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Limited Edition Or Discontinued Pens That You Regret Buying?


modernovervintage

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The MB Verne cap is too heavy for balance when posted

 

Many of the MB are 146s, leaving them a bit too short unposted for my larger sized hands.

 

Regrets from others are out there when the pen didn't take off in value as some of its ilk.

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I have an Onoto Heritage that has a silver overlay by Henry Simpole and Richard Binder custom nib.

A wonderful writer that has leaked out of the section from day one (this pen cost $1000).

 

I sent it to Binder right after I bought it, onto Onoto twice and to two nibmesters in the US but no one has been able to fix it. It is apparently a hair line crack in the nib holder (the part that screws into the section).

 

Onoto apparently didn't make any spare parts for this pen, so I currently have it in the hands of a repair person that might have a fix for it.

It is about 3 years old (at the time that Binder closed up shop) and I have never been able to write more than a page before it starts leaking.

 

It is one of those situations where, even if it does get fixed, I will always have a lack of trust in it.

Edited by Doug C

the Danitrio Fellowship

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All the pens I buy are vintage, so all of them are essentially discontinued. Buying online is a crapshoot; you cross your fingers and click.

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Think OP wants to know about LEs limited by manufacturer's design/intent, not because the company is now defunct. :)

 

Plenty of expensive LE modern pens around, doesn't really interest me. I go past Montblanc displays and their numerous homages to writers or artistes or whatever fad cause of the time... yes very nice workmanship & presentation etc etc... but c'mon, a lot of them are bought by collectors who don't buy them to use, they're just collectors &/or speculating resale price will appreciate once they're all sold.

 

I did get sucked in my Lamy though. Those sneaky buggers being out a new colour every year, some LE colours are very nice. Began with the Safari which is reasonably affordable, then came the dearer AlStar, then came matching inks for each...

 

...regrettably that rot has now spread to even more expensive LX, they brought out a trio of Safari for 2019 and uber expensive variant of L2000; it's getting even worse for 2020 as they'll have LE coloured stationery to match... Ugh.

 

Regret #2... I think I forgot to buy a Petrol Safari.

 

That's gunna bug me :(

Edited by tamiya
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That I regret buying? No, but I regret NOT buying more than one Carene Contemporary Gunmetal. I bought mine for $180. I've seen them on eBay for between $500 to $1000. If I had two I'd gladly sell one.

 

I cobbled together a second with a rollerball barrel and a Contemporary Blue section and cap. But part of me still feels like it's not the real thing.

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I got a Stipula Ventidue Tocco Ferro, not too pricy for an LE, 351 or something were made, and I did NOT like it. Unbalanced, terrible flow, and just not my favorite overall.

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I do not have any limited edition pen yet but this is a question that i am curious about.

 

I have no regrets....however..I'm curious as to why you have no limited edition pens.

 

Thank you..

 

Fred

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I have no regrets....however..I'm curious as to why you have no limited edition pens.

 

Thank you..

 

Fred

The ones that really call out to me are too expensive and i am also only a year and a half into fountain pens.

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Platinum Shikoku Aneitaketoraouzu (King of Tigers) in the #3776 mold. At the time, my most expensive Platinum pen by a long shot, and it just felt insubstantial and cheap in the hand, with an obvious manufacturing defect in the clip (with a piece of foreign material trapped under the ruthenium-coating) to boot. On account of the defective nib, I returned the pen to the Japanese seller for a full refund, but this was before the days of PayPal covering return posting, so I ended up being $40 out of pocket. At the time, I was pretty irate, but considered it the price of a bullet dodged.

 

Aurora 88 Cento Italia (the rose gold-plated one). Again, the pen itself felt insubstantial and cheap in the hand, and the Italic nib on it was very poorly made, didn't have a straight edge, and was troubled by hard starts every few pen-strokes. On account of the defective nib, I returned the pen to the European retailer at its expense and got a full refund for my order.

There are other limited edition pens that I bought, and either never felt keen enough to use, or have used a few times and then pretty much left well alone, but since they aren't defective and I don't yet know whether I'd lose money if/when I sell them, I don't regret buying them yet. It doesn't mean the pens are bad or displeasing in some way, either: I have the Pilot Capless 2013 (50th anniversary commemorative) limited edition Vanishing Point, and it's so gorgeous I don't dare use it, especially when I already have another eight or so Vanishing Point pens in my household, so I'm "not keen enough" to ink it up; and I have a still-sealed Sailor Profit21 with a Naginata Concord Emperor nib that is simply no longer produced, but since I already have one with a ("lesser") Naginata Concord nib that I use but not often enough, I'm "not keen enough" to ink the other one up at this point.

