clearly, and that to me cheapens the look of the pen. An added advantage to the M205 is that being coloured, any ink stains and condensation will not show up as clearly. I’ve never been a fan of ornate pens and prefer my pens to have minimal or no bling, so the M205 suits me just fine. Compared to the dark green M200 which I own, I prefer the silver trimmings of the M205. The other demonstrator which I owned briefly, the Pilot Custom 74, appears to have an over-large cap that ruins the aesthetics of the pen. Given my inexplicable attraction for most things blue, my rating for the appearance of this pen is probably a little biased.

Score: 10/10

 

2. Construction & Quality

The pen feels reasonably solid even though it is made of plastic. If memory serves me correctly, I’d dropped the cap of my M200 before and it endured that abuse without any signs, so I’m expecting this pen to behave the same as the plastics used for both pens appear to be similar. The section of the M205, however, has a slightly prominent manufacturing seam that I could detect, compared to that on my M200, which is almost unidentifiable by touch. I’m not too pleased with that, so I’ve deducted one mark for that. The clip of the pen appears to be sturdy and tight, but I don’t clip my pens so I'm not the best person to determine that. The section has just a slightly raised instead of over-pronounced lip at the edge, and that is what I prefer for my pens. I’ll say that the pen is very well constructed in general.

Score: 9/10

 

3. Weight & Dimensions

Capped: 12.4 cm. Without cap: 12.1 cm. Posted: 14.9 cm. Diameter of middle part of section: 1 cm. Using a flimsy letter scale, the pen appears to be about 15 grams with almost a full tank of ink. Most people consider this a small sized pen, but the dimensions and weight are just nice for me as I have small hands. While I do not usually post my pens, I’ve tried doing so for this pen and the cap sits in place nicely without shifting the balance of the pen much. Here’s one more gratuitous photo of the pen.

Score: 10/10

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v601/lubitel/DSC_9138er.jpg

 

4. Nib & Performance

I got an EF nib as I think finer line widths complement my writing better. The nib is made of stainless steel and there are two chicks on it, compared to the cap, which has one chick, though I doubt if you can see it from the photo below. Not that it makes a difference to how the pen writes!

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v601/lubitel/DSC_9145er.jpg

 

This particular nib that I have is not as smooth as the nib for my M200 but feels a little toothy, and I’ve tried it with both Parker Quink and Sailor Jentle Blue. The nib is a little too wet for my taste, making the line width closer to 0.6mm instead of 0.5mm. There is also considerable bleedthrough on the lecture pad that I use, which is usually tolerant of all but the wettest nibs. This can probably be improved by using a drier ink, but I like how the Noodler’s Ottoman Azure looks with this pen!

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v601/lubitel/DSC_9178er.jpg

 

For both inks that I tried, some of my strokes are not fully formed, especially at the beginning of a downstroke. This is not reflected in the bad poetry that I got inspired to pen above, but it's occured often enough for me to be sure it's due to the nib, not the ink or the paper. Using my 30X loupe, it seems as though the left tine facing me has a slight baby’s bottom. I’m disappointed with the performance of the nib, but I’ll be contacting Pelikan for a replacement once the weekend is over. The good things is that I got the pen from an authorised distributor and replacement nibs are readily available on the Internet. That’s one of the reasons why I like Pelikans.

Score: 7/10

 

5. Filling System & Maintenance

This piston filling pen holds between 1.3 to 1.5 ml of ink, acording to this thread. The piston is really smooth compared to those on the M200 and M150 that I own. I first filled the pen the usual way by dunking the entire nib and section into the bottle of ink, but ink got into the double-walled section. While it doesn’t bother me very much, it does obscure my view of the feed, which kind of defeats the pen being a demonstrator. For my second filling with the Ottoman Azure, I rinsed out the pen and used an eyedropper instead, so the section is now clean. Since the nib can be unscrewed easily, cleaning the pen is a cinch. Being a demonstrator makes it even more fun.

Score: 10/10

 

6. Cost & Value

I got the pen for $75.99, which is the best price I’ve found so far, compared to the local brick and mortar shops as well as reputable online shops. However, I do wish that Pelikan can price their piston pens even more competitively, so that I can afford more of their pens! That said, I’ve tried a few low end vintage piston pens, and they’re really nothing to write home about. Or at least, I won’t be able to write anything very pleasant about them. So I've decided to stick to Pelikan piston pens, and I guess the price tag comes with the quality, though I still wish that it were cheaper. Perhaps someone can enlighten me about the costs of making fountain pens in general and piston pens in particular!

Score: 8/10

 

7. Conclusion

The M205 demonstrator in blue is great if you like small pens that hold a lot of ink. The blue demonstrator is IMHO even nicer than the colourless one and the M200 that came with gold trimmings. I’ll be using it as a daily pen once I get the nib replaced. I’m looking forward to the white M205 as well, and hope that Pelikan will offer more exciting colours for their pens in the future. I’m enamoured enough with this pen to vaguely consider getting another one for safekeeping just in case I lose or damage it!

