The Pelikanodent - a Pelikan Grand Prix mini-review

[sooperkuh]

First review for this site, please be kind when I do make glaring oversights! I bought quite a lot of ink recently, and wanted to have (another) cheap pen to test them in. It was a pleasant surprise, when I found the Pelikan Grand Prix (now that is a product name! I could imagine a Mont Blanc Grand Prix any day at the local "Müller" store (Müller has a strange mix of toys, stationery, perfumes, household goods, CDs, DVDs and has stores at least in Germany and Austria). Best of all, the price: EUR 2,49 for the fountain pen with a 6-pack of small Pelikan 4001 blue cartridges included.

 

 

Look/Feel:

 

It looks and feels lke a toothbrush! There are two types of plastic parts on this pen: The rubbery one (yellow in my model)

that feels exactly like the rubbery parts on many toothbrushes, and the shiny one that is also sometimes used for

toothbrushes and has a rather cheap feel to it (because it is so glossy and because of the strange colour).

 

The nib seems to be a very standard Pelikan nib or at least something close to standard. This is the real pleasant surprise

of this pen: Pens in that price range often have just a nib made by bending the metal (very scratchy and unpleasant), this

one has a standard iridium tip. This is certainly the cheapest pen I ever bought, that was actually usable for writing. Nibs without

an iridium tip are in my opinion useless gimmicks (italic nibs etc. obviously being exceptions)

 

The nib is a M, and it seems a bit narrower than the other Pelikan Ms I own. Could be just sample variation, though. It writes

quite well, a bit less so than the Pelikanos, Level (first model) or Lamys I own. In the beginning there was a bit of an ink flow

problem, that could also have been the Lamy black ink i put into the pen though, I have no experience with that ink. After

carrying around the pen in my bag for one or two days ink flow is good, still not wet though. I like my pens a bit wetter.

 

This pen is very very light! I never post caps, but with this pen I do. It has a whopping 14g/45oz with cap and full of ink.

Without cap the pen is 130mm/5in long and it is 1cm/0.4in thick where you hold it in the front. Actually quite average size for

a fountain pen (or a toothbrush .

 

It will not become my favourite pen, but you can do worse for two Euros (the cartridges alone cost about 50 or 80 cents).

It does not quite as well as a pelikano, but it does write better than many of the scratchier pens from other cheap brands.

This pen really has upped the ante in the cheap/throwaway pen arena, I think.

 

Ralph

[Have Fun]

Just a small correction 28gram = 1oz ... so at 14 gram the pen is half an ounce & this equates with weight of say the M200 / Lamy linea

 

Thanks for the review it would be nice to see the Pen in the UK

 

The Nib looks very like the Lamy Nib which at 2euro means the pen is about a third of the cost of a single Lamy Nib ... How can anyone produce & retail a FP at that price ???

[Maja]

Thank you for the review, Ralph---well done! :clap1:

I saw one of the Grand Prix fountain pens in person at our local pen club meeting last month! It was purchased in England by my fellow club member Tim who was there on business. Too bad the pen isn't available here in Canada/the US (as far as I know). These kind of inexpensive-yet-well-made fountain pens are what our hobby needs, in my opinion.....

Edited May 20, 2008 by Maja

[RLTodd]

It does look like the standard steel nib they use for the Pelikano & Future. I have a couple in "F" and have found them to be sterling writers. It is rather nice that the company has such a good nib (pen as they said of old) product and offers it in such a variety of bodies (holders ditto) to fit so many tastes.

[diplomat]

This pen is a great value. I got mine for 4€ ca. at my local supermarket. It's green and white. I need to keep pushing this pen for newbies looking for a starter pen accepting int'l cartridges. It's a pity that looks like the pen is not imported in USA/UK. However it's quite easy to get one in ebay Germany.

 

p.s. I did appreciate the toothbrush comment: you are right there!

 

p.s.II here's a picture of mine. Second from right after a Galaxia. They come in interesting colors, IMHO.

 

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/350/dsc9011ok4.jpg

[gampupen]

Hi all,

 

I have a Pelikan Grand Prix. I bought it for Rs. 120/-, which is a lot of money to be spent on a pen in my place. I liked the writing(it is buttery smooth and wet).

 

I also have a Parker Beta, which retail for about Rs. 125/-. But I think Pelikan GP's nib is much better than even Beta or Parker Vector.

 

In my place no other pen has the rubber layer on the barrel. I think that's the unique feature with this pen.

 

Thanks & Regards,

Gampu.

 

Edit: Today I tried converting the pen into an ED. Wow, it does hold a lot of ink and the nib performance is as smooth as ever.

Edited March 31, 2009 by gampupen