Old Tortoise 101N Vs New M101N - Photo Comparison

[kushbaby]

Sorry to start a new thread on this, but I promised to post photos of my vintage 101N and my new M101N when it arrived, along with a "family portrait" of other tortoises. The 101N topics have exploded, and I can't even remember where I said I'd post them, so...

 

Here is the vintage 101N and the new M101N side by side. Note how... GREEN... the new one is. I'm not sure how I feel about it...

 

According to the (beloved) Pelikan book "Pelikan Schreibgerate/Writing Instruments 1929-2004" (p.54), there were 6 different configurations of the 101N: two lizard (one with lizard cap/black captop, one with lizard cap/lizard captop), and four tortoise (one with red cap and tortoise body/binde, one with tortoise cap/red captop, one with tortoise cap and captop, and one with light tortoise cap and captop). Of course, there were short captop and Emege versions as well. Anyhow, mine was obtained a few years ago from the delightful folk at Penboard.de and is the tortoise cap/red captop (1938, captop made of resin, not RHR), which is the one used as a model for the new M101N.

 

The top pen is the 1938 model, the bottom pen is modern. Sorry for the shadow at the bottom - I was using sunlight. The turning knobs are pretty much identical, so there's not much to miss there.

 

Edited April 23, 2011 by kushbaby

[kushbaby]

... and here is the "family portrait" I promised. I wanted to wait until the elusive "seagreen" 500 arrived before taking the photo (it came yesterday - thanks, Tom!!!). While it's not technically a tortoise, it's in the spectrum, so I wanted to include it.

 

From left to right:

 

Vintage tortoise 500 set

Vintge seagreen 500

Modern tortoise M450

Modern tortoise M101N

Vintage tortoise 101N

Vintage tortoise 101 (no "N") - AKA "tortoise 100"

Vintage tortoise 400

Vintage tortoise 400NN

Tortoise M800 (yes, it's really the elusive tortoise M800)

Kaufhof special edition tortoise M400 set

 

Up top:

Modern tortoise M415

Modern white/honey tortoise M400

 

[Basset]

This is a very useful comparison. I wish I had a vintage.

 

Here's another comparison that keeps me from taking the plunge.

 

Vintage: $750+ (usually north of $800)

 

New: $412

[kushbaby]

This is a very useful comparison. I wish I had a vintage.

 

Here's another comparison that keeps me from taking the plunge.

 

Vintage: $750+ (usually north of $800)

 

New: $412

 

Indeed, and even if you have the funds to get one (as I did), there is a certain hesitancy about leaving the house with it...

 

That's actually one of the reasons I got the new one - to have a sturdy new 101N to haul around in my purse or around work and not worry about. Alas, it's so... green...

 

(I'll get over it... eventually...)

 

(Edit for typo - I blame the vinho verde... which is ALSO green, I might add...)

Edited April 23, 2011 by kushbaby

[amble63]

Tortoise M800!! :notworthy1:

[Parcival]

Nice collection of tortoise Pelikan pens, but there are still a variety of them to collect.

[Glenn-SC]

Tortoise M800!! :notworthy1:

 

+1

 

(even a new M600 would do in a pinch)

 

The new M101N is too 1) small, 2) green, and 3) expensive (because of 1 and 2).

[Basset]

I hope Rick doesn't mind this post from an old link of his. But the cry for an 800 tortoise in a thread about the 101n reminds me once again of the Paul Rossi custom 800n. See here for a nice photo.

 

Here it is in a rather blurry cell phone shot I took months ago.

 

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p297/julioathompson/DSC09762.jpg

Edited April 23, 2011 by Basset

[Soot]

I wanted to wait until the elusive "seagreen" 500 arrived before taking the photo...

 

Vintge seagreen 500

kushbaby--

 

You're grossing me out with that seagreen 500...

Must've commanded a premium for it, eh?

 

Here's one more for your collection(hunt) if you don't already have it---

http://livedoor.2.blogimg.jp/pelikan_1931/imgs/4/4/44ae01e7.jpg

 

The light tortoise 400. More elusive than the seagreen 500, and in my mind the most beautiful tortoise Pelikan ever made.

[kushbaby]

Nice collection of tortoise Pelikan pens, but there are still a variety of them to collect.

 

Ah, and that's the fun of it!!!! Several of the pens I have should have taken a lot longer to wait for, but the opportunities arose and I took the plunge. But I have so much more collecting to look forward to!

 

I hope Rick doesn't mind this post from an old link of his. But the cry for an 800 tortoise in a thread about the 101n reminds me once again of the Paul Rossi custom 800n. See here for a nice photo.

 

Here it is in a rather blurry cell phone shot I took months ago.

 

OH...MY...GOD!!!!! I had no idea Rossi had done one of those! Gorgeous!!!!!

 

I wanted to wait until the elusive "seagreen" 500 arrived before taking the photo...

