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Move Over, Montblanc


Fuddlestack

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In with the Inlaw Paw to see the cardiologist, I noticed the latter wielding an unfamiliar FP and quipped merrily "Wot, did we leave the Montblanc at home, then?" He grinned like a split watermelon that had swallowed a monumental mason's sample shelf and showed me what he was using: Tada! "Who needs'em?" he went on. "I can get these for 4 euros in the supermarket and they always work." This gent has a villa in Provence - he's not short of two farthings to rub together.

 

And, adding exult to injury, the aforesaid three-lettered upstarts upstage even the revered VP: Tada (sequel) - and the pesky clip doesn't get in your way when you're writing.

 

So let's hear it for the el cheapo guttersnipes. Well, they do own Sheaffer too...

When you're good at it, it's really miserable.

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- and the pesky clip doesn't get in your way when you're writing.

 

But it does mean it's nib down in your shirt pocket. I'm sure VP went for nib up for good reasons.

Dick D

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- and the pesky clip doesn't get in your way when you're writing.

 

But it does mean it's nib down in your shirt pocket. I'm sure VP went for nib up for good reasons.

Dick D

 

No - the B**'s got a cap - so it ends up nib up in the pocket.

"Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what's for lunch" Orson Welles

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I need no further convincing. I'm buying the first one I find.

I ask myself: "Is a collection really complete without one (or

maybe even two)?"

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... and showed me what he was using: Tada! "Who needs'em?" he went on. "I can get these for 4 euros in the supermarket and they always work."

While I am no fan of MB, if the only criterion is "it always works", on a percentage basis so will any pencil.

Having money doesn't qualify anyone for having better judgment or more valid opinions.

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This is a joke right ?

 

Sheaffer school pen, Parker Vector, many Hero pens are all potential good writers. I know I owned enough of them but the quality, where is the quality.

A FP is more then just a writing insrument.

A child like toy of a FP might be good enough for some people but not for me.

I like to hold a pen that I can feel is well made and preferably with a self filling mechanism.

This is not about MB specifically but FP in general.

I would take a good Lamy 2000, Visconti Wall Street, MB 149 any time over these these basic pens and will happily pay the difference because its worth it!!!

 

I dont judge those who are happy with basic FP's but I like my pens well made.

Respect to all

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How wonderful! Fountain pens available (at least in Europe) for the young set with a modest allowance. I think it's wonderful.

I came here for the pictures and stayed for the conversation.

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Medium nib only, doesn't suit my tendencies. :P

Anyone becomes mannered if you think too much about what other people think. (Kim Gordon)

 

Avatar photography by Kate

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The question is, is it as good as a Chinese pen of the same price?

 

From the reviews, one guy got the top of the line, metal and all, and the other guy got the 4th grader's pen.

Edited by Bo Bo Olson

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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Not all that cheap in the UK, about £8 for the retractable. Another FPN review here https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/152831-bic-select-turn-and-up/

 

Poundland sell some no-name fountain pens at 2 for a £1, think I'll buy a couple and post a review mentioning Montblanc in the title just to annoy goodguy :-)

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I could only wish there were available in North America. The lack of reliable low-end FPs here is what does away with the middle ground and leave people thinking they have to spend vast sums on a pen. There are kind words to be said about Wearevers and Scriptos of the 1950s, there are raves about Esterbrooks, and if the pen is functional there's no need to deride it just because it's in the clutches of the thing that poops ballpoints.

 

Can someone remind me which Spanish maker, recently absorbed by BloB, originally designed this pen? I know I've seen a review of it by another name.

Ravensmarch Pens & Books
It's mainly pens, just now....

Oh, good heavens. He's got a blog now, too.

 

fpn_1465330536__hwabutton.jpg

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Ahh, c'mon. I hope I have misunderstood this. Ann don' you gimmee none o' yo' underpricings here (jus' kiddn', but only a leedle wee bit).

I can't ever imagine getting 399 el cheapos instead of the one single M1000 I bought for that price (in Euros, but that is secondary here).

I'm still savin' up fer an M900.

 

Mike

Life is too short to drink bad wine (Goethe)

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In with the Inlaw Paw to see the cardiologist, I noticed the latter wielding an unfamiliar FP and quipped merrily "Wot, did we leave the Montblanc at home, then?" He grinned like a split watermelon that had swallowed a monumental mason's sample shelf and showed me what he was using: Tada! "Who needs'em?" he went on. "I can get these for 4 euros in the supermarket and they always work." This gent has a villa in Provence - he's not short of two farthings to rub together.

 

And, adding exult to injury, the aforesaid three-lettered upstarts upstage even the revered VP: Tada (sequel) - and the pesky clip doesn't get in your way when you're writing.

 

So let's hear it for the el cheapo guttersnipes. Well, they do own Sheaffer too...

 

Do you base you life choices on the decisions of this one person? Is he some sort of style/lifestyle guru?

 

In the general scheme of things only a small percentage of people who use fountain pens use MB.

 

Everyone has their preferences and no ones opinion is worth more than any other regarding which brand is best. I can't imagine the cheap pen you've described is anyway comparable to a MB, similarly to my Ford Focus being comparable to an Italian sports car.

My Collection: Montblanc Writers Edition: Hemingway, Christie, Wilde, Voltaire, Dumas, Dostoevsky, Poe, Proust, Schiller, Dickens, Fitzgerald (set), Verne, Kafka, Cervantes, Woolf, Faulkner, Shaw, Mann, Twain, Collodi, Swift, Balzac, Defoe, Tolstoy, Shakespeare, Saint-Exupery, Homer & Kipling. Montblanc Einstein (3,000) FP. Montblanc Heritage 1912 Resin FP. Montblanc Starwalker Resin: FP/BP/MP. Montblanc Traveller FP.

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Let me guess - he had the pink one, right? :ltcapd:

 

Can't get those here but if I could I would have them in my fancy collection for sure, along with my Pluminixes (Plumini?).

 

You're funny.

"Blessed are the cracked, for they shall let in the light." - Groucho Marx

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I am trying to decide if the OP is joking or not. There is no comparison to higher end fountain pens, except on the basis of price. I am not really a Mont Blanc fan myself, but just because some rich man would rather write with a cheap bic doesn't mean I am walking my VP to the trash can. I feel sorry for anyone who cannot recognize and understand quality. I have owned several Pilot Varsity pens and even if they took C/C I would still pick any of my pens over them, and they are cheaper than these bic pens.

Gobblecup ~

 

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Wow! A Bic fountain pen, and retractable? Now I am almost as conflicted as I am over bird splats! Will it never end? Why can't we all just use Esties, the way we were supposed to?

"... for even though the multitude may be utterly deceived, subsequently it usually hates those who have led it to do anything improper." Aristotle, Athenian Constitution, XXVIII:3 Loeb Edition

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I think a few people here need to re-read the thread (paying particular attention to Ethernautrix's post (Fuddlestack has a mischievous of humour).

"Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what's for lunch" Orson Welles

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That element of the British sense of humour, where one thing is said and another meant, is sadly not a good traveller. Kilts of course are universally hilarious.

 

John

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