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New Mabie Todd at Fahrneys


Univer

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Hi All,

 

Apologies if this has been asked and answered elsewhere - has anyone actually seen or handled the new "Mabie Todd" pens being sold exclusively by Fahrney's? Here's a link.

 

While this new model has been dubbed the "Eternal," it has little in common - as far as I can tell - with its illustrious namesake. Steel nib, cartridge/converter filling...nothing really noteworthy here, aside from the fact that another distinguished brand has now been brought back from the dead (in a manner of speaking).

 

Interestingly, the new Mabie Todd trademark is registered to the Conklin Pen Co. - so what we have here is one revived brand reviving another.

 

Cheers,

 

Jon

 

PS Is there a complete roster, anywhere, of these new-old pen brands? I can think of:

 

Conklin

Conway Stewart

Mentmore

Nettuno

Onoto

Platignum

Eversharp (not currently active, but recently revived)

LeBoeuf (ditto, I believe)

 

I'm sure I'm forgetting some. I think I'll just go ahead and claim "Chilton" and "Aikin Lambert" this afternoon....

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Oh, how strange. it'll make Googling for the old ones a little more complicated. (Maybe that's a sign that I don't *need* any more. :blush: )

"Life is too short, or too long, to allow myself the luxury of living it badly."

Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho

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The gentleman who "revived" Conklin is now doing the same with Mabie Todd. I haven't seen any of the pens yet, but I believe he is introducing them at the NY Pen Show this weekend. They will be available elsewhere I am sure, not just at Fahrney's.

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Hi,

 

I should have mentioned that the latest Fahrney's catalog states that the new Mabie Todd is a store exclusive. Perhaps, as you say, that situation will change in the future.

 

Cheers,

 

Jon

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Conklin should definitely have kept it as a level fill. It's a shame that modern pen manufacturers haven't kept the level fill system as common as it used to be, seems like a great system that is easy to make and repair. Ah well, maybe when they really get the new Mabie Todd line going they can bring back truer examples of the brand, as they did with the Conklin crescent filler.

FP Ink Orphanage-Is an ink not working with your pens, not the color you're looking for, is never to see the light of day again?!! If this is you, and the ink is in fine condition otherwise, don't dump it down the sink, or throw it into the trash, send it to me (payment can be negotiated), and I will provide it a nice safe home with love, and a decent meal of paper! Please PM me!<span style='color: #000080'>For Sale:</span> TBA

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Of course, if they want to sell more than 50 pens, they may need to consider non-FPN posters in their market profile...

The moment we want to believe something, we suddenly see all the arguments for it, and become blind to the arguments against it.

 

~ Bernard Shaw.

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Wow, I can't believe you found this, Jon! :o

I hadn't even heard of the re-launch of the Mabie Todd name.... Thanks for giving us the link, esp. since it is a Fahrney's exclusive, as you say....

 

Well, someone must be buying the pens because they are currently sold out (the coral colour does look pretty on my monitor :blush: but why modern pen companies are so in love with metal sections is beyond me.. :bonk: :bonk: )

 

 

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It's interesting in that reviving a 'dead brand' should have any associations with the original.

 

Kurt

 

I agree to a great extent, bringing back a company doesn't mean it has to bring back every pen it ever created, or any in fact. But it seems the folks who brought back Conklin did so in order recreate the pens that company once made, and seem to be starting off the same way with Mabie Todd. The only difference is in the filling systems, nibs, and a few outer changes here and there. In many ways this is fine, many fine and beautiful pens have been made since their revival, but to say they bring back the aspect of the pen as it was when it was first created maybe a bit of a stretch. Many people on the FPN or not surely love these pens as they are made now, and I am sure that many here and elsewhere would love to see them as complete reproductions too. However the new Mabie Todd pens will be created, it will be interesting to follow and maybe buy one or two.

Edited by JakobS

FP Ink Orphanage-Is an ink not working with your pens, not the color you're looking for, is never to see the light of day again?!! If this is you, and the ink is in fine condition otherwise, don't dump it down the sink, or throw it into the trash, send it to me (payment can be negotiated), and I will provide it a nice safe home with love, and a decent meal of paper! Please PM me!<span style='color: #000080'>For Sale:</span> TBA

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Conklin should definitely have kept it as a level fill. It's a shame that modern pen manufacturers haven't kept the level fill system as common as it used to be, seems like a great system that is easy to make and repair. Ah well, maybe when they really get the new Mabie Todd line going they can bring back truer examples of the brand, as they did with the Conklin crescent filler.

 

Well, Mabie Todd did begin to make non-lever pens towards the end of their production years -- so there is no reason to suppose that reviving the company means sticking to their golden-age prototypes and to the lever filling system. Having said that, I personally love lever-filling pens and think that this system was retired too hastily by the FP industry. So I would only be too happy if companies, particularly those reviving brands known for this system, reconsidered the lever-fill as a viable modern design option.

