Why Mont Blanc pens are such an arument magnet ?

[goodguy]

What is so unique about these pens that causes people such strong emotions.

Many times if there is a debate about one subject or another and the name MB pops up the original subject is forgoten and people sharpen there claws against or in favor of these pens ?

 

I am one of these people that get into these debates.Yes I am strongly moved by these pens.

Overpriced is always a word many people like to use.Well many other pens are over priced but they dont cause such a strong feeling in people.

 

Unreliable ?

Good market strategy ?

 

Another 2 arguments people use and again I read about so many other pens that were not reliable right from the box and there makers marketed them as luxury item.

 

And just for the record I LOVE MB pens but I like Parker even more.

[Zwelig]

Some people simply don't like the image typically associated with consumers of the brand. Others think that the advertising is too deceptive if compared to whatever other brands. Both things are related.

 

That's all.

[Cloud]

I guess this as a lot to do with recognition of the brand because of the marketing.

 

When you say montblanc, a person has a good chance of thinking a fancy pen

 

When you say Tibaldi, Pelikan, Conway Stewart, Eversharp, Lamy, Montegrappa, Omas, Marlen, Visconti, Sailor, Namiki, Danitrio.... People look at you with bulging eyes like you were a martian, with interrogation point piercing you like daggers. They are clueless.

 

With the exception of parker and sheaffer... for which many people might think, oh an old pen.

 

So this means that for the uninitiated, only Montblanc are fancy pens and they are the only brand... (blah blah blah) We see this kind of information indirectly from many newbees with questions on fountain pen, or should they get a montblanc or this other ''unknown'' brand.

 

Since we always have to debunk these myths everytimes it starts to wear on peoples nerves.

 

This is why I think there is such a polarization of love and hate for the brand. Also, these simply leads to even further polarization everytime there is a degenerating thread.

 

But in the end, I like german piston pens and I will get one. Either as a graduation gift (family did this with all other members when they got their diploma) or on my own.

[Crobe]

I know what you mean about choosing sides on MB. Having never owned or used one I can't say. I think i remember even reading a FPN thread where someone said they held on to a Mont Blanc so they could bash them from a first hand perspective.

 

Mike

[encremental]

Montblanc, along with Bang & Olusen, Leica, Bose, Apple and many other brands seem to offer products at the point where the concept of 'Value For Money' gets (shall we say) a little flaky.

 

None of these products is in and of itself any way especially dreadful - it's just that cheaper similar alternatives (often very very very very very very very very much cheaper) exist, and the fact that some companies can get away with charging a premium for whatever reason drives a certain type of person just totally crazy. The fact that they are not enforced by statute to buy the brand in question is immaterial, its availability is enough.

 

In essence it is that stuff which motivates the trainer purchases of a fifteen year old translated for those who are older and wiser. It is everywhere. Pens hardly cut it.

 

John

[*david*]

The company was taken over by a large luxury-goods conglomerate that has a reputation for "all style and no substance", an arrogant attitude, and astronomical prices for flashy-looking low-quality goods. That reputation has been transferred to Montblanc, whether they deserve it or not.

 

I don't have one. I suspect many of them are good pens, but I also think their pens and services should be priced about the same as their competitors, because they don't offer any advantage over other brands.

[Gregory]

I've been writing with fountain pens for 45 years now. When I finished graduate school, I wanted to commemorate the event by buying myself a really cool pen. Before then, all of my pens were rather low-end--Sheaffer school pens, a new-old-stock Esterbrook, a Parker 45. At that time in my life, Mont Blanc was the only substantial pen-brand I knew of (I didn't realize that Sheaffer, Parker, and Waterman were still making great pens). I bought myself a 146 (at a very good price) and have loved it since. Some of that is sentiment on my part, of course--I've got Pelikans and Watermans and Parkers now that are just as nice, and truth be told, I probably use my vintage Sheaffers more than anything now, but that first (well...first and only!) Mont Blanc still makes my personal pen-lover-soul light up.

 

Yeah...I don't like the image or the advertising or the price, but it's still a good pen.

 

Greg

[Shelley]

They spend so much on advertising that they have to charge so much for their pens to recoup the costs...I think the older, pre 1960 MB are great instruments, and some of the newer models are wonderful too, however I feel that if they spent more on quality production and less on advertising then they could lower the price and offer a better product, yet this is not their stratergy, they are trying for the elite market-unfortunately that also seems to be the less informed market.

 

As they say-you can't buy style.

[tnt]

I wonder what percentage of owners of Montblanc received them as gifts? I know that early on in my marriage my wife realized I loved pens and so she bought me one for Christmas. At that point she had no idea what I liked or really anything about pens. She bought a Montblanc because she felt she couldn't go wrong, people she talked to pointed her in that direction. I think it was either that or a Gold Cross pen/pencil set.

 

I am one that does appreciate Montblanc, having seen pens I own escalate in value, but my point is that Montblanc knows who to market to.

[Ray-Vigo]

I agree with the point about the value and the hype as compared to the actual writing quality. I think that's a major flashpoint because there's a certain "you're getting swindled" element to it (or the old "you could get a better writing Parker, Sheaffer, Pelikan etc). People get very defensive about those kinds of sentiments, on either side.

 

Just for the record my mother loves her MB Meisterstuck, but I can't stand the thing.

Edited October 10, 2007 by Ray-Vigo

[john.reiss]

I will preface this by saying that I do not own a Mont Blanc pen.

 

The way I see it, people bash this brand because it's so recognizable by the "normal" public. And while the quality control issues may be present, I have seen many threads on the Lamy 2000 lately that question their quality control. Why isn't there more hatred for that brand? Mainly because if one of your co-workers looks at a Lamy, they will say "nice pen". If you have a Mont Blanc, they will won't say anything and go ask the boss why you are making more money than they are.

