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Pelikan Souverän M400 Brown Tortoise


legume

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As soon as I discovered the original M800 Brown Tortoise, it was my favorite Pelikan and THE end game to my fountain pen acquirement to own one someday. Of course at that point it was just a pipe dream. It was practically semi-mythical and sold for over $2000 on the rare occasions it might surface. There was no way I would spend that kind of money on a pen on principle. So like many others I held on to the great hope that Pelikan would one day decide to produce it again and our collective dream was fulfilled, though not exactly as we'd hoped.

 

Nevertheless, I saved up for it and once I had the funds ready, I waited. For nearly a year. I had the money, I knew what nib I wanted and which seller I could buy it most cheaply from, but for some reason I just kept waiting. I watched others post wonderful reviews of the pen, most notably this recently revived thread from FPN member Niagara Falls. There I saw the M400 Brown Tortoise and decided that it, along with the M800 Brown Tortoise would be my ultimate Pelikan mini collection. Eventually. It was long discontinued and I didn't expect to come across a M400 Brown Tortoise any time soon.

 

Then last week I finally made up my mind to buy the new M800. I was going to buy it from ebay, but for some reason decided to browse Regina Martini's auction site first. I saw the M400, and I snapped it up. I had spent months prevaricating with the last pen I'd bought, and nearly a year with the M800, and yet in the span of a few minutes I'd purchased the M400. I probably spent too much on it, but I don't even have a hint of buyer's remorse. It hasn't arrived yet though, so maybe that will change.

 

fpn_1393023522__r0013116.jpg

This is one of the best pictures I've found of the pen. All credits to this Japanese blog entry from 2012.

 

I had been under the impression that the particular M400 Brown Tortoise I bought was exlcusive to the Galeria Kaufhof and had been in limited production. Regina told me that it was not a limited or special edition of any sort, nor was it exclusive to any retailer, but for some reason ended up being produced for only a short time. Regina also added that the tortoise color on this binde is the same as the original M800 tortoise, so that's nice.

 

I'd like to get more information on the M400 Brown Tortoise. When was it produced? Was it just a regular M400, or actually a special edition like the white tortoise is? Do members around here own this pen? How do you like it?

 

It'll be here any day now. I'm so excited!

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Lucky you, congratulations!!! I love that version of the brown tortoise. From what I've gathered, there were different brown tortoises produced in the 80's

and 90's. I think the one with double rings would be from the 90's Spanish production (check out estilofilos' blogspost has a post on the different productions of brown tortoises), but maybe someone else with more knowledge can comment. I'm surprised the description didn't mention a date or whether it was for inport/exported edition.

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Lucky you, congratulations!!! I love that version of the brown tortoise. From what I've gathered, there were different brown tortoises produced in the 80's

and 90's. I think the one with double rings would be from the 90's Spanish production (check out estilofilos' blogspost has a post on the different productions of brown tortoises), but maybe someone else with more knowledge can comment. I'm surprised the description didn't mention a date or whether it was for inport/exported edition.

Thank you. I checked out the blog post you mentioned, and unfortunately it only gives information on the larger M800 tortoises. And I thought it had been confirmed by Pelikan that the original M800 Brown Tortoise had not been produced for any particular market, but didn't sell well and were discontinued early. I find it interesting that there should be particularly many of them in Japan, but that may just be because Japanese buyers bought the pen internationally. I hadn't realized that Pelikan had such a following in Japan, but then again, my picture of the M400 Brown Tortoise is from a Japanese blog.

 

I pulled up and reread the thread Pelikan M400 Kaufhof Galeria Brown Tortoise Variations!? from FPN member Bill. Looks like I misread the posts, and the M400 I bought never had anything to do with the Galeria Kaufhof.

 

 

The pen at the top of Bill's picture is an early current style M400. These were featured on www.pelikan.de until around the turn of the century although it was difficult to find this colour.

