Are Mont Blanc Pens worth it

[Lady P]

So you might bought a MB product, maybe a 146 or 149, 60 years ago when MB also was also a premium manufacturer but still had a full product range with entry pens.

 

In principle, yes. Although probably not quite for the price that they sell for now (maybe for 30% less), and not unless I first bought a much cheaper MB and was highly impressed with it. That's how Toledo happened after all: I bought a couple of M2xx pens, was blown out of my socks by their performance, and this, together with Toledo's gorgeousness, inspired me to buy that Toledo.

[Pterodactylus]

Is e.g. a Sailor Professional worth its money?

It's more expensive than a 149......

 

.... but wait, it's a CC pen.....

..... how can a CC pen be that expensive?

...... IMO the air is quite thin for CC pens if they cost more than 100 €.....

...... hmmm a CC pen with a 1€ filling system..... More expensive than a 149 piston filler?

....... This feels not correct for me......

 

You are quite fixed to your opinion that MB pens are not worth their money (only because they are about 20% more expensive (+/- 5%) than their Pelikan counterparts).

 

Maybe you should try the different products first before judging.

 

I give you a hint.

Try some vintage MB and Pelikan pens and your fun using their current products might be spoiled forever.

[JonSzanto]

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[Lady P]

I'd be interested in buying a Sailor pen. Maybe the Sapporo(?). As for "Sailor Professional": I'm not sure which one you're talking about! Here are some pens and prices from the Writing Desk:

Sailor Professional Gear II Slim £124.50

Sailor Professional Gear £216.00

Sailor Professional Gear II £216.00

Sailor Professional Gear Realo £314.00

Sailor Professional Gear Ebonite £345.00

Sailor Professional Gear Mosaic £540.00

Sailor King Professional Gear £675.00

Of these, I'd be interested only in the first. It's not a piston filler (a definite downside), but it has a gold nib... The second and third seem like attractive pens, too, but they're overpriced, and I don't see myself buying them when I can get a Pelikan M40x instead. The others seem far too expensive (overpriced) and also too thick (I like thin pens).

It's not just a matter of this or that one pen being overpriced. It's a matter of the entire range being overpriced AND of there not being relatively affordable, high quality, entry-level pens. Some Sailor pens seem overpriced, without a doubt. But all? Well, I don't know about that.

[Blade Runner]

Lady P, you dislike snobs, and therefore don't want anything to raise that suspicion. So in essence snobs control your decision making with regards to MB and similar brands. I'm glad to say that I have enough confidence in my own tastes and experience to buy an object that I like regardless of someone else's designs or opinions for that object.

Edited February 22, 2014 by Blade Runner

[GabrielleDuVent]

As much as I enjoy a nice, hearty debate on appearances, I think I'm going to call ghostbuster on this. Who resurrected this zombie...?

[Opooh]

Suum cuique pulchrum est!

[DBQMary]

I don't care if someone is using a MB, Pelikan, Sailor, Lamy, Sheaffer, Parker or any other brand for that matter. I also don't care if it is vintage or new. If they are enjoying the experience, it puts a smile on my face and I am thrilled to see someone else who is possibly a kindres spirit. Why would I judge their motives if I don't want to be judged?

[JonSzanto]

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[max dog]

Lady P

 

With all the politics aside, have you ever owned a Montblanc? Scribbling a few lines with a Montblanc at a pen store doesn't count. I already know the answer, but my point is until you've actually owned one or given one a fair chance, I dont think you have the credibility to dis Montblanc or compare them to your other pens you own and say they are worthy or not.

 

An open mind opens new doors to places you never thought possible.

Edited February 22, 2014 by max dog

[JonSzanto]

With all the politics aside, have you ever owned a Montblanc? Scribbling a few lines with a Montblanc at a pen store doesn't count. I already know the answer, but my point is until you've actually owned one or given one a fair chance, I dont think you have the credibility to dis Montblanc.

 

An open mind opens new doors to places you never thought possible.

