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Blog Post: "festercrook, The Modern Esterbrook"


Drone

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"Festercrook, the Modern Esterbrook"

 

There's a fiery post on the { Phil Olin } Blog about the "new" (retread) Esterbrook Company, an outrageous attempt at a Massdrop rip-off, when it was stopped, and how Massdrop sanitized the debacle. Here's the link. [be sure to bookmark it because it seems these days there's a good chance this post will be Censored here on the FPN]:

 

http://philolin.me/festercrook-the-modern-esterbrook/

 

It seems to me that the "new" Esterbrook company tried to sell via Massdrop a pen that is surely a cheap Pakistani or Indian school pen - for $50 bucks! The only thing different about the awful Esterbrook pen offering is the vile vomiting of the vintage Esterbrook logo on the barrel.

 

Shame on you Robert Rosenberg of the "new" Esterbrook Company.

 

This unsavory story reminds me of the "Stipula Splash" pen; a super-cheap Pakistani school pen that was cosmetically embellished in a minor way and offered for for $80 USD each. Wasn't it Yafa Pens that was (is) behind the Stipula Splash? Didn't Robert Rosenberg scrape-up the lapsed Conklin trademark and sell it to Yafa as a (yet another) vintage brand retread?

 

And while we're at, here's a link to the venerable thread on the Esterbrook resurrection here on the FPN. It is worth a read as a sort-of back-story:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/277581-esterbrook-brand-being-revived-this-december/

Edited by Drone
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Thank you for posting it, drone.

I was unaware of the recent massdrop attempt and later failure. It's also reassuring to see that Mr. Rosenberg is still with his old tactics, that is trying to bully people into censoring criticism.

 

As I was reading up on these developments again, I also found a blog post by peneconomics ( here http://www.peneconomics.com/blog/2015/2/8/esterbrook-pens ) that gives details about the earlier attempts of this brand revival. It tries to remind the pen community not to react too nastily on such endeavors, but also says that the revival seemed like a bit fat heap of incompetence.

 

Personally, I took most offence in Mr. Rosenberg's attempt at misusing kickstarter, in which he tried to just just sell the pens that were already in stock and (more so) that were at the time already on sale at fahrneys.

That's of course, in total contrast to what kickstarter campaigns are really meant for.

 

As you can imagine, that campaign also crashed and burned and reached only 16% of its desired goal.

(Link here https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/esterbrook/esterbrook-luxury-pens-and-fine-writing-instrument?ref=category )

To be fair though, that campaign also offered one new product, a 30 dollars entry level, exclusive kickstarter-only pen that looked also not that great (different, but like this new "M-2"). The "esterbrook"-print on that was even badly done on the campaign photo)

 

I agree that, in general, we mustn't be nasty to business people trying to make it out there, but if one were to use shady practices, censor the truth, try to 'pull a fast one' and not offer any real service (e.g. re-branding an item that you could, pretty much already buy on ebay for a fraction of the price) then I feel it justified to call such things out.

And don't mess with kickstarter because I like kickstarter.

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Loved the article. I had been reading the FPN thread about the failed Massdrop just a couple of days ago; and this just made for fascinating reading....

Also loved the fact that the first comment was from Brian Anderson....

Thanks for posting the link.

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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Revealing. I don't want to spend any more on pens anyway, but it's good to see that the revival is a sham. They are not making a product, just reselling a relabeled item.

"Don't hurry, don't worry. It's better to be late at the Golden Gate than to arrive in Hell on time."
--Sign in a bar and grill, Ormond Beach, Florida, 1960.

 

 

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Very interesting. The moment I first saw the revived "Esterbrooks" I knew immediately they, at least, were not for me, and most likely complete rubbish.

 

Anyone know if they're also behind the occasional Esterbrook-branded thing I see being sold? For example there's a t-shirt I see advertised that just says "It's an Esterbrook Thing".

 

I'm a big fan of some of the old ads from various pen manufacturers and I've thought about making up a design or two for t-shirts or sweatshirts, etc... I'd hate to put something together using an old Esterbrook ad and have this guy come after me for copyright infringement. Maybe I'll start with dip pen manufacturers who have been out of business for over 60 years. (or more)

 

“When the historians of education do equal and exact justice to all who have contributed toward educational progress, they will devote several pages to those revolutionists who invented steel pens and blackboards.” V.T. Thayer, 1928

Check out my Steel Pen Blog

"No one is exempt from talking nonsense; the mistake is to do it solemnly."

-Montaigne

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One of the ironies of this thread is that one of the pens that got me into fountain pens was one of those re-issues of the Conklin Symmetric, which I still have, and still like. It's just too big. I may have to dig it out again.

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