Demand For Ultra Cheap Disposable Type Fountain Pens

[max dog]

Outside of Japan and Germany where I think fountain pens are still used in schools, is there really any demand at all for the sub $5 type disposable or semi disposable fountain pens like the Preppy and Varsity? I know some people here rave about them, but I've never ever seen one being sold in stores anywhere in Canada or US.

 

Sure they are available on line on Amazon and Ebay, but I wonder what if any demand there is for disposable type fountain pens in the west. Does Pilot and Platinum sell the vast majority of the Varsities and Preppies in Japan only?

 

 

 

[Corona688]

Outside of Japan and Germany where I think fountain pens are still used in schools, is there really any demand at all for the sub $5 type disposable or semi disposable fountain pens like the Preppy and Varsity? I know some people here rave about them, but I've never ever seen one being sold in stores anywhere in Canada or US.

A Staples manager gave me an off-hand explanation this weekend: Pilot jacked their prices(for everything) significantly maybe 15 years ago. No more in-store Pilot products. Until then, the Varsity(now V-Pen) had been flying off the shelves -- people loved them.

 

Whatever dispute Pilot has with Staples, they don't seem to have one with London Drugs, who still sell one kind of V-Pen in store for reasonable prices.

 

Sure they are available on line on Amazon and Ebay, but I wonder what if any demand there is for disposable type fountain pens in the west. Does Pilot and Platinum sell the vast majority of the Varsities and Preppies in Japan only?

I think cheap fountain pen manufacture relates to countries where calligraphy remains popular for whatever reason. China, India, Japan, they even make them in Pakistan somehow. If we find it hard to compete with Chinese products, imagine sharing a border with them!

[PAKMAN]

I bought some Bic disposable FPs in Staples several years ago. I see Preppy's in some real pen stores, think I bought some at Vanness Pens.

[Corona688]

I wonder if Staples Canada enjoyed rebound sales from those who couldn't get cheap Pilot fountain pens any more. Its rack of "luxury" fountain pens remains, and they certainly tricked one sale out of me - a $10 Sheaffer which split its cap in no time at all.

[jobodine]

I thought I saw these pens in a Staple store when I visited Quebec last year . Here is the link to check it out :

 

https://www.staples.ca/en/Pilot-V-Pen-Disposable-Fountain-Pen-Medium-Black/product_17127_1-CA_1_20001

 

 

A fountain pen store in Montreal : https://www.stylo.ca/en/afficher-produit/8859.html

Edited February 20, 2018 by jobodine

[max dog]

A Staples manager gave me an off-hand explanation this weekend: Pilot jacked their prices(for everything) significantly maybe 15 years ago. No more in-store Pilot products. Until then, the Varsity(now V-Pen) had been flying off the shelves -- people loved them.

 

Whatever dispute Pilot has with Staples, they don't seem to have one with London Drugs, who still sell one kind of V-Pen in store for reasonable prices.

I'm surprised to hear they were flying off the shelves. I often check out the pen/stationary section anytime I am in a dept or stationary store (not the boutique penshops that will carry everything fountain pen related anyways) like Walmart or a drug store, and I've never seen disposable fountain pens. Usually when I do, it is Cross or Lamy lower end fountain pens, or those Sheaffer Calligraphy sets.

 

My point is in the west it seems people who are interested in fountain pens would spend a little more and get something like a Pilot Metro or Lamy Safari that they can re-use for a long time or even more upscale pens. Cheap disposable does not seem to fit the profile of fountain pen people generally. IMHO.

Edited February 20, 2018 by max dog

[Honeybadgers]

I see them at the university bookstore (they also carry high end pilot and lamy) and also see the varsity disposables in every color at the community college bookstore.

 

And I see a lot of kids using them.

 

I haven't seen a lot of high end pens, but I see a lot of kids upgraded to lamy safari's.

Edited February 20, 2018 by Honeybadgers

[Runnin_Ute]

I bought a multi color pack of Varsities for about $8 out if an office max. That was a few years ago, but sometimes....

[Mech-for-i]

Well actually plenty other countries either require or teach proper penmanship utilizing fountain pens, India and China is both known for that ( and guess why the have all the pens they produce ). Instead of disposable single use fountain pens, I suppose the production is on simply economically cost and thus priced fountain pens. Say even the preppy , or say a Chran student pen or M&G ... Dollar Pen, etc etc .. almost all of them are not disposable by any mean, but made to be used and re-used.

 

AFAIK, Pilot, Zebra, Bic, and might be some off brand do made single use disposable fountain pen but overall they are no longer as viable a product as yester-years.

[chromantic]

I was given my first Varsity last year by ... a lawyer. He went out to his car to get it so I imagine he keeps a stash in his trunk to have people sign documents with.

[max dog]

I see them at the university bookstore (they also carry high end pilot and lamy) and also see the varsity disposables in every color at the community college bookstore.

 

And I see a lot of kids using them.

 

I haven't seen a lot of high end pens, but I see a lot of kids upgraded to lamy safari's.

I guess I've been looking in the wrong places. I assume by kids you mean college and University students?

I remember when I was in elementary school here in Canada teachers discouraged us from using fountain pens My best friend was into them, but always fought with the teachers to use them in class. Sadly he was the only kid in the whole school using a fountain pen. It was pencils mostly so we could correct mistakes, but ballpoints were allowed in the higher grades, ie grades 6 and 7.

 

 

 

I bought some Bic disposable FPs in Staples several years ago. I see Preppy's in some real pen stores, think I bought some at Vanness Pens.

 

I bought a multi color pack of Varsities for about $8 out if an office max. That was a few years ago, but sometimes....

