Classic Pens Lb5, The Ultimate Grail Pen?

[max dog]

I was quite surprised to see this pen, the Classic Pens LB5, reviewed with so much enthusiasm by Stephen Brown, Dan Smith, and Matt Armstrong in their respective Youtube reviews. They are usually quite level headed and objective with the pens they review, but with this pen they seem to go ga ga over it, hailing it as the "all time" grail pen, the pen to end all pens etc, but without really articulating why this pen is so great!

 

Just curious what people think of this pen here.

 

From what I know, it is a customized Sailor King of Pen that come in some very fancy acrylic finish options and is 5 mm longer than the standard Sailor KOP. It retains the same nib that comes in the standard Sailor KOP but available only in medium, or broad points, and if you want you can opt for a special cross point nib (zoom nib) for $300 more and the ink filling system is a lack luster low capacity standard Sailor converter. No fancy piston or power filler? The nib doesn't seem to be anything really special that you can't get in the standard KOP pen, ie not all that flexy and in fact in the writing sample in both Dan and Matt's review it started to rail road quite easily when they tried to coax some line variation out of it. In fact one of the reviewers said they would have like the nib to be a little smoother.

 

All this at almost double the price of the Sailor KOP or Montblanc 149, ie $1500 USD retail. I know it is a limited edition pen and all that, but it is basically a prettied up Sailor KOP acrylic pen. Why not hail the Sailor KOP as the all time best pen ever made then? I don't quite get it.

I have never seen a Classic Pens LB5 in person so perhaps I am missing something.

Edited June 19, 2016 by max dog

[zaddick]

The acrylic is quite lovely in person with a lot of depth. The extra length of the barrel makes it much more comfortable for me. You also get a strong warranty and excellent customer service.

 

I cannot say if it is worth the money to you, but they sell fairly well so people like them. I don't have one yet, but I do have 4 other Classic Pens in my collection.

[catbert]

There's also a video review by Figboot, who I believe has more than one LB5.

 

It doesn't appeal to me but perhaps pictures and video don't do it justice and the real thing would wow me.

[northstar]

A few millimeters extra length makes a pen all time "grail pen"?

[attika89]

The LB5 gets a lot of love! Beautiful pen, but it doesn't wow me that much.To be fair I haven't held one.
That small converter is a big drawback with every Sailor pen for me, to be honest. Of course, that's just my opinion.

But these people who "rave" about it, tried many-many pens, so there must be something!
The feel, the craftsmanship and being limited in numbers can make it more worthwhile.

I feel like it's somewhat similar to the views on Nakaya pens.
Also $1500 in the world of limited editions is still not a huge amount. It sure is for me though, but that's not the point here.

[rafapa]

There's also a video review by Figboot, who I believe has more than one LB5.

 

It doesn't appeal to me but perhaps pictures and video don't do it justice and the real thing would wow me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3cgkbMATAw

[erpe]

It seems a great pen with a few great names behind it and I would certainly like to handle it for a little testdrive. On the other hand, 1.5 k is a bizarre price for a pen.

[max dog]

Figboot's review shed's a little more light on the company, Classic Pens, and qualities of the pen, ie the special acrylic material that is produced through a complex layering process or Diffusion Bonding (precious acrylic), and a larger cap band.

 

The allure of this pen is still in the realm of intangibles for me. Based on everything presented about this pen, it just doesn't wow me nor convince me this could be the ultimate pen that would stop me from ever buying another fountain pen. Maybe if I got one as a gift and held it in my hand I might see that "connection to the pen" these reviewers are raving about, but short of that, there are a lot of other pens that appeal to me more than this I would rather get.

Edited June 19, 2016 by max dog

[kazoolaw]

The allure of this pen is still in the realm of intangibles for me.

 

A grail pen is only for the pure of heart. S-o-o-o-o....

 

But seriously, a Grail pen is as much about emotion as function. Maybe more emotion.

 

gary

[NinthSphere]

Figboot's review shed's a little more light on the company, Classic Pens, and qualities of the pen, ie the special acrylic material that is produced through a complex layering process or Diffusion Bonding (precious acrylic), and a larger cap band.

 

The allure of this pen is still in the realm of intangibles for me. Based on everything presented about this pen, it just doesn't wow me nor convince me this could be the ultimate pen that would stop me from ever buying another fountain pen. Maybe if I got one as a gift and held it in my hand I might see that "connection to the pen" these reviewers are raving about, but short of that, there are a lot of other pens that appeal to me more than this I would rather get.

 

Same boat. I saw Brown's review & by the way he led into it, I thought it was going to be more...something...than it turned out to be.

[82Greg]

If you ignore the price, the pen is a Sailor King of Pen (KOP) is a unique diffusion bonded acrylic that is 5 mm longer than a standard KOP. Also lets admit, for many KOP is a grail pen. The Classic Pens LB5 version is great version. It fits my very large hands perfectly.

 

Would I prefer a Realo version (piston filler) of the KOP? Yes, but Sailor doesn't make one (yet).

 

The price is what is charged, deal with Classic Pens and that is what you'll pay. Go to a trusted dealer or work off the secondary market you may not pay as much.

 

For me its not a grail pen as I have two--one of which is a prototype. Is it worth the money? Only the purchaser can answer the question. I will say that neither of mine are for sale or will be as long as I live.

