What do you think is the worst pen Parker made ?

[goodguy]

What do you think is the worst pen Parker EVER made ?

 

Was is the T-1 ? I hope not I love this pen.

 

Maybe the Sonnet ? I hear so many bad things about its nibs.

 

The VP ? that had a very small success and produced 2 years only ?

 

Any others ?

 

Let me think what you think.

Edited February 2, 2007 by goodguy

[George]

hmm red band filler... (but it was still a Parker 51!) i think 1-2 years in production.

[Richard]

Gotta go with the Red Band for the worst Parker, but the Red Band only just barely noses out the T-1. The T-1 is dazzling to look at, really it is, but it is a very bad choice for a pen you actually want to write with. It is not a good writer. Its adjustable nib doesn't adjust very well, and even if you can get it adjusted right, the pen is likely to shed its iridium tipping if you speak harshly to it. When the iridium falls off, and this can happen even when the pen is merely being handled, the pen's value goes up in a puff of smoke. And so do its writing qualities. But it's not a three-time loser: you can admire its looks while you cuss yourself out for having wasted your money on it.

 

http://www.richardspens.com/images/ref_info/integral_nibs/zoomed/T-1.jpg

 

If you're really hot for a pen like this, look for a Pilot Murex or MYU, or a Parker Falcon 50.

 

http://www.richardspens.com/images/ref_info/integral_nibs/zoomed/murex.jpg

 

http://www.richardspens.com/images/collection/zoomed/falcon_flighter.jpg

[goodguy]

What is the "red band filler" ?

[Richard]

What is the "red band filler" ?

It was an attempt at a spoon filler. The spoon filler has a blind cap; when you remove the blind cap, you see a little lever sticking up. When you push the lever sideways, the other end of it squeezes the sac. Think of it like a teaspoon with the pivot point near the bowl; the bowl is the part you push, and the handle is the pressure bar. On vintage spoon fillers, the visible lever usually looks vaguely like the bowl of a spoon, and this may (or may not) be the source of the name.

 

The Red Band was a mistake in several ways. Parker could have made the pen as easy to repair as a "51" but did not; instead they solvent-welded the collector and shell to the barrel; repair of anything other than the filler meant return to Parker and replacement of the entire pen, although Parker could of course scavenge the returned pen's nib. The filler was not durable in the initial version; it was made of plastic, and the stress of the pibvot pin's being pushed back and forth broke the mounting piece. Parker revised the design to use an aluminum mounting piece, but the whole concept of the pen was ill conceived and, mercifully, short lived.

[TMann]

Hey...I like my Sonnets. Classic look, solid construction, and nice writing performance...well, it was after Richard adjusted it for me!

 

TMann

 

(Edited for sloppy grammar...)

Edited February 2, 2007 by TMann

[Nihontochicken]

Hey...I like my Sonnets. Classic look, solid construction, and nice writing performance...well, it was after Richard adjusted it for me, anyways.

 

Hey, now, if all new Parker Sonnets came with an RB nib adjustment included at the current retail price, well, who's to complain!!! :ltcapd:

[david i]

Ah, the poor red band.

 

So maligned. So underappreciated.

 

:bunny1: This one is nice :bunny1:

 

http://removed.xyz/penteach/parker51redbanddemoflower.jpg

 

and these have their charm

 

http://removed.xyz/penteach/redband51triad800web.jpg

 

regards

 

david i

http://www.removed.xyz

[kissing]

Hey! Sonnets rock! In my opinion, there's no other modern Parker pen that writes as well as it, while not being a stiff nail.*

 

 

Out of the moderns, I dislike the Parker Reflex. The plastic is weak, the pen looks too beefy, the caps are known to crack, and the rubber grip gets shredded after time (The nibs just a Vector nib, so nothing terrific there either). If I wanted a cheap, modern Parker, I'd rather get the Vector, Frontier, or even the Jotter FP.

 

 

*-That's if you somehow, miraculously get yourself one that has a flawless nib on your first purchase

[Col]

Hey...I like my Sonnets. Classic look, solid construction, and nice writing performance

Hey - me too! Worst pen Parker made? Not by a very long shot. True, a few have nib issues, but they respond well enough to the old brown bag trick (or brown recycled wrapping paper in my case). It leads me to suppose that it's just the 'finishing' on some of these nibs that's the issue, which while slightly annoying, is not really that big a deal.

 

---

Col

Edited February 3, 2007 by Col

[Ray]

The Reflex, which is the first ever Parker pen that really screams 'cheap' to me. It's not the cheapest pen they've made, but it's the cheapest-seeming.

 

Ray

[Ruaidhri]

I was very lucky in my hunt for a T1 - I read what Richard et al had to say about it and decided against !

 

Love the look of it, so I picked up a few Falcons (still need the black) and a MYU701.

 

The T1 IMHO (the 'H' being Humble in this case ) is too expensive for something that, if dropped, would be a nightmare and ALL my pens have to run that risk - I won't stand for prima donnas that want to live in glass cases

 

Regards,

Ruaidhrí

(Dodging the question)

 

Edit:

Actually the Aztec. I've wanted one since I first saw a picture and can't afford one. Parker should have made millions of them so they'd be all over eBay

Edited February 3, 2007 by Ruaidhri

[TYoung]

I love the Sonnet!!!

[cwnidog]

Did I get the one T1 that was ever produced that writes well? It sits nicely in my hand and writes smoothly.

 

I will admit that once I heard about the eagerness of the iridium to part company with the rest of the nib, I put mine up. But, as to some extent I'm buying pens for my (as yet) non-existent grandchildren, not so much as an investment but as a link to a rapidly vanishing non-digital past, I figure that's their problem.

[juhtolv]

I don't know about older Parkers, but fountain pen of Reflex -series really fscking sucks: Its cap ”breathes” so much that nib becomes dry and then I’ll experience starting problems. If I write at least something with it almost every day, it is okay.

[goodguy]

Did I get the one T1 that was ever produced that writes well? It sits nicely in my hand and writes smoothly.

 

I will admit that once I heard about the eagerness of the iridium to part company with the rest of the nib, I put mine up. But, as to some extent I'm buying pens for my (as yet) non-existent grandchildren, not so much as an investment but as a link to a rapidly vanishing non-digital past, I figure that's their problem.

Maybe my T-1 writes nice I dont know since I never wrote with it and probably never will.

[al_write_well]

Actually, although the Reflex is very inexpensive, it writes well and the soft grip material is easy to hold.

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q30/aldag/r0300137.jpg

[randyholhut]

The Reflex BPs are pretty good -- thicker in the hand than a Jotter and the rubberized grip makes it easier to hold onto.

 

But the Reflex FPs are lousy, even considering that they are school pens. For about the same price, you can get a Vector — much sturdier and a much smoother nib.

 

But in the end, if the best we can do for truly bad Parkers is one bad design modification (the red band "51"), a good design but bad materials (the T-1) and a school pen (the Reflex), you have to say that Parker made very few bad pens over the past century and kept their quality at a higher level longer than any other pen maker.

 

 

[spilled ink]

I have the pictured MYU black stripe that Richard demostrates in his post.It is a great pen!!!

[london]

In my view, the modern Parker 45. (not to be confused with the original)

 

Dodgy fitting cap and random nib performance on the ones I've played with.

 

- Mark