Finally Took The Inevitable Plunge

[Betweenthelines]

Well ladies and germs, I finally did it. Like many I have been a long time MB skeptic, and never dreamed I would ever buy one. What I didn't count on was the 149 infecting my brain. I worked my way up in pens, and thanks in large part to Pelikan, I began craving bigger piston fillers, with bigger and bigger nibs.

 

I have very large hands so its hard to find pens that fit just right. And in craving a BIG nib satisfying ink fill, the clear options were the 149 and Custom 823 (not hugely interested in the m1000 - not crazy about Pelikan nibs in how they feel and fit to my writing style).

 

So to eBay I went, bidding on a few pens, looking for vintage 149s for the lower price and hopefully springy nibs.

 

And wouldn't you know it, I accidentally won auctions for both!

 

What have I done!?

 

I took a huge gamble on a brand new seller in Spain with bare bones description, but after copious research and finding out there are no known fakes of the piston filler models, and with PayPal protection, I figured the hell.

 

Here is what I won: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Montblanc-149-/161749719200?redirect=mobile&nma=true&si=ZB1HP0LYklimRZH7eUXc4rfcEFQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

 

 

I'm not sure what, if anything, will show up in the mail, but so far the seller has had good communication. Wish me luck, hope to be a happy owner soon.

[Mister Mont Blanc]

Well congratulations in a wonderful pen at a great bargain (assuming it arrives as described)! The 149 is certainly my favorite pen. I hope that you get what you are expecting and that it serves you well for years to come!

Welcome to the World of Montblanc

[orfew]

Great deal on a very nice pen. Keep in mind that one can lead to many more.

[Opooh]

Congrats on your acquisition.

[sd10521]

Fantastic price for a pen in great condition.

You are in trouble now...

Good luck on not buying more of them.

[masterguns]

I wish you the best of luck, and hope it turns out well for you. You have b@lls of steel, thats for sure. I wouldn't have put a bid on it considering the new bidder status and the fact the seller is in a foreign country. But, thats how people score good deals. Please check back in when it arrives and post up some pictures.

[AGxM]

I did exactly the same but for a 146 one from Italy and one from Spain....and ended up with both like you.

 

Both arrived safely and both were just as described and one is my everyday writer which I love it to bits, the other is also lovely but is a OB or OBB so a little too fat-nibbed for my daily use so may sell it on or maybe do a part-ex for something nice.

 

You will love your MB I am sure!

[MKB]

Congrats! I felt the same way, even recently telling my spouse, no, I wasn't really wanting one. Too precious, too expensive to service, and whatever else I could think of.

 

Then while browsing before work for something else, I curiously clicked on a MB suggested listing "just for fun", which lead to a list of 146's. Any other day, I could have seen a few and moved on, but one caught my attention with 40 minutes left and no bids. Apparently ignored due to the single fuzzy photo, it looked like people missed that it was photographed on the receipt for a recent MB servicing, the listing noted it as not used since, and servicing paperwork was included. The seller's history was mostly purchases suggesting a retiring lifestyle, so he seemed more likely an older gentleman with not so excellent cellphone photo skills than a scammer. So, I took the plunge, and nobody else bid above the low listed opening.

 

I only had two issues: 1) the worry I might have made a rookie mistake that would burn in my conscience for years to come, and 2) explaining my sudden turnaround to my spouse. Turns out to be a very nice, recently fully serviced 146, a joy to use, and not as difficult to explain as I had imagined.

 

Betweenthelines - I hope you enjoy your pen as much as I am enjoying mine.

[Betweenthelines]

Thanks everyone. Well some good news - the pen has made it to the mainland - last seen in NH. It now has to make its way across the U.S., then will most likely be put on a boat and cross the pacific to reach me (assuming it is considered parcel post). So it still has quite a journey ahead of it, and I quite the wait. Oh the suspense!