[alexandero]

I definitely see what you mean Max, and i absolutely agree. It always bewildered me why the lb5 got such high praises over the regular king of pen. I think if given an opportunity for comparisno between the KOP realo and lb5, for me at least it will be very close but i think i would give it to the realo to be the winner.

[canibanoglu]

Ha, thanks for being braver than I am for opening this thread. I was bewildered by all the "OH MY GOD, THIS IS THE BEST PEN EVER!" reviews I've seen. To be fair I haven't seen it in person but almost all the reviewers involved take points from expensive pens which don't have a self-filling mechanism but in this case they all went O_O. Maybe I'm very cynical but I find that a bit... weird. Take Stephen for example. In his review for KOP, he said that "for some people it is unacceptable to have a $800 pen which is a C/C" and that he finds the nib of the pen to be spectacular but he would look at buying the pen at lower than its $800 price, maybe secondhand. Now we're talking about basically the same pen (alright 5 mm longer, big deal) with a nice acrylic body going for twice the price of KOP and he says that it's the best pen he has ever seen. I understand that opinions change with time but this really strikes me as weird. From what I've seen of his reviews Stephen likes nice looking pens and he has dropped serious amounts of money on several pens but he just doesn't strike me to be the kind of person who would go gaga over a nicer acrylic body.

 

As for me, even though the pen looks amazing, I just wouldn't consider it at that price. 1.5K is a lot of money and at that price I would look at very different pens, celluloid 149 (more expensive yes, but that one calls to me) comes to mind. And frankly, there are much more beautiful pens around in my opinion.

 

Just my $0.02

[jar]

I have a couple Classic Pens fountain pens, not the LB5 but rather their CP4 model and I will admit to finding them well worth the price. I looked at the the two current LB5 pens but the Sailor KOP has never been very high on my want list so never really considered either.

 

BUT, there are some things worth noting about the LB5 pens that help justify the costs.

 

First, the diffusion bonded acrylics used by BP generally run about 15-20 times more expensive than the acrylics used for most acrylic fountain pens. Second, they really are a limited edition. Unlike so many so called limited editions that run into the tens of thousands of units, the LB5 is limited to just 50 pens of each color. Third, although diffusion bonded acrylics are still relatively new the tests so far seem to show it is unusually stable.

 

At $1500.00 the LB5 is one of the less expensive Classic Pens out there and while I would not call it a Grail Pen is certainly an entry into the Lambrou series of pens.

 

 

[Wolverine1]

I am looking for the Sailor KOP that they manufactured for a while, which came with a piston-filling system. That is my grail pen. The new pens by Andy Lambrou is a great pen to look at, but, I would rather take the Sailor KOP Realo. Somehow, the KOP Realo version is a pen that I have never seen advertised for sale anywhere.

[Mulrich]

It did surprise me that three of the more highly visible pen reviewers each posted glowing reviews of the LB5 over the past few months. In general I respect these reviewers opinions and tend to agree with them on most pens. With these three all saying the same basic thing (the pen is amazing) I'm betting the pen is actually pretty great (or there's an elaborate conspiracy by the pen-illuminati to get more people to buy the pen). The pen appears to be sold out in all the usual places so there's obviously some demand.

[Laura N]

Just curious what people think of this pen here.

 

 

I don't own one, but I've seen it in real life and played with it. It's a very attractive pen -- gorgeous material. It's expensive, but there are more expensive pens out there that come in larger editions. Sailor nibs are wonderful, if you like them, which I do. It's a large pen, but not too heavy unposted.

 

Beyond it being a good pen, the limited number made means if you were lucky enough to have one, I think you'd naturally be stoked.

[max dog]

I have a couple Classic Pens fountain pens, not the LB5 but rather their CP4 model and I will admit to finding them well worth the price. I looked at the the two current LB5 pens but the Sailor KOP has never been very high on my want list so never really considered either.

 

 

I suppose pictures and youtube videos don't do the special acrylic finish nor the impact of the pen justice, so will reserve judgement until I see one of these in the flesh one day at a pen show.

 

On a side note, I just couldn't help chuckle when Stephen Brown revealed the little Sailor converter feeding this massive pen and nib. Kind of like opening the engine bonnet of a Ferrari to find a little 4 banger Toyota Yaris motor powering it.

Edited June 21, 2016 by max dog

[Z-Tab]

The effusive reviews definitely made me curious, but ultimately, I'm going to pass on this one. I think the price is not too high conceptually, given the unique materials and limited edition design, but it is quite a bit too high for me to buy one just to satisfy my curiosity.

 

In the end, this is a special edition KOP. If you love fancy acrylics and the KOP platform, then this might be the exact pen you've been searching for.

[Mulrich]

I suppose pictures and youtube videos don't do the special acrylic finish nor the impact of the pen justice, so will reserve judgement until I see one of these in the flesh one day at a pen show.

 

On a side note, I just couldn't help chuckle when Stephen Brown revealed the little Sailor converter feeding this massive pen and nib. Kind of like opening the engine bonnet of a Ferrari to find a little 4 banger Toyota Yaris motor powering it.

I agree about the converter. I wish sailor would derive a better converter, similar to Pilot's con-70, that has larger capacity. For pens of their caliber having such a cheap/small/chintzy converter is really silly.