Final score: 9/10

Edited by holgalee
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Great review and thanks for all of the details as many of my clients buy pens and I can refer them to this on this pen. I have bought one already also. That sounds like a cool box that it came in as I have only seen the blue boxes (mine is the standard one I presume as I am also hearing about an upgraded box which has a bottle of ink with it) which are fairly nice. WE have a limited production pen with several different box choices, interesting concept.

I am glad to hear your ef nib is functioning for you nicely as I the one I received skipper miserably after several fix attempts, ink changes and paper changes. I have used a F nib from an associate and it was better although there was slight down stroke and sidestroke skipping with that as well.

 

I've always wanted to own a piston fill demonstrator. Like a magpie that's magnetically drawn to shiny things, my pupils widen at the sight of this polished piece of blue plastic with silver trimmings. When I first read about Pelikan's new M205 demonstrator in blue, I knew that I would be getting the pen. Images of the pen stayed in my subconscious, taunting me for months, as I patiently waited for the pen to appear in the shops. When I read that the local FPNer printhardcopy had finally received stocks and was offering them for a good price, I decided to get one. I placed my order on Wednesday afternoon and it arrived on Friday. It came in a bubble wrap envelope that contained a golden yellow cylindrical aluminium case and a Pelikan warranty booklet.
Edited by mikeycpa
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Nice, I need to pick up one of these one day. I have a demonstrator vista, but will need to pick up a piston filling pen. Seems good at the price.

Edited by HenryLouis
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u18/Henrylouis16/Aurora%20Talentum/IMG_3779.jpg
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For my second filling with the Ottoman Azure, I rinsed out the pen and used an eyedropper instead, so the section is now clean. Since the nib can be unscrewed easily, cleaning the pen is a cinch.

 

Hey, I never thought of this. Pretty ingenious!

 

And thanks much for the pics and review. I love the silver furniture of the MXX5's, and with the combination of that shade of blue it is very appealing.

 

Doug

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For my second filling with the Ottoman Azure, I rinsed out the pen and used an eyedropper instead, so the section is now clean. Since the nib can be unscrewed easily, cleaning the pen is a cinch.

 

Hey, I never thought of this. Pretty ingenious!

 

Ingenious, sure. It makes the piston a bit superfluous, though. A preference for filling the pen this way would suggest to me that the owner should really check out eyedroppers if he hasn't already.

 

It's a very attractive pen I very nearly bought today instead of a VP, but I left this one alone because I already have an anthracite M200 and just don't use it as much as I should. Pens this nice need to be in the hands of people who will use them.

<a href="Http://inkynibbles.com">Inky NIBbles, the ravings of a pen and ink addict.</a>

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I love mine, which I got from Richard Binder, who has also got them for a good price. It cost a few dollars more (not many), but there's the out-of-the-box perfection of all the nibs he sends out... plus I went all-out and got mine ground to a cursive italic.

Danitrio Fellowship

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I brought the pen down to the local Pelikan office and was assisted by a remarkable staff who loves fountain pens. She will be checking with Germany to see if they have any more EF nibs, as I declined exchanging it for an F. Hurray for Pelikan service!

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  • 2 months later...

This may just be the most perfect color for a Pelikan pen thus far. M805, M605 and M205 versions all gorgeous. The M205 though is just that little bit extra pretty to me. An absolute perfect paring with the solid blue M605 to me.

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Got mine about three weeks ago, with the broad nib. Writes pleasantly wet and smooth with Pelikan turquoise ink. Highly recommend the M205. I like the silver-colored (rhodium plated) trim better than the gold-colored on some of the previous demonstrators.

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Great review!

 

Problem is, I already have the clear version of the M205 and have been trying to convince myself that I don't need the blue version. But seeing this review is really pushing me over the edge.

 

I don't need this pen, I don't need this pen, I don't need this pen, I don't need this pen..........

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I have this pen as well in medium. I agree with the toothyness, if that's a word, of the nib. I wasn't sure that I liked it all that much, but have found that this pen seems to follow me everywhere I go. I've loaded mine with Montblanc blue and it is fast becoming one of my favorite writers. Still not sure about the toothyness of the nib, there's that word again, but I just can't seem to not take this pen with me.

 

I think it might have a spell on it... :o

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/606/letterji9.png
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My fine nib is super smooth.

 

I've only used it with PR American Blue.

 

I keep the pen with me at all times. It's also a better writer than my M400 whose fine nib writes too broadly at times and gives me more feedback than the M205.

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My blue M205 has the broad nib, which has no "toothiness" to it at all. It's buttery smooth with a fantastic flow - a real pleasure to use. I bought mine from a well-known nibmeister, so that may have something to do with it.

 

In fact, I like it so much both as a writer and for its appearance that I am thinking about getting a "spare".

Edited by inkstainedwretch
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I've since changed the ink to Namiki Blue but haven't finished using it (too many pens in rotation), so I've not washed out the pen. Perhaps someone else can give feedback on staining. :)

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What inks are you all using with this pen? Is it particularly prone to staining?

 

Only the Pelikan Turquoise so far, which does not stain but is also relatively unsaturated and not waterproof. Am wary of trying some of the more saturated permanent inks in this clear pen!

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