Martin

 

 

QUOTE(Bill @ Jun 29 2008, 03:03 AM) 654512[/snapback]
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm82/spanielgang/kaufhofcomparo1698.jpg

 

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm82/spanielgang/kaufhofcomparo1700.jpg

 

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm82/spanielgang/kaufhofcomparo1703.jpg

 

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm82/spanielgang/kaufhofcomparo1708.jpg

 

In our local Galeria Kaufhof, I've seen them both in their displays (but haven't bought any). The upper, modern M400/K400 set was sold only during a short period of time for Euro 99 and never reappeared since then (was that 2 years ago? I'm unsure).

The lower "old style" version is available every now and then, currently for Euro 129, and is indeed a FP/MP combo of the same colour.

The blue "export only" M605 is also available there every now and then for Euro 99.

These were the best references to the M400 Brown Tortoise with gold rings that I could find. That it was produced some time in the early century. But I already knew that. Though if it really was 99 euros, I really overpaid for it. :rolleyes:

 

If anyone else has any more information, please share!

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Hello!

 

I have two M400-sized brown tortoise Pelikan Souveran fountain pens. One was manufactured in the mid-1980s and is similar to the M400 pictured with no rings at the pump handle. It has a brown tortoise binde and black resin cap and barrel. It also has an engraved logo on the cap top with two chicks, and it came fitted with a single-tone 14K nib (two chicks).

 

The other pen's box is marked "M401" on one end and "M400" on the other end. It was purchased new from the Fountain Pen Hospital in 2009 (possibly manufactured in 2008), and also has no gold rings at the pump handle. This pen has a screened cap top logo with one chick, the binde is brown tortoise, but the resin parts are dark brown. The logo on the single-tone 14K nib has one chick and was manufactured, as far as I know, specially for this brown tortoise version.

 

I hope this information is helpful.

 

/Robert

No matter where you go, there you are.

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I had been under the impression that the particular M400 Brown Tortoise I bought was exlcusive to the Galeria Kaufhof and had been in limited production. Regina told me that it was not a limited or special edition of any sort, nor was it exclusive to any retailer, but for some reason ended up being produced for only a short time. Regina also added that the tortoise color on this binde is the same as the original M800 tortoise, so that's nice.

 

 

It is true what Regina says. The new-style tortoise M400 was produced only for a short time. Shown here is from the 1999 catalog:

post-24482-0-38130100-1393302238_thumb.jpg

 

is the M400 in green-stripe with optional blue-striped, tortoise, and black. Note that the red-stripe has yet to be introduced. Within in the next year or so the tortoise model was discontinued.

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The other pen's box is marked "M401" on one end and "M400" on the other end. It was purchased new from the Fountain Pen Hospital in 2009 (possibly manufactured in 2008), and also has no gold rings at the pump handle. This pen has a screened cap top logo with one chick, the binde is brown tortoise, but the resin parts are dark brown. The logo on the single-tone 14K nib has one chick and was manufactured, as far as I know, specially for this brown tortoise version.

 

 

 

The 2009 one is the M415 and was a limited edition. Notice the single tone nib with a larger than the regular M400 Iridium tip. When Pelikan ran out of this nib, I believe some were sold with the regular M400 nib which is what I have. Once these nibs were gone, you had to settle with the regular M400 nib.

 

Pelikan M415 Brown Tortoise LE 2009

post-71302-0-54365500-1393306392_thumb.jpg

 

post-71302-0-12391800-1393306324_thumb.jpg

Edited by max dog
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My '90's M400 tortoise brown cap and piston cap are so dark, I thought it black. After looking in Rudiger's site, found out after I placed it next to a black pen....if you looked real hard it was a very very dark brown.

I have a 400N and 500 and the tortoise is much lighter than my '90's M400.

The '90's pen body looks dull under the rolled gold 500's cap. Looks just fine under its black-brown cap.

 

Tortoise is a very slippery slope. I need a 400NN in tortoise...even buy one of those junky nibbed modern ones....buy a real nib for it.

Then there are the other tortoises like Rick's collection. :puddle:

 

I do have hopes ..... I just doubled my speculative investments this week.

 

 

I played the lottery twice.