[Sampanel]

Congratulations and welcome to the MB world !! I also recently bought two MB LEs, i.e. the WE 1993 Agatha from a FPN friend in 'Classified', and a POA 2007 Alexander Humboldt from Bonhams auctions in reasonably good price. Both 'landed' safely few days ago and they are gorgeous !!! Please post the picture once it arrives

 

http://www.sampanel.com/photos/i-PC8rJmb/0/XL/i-PC8rJmb-XL.jpg

[JLS1]

Congratulations and welcome to the MB world !! I also recently bought two MB LEs, i.e. the WE 1993 Agatha from a FPN friend in 'Classified', and a POA 2007 Alexander Humboldt from Bonhams auctions in reasonably good price. Both 'landed' safely few days ago and they are gorgeous !!! Please post the picture once it arrives

 

http://www.sampanel.com/photos/i-PC8rJmb/0/XL/i-PC8rJmb-XL.jpg

 

Congrats to both of you - those are two great pens, Sampanel! What nibs do you have on them?

[Betweenthelines]

Holy (bleep) it's already here - waiting for me at the post office. I have no idea how it made it here so fast. I WILL BE BACK runs for the door

[Frank C]

Holy (bleep) it's already here - waiting for me at the post office. I have no idea how it made it here so fast. I WILL BE BACK runs for the door

 

It's a good-looking pen with a 14K fine or extra fine nib. If it works well and resembles the photos, you got a tremendous deal!

[masterguns]

Holy (bleep) it's already here - waiting for me at the post office. I have no idea how it made it here so fast. I WILL BE BACK runs for the door

 

Update!!

[jsolares]

 

Update!!

 

He's either enjoying the pen so much he forgot to come back to post, or it's a complete dud and he's sulking in a corner :S, I hope for the former

[Frank C]

 

He's either enjoying the pen so much he forgot to come back to post, or it's a complete dud and he's sulking in a corner :S, I hope for the former

 

Or he had to go to the Post Office in Hawai'i.

[gordonhooker]

I preferred the size of the 146, but just enjoy your new toy...

[Betweenthelines]

Hi guys, sorry to leave you hanging!

 

OK, so as you all know I took a big gamble with this one. And with the risk, there were a few issues upon arrival:

 

Firstly, it was shipped loose in a paper envelope (no case), inside single plastic bubble envelope. Hardly any protection at all. But thank goodness it wasn't damaged en route.

 

Upon close inspection of the pen, I found:

 

1. The pen is indeed in minty condition, except for one small chip out of the cap below the clip band. I don't believe this happened en route (couldn't find the little chip of resin anywhere in the package, and it doesn't seem like something that would occur from within a padded envelope). For some reason it didn't, and still doesn't bother me. Probably because I got this pen for such a great price.

 

2. I noticed old blue ink in the ink window, and was worried that the window would prove to be stained.

 

3. The pen arrived with the tines way out of alignment. Someone probably mashed on that nib who has no idea how to use fountain pens.

 

 

So - I did what any good doctor would do and went to work on the baby. The piston was pretty stiff but loosened up as I used it - it probably was only used once then stored away. Gave her a good flush and all the old ink color came off with just water hurray!, a good polish with a jewelry cloth, and spent a long while adjusting the nib. I was able to re-align the tines fairly quickly, but after inking it I found the nib to be writing far too dry for a big German Goliath. So I spent quite some time adjusting flow by widening the gap with brass shims, re-aligning the tines, rise, repeat.

 

And now, finally, the 149 is approved for action. And here is what we have!

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/i6Du6mn.jpg

 

Shiny! Great condition, and looking stellar with a fresh polishing.

 

http://i.imgur.com/NL7E2UW.jpg

 

Nice big fat pen! Surprisingly light. Love the size. A lot of folks have said that the section is too wide but I have big hands with long fingers, so I find it very comfortable and not remarkably huge.

