Pilot Metropolitan...holy Cow!

[claudewick]

For me the 78G's are too light and feel a little cheap.

 

 

+1

[inkstainedruth]

The Metro barrel has that gigantic step, which keeps me away in spite of its enormous following.

Actually, unless you have really large hands, the step is not all that noticeable. I haven't had any problems with it. But I also have smallish hands, so it's a case of YMMV.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[NewPenMan]

I don't notice any bumps steps or threads. . The metro is a perfectly comfy experience for me; I respect that everyone's hands and grip is different.

 

The 78g feels cheap to me, too and it's tragic because it's an otherwise great pen. ..

 

I'm planning on ordering up more Metropolitans, and plumexes enough to give 1.1 nibs to the metros. .I may have found my perfect pen. ..

[Algester]

https://kobe-nagasawa.co.jp/blog-umedachayamachi/pilotcocoon/

I found something interesting while on twitter seems to be limited to some shops only

http://imgur.com/qF0tieO.jpg

Edited October 28, 2015 by Algester

[Erik Dalton]

Yea, It's a sleeper isn't it. The best value pen for the buck out there. I like my metropolitans for everyday carry. Have had problems with the caps tho. Dropped one cap down and it has not snapped on tight since. So..I got an extra body and nib out of it..hehehe..

After reading someone's rave review about them, I bought a couple 78g's on the bay. Not as pleased with them. As someone already said very light weight, feel cheap and don't write for me as well as the metropolitan.

Now, if the metropolitan had a screw on cap, boy that would just be the cats meow.

[ac12]

Interesting how people comment on the light weight of the 78G, at 12 grams (with CON20 converter, no ink).

Most of the old writers were light pens, less than 20 grams, with many below 15 grams. And we are talking Parker 51,45,75,180,Classic,Vacumatic,etc.

The Pelikan M200 is 13 grams (empty).

The Lamy Safari is 17 grams (with converter and ink).

 

The Metro is 26 grams (with CON50 converter and ink),

For me, 26 grams is borderline too heavy. I cut off at 28-30 grams.

 

Different courses for different horses.

Edited October 28, 2015 by ac12

[Sasha Royale]

I cannot address the Pilot Metropolitan "Holy Cow" fountain pen. Is it a special edition ?

However, I got a few from Goulet Pens. They have a wide selection of colors and finishes.

Two of the "prettier" ones are for giving.

 

I applaud your generous sharing, and spreading the FP cause.

[NewPenMan]

just ordered a couple more, plus some plumixes so that I can put those nice italic nibs in all the pilots I have which have interchangeable nibs..

 

I am totally geeking on this whole thing..between the metros and the prera I think I am in Fountain Pen Nirvana...

 

plus, todd has noodler's Cayenne on sale for $6, so I nabbed some of that too.

 

Woo!

[Orpilorp]

My store has a cup full of Plumix pens, and I just bought 3 at $8 just so I'd have spare nibs. Although the nibs are imprinted 'M' they are actually 1.1 stubs.

 

The clerk was new. She wondered why the pens wouldn't write. I told her she would first have to put ink in them. She thanked me for my help. Sheesh.

[NewPenMan]

hah...that's funny and sad that people can be so disconnected from what a fountain pen is, how it works, etc.

 

I know it's a niche item, but I'm impressed that there are several companies worldwide investing serious effort making them, and even coming up with new ones. to me, it says that the fountain pen is far from becoming extinct.

 

SOMEbody is buying them and not just us geeks...

[brunico]

I can import a Prera from j-subculture.com for less than I get a Metropolitan/MR anywhere. I think the Prera is a much nicer pen, so at this price I think it remains the one to beat. I also prefer the Plumix to the Metropolitan/MR.

 

My store has a cup full of Plumix pens, and I just bought 3 at $8 just so I'd have spare nibs. Although the nibs are imprinted 'M' they are actually 1.1 stubs.

 

The 'M' is correct. They're actually medium italic nibs.

 

And they're not 1.1, which would be a different convention for labelling italic nibs. Pilot says they're 0.58. I've never bothered to work out who's measuring what, but the Pilot is noticeably a bit narrower than the Lamy, not half the width. And calling it an M is actually quite descriptive in relation to handwriting size, whereas your average 1.1 is really pretty broad to begin with.

[NewPenMan]

that is so weird how an expensive pen is sometimes cheaper than a cheap pen, dep. on geography, and the metro is cheap enough that it can't be all shipping costs...can it?

 

BTW, if anyone's interested, Todd at i sell pens seems to be clearing out metropolitans for $10 and $12 US..so...

[brunico]

Perhaps I should have said that j-subculture.com doesn't carry the Metropolitan.

