Lamy 2000 Vs. Pelikan M200

[AL01]

The trouble with some vintage pens is the some of the plastics are old and they crack. I have had this happen with Montblanc, Pelikan and others. The older Pelikan nibs are often springy or flexy. A lot like this. Good reasons to seek them.

 

Modern M200 is not like that. Nibs are firm. Some are content with that or prefer it. Generally all these Pelikans are smaller and lighter than a Lamy 2000. L2000 nibs are firm, 14k. Not everyone prefers flex. I suspect it's an acquired taste.

 

Yes, that is true.

 

BUT, vintage Pelikans have a nib that doesn't feel springy.

 

(It's like the suspension on a sporty car. Firm, but agile. Yes, you can feel every nook and cranny on the road, but you can drive like there is no tomorrow.)

 

It flexes with little pressure, but it doesn't feel fragile.

 

It's a very interesting experience.

 

Unlike most vintage and modern flex pens IMO.

 

EDIT: You can also get the cracked plastics repaired as long as its celluloid. I've had to get it done on my 140's binde.

 

I have used a Lamy 2000 with a Broad nib; it's quite stubby and lacks that whole 'sweet spot' that has been a big deal lately.

Edited June 11, 2018 by AL01

[pajaro]

 

Yes, that is true.

 

BUT, vintage Pelikans have a nib that doesn't feel springy.

 

(It's like the suspension on a sporty car. Firm, but agile. Yes, you can feel every nook and cranny on the road, but you can drive like there is no tomorrow.)

 

It flexes with little pressure, but it doesn't feel fragile.

 

It's a very interesting experience.

 

Unlike most vintage and modern flex pens IMO.

 

EDIT: You can also get the cracked plastics repaired as long as its celluloid. I've had to get it done on my 140's binde.

 

I have used a Lamy 2000 with a Broad nib; it's quite stubby and lacks that whole 'sweet spot' that has been a big deal lately.

 

Clearly you are among the vintage Pelikan enthusiasts. Yes, you can get celluloid solvent welded. The vintage Pelikans are what, about the same or a bit more than current ones, from a knowledgeable seller to a knowledgeable buyer, not considering Sumgai bargains? All are pricey. Anyway, the OP was apparently requesting info on the differences between modern M200 and Lamy 2000. If I were the OP, all these digressions would add uncertainty to the evaluation, and I would probably disregard them, because I would get confused.

[jmnav]

 

If I were the OP, all these digressions would add uncertainty to the evaluation, and I would probably disregard them, because I would get confused.

 

Luckily enough, you are not the OP.

 

Yes, the thread digressed a bit, just like any public conversation usually does. Yes, some took a side argument -like myself, talking about the Pelikan lineage, after a question thrown... by the OP, no less, but I don't see anybody (yet) going totally off-topic (well, this very message being the exception, but I'd say it was you the one starting it so, if you don't like off-topics... this may well be a case of "reaping what you sow")

[pajaro]

 

Luckily enough, you are not the OP.

 

Yes, the thread digressed a bit, just like any public conversation usually does. Yes, some took a side argument -like myself, talking about the Pelikan lineage, after a question thrown... by the OP, no less, but I don't see anybody (yet) going totally off-topic (well, this very message being the exception, but I'd say it was you the one starting it so, if you don't like off-topics... this may well be a case of "reaping what you sow")

 

I didn't say I didn't like off topics, that is you putting words into my keyboard. I didn't complain about your lengthy digression either. After a while, though, going into lots of different options, I was starting to lose the thread of logic, and had to reread it all. So, right back at you.

[AL01]

 

Clearly you are among the vintage Pelikan enthusiasts. Yes, you can get celluloid solvent welded. The vintage Pelikans are what, about the same or a bit more than current ones, from a knowledgeable seller to a knowledgeable buyer, not considering Sumgai bargains? All are pricey. Anyway, the OP was apparently requesting info on the differences between modern M200 and Lamy 2000. If I were the OP, all these digressions would add uncertainty to the evaluation, and I would probably disregard them, because I would get confused.

 

Your right.

 

But where has the OP gone anyway?

[Tseg]

And the answer is (drum roll please)…… Lamy 2000!!!!! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!!!!

[AL01]

Good choice!

 

What nib size are you getting it in?

 

EDIT: I thought you were the OP.

Edited June 12, 2018 by AL01

[carlos.q]

Just to be clear what this thread is about:

 

... Lately I've been looking at Pelikan pens a lot and the M215 and M200, but I'm hesitant because I've got a lot of German nibs, and I already have a German nib piston filler in the Lamy 2000 and TWSBI Eco. [...] Is there anyone who owns both pens and finds it worthwhile? Is the nib a different enough writing experience to buy it?

I have both pens. The answer is yes.

Edited June 12, 2018 by carlos.q

[Penman222]

Just to be clear what this thread is about:

 

 

 

I have both pens. The answer is yes.

+1. Two different writing experiences, both exceptional.

[Martolod]

 

Your right.

 

But where has the OP gone anyway?

Oh I made up my mind just a few days after this thread started. I looked at a lot of vintage Pelikans but settled on the new Marble Brown one with an EF tip. It's been pretty nice, and I agree that even though I already had a Lamy 2000, it's different enough to have a place in my collection. The only downside is that it feels like a very delicate pen. For example, I don't mind carrying my Lamy 2k, taking it to school whatever, but the Pelikan M200 feels like it could be damaged pretty quickly by some bump or brief drop. It's like a Sailor pen I have, the resin is beautiful but when I hold it up to the light and see the transparency and thinness, I don't feel safe carrying it around in the city.

