A. G. Spalding Aluminum

[toothy]

I feel I have to preface this with the fact that I know very little about baseball However, living in Boston, it's impossible not to absorb some of the mania through osmosis, so I decided to look into the A. G. Spalding pens. The original line was dedicated to the man who designed the standard modern baseball. (See, you learn something new everyday )

 

Designwise, the pen is extremely simple and not meant to stand out. There are other models available with wooden or resin barrels with more striking colours. Personally I liked the simple, art-deco type style. The cap and nib are stamped with the early logo of the first Spalding sports store in NYC which, I think is the oldest such store in the world. The box is also designed to look like an item one might have found in a little tabagie store back in the days when baseballs sold for dimes and nickles.

 

The workmanship does stand out among other "boutique" pens in this price range, many of which are built around identical cheap "Iridium Point" sections. This pen has a nice section with a properly centered feed and a tapered nib slit out of the box. I was surprised at how many similarly-priced pens lacked these basic features.

 

The writing feel is smooth with a rigid steel nib. Nibs come in medium or fine (on some smaller models) and the pen is very well balanced. Both the aluminum and wood models felt fantastic after trying many resin pens (too light) and some all brass pens (too heavy). The pen puts out a nice wet line and (gasp!) this was consistently the case in all of the ones I tried.

 

The only drawback I've discovered so far is the fact that the cap is quite heavy disturbs the balance when posted. Since I don't post the cap while writing, it hasn't bothered me, but some might not like it as much.

 

In the end, this is probably an ideal pen for a new FP user moving up from the school pen (Parker "Reflex" ?) range. It has a little bit of the collectible "cachet" but with good quality control that befits its price.

 

Price around $50, 60 for aluminum. There are also various ballpens and mechanical pencils in the series. The pens are made in Japan

 

edit: sorry, my camera's not behaving. Here's a link spaldingpens.com

Edited June 4, 2005 by toothy

[sotto2]

I require (like, want, prefer) a pocket pen, and so I bought the mini fountain pen version of this from jetpens.com.

 

Spalding Mini Fountain Pen

 

It was substantially less expensive than the same exact pen from the boutique-y pen and paper store on Melrose in West Hollywood where I actually tried the pen. Since my old Rotring telescoping ballpoint is beat to s__t after having been in my pocket for the past 8 or 10 years with change, my pocket knife, keys, etc, I decided I wouldn't keep this sylish little metallic missile anywhere but clipped to my shirt pocket or t-shirt collar. It's only a about 4 inches long (rough estimate) and is more comfortable to use with the cap posted for that reason. The cap snaps on really well, and the pen (a fine point version) leaves a nice widish and wet line with the included black cartridge. I bought some Ohto black ink cartridges to use with it. I'm happy with this pen at this stage, and would recommend it to anyone wanting a mini pocket fountain pen to have with them at all times for whatever reason. The price from Jetpens was the best I could find, and it arrived within a few days of ordering it (they are in the same state as me--CA.). It feels and looks like a quality piece of work. It is not flimsy, particularly lightweight, or fragile. It looks like it could last a very long time with a modicum of care.

[trent]

I have tried these pens, and the nibs are very smooth, the flow excellent, but I did find that the sections, which are rather short, became unscrewed during longer periods of writing.

[bluemagister]

I got the wood body one from Jetpens and use it with a Pelikan converter full of Platinum Blue Black. The nib is a true Western medium line and is wet and slick. A flawless performer with good weight and balance. The cap can be a tight snap when posting, so watch for ink spray if the nib is pointing down when posting.

 

These pens are made in Japan by Raymay Fujii and I would buy these again and again. The Pelikan converter will NOT fit the pocket pen, but will fit all other models.

 

 

An excellent buy!

[Trimster]

I just got this Spalding pen http://www.jetpens.com/A.G.-Spalding-Bros-BRFT220-Fountain-Pen-Medium-Nib-Maple-Wood-Beige-Body/pd/2032

It wrote fine for the first month. Now is skips and stops altogether. I've tried about every cleaning method I can find but no joy. Jet Pens is helping to solve the issue. It's my daily writer and I do write/practice daily.

 

When it writes, it's quite nice. I've yet to ink paper with anything nicer than this pen, so I do not have a good frame of reference. The biggest issue for me (other than it not putting ink out properly right now), and I have large, long fingered hands, is the weight of the cap. When you snap the cap on the back to write, it's way back heavy. Tiring actually. I now set the cap aside when writing. The barrel is just a tad short for my hands but workable.

 

Hope I can get this thing back to inking properly.

[dan in montreal]

I just got this Spalding pen http://www.jetpens.com/A.G.-Spalding-Bros-BRFT220-Fountain-Pen-Medium-Nib-Maple-Wood-Beige-Body/pd/2032It wrote fine for the first month. Now is skips and stops altogether. I've tried about every cleaning method I can find but no joy. Jet Pens is helping to solve the issue. It's my daily writer and I do write/practice daily.When it writes, it's quite nice. I've yet to ink paper with anything nicer than this pen, so I do not have a good frame of reference. The biggest issue for me (other than it not putting ink out properly right now), and I have large, long fingered hands, is the weight of the cap. When you snap the cap on the back to write, it's way back heavy. Tiring actually. I now set the cap aside when writing. The barrel is just a tad short for my hands but workable.Hope I can get this thing back to inking properly.

 

I have the same pen and it writes quite well. However, I've only had it for about a month and you've got me worried about its future! Did you ever get around to solving the problem?

[Trimster]

Jet Pens sent me a new one Monday. They agreed that I had tried everything possible and still no joy. I should get it tomorrow and will start pushing ink through it. It's a nice pen. Weight wise, it's back heavy with the cap on the body. I was leaving the cap on the counter because the cap made it top heavy for my liking.

 

As as side note.... I found a pen (Varsity I think) that I bought in college some 30 yrs ago. Soaked it for 2 days and power washed the works... it writes like day one. It's a really light pen. Like that. Nib could be smoother but for $6 way back when... and it still works... no complaints here.

 

Bob