 

I don't like how my Lamy 2000 blue Bauhaus limited edition pen writes — its EF nib is not fine enough for my tastes, and I don't like the architect grind character to it — but I doubt I'll take a loss when I sell it, so there is no particular reason to truly regret jumping on it and securing one of 1919 units, unless one wants to get all philosophical about whether the price could have been better spent, or want to talk about "the cost of money", etc.

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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The ones that really call out to me are too expensive and i am also only a year and a half into fountain pens.

No disposable income can cramp someone's style re purchasing limited edition and or discontinued

fountain pens....quite understandable....Nothing to with time spent usin' or into fountain pens.

 

Thank you for the reply..

 

Fred

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I have an Onoto Heritage that has a silver overlay by Henry Simpole and Richard Binder custom nib.

A wonderful writer that has leaked out of the section from day one (this pen cost $1000).

 

I sent it to Binder right after I bought it, onto Onoto twice and to two nibmesters in the US but no one has been able to fix it. It is apparently a hair line crack in the nib holder (the part that screws into the section).

 

Onoto apparently didn't make any spare parts for this pen, so I currently have it in the hands of a repair person that might have a fix for it.

It is about 3 years old (at the time that Binder closed up shop) and I have never been able to write more than a page before it starts leaking.

 

It is one of those situations where, even if it does get fixed, I will always have a lack of trust in it.

You sure it's the screw in nib unit ? Reason i ask is Onoto still use these in their smaller pens so could replace it - alas their new website is really hard to navigate, as the previous one actually did have an option to buy replacements. Now if the crack is in the section itself then meep

 

Edit - found here (assuming it's there is no change in design between your Heritage and the one I found on their website)

Edited by dapprman
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You sure it's the screw in nib unit ? Reason i ask is Onoto still use these in their smaller pens so could replace it - alas their new website is really hard to navigate, as the previous one actually did have an option to buy replacements. Now if the crack is in the section itself then meep

 

Edit - found here (assuming it's there is no change in design between your Heritage and the one I found on their website)

I'm basing that on the findings of two of the repair people. It is apparently a hair line crack. The second time I sent it to Onoto they are the ones that told me they didn't have replacement parts for it.

the Danitrio Fellowship

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I'm basing that on the findings of two of the repair people. It is apparently a hair line crack. The second time I sent it to Onoto they are the ones that told me they didn't have replacement parts for it.

No consolation to you I realise - sorry, but I wonder if they have changed the sleeve/collar for the present/newer pens that take the No. 3 nib. Onoto are in the process of switching from Bock to JoWo nibs. Visually they look identical, but the feeds are probably different. I know with the No. 7 sized nib the pens will take either (as I had the option when I bought a pen from them at the London Pen Show a couple of years back), so it may be bespoke and with the No. 3 nib unit, required changing.

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Modern limited edition pens are just a cheap trick to get more money from you... :gaah: :wallbash:

 

~ Whatever else they may be, the few modern limited edition fountain pens I've seen weren't especially cheap.

(Just kidding!)

Tom K.

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Only have one or two "SE or LE" pens - Lamy AL Star Pacific, and to me it is just an Al Star. The other is a True Writer. The Silver Anniversary model which was produced to celebrate the company's 25th anniversary. I got mine in March of 2013 to coincide with one of those "x5" birthdays I had that year. It is a nice pen, but heavier than I normally like at 30 grams. I have this and one other at 30 grams or more. The pens that get the most use are substantially lighter. But I don't regret either purchase.

Edited by Runnin_Ute

Brad

"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind" - Rudyard Kipling
"None of us can have as many virtues as the fountain-pen, or half its cussedness; but we can try." - Mark Twain

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Omas 360 and Sailor Susutake Bamboo. both way too large for comfort, at least for my hand. otherwise, both are stunning looking fps and both write well.

-rudy-

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No consolation to you I realise - sorry, but I wonder if they have changed the sleeve/collar for the present/newer pens that take the No. 3 nib. Onoto are in the process of switching from Bock to JoWo nibs. Visually they look identical, but the feeds are probably different. I know with the No. 7 sized nib the pens will take either (as I had the option when I bought a pen from them at the London Pen Show a couple of years back), so it may be bespoke and with the No. 3 nib unit, required changing.

Thanks for the idea.

I'm not sure this is feasible in that 1) every time I send it to GP it costs $60 to $70 in postage (I have about 25 percent of the value of the pen in repair charges, and 2) the nib was done by Richard Binder and it is just an incredible nib.

 

I should know more in a couple of weeks when the last guy takes a look at it.

the Danitrio Fellowship

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