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A To Use Or Not To Use Dilemma


fplover01

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So here is the thing. I have over the years moved up from the M20xs to M80xs pens. I discovered i liked the size of the M80x so much that I decided for fewer and more expensive pens and sold my 60xs and my 20xs (apart from one m205).

 

I bought this M800 on ebay... It was advertised as never used and was clearly the old style. it was cheaper than buying a new pen and while it is not what exactly i would like to have (I do prefer the silver trim of the M805 over the M800 and the green stripes are not my first preference, I like the blue ones, furthermore I love the newer style with the all metal cap end, I know most people like the old one but I never appreciated it really), I bought it to have a cheaper M800 pen to use without feeling guilty of carrying 300 Euros in a pen case in my pocket.

 

Now when the pen came... I discovered first it was not ununsed, the reservoir was clean of ink but there was dried royal blue ink in the feed and the typical marks from screwing the cap on the binde (although light ones). I flushed the pen and run it through a cheap ultrasonic cleaner I have and the nib came out like new. Examining it closely, it is a very well preserved sample and what more, the cap has the W. Germany mark on it. That would place production in the time of late 1989 to 1992 or a bit later. I think it is not a frankenpen since the seller had a set of matching ballpoint etc... So this pen is almost as old as I am.... And realistically I could not have been around to buy it at th time

 

That said despite all my initial expectations I fell in love with it. I filled it with pelikan Blue Black and wrote with it, it gave me a very nice feeling. Nib is different than my modern 805s, a bit less wide or should i call it more precise, still it gets a wider line down the paper than most pens. Thats no problem, I like wide wet nibs, this one is not better or worse than my modern ones, just has a different feeling.

 

i discover I like this pen a lot and now I am torn between using it as i originally thought (well not carrying it but using it as a desk pen to write on my diary) and cleaning it up and putting it away as a collectors piece.

 

What do you people think of this? Would you use this one? And do you think that the Pelikan Blue Black might eventually damage the pen due to the irongall it contains? I dont have enough experience with irongall inks (this blue black is a recent addition to someone loving black and blue), much less on an already old pen. I do take care of my pens, but I am not the kind of guy who cleans them up every week. i tend to write with them and keep them inked for long periods, filling up once a week. Clean my writers two times a year, before christmas and before in august, but all this with simple lamy blue and black inks.

 

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Use it. Enjoy it. No enjoyment comes from keeping it locked in a display case other than the visual. These are tactile beast and should be enjoyed as such. These are not so rare or so fragile as to not qualify as daily users. Your call but I'd love every minute of use I got out of it if it were me.

 

Pelikan still reports on their site that the blue-black has a degree of iron gall in it. I think that it is a more gentle formulation for fountain pens. I would favor not letting it dry in the pen but wouldn't go crazy with maintenance. Once a month should likely be enough.

Edited by sargetalon

PELIKAN - Too many birds in the flock to count. My pen chest has proven to be a most fertile breeding ground.

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THE PELIKAN'S PERCH - A growing reference site for all things Pelikan

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The problem is not the pen, it is you. Don't think to much and let the pen enjoy drinking the ink. It is born to do it.

 

The Blue-black is not like the vintage iron-gall. So If you like the color, use it. Just remember to flush it throughly after 4 or 5 refills if you write regularly.

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Thank you for the nice comments... I am not normally the type of guy who puts pens away to collect... that is one of the reasons I am a long time inactive member, i prefer to write with pens, than talk about them. I have written with the 200 series for ten years now, I cannot remember when I touched a ballpoint the last time. I admire Pelikans, a functional design, which has been proven over time and with evolution continues to do what it was designed for originally... to write, rather than being a jewel, ornament or whatever. Every other modern or vintage fountain pen has not kept my interest (well apart from a lamy vista I have in my pocket).

 

and yes the problem is not the pen but me. I bought this one out of budget, expecting a cheaper and less desirable pen (as said the design was not my favourite) so as not to be afraid to use it. But it hit me quite sentimentally that it comes from a world that changed right after I was born and i still faintly remember as a child and the seller hadnt described it that way, so it was a surprise. And now I am looking for excuses and money to buy the new style green M800 because I do like the design after all. Well this hobby isnt supposed to be rational.... So unless someone disagrees, I will keep this bird as a desk pen to write my diary...

 

And I am finding myself more and more looking into the history of the M800, while in the past it was boring to me, to check minor details over time... I guess I am becoming something of acollector after all.

Edited by fplover01
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Before you proceed, take a good photograph of the pristine Pelikan. Have the picture framed, or use it as "screen saver". Then, use the pen with all joy. You will always have the beautiful, mint fountain pen, in a photo, to admire.

 

(Having the cake and eating it, too, through technology.)

Auf freiem Grund mit freiem Volke stehn.
Zum Augenblicke dürft ich sagen:
Verweile doch, du bist so schön !

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Use and enjoy. 4001 Blue-Black is my all-time favourite ink and you can't go far wrong. Great pens - I've just been making some notes with mine.

The Good Captain

"Meddler's 'Salamander' - almost as good as the real thing!"

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Use it. Maybe if you put it away and don't touch it for 82 years, it might become a collectors pen.

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A thoughtful original post and an interesting consensus.

 

I attended a sad little estate auction a few years back and realized that most of our possessions are just junk to most other people. Your pen, like mine, are only meaningful to fountain pen nuts who do things like read this website.

