Drive-By Shootings - The Most Over-rated Pen & Why

[ethernautrix]

3. ANY PEN THAT SELLS FOR OVER $250 AND HAS A CARTRIDGE-CONVERTER.

 

 

I wish my Mb StarWalker took a longer cartridge. It's my only dissatisfaction with the pen. (I don't mind at all that it uses a cartridge.)

[PigRatAndGoat]

3. ANY PEN THAT SELLS FOR OVER $250 AND HAS A CARTRIDGE-CONVERTER.

 

 

I wish my Mb StarWalker took a longer cartridge. It's my only dissatisfaction with the pen. (I don't mind at all that it uses a cartridge.)

 

I heard that the metal Starwalkers (Cool Blue, Duo) have a bit more room in the barrel so perhaps they can accommodate a longer cartridge. (A good excuse to get another one!)

[gyasko]

I think the original question was "most overrated pen," not "what pen do you really hate."

 

Thus, when I get on the forum and read people about having pen-gasms over the 'buttery-smoothness' of their penultimate purchase, I want to know what all the fuss is about. In the case of my examples described above, I've been disappointed. I don't hate mid-Century Modern design. I'm just disappointed with what I purchased. When comparing my pen to others of the same, I realize my disappointment covers the whole brand and not my purchase. Lamy Safaris and Rotring Cores are ugly, mass-produced pens, and not made hand-made by little elves in magical shops. But I don't expect much for $25. They write reasonably well. So how does this translate to "overrated?"

 

Cores are great, but Safaris rot. I do agree that price should be a factor. Quite a few modern pens are overrated -- by their manufacturers, especially.

[HenryLouis]

It may have been an icon for over 40 years, but the fact is, it has a serious technical flaw: it leaks. Not every example leaks, but a large enough number to make buying the pen a risk. I am hoping that the recent addition, on a few models, of metal under the section might remedy this unfortunate problem for good. When that happens, I will reconsider the Lamy 2000, but not before, icon or no icon.

 

Uhh I haven't found many Lamy 2K's to be leaking. Mine leaked once, and that's because I misplaced the O ring. And Lamy has addressed the old leakage problem by having the inside of the section all aluminum so it won't leak anymore.

[Tsujigiri]

Another vote for the Parker 51. Yes, I know it was supposedly amazing and all that when it came out, but it's not like they have a single feature that can't be found in other pens. It's not even piston-filled and people act like it's still lightyears ahead of any modern pen design. The look is also boring. Simple in a way that looks like they were trying to minimize cost.

 

I would have to say you are wrong in some places. Perhaps a lot of the features that the "51" has, can be found on other pens, but not all on one pen. The pens were lathe-turned, not injection molded. Not really cost cutting there. The parts are easily replaced, and it holds a lot of ink. FYI, the piston-filler was invented in the 1920's and was only somewhat revolutionary. So pens with pistons should instantly be considered "lightyears ahead"? The Vacumatic mechanism is still very reliable and easy to fix. After the first time you clean out a "51", and put a new diaphragm in, it will be very easy to service it again.

 

And for those who think it is ugly... well thats obviously an opinion, but perhaps a better word is "different". The hood isn't just there for looks, it serves a purpose. I can keep my pen uncapped for over an hour and it will still write.... first time, every time.

 

I think aerometric hooded pens are pretty common, actually. There are quite a few pens that have similar features. I didn't know that about the lathe-turning, though, thanks for the info. Whether that's worth it or not is a different issue. But I wasn't saying that piston-filling is lightyears ahead, I know when it was invented. But rubber-sac based filling systems are primitive for a pen claiming to be the pen of the future. And they don't hold as much ink as a piston, plus you can't see how much ink you have left. I don't see how people can like the 51 so much when the 2000 has a hooded nib plus a better piston-filling system, plus more durable construction etc. And pens like the Montblanc 149 and Pelikan m1000 are much more interesting and fun to use. I don't doubt that the 51 can write, but it's certainly not deserving of the title of best pen ever as some people seem to think. Simply functioning isn't enough to be better than all the other pens. So while the 51 undeniably serves its function, it has been far overrated for it.

[rahulg]

On my part, I confess having way too limited an experience with FPs to form a sufficiently useful opinion, ergo:

 

Since the thread heading said "The Most Over-rated Pen & Why", I'll have to go with any refillable Biro that is sold as a "fine writing penultimate luxury device watchamaycallit", be it from Parker, or MB or any other brand that tries to pass off what is essentially a generic refill encased in a pen-like object.

 

Now people please, lay off the FPs and attack the biros for all their mass produced worth! Fountain pen users are a small group of people who risk self annihilation by on(board) flaming, there's no need to fight. We *love* our precious nibbed friends.

 

Although, must admit being very entertained by an eminently readable thread. This must be what they call therapy...

 

Kindly ignore, and proceed as usual. As you were, people.

 

 

[dogpoet]

A good point, but there's a few biros I rather like. The hardwood Lamy 2000s, for instance, which I'm sure there's people on here who prefer them to the fountain pen version.

[rahulg]

As they say, chacun à son goût To each their own. Still, a biro is a biro is a biro

 

 

*Huddles under 14k force field*

 

 

Disclaimer: Implied solely in jest

[Glenn-SC]

But rubber-sac based filling systems are primitive for a pen claiming to be the pen of the future. And they don't hold as much ink as a piston, plus you can't see how much ink you have left.