 

Vintge seagreen 500

kushbaby--

 

You're grossing me out with that seagreen 500...

Must've commanded a premium for it, eh?

 

Well, uh, yeah. I put the word out that I was looking for one, and one popped up much sooner than expected...

 

Here's one more for your collection(hunt) if you don't already have it---

 

The light tortoise 400. More elusive than the seagreen 500, and in my mind the most beautiful tortoise Pelikan ever made.

 

:notworthy1:

I do NOT already have it, alas. It continues to elude me. I have NO light tortoise pens. Maybe, one day... :ninja:

[Rockyrod]

I do wonder why Pelikan felt the need to make the new 101 so..... green. That will be the reason I won't invest funds into one.

[reprieve]

I envy your tortoise collection! :notworthy1:

 

I hope to acquire a vintage 101N or 101 someday, but until I stumble across the right pen at the right price, I will have to console myself with the M101N remake. I am very happy with it. I even like the green--somehow, I categorize it in my head as a sibling to the White Tortoise and the M450--and it matches R&K Alt Goldgrun perfectly. The nib is one of the better modern Pelikan nibs in my collection; it feels softer (mushy in a very pleasant way that is difficult to describe).

[kushbaby]

I envy your tortoise collection! :notworthy1:

 

I hope to acquire a vintage 101N or 101 someday, but until I stumble across the right pen at the right price, I will have to console myself with the M101N remake. I am very happy with it. I even like the green--somehow, I categorize it in my head as a sibling to the White Tortoise and the M450--and it matches R&K Alt Goldgrun perfectly. The nib is one of the better modern Pelikan nibs in my collection; it feels softer (mushy in a very pleasant way that is difficult to describe).

 

Thank you! I have now gotten used to the green tint of the M101N. Why?

 

1) Segregating it from the vintage ones, so the difference isn't so obvious...

2) Filling it with Montblanc Racing green (I'll need to get some R&K Alt goldgrun)

3) The nib, which a dream. It's a *really* wide wet "F", but it's a dream (at least for me...)

 

[daenghafez]

Tortoise M800!! :notworthy1:

 

What a rare M800 Tortoise! Where did you purchase it and how much it cost you (if you dont mind sharing)?

[kushbaby]

Tortoise M800!! :notworthy1:

 

What a rare M800 Tortoise! Where did you purchase it and how much it cost you (if you dont mind sharing)?

 

Our own Rick Propas, my Favorite Pelikan pusher dealer vendor, sourced it for me. I had contacted him and asked to be put on "the list" so to speak, just in case he found one. He told me there were a few people ahead of me with requests, and they were really uncommon, and that it might be years, or never. IIRC, he also said he was probably not going to take any more names since they were so hard to find (I don't recall exactly). I said that was fine, because I had a lot of saving over time to do if I didn't want to bust my budget. It was a dream.... And then, suddenly, one showed up and the people ahead of me bowed out and I found myself scraping together funds. I think I blocked out exactly how much it was, as a mental defense, since it was both exciting and semi-traumatic, but it was a lot... I have a lot of really nice pens, and the only one I've paid more for is my Waterman 7 red ripple with Black nib. I got them both as special pieces of pen history, so I expected to pay a lot...

 

Thinking about this is sort of giving me a mental version of that bloated post-Thanksgiving feeling. :embarrassed_smile: I think I'll go play with my Pink Lamy now...

[daenghafez]

Thanks, Kushbaby for your info.. I should have guess that earlier..

 

Our own Rick Propas, my Favorite Pelikan pusher dealer vendor..

 

Cant help it, but :roflmho: :roflmho: :roflmho: (Sorry, Rick.. )

[ClassicHippie]

That light green is gorgeous!

[hongxiu2003]

Is the M101n bigger than the old tortoise 101n？

[penmanila]

very nice collection. i had the opportunity of seeing and holding a tortoise M800 once, owned by a friend and fellow FPNer (jpr) who also got it from rick propas, i believe. lovely pen. all i have is the modern M415, which the same nice guy (jpr) donated to our pen-club raffle, but i'm not complaining

Edited May 25, 2011 by penmanila

[Bo Bo Olson]

Envy springs out from behind any leaf of grass and sinks it's six inch claws into your back, in a 1/2 a second.

 

I have two tortoise pens a '90 400 and a Boelher Tortoise Gold 1938-41 in it's got trim.

 

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm300/BoBoOlson/F7n6tDyIMsZj1282498401S.jpg

 

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm300/BoBoOlson/B05qqKwB2kKGrHqMOKiEERGChR8EBMcV7mpcw_12.jpg

 

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm300/BoBoOlson/ZL6RrVDHwYC11282498416S.jpg

 

I am still rather envious of that collection of Pelikan tortoise pens.

Those sea green ones are real nice too.

Edited May 25, 2011 by Bo Bo Olson