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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It is true what Regina says. The new-style tortoise M400 was produced only for a short time. Shown here is from the 1999 catalog:

 

attachicon.gifpelikan_99b.JPG

 

is the M400 in green-stripe with optional blue-striped, tortoise, and black. Note that the red-stripe has yet to be introduced. Within in the next year or so the tortoise model was discontinued.

Thanks for the solid information. I wonder why they discontinued it. Did it cost more than the other models? I can't imagine that they wouldn't have sold well.

 

I can honestly say, the brown tortoise m400 is the best looking oen I have ever seen. Congratulations.

Thank you! I passed over quite a few pens so that I could get this. I think I'm very fortunate to have come across it.
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Thanks for the solid information. I wonder why they discontinued it. Did it cost more than the other models? I can't imagine that they wouldn't have sold well.

 

 

I think its because Pelikan wants to keep the Tortoise for limited editions.

In a world where there are no eyes the sun would not be light, and in a world where there were no soft skins rocks would not be hard, nor in a world where there were no muscles would they be heavy. Existence is relationship and you're smack in the middle of it.

- Alan Watts

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When I started contemplating getting a Pelikan, I was initially considering the striated blue. And at some point I might be able to afford one. But getting a 400 brown tortoise on Ebay was the best decision I could have made: cheaper than a new Pelikan would have been (I managed to score it for a bit under my maximum bid), and the 14K nib on it is stellar: smooth and with a bit of flex to it. Started it off with a sample of Yama-guri, because for some reason the pen was crying out for brown ink. Sadly, that got used up, and I'm feeling too poor to be buying ink at the moment, so right now it's got vintage Quink Brown in it (which turned out to also be a good choice).

Now that my life has settled a bit, I will try to get photos of it posted soon. I've been trying to get info about it (I posted a link to the original listing and was told by more knowledgable folks that it's probably from the 1980s or 90s), but that's about all I know so far. In one of the comparison photos that legume posted from the old thread, I would say that the logo on the cap on mine is like the one on the left side in the photo, but mine does not have the double rings.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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Thanks for the solid information. I wonder why they discontinued it. Did it cost more than the other models? I can't imagine that they wouldn't have sold well.

 

Green-striped pens sold, tortoise ones did not. The demand for tortoise pens has always been limited (primarily collectors and enthusiasts).

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Green-striped pens sold, tortoise ones did not. The demand for tortoise pens has always been limited (primarily collectors and enthusiasts).

 

Hard to imagine that, but I guess the market is unpredictable. That and the fact that collectors and enthusiasts pay a lot more for a 'LE' pen.

In a world where there are no eyes the sun would not be light, and in a world where there were no soft skins rocks would not be hard, nor in a world where there were no muscles would they be heavy. Existence is relationship and you're smack in the middle of it.

- Alan Watts

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  • 3 years later...

Hello!

 

I have two M400-sized brown tortoise Pelikan Souveran fountain pens. One was manufactured in the mid-1980s and is similar to the M400 pictured with no rings at the pump handle. It has a brown tortoise binde and black resin cap and barrel. It also has an engraved logo on the cap top with two chicks, and it came fitted with a single-tone 14K nib (two chicks).

 

The other pen's box is marked "M401" on one end and "M400" on the other end. It was purchased new from the Fountain Pen Hospital in 2009 (possibly manufactured in 2008), and also has no gold rings at the pump handle. This pen has a screened cap top logo with one chick, the binde is brown tortoise, but the resin parts are dark brown. The logo on the single-tone 14K nib has one chick and was manufactured, as far as I know, specially for this brown tortoise version.

 

I hope this information is helpful.

 

/Robert

 

Both pens should have, if Tortoise variants indeed, not black resin cap and section and piston knob (at the barrel) but the dark brown, which should be possible to observe under the certain light conditions.

 

The other pen, if it has two rings at the cap, could be the M415, but the marks obviously say something else.

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This thread is four years old.

 

 

Kinda like falling asleep on the couch watching the golf tournament, then waking up and seeing a clip of Tiger Woods on the screen :wacko: "wha, what day is it?"

"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working." -Pablo Picasso


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