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What Pen Won't You Buy?


sidthecat

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I agree with not buying a modern Parker. I have a Sonnet that my wife bought me as a birthday gift. After two trips back to Parker (and France), it's such a hard starter that it's effectively useless. It's strictly for show at this point, which is as big an insult to a fountain pen as I can imagine.

 

Mont Blanc, mostly because the pens themselves just aren't all that interesting to me, despite the eye-watering price tags.

 

Monteverde, because I gave several as gifts, and both either malfunctioned or broke immediately.

Edited by JayInNJ
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I wouldn't buy one of his inks, simply because I've already wasted a load of money on his godawful pens, and I'm not at all inclined to give him any more. His politics have little bearing on this, but you are dead right about the Noodlers pens not being all that cheap. I'm sorry but this "it's a cheap toy for true enthusiasts to tinker with, you shouldn't expect it to work out of the box" line is drivel. For what the cheapest Noodlers costs, you could buy a Kaweco Sport or a Lamy Safari. The Platinum Preppy is cheap (and there are Chinese pens that cost even less, if you can swallow your moral qualms), but these Noodlers things? Not really. They're not all that cheap, they just look cheap and shoddy next to other pens in the same price brackets.

(And don't even get me started on those "flex" nibs...)

So yeah Noodlers is definitely right out as a brand.

I buy his inks and I do buy his inks. They are good inks. Just because you don't like his pens, doesn't mean you won't like his inks.

Peace and Understanding

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Lamy Safari.

 

As recently as two years ago I would have said that as well. Didn't think I could get used to the grip. But then someone sent me a metal bodied Jinhao 599 and it wasn't too bad; so I thought, well, maybe.... And then last year Lamy came out with the Dark Lilac and and it was all over....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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When I was 16, I wanted to buy a cheap car and proposed to my parents that we buy a Volkswagen. I got a half hour on The War, the camps, the perfidy of Dr. Porsche and "No child of mine is going to buy a German car!"

 

This, of course, was before I went to college in Heidelberg and my dad fell in love with a lady with a red Mercedes. So things change. However, one still looks at dates and thinks "Nazi pen." The newly-invented ballpoint helped us win the war, didn't it?

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I buy his inks and I do buy his inks. They are good inks. Just because you don't like his pens, doesn't mean you won't like his inks.

 

I'm not talking about suspecting that the inks are as dreadful as the pens, I'm talking about refusing to give him any more money after what he's already conned out of me for a bunch of overpriced and useless pens. Sorry that wasn't clear.

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However, one still looks at dates and thinks "Nazi pen."

 

I'm a great believer in transforming the psychological stigma ("vibe" if you will) of inanimate objects. Supposing you do wind up with a pen that makes you think of Nazis. Take it and write an uncomfortably fat check to the Jewish Anti-Defamation League (or something). That object will now acquire the stronger association of an act of generosity and a gesture to right a wrong. Here in Connecticut, after the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, they razed the (perfectly sound) building and erected a new one - an understandable reaction to the horrors the families involved suffered there. I submit that a more powerful response would be to gather the community and tap into their creativity for things to be done to and in that building to promote healing and good acts, which would have enduring value to the community. (Newtown's a wealthy town, however, which can well afford to throw money at the problem.) We're surrounded by things that remind us of the negative aspects of humanity; unless we do something, when we can, to create new, positive associations, life will become an obstacle course of things to avoid.

James

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So, what is the race and politics of the person who made the ink in your totally acceptable, non-Nazi, non-imperialist, non-human-sacrificing fountain pen ? As far as I know, no fountain pen ever swore alligence to Adolph Hitler. However, your grandmother's wedding ring was made from gold that was stolen from murdered Inca children. :(

I came here to enjoy fountain pens, and people, and people who enjoy fountain pens. I buy fountain pens to use, and share using. I don't buy jewelry shaped like fountain pens.

 

Write with joy. (If your grandfather's politics is correct.)

Edited by Sasha Royale

Auf freiem Grund mit freiem Volke stehn.
Zum Augenblicke dürft ich sagen:
Verweile doch, du bist so schön !