 

Prices can be crazy, though. When the Prera first came to the UK, it was £55. I imported mine for under £15. In the UK, the price is still £40 or more, though you'd think it should be about half that, in the same price bracket as a Lamy Al-Star.

[ajcoleman]

The Metropolitan has a great nib for the price, and looks great, but I have had three, and none of them were used more than one or two weeks before the caps were shot and the pen became unusable. The cap just wears out and won't click on and stay. Pick up the pen by the cap, such as when you pull it out from your shirt pocket, and the rest pen falls to the floor. I just can't recommend them. Even a pen at that price should last longer than that.

[NewPenMan]

wow..how weird it's the caps that go south, and so soon...

[NewPenMan]

one person (after google searching) said he/she applied dabs of super glue to the worn-down nubs and that seemed to fix things.

 

it sucks that all/many of these cheap-yet-great pens have some dumb fault like cracking or loosening caps. I think the metro is worth the workaround, tho it would be lousy to grab the cap to write with the pen and discover you got nothin' else.

[Water Ouzel]

wow..how weird it's the caps that go south, and so soon...

I've had a couple for two years or more, and none of their caps have failed.

[Drone]

https://kobe-nagasawa.co.jp/blog-umedachayamachi/pilotcocoon/

I found something interesting while on twitter seems to be limited to some shops only

http://imgur.com/qF0tieO.jpg

 

Ah the inevitable insanity of Pilot/Namiki Marketing. Making pens everyone wants and then not allowing them to be sold to everyone. They do the most inexplicable things that end up costing them money. Here's a few more examples:

 

* Pilot refuses to sell the Custom 743, in Singapore. A Singapore reseller I know had to have someone in Japan buy the pen and then forwarded to him.

 

* You can buy 330ml bottles of Pilot ink in Black, Red, and Blue-Black, but NEVER in Blue. Blue only comes in 30, 50 and 70ml bottles.

 

* Pilot will sell the Custom 823 ONLY with F, M, or B No.15 nibs. But the Pilot Custom 743, which uses the exact same interchangeable No.15 nib, is available with FOURTEEN (14) different nib types. No explanation why. In like manner the Pilot Custom 845 which uses the same nib size comes only in F, M, B, and BB.

 

And don't get me started on how high the price of many Pilot pens is jacked-up for sale in the U.S. compared to Japan. But to be fair, that may be a greedy U.S. Distributor acting. But even if it is the Distributor that is price gouging - Pilot lets them!

 

I will never understand that company....

 

[Algester]

Ah the inevitable insanity of Pilot/Namiki Marketing. Making pens everyone wants and then not allowing them to be sold to everyone. They do the most inexplicable things that end up costing them money. Here's a few more examples:

 

* Pilot refuses to sell the Custom 743, in Singapore. A Singapore reseller I know had to have someone in Japan buy the pen and then forwarded to him.

 

* You can buy 330ml bottles of Pilot ink in Black, Red, and Blue-Black, but NEVER in Blue. Blue only comes in 30, 50 and 70ml bottles.

 

* Pilot will sell the Custom 823 ONLY with F, M, or B No.15 nibs. But the Pilot Custom 743, which uses the exact same interchangeable No.15 nib, is available with FOURTEEN (14) different nib types. No explanation why. In like manner the Pilot Custom 845 which uses the same nib size comes only in F, M, B, and BB.

 

And don't get me started on how high the price of many Pilot pens is jacked-up for sale in the U.S. compared to Japan. But to be fair, that may be a greedy U.S. Distributor acting. But even if it is the Distributor that is price gouging - Pilot lets them!

 

I will never understand that company....

hey... stop ranting with Pilot's marketing do you want me to rant with Sailor's marketing? what about Platinum? they have products tied to local retailers in Japan heck Sailor has a fair share of the market as well being the most prolific pen manufacturer in Japan having a bunch of exclusives here and there 80% most of the time

 

Ok I dug the info for these Metros it's a limited edition for 2015 probably only in Japan

http://i.imgur.com/LfoB3mG.png

yeah sure how bout a no longer existing sparkly C74 barrels

Edited October 29, 2015 by Algester

[Drone]

hey... stop ranting with Pilot's marketing do you want me to rant with Sailor's marketing? what about Platinum? they have products tied to local retailers in Japan heck Sailor has a fair share of the market as well being the most prolific pen manufacturer in Japan having a bunch of exclusives here and there 80% most of the time

 

Ok I dug the info for these Metros it's a limited edition for 2015 probably only in Japan

 

Hey... You did not state these were limited editions. Also the examples I cited were not special editions or reseller exclusives. Really the only blaring example by another company of the kind of crazy stuff Pilot does is the Platinum 3776 Century demonstrator versions. They were not available with anything but F, M, & B nibs in the U.S., but had many nib types elsewhere. But to Platinum's credit, they mostly fixed that.