 

Bearing your latter comment in mind (is that your signature?), and taking into account your first statement, unless you have owned representative examples of all other comparable luxury brand fountain pens, how can you be so certain of the true worth of your precious resin pen? You chastise someone for (implied) lack of knowledge about "owning" a Montblac - assuming you mean that you have to actually live with a pen for some unspecified time to gain a true understanding of it's value - yet you don't offer up that you, yourself, have the same track record with... any other luxury, top-of-the-line writing instruments?

 

Thin ice. You are skating on it.

Edited February 22, 2014 by JonSzanto

[max dog]

 

Bearing your latter comment in mind (is that your signature?), and taking into account your first statement, unless you have owned representative examples of all other comparable luxury brand fountain pens, how can you be so certain of the true worth of your precious resin pen? You chastise someone for (implied) lack of knowledge about "owning" a Montblac - assuming you mean that you have to actually live with a pen for some unspecified time to gain a true understanding of it's value - yet you don't offer up that you, yourself, have the same track record with... any other luxury, top-of-the-line writing instruments?

 

Thin ice. You are skating on it.

Before I got my first Montblanc, a 145, I've tried Pelikan 200s, 400, 600, Crosses, Namiki Falcon, Lamy 2000, lower end Auroras, Parkers, Sheaffers, Visconti and a few others. After some time with it, I could appreciate it's writing qualities and despite some prejudices I had about MB as hype, I approached it with an open mind and gave one a fair chance to understand what the brand is about.

 

I dont dis other brands that I have no experience with.

[GabrielleDuVent]

Suum cuique pulchrum est!

 

Apparently not. Otherwise we wouldn't be seeing this much vitriol over - let's admit it, this argument's getting fairly silly - a writing instrument.

 

Again, we shouldn't be resurrecting zombies, perhaps.

[Lady P]

Lady P, you dislike snobs, and therefore don't want anything to raise that suspicion. So in essence snobs control your decision making with regards to MB and similar brands. I'm glad to say that I have enough confidence in my own tastes and experience to buy an object that I like regardless of someone else's designs or opinions for that object.

 

 

I don't want to raise suspicion, that's one thing.

Another is that I don't want to encourage a brand such as MB. By buying MB pens, you support the brand. By carrying one in public, you give it visibility and support the brand. Unless it significantly changed its offerings and prices on at least a certain portion of its pens, I'll boycott MB. If I ever decide to buy a really expensive pen again (which I might or might not), I'll take my business elsewhere, to a brand that I happen to like better.

Now, if someone just so happened to give me a MB as a gift (which would never happen if the person inquired ahead of time about what pen I would actually want), would I angrily toss it into the trash? No. It would probably be a good pen (unless it happened to perform like Stephen Brown's specimen). (ETA: Plus, of course, tossing it into the trash would be very rude to the gift-giver, which would be a more important concern than MB's quality or lack thereof.) But I wouldn't expose myself to unwanted looks, and I wouldn't give MB publicity (modest though it may be) by using the pen in public. (And if it were a MB 149, I wouldn't use the thing in private either: it would be far too big for me to use it comfortably, as I discovered with Jinhao 159). Yes, you see, I do think that a brand such as MB should be punished for its business policies. (Which is not to say its products are bad.) You disagree? Fine. Your money. Do what you want. I'll do what I want.

Edited February 22, 2014 by Lady P

[JonSzanto]

Before I got my first Montblanc, a 145, I've tried Pelikan 200s, 400, 600, Crosses, Namiki Falcon, Lamy 2000, lower end Auroras, Parkers, Sheaffers, Visconti and a few others. After some time with it, I could appreciate it's writing qualities and despite some prejudices I had about MB as hype, I approached it with an open mind and gave one a fair chance to understand what the brand is about.

 

I dont dis other brands that I have no experience with.

 

No, but it looks like you have precious little experience with brands and models commensurate with the cost of your MB. You really don't know for a fact that it is, indeed, "worth it". You are surmising, comparing to lesser pens. An educated guess, maybe, but no more valid than someone rejecting it with little experience.