 

In any case: When I clicked on the link to Fahrney's provided by the original poster, I was not expecting to see a replica of 1920 Mabie Todds. But nonetheless I was disappointed, because the pens on the photo simply lack character. Too bad; I love vintage Mabie Todd and was pretty excited there for a second. Perhaps they will reveal something more interesting at the NJ/NYC show.

 

 

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Hi,

 

I should have mentioned that the latest Fahrney's catalog states that the new Mabie Todd is a store exclusive. Perhaps, as you say, that situation will change in the future.

 

Cheers,

 

Jon

 

Just got a Joon catalog today and there are Mabie Todds in it. Actually the Swallow version that dosn't have a metal section. So might that particular type be an exclusive but not all of them.

 

Kurt

 

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Conklin should definitely have kept it as a level fill. It's a shame that modern pen manufacturers haven't kept the level fill system as common as it used to be, seems like a great system that is easy to make and repair. Ah well, maybe when they really get the new Mabie Todd line going they can bring back truer examples of the brand, as they did with the Conklin crescent filler.

 

Well, Mabie Todd did begin to make non-lever pens towards the end of their production years -- so there is no reason to suppose that reviving the company means sticking to their golden-age prototypes and to the lever filling system.

 

By no means was I saying the new line should stick to the level fill system, only that the "Eternal" would be a more interesting pen if it would have kept that part of its history, and if the whole point of bringing back Mabie Todd is to bring back the pens that made the brand what it is, they should hold true to the design of each pen from it's filling system whatever it may be, to it's nib etc. But if they simply wish to make modern interpretations of Mabie Todd pens, or new and different ones altogether then I suppose that is a whole other issue. I guess I didn't clarify my two points as well as I could of, having the want of level fill systems to be more common in modern pens being my second point.

Edited by JakobS

FP Ink Orphanage-Is an ink not working with your pens, not the color you're looking for, is never to see the light of day again?!! If this is you, and the ink is in fine condition otherwise, don't dump it down the sink, or throw it into the trash, send it to me (payment can be negotiated), and I will provide it a nice safe home with love, and a decent meal of paper! Please PM me!<span style='color: #000080'>For Sale:</span> TBA

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Mabie Todd made eyedroppers for 30 years before the Eternal was introduced and dip pens and mechanical pencils for another 20 years before that, so there are plenty of options if the object is to recreate :rolleyes:

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By no means was I saying the new line should stick to the level fill system, only that the "Eternal" would be a more interesting pen if it would have kept that part of its history, and if the whole point of bringing back Mabie Todd is to bring back the pens that made the brand what it is, they should hold true to the design of each pen from it's filling system whatever it may be, to it's nib etc. But if they simply wish to make modern interpretations of Mabie Todd pens, or new and different ones altogether then I suppose that is a whole other issue. I guess I didn't clarify my two points as well as I could of, having the want of level fill systems to be more common in modern pens being my second point.

 

Right, I understand that. What I meant was, that I did not expect the reincarnation of the brand to mean a return of the lever. But I did hope that the new pens would communicate the essence or "spirit" of Mabie Todd -- one that is recognisable enough, whatever form it may take, to forge a connection between the modern version of the brand and the original. And based on the images of the new Mabie Todd that I have seen so far, they failed to do this. I do not see any character in these pens, let alone the essence of Mabie Todd. In contrast, the modern reincarnation of Conklin does have character, as well as references to the original company. So, especially if the same person is responsible for bringing back both brands, it is surprising and disappointing that the Conklin designs were so appropriate, whereas Mabie Todd seems almost like an afterthought. This is all based entirely on my own opinion of course.

 

QM2

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  • 4 months later...

Resurrecting a thread about a resurrected pen?

I was wondering about this thread because its seems that one of the best parts about the original Mabie Todd is the nib, so a steel nib in a modern reproduction would seem to be missing something, perhaps?

Best,

Mars

 

 

"fortibus es in ero"

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Well, I'll let you all know. I just pulled the trigger and bought one of the Coral and Black models from Swisher. The color blend looks too nice to resist. Structurally it's rather a standard looking pen, but the clip does have a swan-like feeling to it. I'm sure that was intended.

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Article on this in the latest Pen magazine.

PMS

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty -Thomas Jefferson

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See it for what it is. Using a once great name for which the rights have either lapsed or been bought cheaply to market a product that has no connection to the original. I'll call it what it is, a marketing "con". Conklin have hardly managed to recreate the chicago quality let alone the Toledo quality, the new Conway have just used the heritage to add bucks, as have the new Onoto without doing the "hard yards". Mentmore simply rebadge chinese pens, yet market on the name. Now Swan, the true "Rolls Royce" of British pens, where are these made? You can be assured it's not England. As well, they look like rubbish!!

 

Regards Hugh

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I should have mentioned that the latest Fahrney's catalog states that the new Mabie Todd is a store exclusive. Perhaps, as you say, that situation will change in the future.

i found them here: http://www.goldspot.com/Mabie_Todd_pens/Eternal.html

 

Those are about as dull as the original Conway Stewarts of the 1960's when

that brand died out.

 

John

 

Irony is not lost on INFJ's--in fact,they revel in it.

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