 

http://i.imgur.com/wXtCMaP.jpg

 

And there it is. The star of the show. The King of all Nibbage.

 

ENHANCE.

 

http://i.imgur.com/0UCSlHm.jpg

 

 

And here is the chip:

 

http://i.imgur.com/eDWg1aX.jpg

 

Nothing too unnerving.

 

Nice clear ink window:

 

http://i.imgur.com/5ymdl81.jpg

 

Never thought I'd be an owner of a snowcap:

 

http://i.imgur.com/ypBWU4f.jpg

 

 

And here is a writing sample:

 

http://i.imgur.com/6X56iTW.jpg

 

And comparison of my two newest pens (both are wunderbar!)

 

http://i.imgur.com/aoVF64w.jpg

 

 

It's writing surprisingly fine for a German fine. Being the owner of a few Pelikans, I assumed that a Montblanc fine would be similar - broad and wet, and I was actually bummed I didn't nab an XF instead. But this one writes at the perfect "western fine" size for me - very similar to my Lamy 2000.

 

Part of that is because, as I mentioned, it arrived writing pretty dry. I spent a good hour and half tweaking the nib (the thing was fussy - I'd widen the gap and the flow would be great, but the tines misaligned - then I would realign the tines and the flow would reduce again - an endless loop!) but I finally got it to a decent flow - still nowhere near as wet as my Pelikans. It is now at a consistent 6 out of 10.

 

Despite it not being juicy, the actual grind itself is far finer than a Pelikan fine, or even extra-fine. I know these are ground by hand so each one is different. And I couldn't be happier with the nib width. I have been wanting a pen with similar line width as my Lamy 2K fine (which is an anomaly of a pen - it is a "fine" but far finer than other 2K fines I've written with), and I even messaged Mike Masuyama to potentially grind this pen down to that size, but lo and behold it's already there! Wooee!

 

 

Now - what do I think of it? Well. The pen is awesome. Love the size. The pen is really comfy in my hand unposted - the first pen to be so. Even the m800 feels a little small to me unposted. Iconic design. Beautiful thing. I feel like I own a legend and have gone through a FP rite of passage. The huge nib is gorgeous.

 

The writing experience? Pretty darn good! Not the smoothest nib I've used - there's a fair amount of feedback. Not scratchy, but has some drag to it. This could probably be reduced by increasing the flow some more. The nib has some softness to it. I wouldn't call it "springy" because it doesn't feel like it "springs" back, more like it "gives way" to some line variation.

 

I think I need to give this pen a "break in period". Spend some more time with it. Try some different inks. Try some different paper (I ran out of both my Tomoe River and my Rhodia, have more on the way here, but right now am stuck with HP 32lb paper - not the best).

 

Overall am very happy with my purchase! And this one is definitely a keeper. Huzzah!

 

 

Looking at this post I might as well have written a review. Mayhaps I will edit it a bit and post it over in the reviews section.

[masterguns]

Nice! Thats awesome that it all turned out good. Like I said before, you're a braver man than I am. And that small, insignificant chip in the cap? Its hardly even noticeable, TBH.

 

I'm sure this is stating the obvious, but spend a little bit of time with it on some different papers and inks. When I picked up my 60s/70s 149 fine nib, it took me a little bit of time to find the right ink for it. I wasn't used to the flow and springiness, so it took me some time to warm up to it. Once I did, though, I reeeaaalllyyy liked it. Also, the size of the nib took a bit of getting used to; that thing is long! But it sings on smooth paper, thats for sure.

 

Lastly, as many others will warn you, now that you've taken the dive you'll likely be itching for a 146, then another 149 with a different nib, etc. In my case, my 149 turned into one more, then two 146s.

 

Congrats on the pen(s). Enjoy them.

[Sampanel]

 

Congrats to both of you - those are two great pens, Sampanel! What nibs do you have on them?

The Agatha is my favourite 'F' and the Humboldt is 'OB'