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New Old Stock Bohème OB - snag or pass?


TheDutchGuy

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Found a new old stock Boheme with super soft OB nib at a store priced at €420 in a clearance. Snag or pass? Severely tempted, great nib, new pen. But still, €420 is €420.  Choices, choices… What would you lot do? 

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Go get it! 

 

No, seriously, I do not see reason not to get it. As long as it is financially okay for you in general, this is a steal. You will certainly be able to get that amount back, should you decide to sell the pen later.

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Thanks Julie 👍🏻. Pulled the trigger. With box, booklet and completed guarantee form. All good. Generally I don’t buy pens anymore unless the nib really offers me something new. This OB is very soft and it can do lots of different things. I feel a learning curve coming up and that process of discovery is what I like about this hobby. 

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Hello:

This is a very beautiful fountain pen and it is becoming difficult to find one in perfect condition at a good price. The OB point is an additional reason to buy it in my case, but not everyone likes that kind of point.

Regards.

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I don’t always agree on MB’s pricing, but I can’t argue with the quality. This Boheme has been gathering dust (and microscratches) in a store for about 10 years. Popped in a cart and straight away it gave perfect performance. The flow is exactly right and the OB nib is a gem. Super-smooth yet somehow tactile. And wonderfully soft and sensitive to writing pressure. I have hand issues so writing never effortless for me, but this Boheme almost takes me back to my pre-issue days. For that alone it’s worth the price of admission. The line variation is interesting and playful, turning my stiff writing into something pleasing. And it can write much smaller than I expected, which really expands its usefulness to me.

 

Usually it takes me a few days to get comfortable with a pen, but this writing sample was made almost immediately after first inking up the pen. For me, that’s pretty unique.

 

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Great buy. My most sincere congratulations. It is a great pen at an exceptional price.

If you are to be ephemeral, leave a good scent.

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Congratulations! That nibs looks spectacular. You are right in saying that €420 is €420, but you could had never find such a pristine example, in my experience, for less than 300 or more probably 350, and I am speaking about a used pen!

 

You took the right decision, in my opinion.

 

Enjoy your new and beautiful pen. 

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What a wonderful find! You were very wise to go ahead with your purchase. I would have hesitated for about ten milliseconds.

Rationalizing pen and ink purchases since 1967.

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53 minutes ago, TheDutchGuy said:

Toffee Brown was a bit too murky and darkish for me. Switched to Herbin Vert Atlantide. Wow.

 

large.E2850A10-7519-4A3B-8480-21B63CC07942.jpeg.18f293b0c662c5fb718bc28873ff1c5c.jpeg

Beautiful! Matches the jewel as well :)

Co-founded the Netherlands Pen Club. DM me if you would like to know about our meetups and join our Discord!

 

Currently attempting to collect the history of Diplomat pens.

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Great great buy. While I really love the Bohemes, it's the modern Montblanc nib that is the real star. They are all so well ground. They are exactly as you have experienced. The broads and double broads  make your hand writing look amazing without trying. And this is achieved through the subtle stub and you're absolutely right that you can write a lot smaller than you think because the stub is quite usable. The company obviously knows the modern customer well. I had a friend who had a few Montblanc ball points. He was interested in a Montblanc fountain pen and was originally going to get a medium until he tried my OBB. He had your exact reaction and was hooked afterwards.

 

Congrats!

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I walked to Appelboom today so Anabelle Hiller could give this nib the final 1% of performance, the absolute finishing touch. Couldn’t be happier with the pen. Lovely day here today so couldn’t resist taking a few more photos.

 

large.E5BA0529-6995-41EE-BA5F-7A0B8A8A35B6.jpeg.2962acaed52f96da47573feb4d7e3727.jpeglarge.B70DA30C-6FB2-49D3-87A2-B231BE86CBE4.jpeg.04382f10b314b617c80c25a5eca26f05.jpeg

 

The Boheme is my 3rd MB, the other two being an older 146 with 14C EF architect nib and a burgundy 342 with super-soft 14k mini-stub. All three pens are top-notch, completely fuss-free and somehow they write in a very forgiving way (making my writing look better than it is). They’re a ton of fun to use. It’s sort of ironic that I don’t really want to like MB because of its retail prices and the other stuff they make - that’s just not my world. Yet I love these pens. And I really do want to like (and I do like them) some other brands because of their no-nonsense approach to quality and nibwork, mainly the Japanese big three, in all honesty these three MB’s play in a different league. They improve my writing like no other brand does and the overall feel of quality is so assuring somehow.

 

large.89BA2A14-3DF5-4BFF-93D2-EC83CD1CF02A.jpeg.871c9e0bea082e436e53414bcdba4099.jpeg 

 

 

Edited by TheDutchGuy
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That’s a string of lucky coincidences. Joost’s father had a pen store here. At some point they moved next door and became a bookstore that sold a few pens on the side. Then Joost decided to take over, moved back into the original store and started what everybody now knows as Appelboom. The store is a 5 minute walk from my home. Independently, Anabelle started making waves as a budding nibmeister. She and Joost met and she became Appelboom’s resident nibmeister. I do almost all nibwork myself but I get chicken with nibs that I really, really, really like and it’s comforting and inspiring to see Anabelle applying her skills. She’s great and before long she’ll have something really unique to offer to the fountain pen world - I had a sneak preview and was blown away. Not my story to tell, but do stay tuned and follow her on Insta.

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Congratulations on the stunning pen(s).  I'm also jealous that you live so close to Appelboom although I know that if I could walk to their B&M I'd spend even more there than I already do online!  

 

What I've always been impressed by is the level of personal service:  Joost himself has always responded to my emails, usually within just a few hours.  Considering the size of his business nowadays I sometimes wonder how many hours a day he works and when he ever manages to rest.

 

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You’d be surprised how small the shop is… no matter how small you think it is, it’s smaller 😉 . I think he’s keeping it mostly for nostalgic reasons because almost all of his business is online. But whenever I go there, either Joost or some of his staff provide excellent customer service and a great shopping experience.

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