Namiki/Pilot VP Raden

[Elaine]

I just bought one at the Philly pen show. It's real purty. It asked me for a Binder 0.9 cursive italic nib. I got one. Sweeeeeeet.

[KCat]

okay - so is the Raden that much heavier than the standard models? I have two VPs, one red with rhodium, the other blue with GP. Ya'll are scaring me a bit with the "heft" comments.

[alvarez57]

okay - so is the Raden that much heavier than the standard models?  I have two VPs, one red with rhodium, the other blue with GP.  Ya'll are scaring me a bit with the "heft" comments.

Not really so, I mean, these are heavy pens to start with so if you already have some, it willnot really make a difference.

Before I bought it, I had no idea how beautiful this pen is. Photos truly don't show the depth in the "maki-e"

Edited January 27, 2007 by alvarez57

[MYU]

I went ahead and got me one of those Raden pens, thanks to all of the enthusiasm brimming over on this website.

 

And I have to say that I'm VERY pleased with the purchase. It's one of my top favorite pens now. I also appreciate the Namiki stamped nib. I've heard it's not supposed to be any different than the Pilot stamped nibs, but I did a size-to-size comparison and I find the Namiki is a little leaner (with a touch of extra flex). I don't know if this is due to production run differences.

 

Anyway, I sure ate my words (Re: earlier in the thread I said they weren't worth the price--munch, munch, gulp!).

[Johnson]

QUOTE (MYU @ Mar 14 2007, 08:26 PM)

I went ahead and got me one of those Raden pens, thanks to all of the enthusiasm brimming over on this website. And I have to say that I'm VERY pleased with the purchase. It's one of my top favorite pens now. I also appreciate the Namiki stamped nib. I've heard it's not supposed to be any different than the Pilot stamped nibs, but I did a size-to-size comparison and I find the Namiki is a little leaner (with a touch of extra flex). I don't know if this is due to production run differences. Anyway, I sure ate my words (Re: earlier in the thread I said they weren't worth the price--munch, munch, gulp!).

Congratulations! This pen continues to tempt me. However, I recently purchased a Fermo, so I'm waiting to receive that and use it for a bit before I contemplate another VP purchase.

[MYU]

QUOTE (Johnson @ Mar 14 2007, 09:33 PM)

Congratulations! This pen continues to tempt me. However, I recently purchased a Fermo, so I'm waiting to receive that and use it for a bit before I contemplate another VP purchase.

Hey Johnson - congrats on your Fermo! It looks like a really solid pen and has that nice feature of a twist knob instead of the click button.

 

Honestly, I was very tempted to get one of the newer designs... but I realized that I really do appreciate the previous generation and that Pilot won't be making a Raden Decimo or Fermo--so, had to go with this one.

 

Please post a review once you've gotten your Fermo--I'd like to hear your specific point of view, as I know how much you like the VP!

 

~Gary

[Freeloader]

I'm glad this got bumped because I've been thinking, dreaming, wondering about a Raden. I guess I need to go ahead and pull the trigger.

 

Johnson, where'd you get your Fermo?

[meanwhile]

QUOTE (scogre @ Jan 27 2007, 02:21 AM)

If you're thinking this hard about it, then you really need to get one! I bought mine from Pam Braun, and she does work a deal that is hard to turn down!

..A free horse's head in your bed with every pen!

 

No, seriously, Pam seems to be at the very top end of sellers along with Lewertowski, Speerbob, Russ Sutler, and Engeika (whose ebay account will get unhacked again soon, I hope).

[Johnson]

QUOTE (MYU @ Mar 14 2007, 08:40 PM)

QUOTE (Johnson @ Mar 14 2007, 09:33 PM) Congratulations!  This pen continues to tempt me.  However, I recently purchased a Fermo, so I'm waiting to receive that and use it for a bit before I contemplate another VP purchase. Hey Johnson - congrats on your Fermo! It looks like a really solid pen and has that nice feature of a twist knob instead of the click button.   Honestly, I was very tempted to get one of the newer designs... but I realized that I really do appreciate the previous generation and that Pilot won't be making a Raden Decimo or Fermo--so, had to go with this one.   Please post a review once you've gotten your Fermo--I'd like to hear your specific point of view, as I know how much you like the VP!   ~Gary Sure, I'll do my best to post a full review once I've spent some time with it. I understand that the immediate downside of the Fermo is that it takes two hands, as opposed to one, to get the nib out. But I am attracted to the pen's design, it just seems very cool to me. Plus I just wanted to try something different.

