How Much Did Mb 149 Cost In 80/90S / Comparing To Other Brands?

[aurore]

I wonder how much did MB 149 cost in late 80s/early 90s comparing to other pens.
For exemple Pelikan M800 according to https://www.pelikan-collectibles.com cost 395 DM in 1990...

Pelikan M800 from late 80s are rather collectible nowadays and often go fo similar prices as MB 149. How it was 30 years ago.

[zaddick]

I think the price of a 149 in the late 1980s was $249. So in 1989 that was about 430 DM.

[Michael R.]

Here is a UK and German price list (1993 and 1990):

https://www.flickr.com/photos/81645329@N08/albums/72157678765623068

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/81645329@N08/albums/72157705368265001

 

Cheers

 

Michael

[aurore]

Thank you guys! You are awesome as always.

[zaddick]

Here is a UK and German price list (1993 and 1990):

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/81645329@N08/albums/72157678765623068

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/81645329@N08/albums/72157705368265001

 

Cheers

 

Michael

Well price lists beat recollections from photos once again.

[KAC]

In 1987, Costco carried them and I purchased one for $200 in Tucson, Arizona. Remember inflation though! With that factored in that's ~$455 in 2019 but still a bargain!

[Kalessin]

As far as I know, Costco was dabbling in the grey market, and has never been a Montblanc Authorized Dealer.

[dannyboy]

In 1979 I paid $185 for my first Montblanc 149, purchased from Coffman's Office Supply in Kingsport, Tennessee.

[Barry Gabay]

I purchased several 149s from a Costco in Virginia during 1990-91 for $175. plus tax. MSRP then was considerably more. At the same time, there were other discounts among retail stationers. At Artlite in Atlanta, there was an overstock of 149s with EF nibs. Between about 1990-1992, I bought a couple from that great pen store for $149. plus tax. This was only for 149s with EF nibs. I remember remarking to the store's owner that a 149 for $149 was a great deal! Still have one of those Artlite 149s. The Price Club-Costco 149s are long gone.

[jmcf1949]

I paid 215.00 at an authorised dealer in 1985 for my 149. What is it now almost a grand? Wow.

[gerigo]

In the 80's, Montblanc was a pen maker and they were carried by Chartpak. They weren't a lifestyle brand yet but still were a premium brand with a high level of brand recognition. I saw one in the art store I visited regularly as an art student they were around $300 I believe. I remembered buying one back then, and it was such a HUGE bunch of money for me.

[a student]

If memory serves, I got a 146 in 1975 from Geneva airport for approx USD 100. At that point the airport duty free prices tended to considerably lower than the retailers

[txomsy]

Yep, it wasn't a luxury brand then. It was expensive, true, you could find other pens for $5... at the corresponding quality, so MB wasn't "el cheapo" pens, but they had a range of models, from the most to the less expensive. A C/C en would typically be < 100 USD. Above it, the plain Meisterstücks would be 100-200 and the jewelry ones... well, whatever.

 

But I don't remember them as specially more expensive than a comparable Pelikan or Waterman. The main difference would be that you could find cheaper student, entry-level or commodity Parkers, Watermans, etc... as these offered a wider price range.

 

It was, as mentioned, just a pen brand. No "boutiques" then. They hadn't been "invented" yet for commodity products. I remember you could get an MB on any book/stationary store. I remember I found my first Slimline/Noblesse (never get it right) at a tiny (as in ~1.5 sq. meters) pen shop and that they gave me an MB box (sellers wouldn't even care to remember which box corresponded to which model) and warranty card. It was the warranty I cared for the most anyway. Much as it can be nowadays when you buy a pair of Rayban glasses, only way back then it was more unusual to step into forgeries as the market wasn't so much globalized (and you'd buy at your well known, trustworthy, bricks and mortar shop).

 

Boutiques are a modern (XXI C) "glorifier" trend that spread mostly after the Apple boutiques. It wouldn't have been any surprise to get them at a Costco, I suppose.

 

For the same reason, it was easier to find old releases at cheaper, outlet prices, as then they would be deemed "old-fashioned" and less valuable. This wasn't usual for typical MBs, as they normally had very little design changes, a 149 of the 50's would look much alike to one of the '80s, but for "new" designs, they could fade out of fashion and become cheaper.

 

That's all gone now: now we have "boutiques", we praise "vintage" and pay yet even crazy more for "out-of-fashion" pens.

[penparadise]

It always is/was a little bit more expensive to have a good taste.

[DCirjan]

Thanks so much for the contributions everybody ... Strange to see however that even in 1990 the price of a M800 and that of a 149 were so much worlds apart. Even the 146 is more expensive.

[penparadise]

Thanks so much for the contributions everybody ... Strange to see however that even in 1990 the price of a M800 and that of a 149 were so much worlds apart. Even the 146 is more expensive.

 

Well, the M800 is the matching size to the 146 LeGrand. The M1000 compares with the 149.

[Fermata]

In 1979 I paid $185 for my first Montblanc 149, purchased from Coffman's Office Supply in Kingsport, Tennessee.

 

In the same year a 149 was £125 in London. By comparison a Parker 45 was £12.50, a Parker 180 was £30 and a Parker 75 was £27.50.

 

,

[Barry Gabay]

Steve Weiderlight of Fountain Pen Hospital told me that in the early 1960s, when Parker introduced the sterling Parker 75 at $25US, his family business (FPH) was selling Montblanc 149s at around $33US. That is certainly an interesting price for comparison.

[Ron Z]

Not a 149, but I picked up a 146 at an antique shop a couple of years ago with the original warranty card in the case - the price in something like 1976 was $75.

[aurore]

Thank you for these great inputs, guys!

Very interesting how drastically some of the current 2nd market prices (ratios) differ from those days.