Favorite Pens That Are So Unloved, It Drives You Mad.

[Flippy]

Do you have a favorite pen that you love that is unknown in the pen community or is overlooked? If so, list them here.

 

For me, it would be the Lamy Safari Neon Lime 2015. Everyone was whining this and that about being another green color, while I loved it! Grrr....

 

Phew...

 

 

 

 

[Noihvo]

[ISW_Kaputnik]

Surely the Lamy Safari is one of the most popular affordable pens around. Not sure I get the point about people disliking a particular color. If people prefer it in a different color than the green you mention, it's still the same pen, isn't it?

 

I don't feel like I'm really in the know on pens that other people have missed, but I do like Moore pens, a vintage brand that seems to get discussed less than many others. I have four now, an L-72, L-82, L-94, and a Moore Junior, and am on a quite non-urgent lookout for others as they turn up.

 

Or come to think of it, there is my Haolilai 801F. It's a good quality pen with a 14k nib (not just plated) that's a bit different from what you usually think of when people say "Chinese pen". In fact, I'd rate it very close to the mid-range Pilot series, such as the Custom 74. The only reason mine isn't used more is that the nib is a bit broader than I usually prefer.

 

Not totally unknown, in fact I recall at least one thread about it here, but it does tend to get lost in the throng. I had a picture of it on Photobucket, and still have the picture somewhere on my computer, but it's not convenient to hunt for it now.

Edited December 27, 2017 by ISW_Kaputnik

[ASCIIaardvark]

Indian ebonite, like ASA Nauka and Gama Sneaky. pic of some of mine

[SoulSamurai]

I wouldn't say it "drives me mad", but I feel like the Pelikan Level is an innovative and unique pen that answers some common questions yet never really seems to come up in conversation.

[inkstainedruth]

A lot of people sneer at Parker Vectors as being "school pens" -- but I love mine. They're inexpensive, they come in fun colors, and they're little workhorses.

For vintage, a brand that gets overlooked a lot is Morrison. They were were a second tier company and made some very nice pens. I have 5 at this point (although I still need to get a couple of the ringtops re-sacced). I keep hoping that someday I will be able to get a sterling filigree overlay to match the gold-filled filigree on a couple of my ringtops (the first one of which has a very sweet and juicy M or B nib on it, but has a bad habit of unscrewing itself from the cap while I have it on the lanyard, so it doesn't go out of the house any more...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[ReadyFireAim]

FPR Ebonite Himalayan for $25 !!!

 

https://fprevolutionusa.com/products/fpr-himalaya

 

The best deal in ebonite that I know of and a very good writer.

Edited December 27, 2017 by Bordeaux146

[Runnin_Ute]

I think that Levenger's True Writer pens often get overlooked. They are a well built pen whose basic design is an homage to the Esterbrook J series pens of old. They are larger than those pens for the wants of today's users and use a c/d filling system. They even come in a variety of colors/patterns. The nib is a Schmidt steel nib.

 

Mine isn't currently inked, but often is.

[KellyMcJ]

If my recent acquisition is any indication, Duke is a maker that you almost never hear of but is putting out some very nice pens.

[Tas]

Parker Urban.

Always starts first time, solid, comfy and, to me, really pretty.

[inkstainedruth]

I think that Levenger's True Writer pens often get overlooked. They are a well built pen whose basic design is an homage to the Esterbrook J series pens of old. They are larger than those pens for the wants of today's users and use a c/d filling system. They even come in a variety of colors/patterns. The nib is a Schmidt steel nib.

 

Mine isn't currently inked, but often is.

 

I don't have any of those, but last year when I was visiting friends in Spokane after a family wedding in Seattle, one of my friends has five Levengers, which she uses for work. And you're right -- they do get overlooked a lot, and when I tried them I found them to be very nice writers.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Namo]

Not a pen, but nibs and brands:

 

I think that Waterman was an awesome brand in the 80's and 90's, producing the best pen of its time. And that the most overlooked nib is the Waterman Super six and its Waterman le Man first gen. sibling.

 

These Watermans (except maybe for the le Man) are almost never mentioned as great pens, but I do rate them as equally good as the 50's-60's Pelikans (for example).

[Sailor Kenshin]

Osmiroid 65...but I can't say it drives me mad. Because that leaves more for me to find.

[bob_hayden]

Wing Sung 333 ($1-2) and any of the cheap plastic pens made by Reform and sold in the US of A under the A&W office supplies brand ($5-8, no relation to a beverage brand).

[kestrel]

To the Morrison and Moore brands mentioned above I will add Grieshaber and Eclipse. Grieshaber nibs are usually very nice. Eclipse pens are still a bargain on eBay until the word gets around.

[amk]

Burnham. The most gorgeous celluloids, and yet everyone goes off to buy Swans and Onotos and Conway Stewarts.

 

and really there's not a whole lot of love out there for the French brands, but I have some Edacoto, Bayard, Meteore pens that are really gorgeous. Stylochap, Matcher Colombes... apart from Waterman, French pens remain a little corner of the fountain pen universe that's not well known outside the Hexagon.

 

It doesn't drive me mad, though. If everyone else overlooks the quality of these pens.... life is a bit cheaper for me :-)

[Flippy]

Surely the Lamy Safari is one of the most popular affordable pens around. Not sure I get the point about people disliking a particular color. If people prefer it in a different color than the green you mention, it's still the same pen, isn't it?

 

I don't feel like I'm really in the know on pens that other people have missed, but I do like Moore pens, a vintage brand that seems to get discussed less than many others. I have four now, an L-72, L-82, L-94, and a Moore Junior, and am on a quite non-urgent lookout for others as they turn up.

 

Or come to think of it, there is my Haolilai 801F. It's a good quality pen with a 14k nib (not just plated) that's a bit different from what you usually think of when people say "Chinese pen". In fact, I'd rate it very close to the mid-range Pilot series, such as the Custom 74. The only reason mine isn't used more is that the nib is a bit broader than I usually prefer.

 

Not totally unknown, in fact I recall at least one thread about it here, but it does tend to get lost in the throng. I had a picture of it on Photobucket, and still have the picture somewhere on my computer, but it's not convenient to hunt for it now.

I suppose that's true.

[deepak23]

Parker Urban.

Always starts first time, solid, comfy and, to me, really pretty.

Urban seems to be pretty unpopular, but among the modern Parkers I really love the urban. The shape also is very evolved and shifts the balance downwards making it a nice writer

[KellyMcJ]

Rexpen is a relatively unknown brand that made fantastically functional piston fillers. I have one, gold nib, fine point, grey with very worn gold trim. It was obviously well loved in its prior life. They're not much to look at but they are great reliable writers!

[Tweel]

I think that Waterman was an awesome brand in the 80's and 90's, producing the best pen of its time... almost never mentioned as great pens, but I do rate them as equally good as the 50's-60's Pelikans (for example).

 

80s and 90s, and before: my early 70s Watermina is one of my best writers, one that lets my hand really relax, and my mind concentrate on what I'm writing. (It looks great, too.) It ended up costing a lot more than I anticipated, because I had to buy a duplicate for a donor cap, but I'm so glad I have it now.