New Inks: Elixir Colorist Collection

[Matlock]

Nobody is forcing anybody to purchase the ink . I am a little saddened by being called stupid and gullible.

 

I am sure that you are not, but some are.

[inotrym]

LV is not a pen brand; they don't actually manufacture their inks. Their products were never targeted to the FP community and they were destined to remain in the shadows. They could never influence the market.

 

MB is a pen brand and a highly respected one at that. Of course their marketing strategies will be mimicked. They have already been (CdA, GvFC, Sailor, STDupont, Pelikan, ...)

[Ghost Plane]

Back on track, I’m tired of bottles that don’t work for my pens and experimental colors I’m afraid to use in pens that stain. I stopped buying Kobe and the others after I ended up having to decant into condiment bottles to actually use the stuff. Having acquired a couple of lovely Skeletons that I actually use daily, I’m not putting chemistry experiments into them regardless of brand.

 

There are some lovely colors out there from ink companies that make a decent living selling reliable inks with years of use data behind them. I’m retiring to my ink shelf and using ALL the colors before I buy again.

 

Those with the money and pens to load champagne or murex purple sparking with ground up shells from the murex are free to do so. Not my pens, not my money. Kudos to MB’s corporate types for seeing how far they can push it. (And after seeing the Saud contingent paying billion dollar corruption settlements to check out of the Ritz, I’m betting ink sales will be down in some quarters)

[Kalessin]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

Please keep the discussion in this thread focused on ink.

 

Please do not make personal comments about gullibility, prestige, the intelligence of buyers, etc, as the conversation is sliding towards insults and flamewar.

 

 

Thank you.

[Runnin_Ute]

Why would I want to pay more for a single limited run bottle of ink than I have for the vast majority of my pens? Sometimes up to 4 or more times as much. Oh, that's right, I don't.

[zaddick]

I guess no one here remembers the real whopper that MB ink launched a few years ago. This new ink is priced like tap water by comparison.

 

Try $4400+ for a bottle, though it did include a notebook.

 

http://luxurylaunches.com/other_stuff/montblanc-launches-ink-made-from-24-carat-gold.php

[Mew]

Just to put a different perspective out there...

 

Its easy to forget that Montblanc is (or at least positions itself as) a high end brand - its not a peer of, say, Lamy or Parker. A bottle of ink from Lamy could well cost the same price as one of their pens.

 

If someone is prepared to spend, as a minimum, £400-£600 for a basic MB fountain pen, then its not so absurd to think that they might be prepared to spend £30 on a special ink (e.g. Writers Edition if Great Characters) and a bit more for something more exotic. As for those spending £2k+ on PoA pens and the like, adding another £50 to get one of these Elixir inks isnt madness.

 

 

Hi,

 

This is the first time I'm posting in the MB forum I think, unless I made a post few years back and don't remember it.

I do have a couple of MB's, one 149 OBB, BB and some rollerballs here and there. Honestly, they aren't my best pens and fall at the lowest of the lowest grade in my collection in terms of quality and feel in hand.

They aren't my most expensive pens either. My most expensive pens cost more than their regular POA pens. So it's not like I mind the cost.

When I was in school, I used to use MB inks, the Royal blue of I recall correctly. I had no knowledge of inks back then, or the brand. I wrote thin lines, and their inks weren't suited to narrower nibs. It was troublesome, but I had no idea what to do. Now that I try them with some knowledge, I find that their inks don't even flow in their own EF nibs.

 

My point is: there is zero quality to back their prices.

Edited February 13, 2018 by Mew

[zaddick]

One point I don't think any one has brought up in my quick read is that rising prices can also draw new entrants into the boutique ink making business. It is not like it is high overhead or supplies are impossible to find. If person X see's MB can charge $70 they might get off their posterior and decide to roll out their own small batches of ink at say $20 a bottle (or less) and add new choices that may never have existed.

[grainweevil]

I guess no one here remembers the real whopper that MB ink launched a few years ago. This new ink is priced like tap water by comparison.

 

Try $4400+ for a bottle, though it did include a notebook.

 

http://luxurylaunches.com/other_stuff/montblanc-launches-ink-made-from-24-carat-gold.php

 

I remembered it, but my Google-fu failed to find it - so thanks for putting me out of my misery!

[littlepen]

The way I see it Montblanc are effectly making a 3 tier system for there inks . Standard everyday , special edition ( Writers Ect) and premium .

[Matlock]

I guess no one here remembers the real whopper that MB ink launched a few years ago. This new ink is priced like tap water by comparison.

 

Try $4400+ for a bottle, though it did include a notebook.

 

http://luxurylaunches.com/other_stuff/montblanc-launches-ink-made-from-24-carat-gold.php

You forgot to mention that the notebook was leather bound, makes all the difference.

[dompred]

They certainly are good looking and attractive but at this price only few will get them. Sure they sell it as a premium product but let's be real here, no matter how fancy they make it in the core it's water based writing fluid what they're selling.