Do you guys use disposables regularly as much as your other fountain pens? I have a Zebra V301 ( semi disposable $6 fountain pen that comes with a cartridge) a friend of mine gave me, but honestly, I used it once and it sits idle. There is just nothing special or particularly appealing about it for me to make time to use it. I reach for my nicer fountain pens.

 

 

 

Well actually plenty other countries either require or teach proper penmanship utilizing fountain pens, India and China is both known for that ( and guess why the have all the pens they produce ). Instead of disposable single use fountain pens, I suppose the production is on simply economically cost and thus priced fountain pens. Say even the preppy , or say a Chran student pen or M&G ... Dollar Pen, etc etc .. almost all of them are not disposable by any mean, but made to be used and re-used.

 

AFAIK, Pilot, Zebra, Bic, and might be some off brand do made single use disposable fountain pen but overall they are no longer as viable a product as yester-years.

In some countries today where kids are encouraged to use fountain pens in school, I can see the demand. But outside of that, I don't see droves picking up disposable ultra cheap fountain pens, at least not in my neck of the urban jungle. The disposable pens of choice are almost exclusively cheap disposable ball points. The very few times in Canada I've seen an actual fountain pen being used in the wild were high end pens. Parker Duofold, Pelikan M800, and a couple of Montblancs that I can remember. It's almost like if people are gonna go to the trouble of using a fountain pen, they go for something nice, not a cheap disposable fountain pen.

Edited February 20, 2018 by max dog

[minddance]

Platinum Preppy? But I have never disposed any of them after 2yrs.

[PaganArcher]

I carried a Varsity for a number of years before I found that I could buy newly produced pens of higher quality. I went through dozens of them while in high school and the first few years after graduation. Then I discovered Goulet Pens and SBREBrown's youtube channel and I've been on the wagon ever since.

 

I only stopped buying or using them because I could only find medium nibs that wrote more like a broad and I vastly prefer extra fine nibs for my personal hand.

[praxim]

I have a friend who plays the card game of bridge in competitions. He uses a disposable fountain pen in case of mislaying it at a table, preferring it to the cheap ballpoints apparently provided. That seems fair enough, particularly considering he once lost an Aurora Mare, although I don[insert iPad-elided apostrophe here]t know where. I do not know where one buys those pens here in Oz, having no particular reason to ask. I have not noticed them in common places.

 

edit:sp etc

Edited February 20, 2018 by praxim

[SoulSamurai]

I haven't really seen anyone using else using fountain pens, but most stationary stores and stationary sections of large supermarkets here have at least a couple of cheap kid's fountain pens (3-5 dollar range), and many have a display case of slightly pricier pens (10-100 dollar range); mostly Parkers I think.

 

Funnily enough I went to a local Montblanc store and all they had were ballpoints (and rollerballs I guess?).

[Mech-for-i]

...

 

In some countries today where kids are encouraged to use fountain pens in school, I can see the demand. But outside of that, I don't see droves picking up disposable ultra cheap fountain pens, at least not in my neck of the urban jungle. The disposable pens of choice are almost exclusively cheap disposable ball points. The very few times in Canada I've seen an actual fountain pen being used in the wild were high end pens. Parker Duofold, Pelikan M800, and a couple of Montblancs that I can remember. It's almost like if people are gonna go to the trouble of using a fountain pen, they go for something nice, not a cheap disposable fountain pen.

 

Pretty much the case since the late 70's ... after all disposable fountain pen actually go against the principle design of the fountain pen itself which are supposed to be used and re used with charging with ink. And since the 70's Ball point, Roller Ball, and now Gel Roller all made great advance in oth the technology and the end product, making them easily the more user friendly pen for the single use disposable market. Fountain pen ihad long since become not the essential writing instrument but a choice for any individual , so by default they probably like to have it a better one instead.

[Corona688]

I'm surprised to hear they were flying off the shelves.

They didn't market them like fountain pens usually are. They sold them alongside their popular Hi-Tecpoint rollerballs. Their obvious similarity inside and out made them look modern and familiar, if you liked the rollerballs you might might give the other a try. That they actually worked didn't hurt either.

 

It also let them sell fountain pens to people who didn't care what fountain pens are supposed to look like. Mass-production demanded some changes users of traditional fountain pens might not appreciate. The nib looks flimsy as tinfoil, even though its not.

Edited February 20, 2018 by Corona688

[inkstainedruth]

Some of the local Staples stores around Pittsburgh sometimes carry the multipacks of Varsities. A while back they also carried Pilot Metropolitans in the RetroPop colors in blister packs (but only F nibs). The location closest to my house (about 5 miles away) also has had as many as 3 bottles of Quink Black at any one time, but not obviously so unless you're specifically looking; i.e., on the very bottom of the ink refills carousel (or near it on the bottom of that section, practically on the floor).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Honeybadgers]

 

Do you guys use disposables regularly as much as your other fountain pens? I have a Zebra V301 ( semi disposable $6 fountain pen that comes with a cartridge) a friend of mine gave me, but honestly, I used it once and it sits idle. There is just nothing special or particularly appealing about it for me to make time to use it. I reach for my nicer fountain pens

 

I use platinum preppies in EF all the time. I also have a platinum preppy marker that is just amazing, the thing's been inked for two years and hasn't dried out at all.

 

But my varsities just... don't get used. I think it's the cheap plastic clip and big M nib that doesn't grab me. If it was an F or EF, maybe. But the inks, while well behaved, just aren't that interesting either. And they're very smooth, which for a nib under a B, I just don't like.

[amk]

People I know who like the disposable FPs are artists and graphic designers who are used to buying a nice fineliner or mechanical pencil and want to dabble with a FP. They're used to having cups full of different pens and pencils so they think nothing of adding another one for a few bucks.