[maryannemoll]

Johnson, can you please include ink capacity in your review? I hope you don't mind. Just a simple comparison with a few pens will do.

 

Thanks so much!

[MYU]

Where can you get a Rhodium plated nib for a decent price? The only place I've found so far is CultPens, but they want £35.00! That's double what you'd pay on eBay for a yellow gold nib.

[meanwhile]

QUOTE (MYU @ Mar 15 2007, 08:12 PM)

Where can you get a Rhodium plated nib for a decent price? The only place I've found so far is CultPens, but they want £35.00! That's double what you'd pay on eBay for a yellow gold nib.

Why not mail one of the Japanese sellers like Russ Suttler, Ujuku, etc?

[Dan Carmell]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v255/dcarmell/dec1.jpg

I thought there just weren't enough photos of the VP Raden on this thread, so I thought I'd add one!

 

grins, Dan

[MYU]

QUOTE (dcarmell @ Mar 15 2007, 05:22 PM)

I thought there just weren't enough photos of the VP Raden on this thread, so I thought I'd add one!

Nice pair there, Dan. I especially like the contrast of the ice blue to the Raden. I never get tired of seeing more Raden pics. These most definitely should go down in fountain pen history as one of the most beautiful Pilot/Namiki pens ever (exclusive of the top priced Maki-e pens, of course).

[bobioden]

Here's my new one, along with my Mustard Yellow.

 

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b243/bobioden/raden.jpg

[andyr7]

QUOTE

Where can you get a Rhodium plated nib for a decent price? The only place I've found so far is CultPens, but they want £35.00! That's double what you'd pay on eBay for a yellow gold nib.

 

Cult Pens deserve at least a small price premium for their enterprise in sourcing these nibs and when you compare this price to the normal UK price for gold nibs, their price is not unreasonable, especially when you consider how good their service is.

 

What is totally unreasonable is the fact that Pilot set the UK prices so high in comparison with the US.

 

Andy

[Taki]

I've asked Itoya once and the MSRP of Rhodium coated nib is 7000 yen or US$65 or so at current exchange rate. They are 18K gold. I don't know the price of yellow gold nib - I didn't ask.

 

Retail Price of VP(called Capless in Japan) is much higher than that of the U.S., and regular VPs with gold nib(18K) is priced same as decimo. There is a cheaper model(about the price in the US) but it comes with a steel nib.

 

Anyway my point is US consumers should consider themselves lucky to be able to get VP's and spare nib units at such a reasonable price, and Cult Pens' price might be just reflecting the price they get it from thier wholesaler or distributor (plus their margin).

Edited March 16, 2007 by Taki

[RonB]

QUOTE (andyr7 @ Mar 16 2007, 05:40 AM)

What is totally unreasonable is the fact that Pilot set the UK prices so high in comparison with the US.

Could it be import duties, taxes, the distributor or some other explaination?

[Ben]

QUOTE (MYU @ Mar 15 2007, 03:12 PM)

Where can you get a Rhodium plated nib for a decent price?  The only place I've found so far is CultPens, but they want £35.00!  That's double what you'd pay on eBay for a yellow gold nib.

You can send your nib to Daniel Kirchheimer for rhodium plating. I plan to do so at some point.

Edited March 16, 2007 by Ben

[andyr7]

QUOTE

QUOTE (andyr7 @ Mar 16 2007, 05:40 AM) What is totally unreasonable is the fact that Pilot set the UK prices so high in comparison with the US. Could it be import duties, taxes, the distributor or some other explaination?

 

No, I was told by at least one dealer that Pilot position these pens in the market as a luxury item in the UK, there is no other reason for the differential. Apparently, it is much cheaper for a UK seller to buy a Raden VP retail from the US than it is to buy direct from Pilot in this country at trade price. The packaging is rather more upmarket than the US packaging but not worthy of charging double the price.

 

Mind you we see a similar effect with a 1:1 pound to dollar equivalent pricing on very many products over here which means we are almost paying twice as much for a lot of things.

 

Andy