 

In then end, all of that matters not one bit, just as this entire thread is another one of the constant and empty-headed memes that continues, ad nauseum. It boils down to something that no one seems to want to address:

 

There is no one, quantifiable way to establish worth across an entire pen-using populace. The is no one equation that will apply to all brands and all users.

 

The question itself is meaningless. To a person with resources such that they fly First Class, have summer homes, and buy MB149's by the 5-pack, it's a bargain; to people who scrimp and save by purchasing their notebooks on sale at Target in order to make rent and buy school books, it probably looks like an absurd extravagance.

 

There is no one answer. The question, by it's nature, is set up to be divisive and reinforce already established prejudices. No one wins, except for those that don't even begin to buy into it.

[legume]

I'd probably never buy a Montblanc because in the case of the 146 and 149, I don't like cigar shaped pens, and because the gold and black is boring. Some of the less informed might argue that the gold and black was originally Montblanc's shtick and everyone copied from them, but I disagree with that (and facts from fp history would support this). Lots of pens are made of plastic, and lots of pens have metal trim rings. Gold and black is pretty much the most obvious iteration there can be, and I personally don't find it very exciting. And I already have a German gold-nibbed piston filler, do I really need another? If I were even more of a pen person I'm sure I would, but I fall more on the ink spectrum of the fountain pen hobby. I am slightly interested in a vintage 146, but there are so many other pens that boast unique features, and the 146 and 149 just don't. They are simultaneously the most uninteresting fountain pens ever, and yet too recognizable as luxury items. And yes, I do care what people around me think. I have to live with them you know.

 

As for their limited edition pens, I also have never seen one that I like enough to buy. I do like the Alexandre Dumas from the writers edition, but not enough to justify the price. It's something like $1000+ now isn't it? I wouldn't pay that much for a pen just on principle, but for something like $400, yeah I'd snap that up. I also like their maki-e bumblebee pen which is based on I think the 149 despite it being cigar shaped (seriously, I'm not sure what I have against cigar shaped pens), but again it's too expensive. There are lots of other pens like Nakaya maki-e models, which as lovely as their pens are, I wouldn't buy.

 

My opinion of Montblanc in general is that their regular pens such as the 146 and 149 are on the same level as Sailor KOP, Pelikan M600, M800 and M1000, Lamy 2000, all those Italian brands I don't keep up with, etc. With all these brands and models, what they offer just isn't worth their list prices. With Montblanc in particular, I don't like the snobbery of their marketing, but it has helped other brands that hopped on the bandwagon survive, now as luxury items. I wish fountain pens weren't luxury items, and therefore with fewer connotations, but it is what it is.

 

I think the biggest difference between Montblanc and every other brand is their intolerance towards discounts on new pens. They really lock down on their retailers to make sure that their pens don't have a street price. And to the above commenters, a 20% difference in just the list price is kind of a big deal. Take into consideration the lack of retailer discount and I think the annoyance towards Montblanc is understandable. Having seen their promo video, it doesn't seem like there's that much more handwork that goes into their pens than any other brand. Or at least, they don't have much to show for it. The pen body is still mass-produced like any other, and you don't hear about their nibs ever being significantly better.

 

In terms of my personal aesthetic preference, Montblancs fall into the so ridiculously 'adequate' void that I don't think I would have really noticed their pens if it weren't for the controversy.

 

Many of the comments on here got very condescending, and a bit personal. It's sad to see that part of the community.

[JonSzanto]

Again, we shouldn't be resurrecting zombies, perhaps.

 

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb204/EnvoyC/resource/final_sepia_large.jpg

This is endorsed!

[GabrielleDuVent]

 

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb204/EnvoyC/resource/final_sepia_large.jpg

This is endorsed!

 

Glad I have Jon's endorsement. My life is fulfilled for the day!

[ethernautrix]

I like pens.

[Lady P]

I like pens.

 

 

 

Yeah. Me, too.

I think it's time for me to abandon this thread. I feel that I've said everything I had to say, and now I'm just running around in circles.

But geez, this was one unpleasant thread! Off to write with a Pelikan (or maybe one of those pretty Jinhaos with a pagoda on top; lovely pens, and I haven't used them in a while!).