Platinum Preppy Fountain Pen

[Betty]

Platinum Preppy Fountain Pen

 

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/175/438095094_e9ef8e77f4_o.jpg

 

After the Pilot Petit1 fountain pens, US customers can now buy another disposable fountain pen from Japan, the Preppy fountain pen from Platinum.

 

- uses Platinum cartridges only

- very smooth writing; no feathering even on cheaper paper (that might be the ink though)

- can write with the nib upside down for a thinner line

- nib feels very comparable to a Pelikan steel nib & a Lamy Safari nib

- line width seems to be about Pelikan EF size or more like a Japanese MF size

- a tiny bit longer than a Pelikan M200

- weight & barrel girth about the same as a Pelikan M200

- $4.95 at jpens.com

Edited March 29, 2007 by Betty

[Maja]

Thanks for the review, Betty, and a nice clear photo of a pen I'dnever heard about...until now

Sounds like another nice disposable (sadly ) pen from Japan. I have a disposable Pilot V-Pen (or Varsity) and it too is a nice writer, but it lays down a M line. This is a nice alternative to those who prefer an XF nib width.

 

 

[alvarez57]

Wonderful to have around as a pen-borrower...Can I have your pen for a sec?

[deitic_nib]

Never mind, didnt read the small text.

Edited March 30, 2007 by deitic_nib

[Taki]

QUOTE (Maja @ Mar 28 2007, 11:44 PM)

Sounds like another nice disposable (sadly ) pen from Japan.

Maja, it's refillable with Platinum cartridges

 

Betty, Thank you very much for your review!! I should get one as a loaner pen.

[kernando]

Betty, thanks for the review and the clear picture. I first noticed the pen going to JPens from the mention in your other post, probably one about the Pilot Petit1. I've bought my mother and sisters each one of those because they're cute and the colors are pretty, but I didn't get one for myself. I can pull off cute plastic, but the grip seemed too short and wide for me, and I didn't trust the clip.

 

It's too bad Platinum made the clip on this one clunky looking to my eyes, but I'm glad to see it takes normal sized cartridges, and probably isn't too short and fat. There's room for a converter, right? It looks from your picture as if they sell them with the cartridge loose inside. Is the barrel one piece and what do you think of it as an eyedropper? I remember the Pilot Petit1 having a little "ledge" inside, up against which the threads of the section butted. It looks like it'd be fun to get one of the lighter colored ones (pink or yellow or maybe green?) and have it as an eyedropper with the color all the way from barrel to feed to nib. Then I'll expect somebody to grind a yellow one into an italic highlighter with Noodler's Firefly.

[Betty]

QUOTE (kernando @ Apr 1 2007, 10:17 AM)

Betty, thanks for the review and the clear picture. I first noticed the pen going to JPens from the mention in your other post, probably one about the Pilot Petit1. I've bought my mother and sisters each one of those because they're cute and the colors are pretty, but I didn't get one for myself. I can pull off cute plastic, but the grip seemed too short and wide for me, and I didn't trust the clip. It's too bad Platinum made the clip on this one clunky looking to my eyes, but I'm glad to see it takes normal sized cartridges, and probably isn't too short and fat. There's room for a converter, right? It looks from your picture as if they sell them with the cartridge loose inside. Is the barrel one piece and what do you think of it as an eyedropper? I remember the Pilot Petit1 having a little "ledge" inside, up against which the threads of the section butted. It looks like it'd be fun to get one of the lighter colored ones (pink or yellow or maybe green?) and have it as an eyedropper with the color all the way from barrel to feed to nib. Then I'll expect somebody to grind a yellow one into an italic highlighter with Noodler's Firefly.

Ok, I tried to insert the standard size Platinum converter into the Pretty fountain pen and I am happy to say that, YES, it does fit! Cool!

 

I'm not so sure about using it as an eyedropper pen because the barrel is plastic that twists open in the middle. I have a feeling it might leak.

[Blackhill]

I just ordered a blue one yesterday at Jpens because I thought they were cool looking and at the low price, worth a try. I'm glad to hear they are good writers. Thanks for the review.

 

Cheers,

Laura

[jonro]

Interesting pen! It looks like Japan is ready to compete with the Kultur, just in time for Waterman to stop production. How big is this pen compared to a Kultur?