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I know a guy who won't buy Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream for the same reason. Ok, whatever helps you sleep at night. I use both the ink, the pens, and the ice cream (ask my wife), and channel my politics, morals, and scruples into other places. I don't come here for those things :lol:

 

I've thought that this may be the year to try/buy a MB... but I just can't seem to gin up any enthusiasm for any of them. Hmm. Go figure? Maybe another one I won't buy (do I need to add "at this time"?).

"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working." -Pablo Picasso


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Well, Kelly G, that's a politician's response if ever there was one. Best of luck to you!

Perhaps I should go into politics, eh?

May we live, not by our fears but by our hopes; not by our words but by our deeds; not by our disappointments but by our dreams.

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I am not a fan of the modern Conklins - have had nib trouble so bad I actually threw one away and put in an older steel nib I had in my spare box.

I do not like heavy pens - unlike most people. I lean very heavily into vintage, so it may just be what I am used to.

I do not like huge pens, which to me is MB 149 or larger. I feel I am writing with a baseball bat. I know so many will argue that the 149 is the "perfect" size. Not to me.

I have no idea why, but I prefer barrel and cap to be same material. Not a fan of metal caps on a resin/plastic/non-metal pen. All metal (like a Parker 45 Flighter) is fine.

As poster above mentioned, I do not care for metal sections.

My pen cannot be F'ugly. Period.

 

But with any of these there could be exceptions! Except F'ugly.

 

Hope this helps!

"If you are going through hell, keep going." - Sir Winston Churchill

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/carrieh/l.png

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Lamy Safari. I have tried 2 and hated them both. At first I thought it was me...no I just did not get along with these pens.

 

For all the MB haters...go ahead...you are just leaving more of them for me.

" Gladly would he learn and gladly teach" G. Chaucer

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For all the MB haters...go ahead...you are just leaving more of them for me.

 

I say the same thing to people who dislike the hooded nibs on Parker 51s.... B)

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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After reading thru this entire thread; I think I'll start writing with a crayon again.

 

 

The pens I won't buy are:

 

1. Any new pen that cost over $30 and needs nib work, (which is most of 'em!) :angry:

 

2. Demonstrators, (clear or tinted). Nothing personal, but to me they look toy-like and I can't take them seriously.

 

3. Noodlers; the hit or miss ratio is too wide, (I did have one or two that were pretty good).

 

4. Pens I just don't like (for no particular reason).

 

Nothing new here; just corroborating previous testimony. :D

 

- Anthony

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I'm done with modern pens for the time being, I just don't see enough character in them. My vintage pens might not write as flawlessly as my modern ones but I find myself choosing them over the moderns everyday before I go to work.

Also, I'm staying below the $150 mark at present. I just don't feel the need to go higher, there is significant value to be found in this price range - modern or vintage.

My Vintage Montblanc Website--> link

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Lamy Safari. I have tried 2 and hated them both. At first I thought it was me...no I just did not get along with these pens.

 

For all the MB haters...go ahead...you are just leaving more of them for me.

 

 

 

I say the same thing to people who dislike the hooded nibs on Parker 51s.... B)

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

+1. I am in total agreement. For me there is a triad: Montblanc, Parker 51, 1960s Sheaffer.

"Don't hurry, don't worry. It's better to be late at the Golden Gate than to arrive in Hell on time."
--Sign in a bar and grill, Ormond Beach, Florida, 1960.

 

 

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Go for it. We're living in a time when, apparently, anyone can! :wacko:

Yep, providing you have means and a media outlet.

 

I would very much like to purchase a MB, but I know I never will. This is a hobby and nothing more. I simply can't justify the expense, no matter how great the reputation of the pen or the maker. I've been more and more interested in inks, and using them in the pens I already have, even in the cheapies I tweaked to my satisfaction. I've just now realized my greatest satisfaction is getting a crappy pen to work for me.

 

As for the "Nazi pen" thing, it's just that, a thing. I have a few Soviet cameras. I take pictures with them. I don't think "Stalin!" every time I take a photo.

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