 

Personally, Mont Blanc's marketing is genius. Focus all of your attention to middle-managers that have excess money and very little in the way of buying an expensive pen. Just my two cents.

 

John

[Waterman]

Real reason is Mont Blanc pens are either a hit or miss depending on your luck. If it's a miss than you're out of luck buddy. But I think the real hatred for Mont Blanc is what you get for the price and definitly you don't get what you paid for, your just paying Johnny Depp's taxes.

 

Brad

[blak000]

I will preface this by saying that I do not own a Mont Blanc pen.

 

The way I see it, people bash this brand because it's so recognizable by the "normal" public. And while the quality control issues may be present, I have seen many threads on the Lamy 2000 lately that question their quality control. Why isn't there more hatred for that brand? Mainly because if one of your co-workers looks at a Lamy, they will say "nice pen". If you have a Mont Blanc, they will won't say anything and go ask the boss why you are making more money than they are.

 

Personally, Mont Blanc's marketing is genius. Focus all of your attention to middle-managers that have excess money and very little in the way of buying an expensive pen. Just my two cents.

 

John

 

Well, I have to say: even though the 2000 has its issues, when it DOES work, it's a fantastic pen. It's durable, has a wonderful nib, well-balanced, etc.... and it only costs $100. The Mont Blanc's, on the other hand, cost many times more, are made of fragile materials, nibs range from decent to good. The 2000, for all its problems, is still a reasonably priced pen that offers outstanding performance (as with all the pens in the Lamy line). I don't think the same can be said about some Mont Blanc pens.

Edited October 10, 2007 by blak000

[tnt]

Real reason is Mont Blanc pens are either a hit or miss depending on your luck. If it's a miss than you're out of luck buddy. But I think the real hatred for Mont Blanc is what you get for the price and definitly you don't get what you paid for, your just paying Johnny Depp's taxes.

 

Brad

 

Johnny Depp only agreed to appear for Montblanc because it benefited charity.

[Waterman]

Real reason is Mont Blanc pens are either a hit or miss depending on your luck. If it's a miss than you're out of luck buddy. But I think the real hatred for Mont Blanc is what you get for the price and definitly you don't get what you paid for, your just paying Johnny Depp's taxes.

 

Brad

 

Johnny Depp only agreed to appear for Montblanc because it benefited charity.

 

Sorry about that, thanks for the clear up.

[john.reiss]

I will preface this by saying that I do not own a Mont Blanc pen.

 

The way I see it, people bash this brand because it's so recognizable by the "normal" public. And while the quality control issues may be present, I have seen many threads on the Lamy 2000 lately that question their quality control. Why isn't there more hatred for that brand? Mainly because if one of your co-workers looks at a Lamy, they will say "nice pen". If you have a Mont Blanc, they will won't say anything and go ask the boss why you are making more money than they are.

 

Personally, Mont Blanc's marketing is genius. Focus all of your attention to middle-managers that have excess money and very little in the way of buying an expensive pen. Just my two cents.

 

John

 

Well, I have to say: even though the 2000 has its issues, when it DOES work, it's a fantastic pen. It's durable, has a wonderful nib, well-balanced, etc.... and it only costs $100. The Mont Blanc's, on the other hand, cost many times more, are made of fragile materials, nibs range from decent to good. The 2000, for all its problems, is still a reasonably priced pen that offers outstanding performance (as with all the pens in the Lamy line). I don't think the same can be said about some Mont Blanc pens.

 

Yeah, the prices are very different, I know. The main reason I brought up the Lamy's is that they seem to be on the boards more these days for QC problems. Insofar as the nib quality, I don't know about the Mont Blanc nibs, but my L2K nib (EF) is fantastic. Compared to the Lamy nibs, how would you compare your Mont Blanc nib?

[Methersgate14]

For the past month I have carried around in my jacket pocket the MB "Meisterstuck" that has lived there since I was a thirty-something, twenty years ago, and a Parker UK AF duofold that I bought very cheaply on ebay because someone had obviously dropped it on its nib.

 

I have now stopped carrying the MB.

 

 

[AndyHayes]

I don't own an MB. I have only used one and I was surprised by how light it was. With all the hype I had expected something more substantial.

 

With the exception of one person, the people who I have personally previously come across with MBs are people that have needed to ram their status down your throat, normally managers or managing directors of companies. They are usually portly and ride Harleys, but only on dry days.

 

The vast majority of MB owners probably don't feel the need to flash their logo at every opportunity, but they end up getting tarred with the same brush as the plonkers who have to make a big thing of it.

 

I don't want an MB. I will never buy one. If someone gave me one I would accept it, but it wouldn't be near the top of my "love list" unless it wrote better than the rest.

 

I like my Densho because it is understated and because no-one, except possibly those in the know, would have a clue what it was. So when I am sat in a meeting and one of the "higher ups" makes a big flourish with his MB, I just pull out my Densho and smile inwardly. I bought mine because it is a great pen, whereas the MB is his only pen and it fits with his lifestyle and his need to impress.

 

Mont Blanc - one pen - two types of owner

[LouisA]

Mont Blanc are such an argument magnet because they would appear to be way way over priced. I have a Sailor Professional Gear with a medium fine nib, a Sailor 1911 with a medium nib and a Waterman Le Man 200 with a fine nib that are every bit the equal in every aspect to my Mont Blanc 146 which has a fine nib. There is no way you can justify the $200 difference between the MB and any of the other pens. And that is the heart of every argument IMHO

[LouisA]

I forgot to add that I use my MB at the office a lot. I rotate with my Sailor. And sometimes when I am in a board meeting when I have my Mont Blanc with me and I take it out, I swear this one guy at the end of the table has the weirdest look on his face.