[Betty]

QUOTE (jonro @ Apr 2 2007, 08:53 PM)

Interesting pen! It looks like Japan is ready to compete with the Kultur, just in time for Waterman to stop production. How big is this pen compared to a Kultur?

I have no idea what a Kultur pen is. Is Waterman really being discontinued?

[FrankB]

Betty, I don't think Waterman is going anywhere soon, but they are discontinuing the Kultur. Several people here at FPN have spoken well of the pen. I am not familiar with them either, and I was curious to see what one might cost and to get general information, but I could not locate one anywhere on the Internet. I think they were a sub model of the Phileas, but I am not sure.

 

I sort of like the Pilot disposable pens, and I will at least try a Preppy to see what it is like. I really can see using it as a loaner pen. Thanks for the review.

[cmeisenzahl]

Very cool, never saw that one before!

[churl]

Here's my picture of the Preppy. It's a fun little pen for under $5, and cartridge filler, so not disposable. The colored nibs are quite nifty, but I settled on the somewhat boring blue.

 

jpens.com was prompt service.

 

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/212/448934064_36ec00b043.jpg

[Betty]

Yup, Churl...turns out the blue is really a "blue black". I hated the color so much I emptied out the cartridge and refilled it with another blue...much much happier now

Edited April 10, 2007 by Betty

[Blackhill]

Mine arrived last Friday. I chose the blue, but I like the color of the ink. I like the pen, too. It is a nice writer.

 

This will be my giveaway pen since it is inexpensive, but a reliably good writer. It will be a good pen to introduce others interested in trying a fountain pen.

 

Cheers,

Laura

[Gepzo]

Based on the review, I ran over to jpens and got one, too, in the even more boring black. So far, I like it a lot! I have other, more expensive Platinum pens, and this one is a chip off the block. The nib isn't as smooth as the 14k Platinum nibs, but it is a reliable, fine writer, every bit as nice as the Pilot Petit, and in a more conventional form factor. I think I'm going to buy one of every color, and at less than $5 a pen, I can do that for not a lot of money!

 

Oh, and as an aside - the Petit is a great functioning pen, if you can handle the size. Thing starts up every time, writes consistently, and I think is much better performer than the Waterman Kultur Demo that looks similar, and cost three times as much!

 

Gepzo

[TMLee]

Found one in a store and bought a black one today.

 

Its impressive for an inexpensive fountain pen. So far its the cheapest FP I have ever found. It cost me US$2.30 . And unlike the Varsity, it need not be thrown away.

 

The nib is a very stiff steel nib. Since its afordable, I smoothed the nib into a very fine stub nib. I am quite happy with the results. Quite a smooth stub despite the very fine nib.

 

Does anyone here know which converter can be fitted onto it other than the Platinum? I tried LAMY but it doesn't fit.

 

Also , its the ink water resistant ? I tried smudging with water and it remained pretty reisitant.

Anyone experimented?

 

Its quite nice they come in a rather wide assortment of ink colors ... Black / Blue / Red / Green / Yellow / pink

Edited June 19, 2007 by TMLee

[RobertJ]

My platinum converter fits the Preppy but no ink will flow through the nib....I cannot believe it!

[elena]

I got a green Preppy, which looks kool with the colored nib, but writes a little too wet for me. I am going to experiment with different inks to see if it'll do better.

 

Another cheap pen, the Pilot Petit writes so much better. I love it, but then I bought another one and it leaked so bad I had to trash it. So much for cheap pens.

[hblanchard]

Itoya also makes a cheap fountain pen, called the Blade. It is more like the Pilot Varsity than this one, the Preppy, because it is truely disposable, no cartridge. I have not been able to find it yet on the web (anyone?) -- I have only found it in a local (privately owned - non-chain) stationary store. Like the Varsity, it's extremely robust, always writing at the start and not skipping even dispite some abuse. The Blade has a much finer point, like the Preppy it's comparable to the Lamy EF nib. I find the black ink to be a little too much on the grey side, the blue is fine. Interesting that cheap disposable or semi-disposable fountain pens are starting to proliferate from Japan.

Edited June 23, 2007 by HBlanchard