New Pelikan M120 Se Comparisons

[The Good Captain]

I know there has been a lot of discussion and speculation about the recent/new Pelikan SE M120. Controversy seems to revolve around the price tag of this pen and the relative lower costs of one of the 'originals' from the original release in the 50s. Well, be that as it may. This new pen is not a re-release of that beloved classic: it's a re-designed 'classic' in its own right. And in case you're asking, I paid for mine...

 

Got it on Friday and I apologise for the awful quality of the following pics as although I trained as a professional photographer, I never had to deal with the minutiae of close-up stuff. Just the humdrum of magazines, photojournalism and so on. Not pens! so, bear with me.

 

Firstly, the new M120 is larger than the old one - assuming that the M140 I have by way of comparison, was/is the same size as the original M120. It is larger! The following two pics show a few comparisons but were taken with a camera where the distortion doesn't quite take care of the perspective.

 

 

L to R: M101N Red Tortoise; M100N; M140; M205; new M120 and finally M600.

 

Then some of the above, un-capped.

 

 

L to R: M140; M205 and new M120.

 

I know it's not so clear as explained but the new M120 has virtually the same barrel and section size as the M200/400 pens. Grest to use un-posted!

 

Finally, a series of the relevant ones, against a ruler - the previous pics were taken on 5mm squared paper.

 

M140 measured capped

M140 measured un-capped

 

M400 measured capped

M400 measured un-capped

 

And finally:

New M120 measured capped

New M120 measured un-capped

 

So; a real and pleasant surprise! A 'new' pen! I bought mine with a F nib and it really does behave very well. As it happens, I'm using the new Pelikan 4001 Dark Green in it and that too was a very pleasant surprise. A really nice ink - I'm just doing my paltry review of it later.

 

So; don't be put off by the 'hype' that surrounds what people call a 're-release' of a pen. In this case, Pelican have got it right - it's a different beast! Lash out, and enjoy!

 

[Drone]

Thanks for the review (really). But the review confirms what I think about this offering from Pelikan: A cheap school-pen "retread" with a steel nib for more than $200 USD, street price (Yikes! ). Only the Stipula "Splash" (remember that one?) comes to mind as a worse example.

[carlos.q]

Thanks for the review! Is the steel nib "springy" like the M200/205 series nibs?

[The Good Captain]

Thanks for the review! Is the steel nib "springy" like the M200/205 series nibs?

Yes, it is. Whether one buys or not, is down to personal taste. The fact that it is a different pen, not a direct 'copy', was the point of my 'review'.

[The Good Captain]

Thanks for the review (really). But the review confirms what I think about this offering from Pelikan: A cheap school-pen "retread" with a steel nib for more than $200 USD, street price (Yikes! ). Only the Stipula "Splash" (remember that one?) comes to mind as a worse example.

I take it that you won't be buying one, then? Doesn't matter a damn to me, of course.

[da vinci]

An insightful and helpful review, thank you

[Martinsroom]

Thanks for the review. Useful and the size discrepancy with the old version is interesting. I may end up getting one of these and I think if people are willing to pay the going rate for an m200 then this is effectively the same guts in a different outer design.

[grainweevil]

Thank you for the comparison, Skipper. Something of a surprise. To be honest it appears to have exactly the same barrel, section, and possibly cap as the M2xx, just with round ends instead of flat. Which would be the economical way to do it, and to my cynical mind, suggests the difference in size from the original 120 was not so much a design choice, as a financial one. As a result I find myself in a state of ho-hum about the whole thing.

[Drone]

I take it that you won't be buying one, then? Doesn't matter a damn to me, of course.

 

I'll admit, my post was skeptical. But I'm still open to buying this pen if it is truly high-quality. I'll wait for more reviews before deciding.

 

Let's also keep in-mind that Pelikan is owned and controlled today by a Malaysian (likely Chinese/Peranakan) family-owned business. This also opens the possibility that this pen is made in China, if not India or Pakistan.

 

Chinese-made Pelikan case in-point: I have a Pelikan (now seemingly discontinued) P381 that IMO is obviously "mostly" Chinese made, I say "mostly" because the P381 does have a good Pelikan solid gold nib (which I'm waiting to transplant when the right recipient comes along - maybe the new M120?). The rest of the pen is horrible. It doesn't post or cap properly and it is very top-heavy when posted (bad design).

 

Luckily, I spent very little for the P381 (around $30 USD, new - boxed), The P381 is not worth the ~$100+ street price that the pen sells for (gold cost for the nib alone is probably <$10, at bit more at salvage). The experience with the P381 and the fact that I see M200 clones from India/Pakistan worry me. That's why I mentioned the Stipula Splash, a hugely marked-up Pakistani <$5 school pen that sold for $80 in the U.S.. I don't know who drove that terrible rip-off pen; Stipula or Yafa. Let's hope Pelikan doesn't try this scam too.

 

So for me, the jury is still out on this relatively new "Bird". Time will tell...

[carlos.q]

I believe the "made in China Pelikans" urban myth was laid to rest in another thread some time ago.

[grainweevil]

I think the most recent thread covering the subject was this one, if it's of interest, Drone.

[The Good Captain]

I was fortunate to be able to look at drawers full of Pelikans, when I went down to visit Niche Pens in Newport, on Friday. Which is where I got the M120, of course. So, the luxury of checking nibs, pistons and so on is a real joy. There are some lovely pens available but I have to say that the M120 appealed far more than the M205 Blue demonstrator, I have to say. Of course, that is just a personal opinion.

However - the M805 demonstrator is a real gem. I might well be making a phone call to Ross on that score, tomorrow...

...and you should see the shelves of ink as well!!!

[Erik Dalton]

Learned something new today. Thanks Captn.