 

My humble opinion, get a cheaper writing fluid elsewhere, you will get less angry about your life choices and spend the extra money on something else.

[Matlock]

They certainly are good looking and attractive but at this price only few will get them. Sure they sell it as a premium product but let's be real here, no matter how fancy they make it in the core it's water based writing fluid what they're selling.

 

My humble opinion, get a cheaper writing fluid elsewhere, you will get less angry about your life choices and spend the extra money on something else.

 

Just be thankful you don't have to run your car on it. Do a quick calculation per gallon, its frightening.

[invisuu]

Sorry, no. $71 US for a bottle of ink? I paid less than that for a FULL 8 oz. bottle of vintage Quink Permanent Violet on eBay. Even with buying bottles to decant the ink into didn't cost me $71 (I was also buying bottles to decant the 3/4 full PINT bottle of Skrip Peacock into).

As long as people buy into MB's hype, they're going to get away with this sort of price gouging. And that's what it is. Price gouging.

Some of us choose to not buy into the hype. I have a bottle of MB Lavender Purple (which is nice, but I have other nice purples as well, and some cost less than the $19 of Lavender Purple). And I have a bottle of Leo Tolstoy LE, which I think I paid $23 bucks for (plus whatever the heck NYC sales tax is these days in Fountain Pen Hospital a couple of Christmases ago). And that's it. Almost bought a bottle of the Beatles LE ink when I was there this year, but put it back on the shelf and bought a bottle of Platinum Classic Lavender Black IG ink inkstead. I like iron gall inks, and it was roughly $20 less.

This is turning into that thread about MB pens and whether their market aimed at "writers" or "collectors" over again isn't it?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

You dont understand. This is precious ink. Made with precious water. In a precious bottle. Its all very precious, you see...

[Matlock]

You dont understand. This is precious ink. Made with precious water. In a precious bottle. Its all very precious, you see...

 

I can buy 1 litre of Pelikan 4001 for £31.26 but that MB ink would cost me around £1,000 per litre. A real bargain .

[Pravda]

Came to see if were still bashing Montblanc. Yup!

 

Ok will check again in a few days

 

PS Curious why only in Montblanc forum vs other manufacturers this happens.

 

PPS Do these guys also visit Hermes forums and complain about the price of their scarves? Or Patek Philippe and say that their Timex tells the time just as well?

[horationelson]

I'm quite surprised by the near-unanimous negative reactions.

 

Whilst I agree that these elixir inks don't represent great value for money, what MB is doing here is no different to what several brands do across a number of their product sectors.

 

For example, if you drive a German car (BMW, Audi etc), they will charge you £100 for branded car mats, which you could buy similar versions of from a third party for a tenth of the price. Or if you buy an diary/agenda from Hermes, the paper refills will still cost in the region of £50+.

[BillH]

Came to see if were still bashing Montblanc. Yup!

 

Ok will check again in a few days

 

PS Curious why only in Montblanc forum vs other manufacturers this happens.

 

PPS Do these guys also visit Hermes forums and complain about the price of their scarves? Or Patek Philippe and say that their Timex tells the time just as well?

 

 

I occasionally see threads like this on one of the chess forums, much bashing of those who buy "luxury" chess sets and boards. And I'm told the same happens on guitar forums.

 

What do the kids say? Haters gonna hate. Trolls gonna troll.

 

What does grandpa say? Envy has many faces, but it's still a sin.

Edited February 14, 2018 by BillH

[Kalessin]

There are other expensive premium lines of ink, such as Pelikan's Edelstein line, and Caran D'Ache's Chromatics line, and of course there are more expensive inks out there now than there ever have been.

 

The other makers' premium lines have been in the market since before MB's Elixirs line was released, though MB seems to be trying to position themselves above even these lines with pricing, as they do with their other products. It will either work in the (rapidly shrinking) fine-writing market or it won't.

 

Customers will decide to buy them or not, but I'm guessing that market saturation for premium ink has been reached, and the Elixir line might fade away. People seem to like the Edelstein inks, but not the Chromatics.

 

Personally, I have more ink than I will probably be able to use for the next ten years, and I tend to buy Waterman, Lamy, Pelikan, Namiki and Sheaffer inks, all of which are affordable. I'm still using some MB blue and black bottles that I bought over fifteen years ago.

[dapprman]

The thing is MB sell some decent inks at a decent price (how many people swear by Toffee Brown or Irish Green), then they have their luxury limited edition brands that cost wise target the other luxury inks such as Pelikan Edelstein and GvFC. These Elixir inks are just a whole additional cost level higher.

 

BTW when talking about the luxury inks, bare in mind that Sailor and Pilot Iroshizuku are a lot more expensive outside of Japan due to import costs, hence the good deals on Amazon/eBay and the like direct from Japan.