What Was Your Last Impulsive Pen Acquisition?

[Pen Ffynnon]

2 hours ago, lascosas said:

Very Spring!

[Misfit]

8 hours ago, lascosas said:

Is this a Pluminix or Plumix?

Also where did you buy it from?

[Penguincollector]

On 4/13/2025 at 7:54 PM, Misfit said:

@Penguincollector cool to know about your Oregon cherry blossoms. My pen is ordered in honor of celebrating them. Nearby me are redbud blossoms. 
 

I got to thinking about a bookmark that I bought, and lo, it’s Falling Blossoms!

 

  That’s so pretty!  I saw that there’s also a box of desk note paper. Now I’m going to have to go back and see what else they have.

[Misfit]

@Penguincollector they have too many attractive items. 

[Penguincollector]

23 minutes ago, Misfit said:

@Penguincollector they have too many attractive items. 

 This is how we end up on the Stationery Junkie thread. 

[inkstainedruth]

50 minutes ago, Misfit said:

Is this a Pluminix or Plumix?

I was wondering the same thing (I didn't know about the "Pluminix" model -- which apparently has been discontinued -- so don't really know the differences between that and a Plumix...).

My gut reaction (especially since it seems to be the same color as mine) is that it's a Plumix, but I could be wrong....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Misfit]

The Plumix is 3cm longer vs the Pluminix. I think both are discontinued. But the Pluminix is loudly calling my name. I’m looking at Amazon France right now. Most are Plumix, but one appears to be a Pluminix. Amazon UK claimed it wouldn’t ship to my address. Looks like the France version will, but shipping is about the same amount as the pen. 

[Mercian]

10 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

(I didn't know about the "Pluminix" model -- which apparently has been discontinued -- so don't really know the differences between that and a Plumix...).

 

They are very, very similar pens, but the Pluminix is a smaller version.

The way that I remember this is by by thinking of the Pluminix as being a mini Plumix

[Manalto]

My cordovan 51 arrived. Inked it up with some Aurora black and it writes a beautiful fine line. Condition seems pretty good. $62.

 

[lascosas]

Here is a photo of the Pilot I posted above, next to a Plumix.  I think they are simply different eras of the same pen.

[Sailor Kenshin]

8 minutes ago, lascosas said:

Here is a photo of the Pilot I posted above, next to a Plumix.  I think they are simply different eras of the same pen.

And the Plumix takes Pilot carts.  The Pluminix takes standard international; that's why I got one eons ago.

[Mercian]

20 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

And the Plumix takes Pilot carts.

 

I have two (European market) Plumixes.

Both are 'chambered for' European 'Short International' cartridges.
Their 'MR'/'Metropolitan' pens for the European market also take SICs, rather than Pilot's own proprietary cartridges.
My own Metropolitan was bought from the US, and it takes Pilot's cartridges.

 

I therefore assume that the type of cartridge for which (inexpensive) Pilot pens are chambered varies according to the market that Pilot built them for.

[lascosas]

While Pilot no longer makes the Plumix, I see a couple of Aliexpress sellers have them, some selling with a con40 converter.  Also through Amazon, slightly more expensive.

[Karmachanic]

31 minutes ago, lascosas said:

While Pilot no longer makes the Plumix, I see a couple of Aliexpress sellers have them, some selling with a con40 converter

 

Original Plumix/Pluminix came with stub nibs. As far as I can tell the current Aliexpress pens do not.  I harvested original F stubs for my WingSung 698, which has the same Pilot style slotted feed.

[lascosas]

What people call the stub nib is actually the medium, which is available from both the Amazon and Aliexpress sellers. 

[Mercian]

7 minutes ago, lascosas said:

What people call the stub nib is actually the medium,

 

My two Plumixes have nibs that are marked <F> and <M> respectively.

 

But these nibs do actually have 'italic' grinds (i.e. they are straight-edged nibs, which don't have the round balls of tipping that one would expect on, say, a <M> nib on a 'Metropolitan').
The Plumix and Pluminix are, after all, sold as pens for 'calligraphy'. I presume that Pilot decided that the 'Calligraphy' part was implicit when one purchases a Plumix, and so chose only to mark the relative width of the nib(s) on the Plumix.

 

The nib on my 'Metropolitan' is marked <CM>, which I presume is intended to indicate 'Calligraphy Medium'. It is the same, straight-edged, shape of grind as the nib that is marked <M> on my Plumix.

I presume that Pilot added the 'C' to the marking on the nib that is on my 'Metropolitan' in order to distinguish that nib from the ordinary (round-tipped) <M> nibs that are commonly available on the 'Metropolitan' - which is, after all, sold as a 'student' pen for normal writing (as opposed to it being a model of pen that is intended primarily for the creation of calligraphy).

[Mercian]

Just remembered that I have uploaded a photo of the packaging in which my Plumix was sold.

 

If you look at the picture...

 

 

...you can see that, while the nib in the photo is only marked 'M', it writes the 'thick vertical and narrow horizontal' line that is characteristic of italic-ground nibs.

[lascosas]

This whole discussion started with my impulsive purchase of an old Plumix sold in a cute package.  That is an EF and the nib is not calligraphy, in fact it has a noticeable blob of tipping material.

[Mercian]

2 minutes ago, lascosas said:

This whole discussion started with my impulsive purchase of an old Plumix sold in a cute package.  That is an EF and the nib is not calligraphy, in fact it has a noticeable blob of tipping material.

 

Curiouser and curiouser!

 

It seems that, when it comes to the marketing of their fountain pens, the ways of the Pilot Corporation are destined to forever remain ineffable/inscrutable/a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma 🤷

[Gloucesterman]

Just now, Mercian said:

riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

What cleaver phrasing, Wally!