 

I say use it.

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I was at an antique store, talking to the owner. He is a retired police officer, so, he has plenty to talk about, especially as it related to his business and the human condition. Michigan is absolutely correct- pens or other objects just dont mean much to people. In the ex-Policeman's shop, he pointed me to a box, which was filled with mostly ballpoints but alsoa few FPs. I found 4 MB 149s in the box, and paid $20.00 for 4 pens!!!!!

So, like everyone has said, use your pen, put it to use in the manner for which it was designed. Otherwise it just becomes a bauble that no one else cares for.

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A pen is not truly happy until it has been kissed by ink. ; ) Use the pen -- let the pen serve its purpose and let yourself enjoy its smooth glide on paper with the flow of ink. : )

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Unless you have an intention to sell it, to use or not to use is not a dilemma, at least for me. Use the pen, it was designed for it. Preserving it under covers serves no purpose whatsoever unless you are a (serious) collector and even then I find it weird.

 

As far as damage to the pen from the blue-black, I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you don't leave the pen unused with ink in it for long periods of times (think more than a month) it won't be a problem. It's a Pelikan ink, they are very well behaved and are very easy to clean out from pens. I'd worry more about inks from other boutique makers. I tend to follow Rick Propas's advice when it comes to inking my nicer pens, use an ink from a pen manufacturer (Noodler's doesn't count there) or a Diamine. Anything other than those don't get into my nicer pens.

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The issue is solved. Pen performs very nice with the Pelikan Blue-Black ink on the Leuchturm notebook I use. I have never been quite satisfied with a couple of other combinations of pen and blue-black ink but i always wanted to write on my diary with Blue Black and not with black or blue and with a M80x pen. So this pretty much cuts the deal, I am going to use this pen for my diary and my calendar.

 

Thanks to all those who provided positive feedback and helped me to see, why I originally bought this pen. Because I never really bought it to put it away.

 

About the meaning of our stuff for others, I am well aware that to someone else after I am gone the pen might not be worth anything at all. But I do really hope that my wonderful wife and me will have children and one of them might appreciate a pen their father wrote a love letter to their mother once, or a pen their mother bought me for my birthday. I met my wife in 2004, and even at that time most flirting was already virtual with SMS, but even though she wont care about pens, she appreciates a nice handwritten note. I am proud to have my grandfathers watch and other stuff from him, I would hope my children would want the same.

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Pelikan BB is one of the safest ink and I use it because (1) i like the color (2) it is drier than other inks. I use it even on more 'sensible' vintage fountain pens (BHR).

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The issue is solved. Pen performs very nice with the Pelikan Blue-Black ink on the Leuchturm notebook I use. I have never been quite satisfied with a couple of other combinations of pen and blue-black ink but i always wanted to write on my diary with Blue Black and not with black or blue and with a M80x pen. So this pretty much cuts the deal, I am going to use this pen for my diary and my calendar.

 

Thanks to all those who provided positive feedback and helped me to see, why I originally bought this pen. Because I never really bought it to put it away.

 

About the meaning of our stuff for others, I am well aware that to someone else after I am gone the pen might not be worth anything at all. But I do really hope that my wonderful wife and me will have children and one of them might appreciate a pen their father wrote a love letter to their mother once, or a pen their mother bought me for my birthday. I met my wife in 2004, and even at that time most flirting was already virtual with SMS, but even though she wont care about pens, she appreciates a nice handwritten note. I am proud to have my grandfathers watch and other stuff from him, I would hope my children would want the same.

 

My worst nightmare: One day my wife will sold all of my pens at the price i told her i paid for them :lticaptd:

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That is a concern for many of us here, and not just you... It is always good to try to avoid the price discussion...

 

While this is a rather distasteful job to do, I am putting together a sealed letter which indicates what of my stuff can be sold and what might be a reasonable price level. Pens which are new in box and have never been inked are in the for sale category if desired, the ones I have used for a long time and can tell a personal story would go to my children. I suspect my wife would keep the rest of the pens though, she thinks it is a short of personal trademark ("cannot imagine you without messing around with fountain pens, you were like that ever since I met you").

Edited by fplover01
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To tell, or not to tell your wife the real price for the pens, that is the question. Especially pens like Toledo.

Edited by tacitus

Please visit my website Modern Pelikan Pens for the latest information. It is updating and correcting original articles posted in "Dating Pelikan fountain Pen".

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My worst nightmare: One day my wife will sold all of my pens at the price i told her i paid for them :lticaptd:

 

Live by the sword, die by the sword..... :lticaptd: I am not married so I do not have that dilemma. However, is it possible that IF you told your wife what your pens ACTUALLY cost ( :yikes:) you would meet your maker much sooner than expected?

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I attended a sad little estate auction a few years back and realized that most of our possessions are just junk to most other people. Your pen, like mine, are only meaningful to fountain pen nuts who do things like read this website.

 

Ironic timing, this thread. Just told my mother I'm planning to amend the will, adding the pens (all of them, not just the $$$ ones).

 

Whether the nephew who's getting them uses them or not, makes no difference. Someday, one of his kids will be able to say "My wild great aunt used these 100 years ago...."

Why are there fourteen samples of dark plum ink on my desk? Because I still haven't found the right shade.

Is that a problem...??? : : : sigh : : :

 

Update: Great. Finally found one I love (Lamy Dark Lilac) but I can't get more. Ah, life in my inky world....

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