Edited June 12, 2018 by Martolod

[mana]

One more hearty "Yes!" from a person who has both pens. For me the M200 and similar vintage Pelikans reign supreme due to much better and ergonomic design (I have issues with the design of the Lamy 2000, it is the pen that I have tried to like and love for several years now).

[jmnav]

Oh I made up my mind just a few days after this thread started. I looked at a lot of vintage Pelikans but settled on the new Marble Brown one with an EF tip. It's been pretty nice, and I agree that even though I already had a Lamy 2000, it's different enough to have a place in my collection. The only downside is that it feels like a very delicate pen. For example, I don't mind carrying my Lamy 2k, taking it to school whatever, but the Pelikan M200 feels like it could be damaged pretty quickly by some bump or brief drop. It's like a Sailor pen I have, the resin is beautiful but when I hold it up to the light and see the transparency and thinness, I don't feel safe carrying it around in the city.

 

A fountain pen is fragile by definition, but not that fragile. I can say I've been using a Pelikan M200 since my uni days, like 25 years ago (and back then, and for many years, it was my only pen) and it's still in good shape (nib's point went from 'M' to almost 'B' because of the heavy use, the plating on clip is not in good shape and the nib has basically lost it, but still works perfectly). You can bet that in all that time it has dropped to the floor its honest share. Yes, I broke another one (an M215 in blue -I really miss it) but that really was a heavy impact.

 

Unless these "special editions" are more fragile or you plan to use it as sharp weapon, I'd say it's safe enough to carry.

Edited June 13, 2018 by jmnav

[AL01]

Oh I made up my mind just a few days after this thread started. I looked at a lot of vintage Pelikans but settled on the new Marble Brown one with an EF tip. It's been pretty nice, and I agree that even though I already had a Lamy 2000, it's different enough to have a place in my collection. The only downside is that it feels like a very delicate pen. For example, I don't mind carrying my Lamy 2k, taking it to school whatever, but the Pelikan M200 feels like it could be damaged pretty quickly by some bump or brief drop. It's like a Sailor pen I have, the resin is beautiful but when I hold it up to the light and see the transparency and thinness, I don't feel safe carrying it around in the city.

 

I am a student as well.

 

I can tell that you are a Californian; so lemme give ya some advice.

 

 

Go to your local Daiso, and buy that vinyl pen pouch for a buck fiddy.

 

I'rd recommend you stick your Pelikan in that pouch whenever you are out in jeans, and stick that classy pen in your jacket pocket whenever you were a suit.

 

I hope you enjoy your M200.

[pajaro]

One more hearty "Yes!" from a person who has both pens. For me the M200 and similar vintage Pelikans reign supreme due to much better and ergonomic design (I have issues with the design of the Lamy 2000, it is the pen that I have tried to like and love for several years now).

 

I felt like that about the Lamy 2000 for years. When I retired and just wanted something rugged to carry around the house and mainly mark boxes and stuff, I started to carry the Lamy 2000 EF around. I didn't want to mar the more refined finishes on the Pelikans.

[Twister292]

I personally think the Pelikan M20# series is not comparable with L2k, primarily because of the difference in nib. L2k is much more comparable to the Pelikan M40# series, as both have 14K nibs.

 

As others have pointed out, the M40# and M20# are physically the same size...but there's no steel-nibbed 2000 to compare to the M200.

 

Also, the Pelikan M20# and M40# series are both very thin when uncapped; the L2k works much better when unposted because it's fatter in the middle.

 

That said, the L2K is cheaper in many countries...in Australia the M400/M405 usually cost around US$50 more than the Makrolon 2000s.

 

Not that it would be usually needed, but the L2K is also easier to dismantle to regrease the piston...the Pelikan M200/M400/M600 have friction-fit piston assemblies which are not removable at all.

 

(I have L2ks in both Makrolon and SS, and Pelikan M205 and M805s)

Edited June 15, 2018 by Twister292

[jmnav]

 

Not that it would be usually needed, but the L2K is also easier to dismantle to regrease the piston...the Pelikan M200/M400/M600 have friction-fit piston assemblies which are not removable at all.

 

 

Well, the Pelikan 2/4xxx series pistons are certainly removable if need arises, but that's rarely the case: to regrease the piston (which IMHO is more rare than "enthusiasts" may think -I only needed to regrease one unit once, out of about half a dozen I owned in about 25 years) is usually enough to retire the screw-fixed nib unit and do it from that side.

 

You are right, tough, in that retiring the piston system shouldn't be considered "usual maintenance": you risk breaking it or, at least, ruining tolerances from repeated abuse.

[AL01]

Pistons last a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time.

 

I'd argue that they are more bullet - proof than the aerometric filling system.

[pajaro]

Pistons last a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time.

 

I'd argue that they are more bullet - proof than the aerometric filling system.

 

I can't completely agree about your comment about the aerometric system. I have not resacked a Parker 51, but I had to send a Montblanc 146 to Montblanc Service for leak repair. They replaced the piston with a unit with brass, or they might have replaced the pen. I also had to replace an older Pelikan M200 piston with donor parts. While neither was a frequent repair, they were more than to Parker 51 aerometric pens. I am not sure why you made that comment.

[AL01]

Huh.

 

My experience has been virtually the exact opposite of yours.

 

This is confusing.

 

My aerometric P51 was in half - working shape after a nice cleaning, but my vintage Pelikan 140 is just fine.

 

(Just needed some silicon grease.)

 

(Subjectivity....)

[Calabria]

The comparison should be between the M600 and the L2K - those pens are in the same class. Not exactly the same price, but that's beside the point (especially if you get a deal on Pelikan which is possible) - they have similar weight/size ratios. I use both interchangeably as everyday writers; both are desert island pens for me.