While the Piston-fill mechanism has been around for a while it is far from perfect. The piston has at least one seal that need to be lubricated and replaced. That piston takes up space in the barrel and the parts are more complicated and numerous than a Vac or Aero system; which relates to more cost to manufacture and maintain. For a similar barrel diameter and length I would wager that a Vac system will hold more ink than a piston (I.e. the Pistol pen will have to be longer or larger in diameter to hold as much ink). The Vac system has only two basic parts that move (the diaphragm and the spring) and the Aero one!

 

I don't see how people can like the 51 so much when the 2000 has a hooded nib plus a better piston-filling system, plus more durable construction etc.

Again, I have a 2000 and don't agree that it's piston system is "better". Nor do I think the 2000 is more durable construction. It wasn't until the cost cutting on the 21 and 61 did hoods or barrels cracking issues appear. My "51"s haven't cracked except where abused!

 

And pens like the Montblanc 149 and Pelikan m1000 are much more interesting and fun to use.

"fun to use" is subjective, so if you find them so good for you.

I have never tried a MB that wrote as well as a "51".

I have a 2000, and it writes no where near as well as my "51"s, although I wish it did.

 

And while the later Aero "51"s in the basic colors with Lustraloy caps are pretty boring looking, at least they came in colors! You can get a 2000 in any color you want, as long as its Black. Come on Lamy, how about Gray, or Blue even?

Parker had gold, silver and SS caps; gold, and nickle clips, with and without the blue diamond; SJ or DJ; two sizes; and at least five colors to choose from.

Pretty is a Double Jeweled "51" in Yellowstone Yellow with an Empire Cap and Gold Arrow/Blue Diamond clip!

 

But I wasn't saying that piston-filling is lightyears ahead, I know when it was invented.

PS a lightyear is a measure of distance not time.

[Tsujigiri]

I like to see how much ink I have left, though. So even if an aerometric is easier to repair, a piston functions better when it is working. You noted that your 51's haven't cracked, but that doesn't mean that they're more durable than the 2000. I don't think a lucite barrel would have as much strength as a composite barrel like the 2000. Fiberglass in resin is much stronger than resin alone. And yes, I know what a lightyear is, but that's how it's used in the idiom "lightyears ahead."

 

Anyway, I'm not saying that the 51 is a horrible pen. It's just highly overrated. I can point out the merits of any pen that you think is overrated, but the term "overrated" has more to do with how people hype an object than with what the object really is. There's a vast variety of fountain pens out there to fulfill every need. No single fountain pen, even any of my favorites, are deserving of the disproportionate amount of hype that the 51 gets.

[HenryLouis]

One of the things I don't like about the 51 is the aero filler. It's always hard to flush, imo.

[I am not a number]

PS a lightyear is a measure of distance not time.

You're miles ahead of me there.

[Silvermink]

I like to see how much ink I have left, though. So even if an aerometric is easier to repair, a piston functions better when it is working.

 

Well, a piston with an ink window, at least. Not all piston fillers have them.

[Mrsal]

I like to see how much ink I have left, though. So even if an aerometric is easier to repair, a piston functions better when it is working.

 

Well, a piston with an ink window, at least. Not all piston fillers have them.

 

yea, the ink windows help. to bad the ones on the lamy 2000 are so small their almost useless...

[Garageboy]

WHAT!! BIC OWNS SHEAFFER!! WHAT IS GOING ON!!!

 

Bic has owned Sheaffer since 1997.

 

 

i thought you guys were kidding!

 

Yeah, Waterman and Parker (which used to be rivals, by the way) are both owned by sanford, which is a sub-brand of Newell Rubbermaid... you know... the container company.

It's the Newell part that ruined Rubbermaid

[OTDoc]

[Montblanc FP. Made of fragile resins overpriced. Boring designs in under 500 USD range.

 

This makes me feel so much better about not being able to afford a MB!

[dapv]

All pens currently available for purchase cannot be over-rated as the pens are only available because lots and lots of people like them well enough to buy. Whether or not pens fit into my accumulation says nothing about its value, intrinsic or otherwise.

[Silvermink]

All pens currently available for purchase cannot be over-rated as the pens are only available because lots and lots of people like them well enough to buy.

 

Even the ones that were just recently released and have little available sales data? In any case, it's not about whether the universe thinks they're overrated, it's about whether YOU think they're overrated.

Edited July 26, 2009 by Silvermink

[Tsujigiri]

But we're discussing which pens are overrated, not over bought. Plenty of people buy pens and just say "it's a good pen." This thread is an opportunity to unleash any pent-up frustration at rave reviews for mediocre pens.

[Donald594]

Ok... Pelikan Mxxx they are over-priced, and very lack luster out of the box.

 

just kidding!!!

 

 

 

A really really really over-rated pen of all time in my mind would have to be the very well known parker 51. I have tried several, and I one was very scratchy, wrote nicely, but it felt like a rollerball, because of the nail nib, or maybe the fact that I couldn't see it. I mean, it could be a daily writer for some... I just don't see the huge fuss over it, or maybe it's just me.

 

A second would be the Montblanc 149. I tried one in a montblanc boutique, 3 actually, and the boutique ladies sad that it would be the best writing experience I have ever have, and one was really scratchy, (I even let the boutique worker try it), one was skippy, and one was so dry it might as well have been a ballpoint. Then I told the boutique workers try my lamy 2000 (wonderful wonderful wonderful pen), and my Edison Herald, and all they could say was, would you like any ink for your nice pens today sir.

 

If I ever buy montblanc, it will be from the marketplace, from a member who enjoyed it, and if it had the slightest defect, its going to Mr Binder, because I am tired of most of my 300+ pens having to most elementary defects! :bonk: :blink: :gaah:

Edited July 26, 2009 by Donald594