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Platinum President in blue...when was it made?


Nmarie33

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I'm looking for information on the President in the blue color,  and not finding much. It seems like this was a limited color that was made for a few years after 2010 and then discontinued. Can anyone confirm? 

 

Also interested in any experience from folks who have both the 3776 and the President. They seem extremely similar outside of colors. Any major reason to prefer one over the other besides price?

 

Thanks!

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Sorry I can't help with history of the blue President. However I can offer some brief opinions about the President vs. the 3776:

  • President feels more prominent size-wise in the hand, and to me just feel better. Reminds me of a Sailor 1911L in some ways. (I write posted BTW)
  • President nibs are more fun to write with. Not bouncy, but not the rigid steel-like 3776 gold nibs. 
  • In case it's not apparent, I much prefer the President over the 3776 in terms of writing experience. 
  • ...of course the 3776 has many more finishes available as well as nib widths. And as you may be aware the President is discontinued. 
  • Final note: One of my President pens had pretty poor chasing on the cap so it sometimes threads incorrectly. Kind of irritating. 

PS: There was also a yellow President at one point...

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Are you not confusing a blue with the Purple Passion that was a made for United States market only model. Just checking!

stan

Formerly Ryojusen Pens
The oldest and largest buyer and seller of vintage Japanese pens in America.


Member: Pen Collectors of America & Fuente, THE Japanese Pen Collectors Club

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1 hour ago, Nmarie33 said:

I'm looking for information on the President in the blue color,  and not finding much. It seems like this was a limited color that was made for a few years after 2010 and then discontinued. Can anyone confirm? 

 

Not credibly, no. How can one confirm what is demonstrably untrue? The Platinum President fountain pen in blue in blue is still listed in the current President product lineup on Platinum Pen's website today.

 

large.786572211_PlatinumPresidentfountainpeninbluePTB-20000P59stillofficiallylisted.jpg.5194f86ed1e9fdcf7d40d699c41fe061.jpg

 

1 hour ago, Nmarie33 said:

They seem extremely similar outside of colors.

 

Having owned multiple units (and still do) of both model, I'd say, no, not really.

 

1 hour ago, Nmarie33 said:

Any major reason to prefer one over the other besides price?

 

Slip & Seal mechanism. Nib geometry, material, and available finishes. Body shape and resin quality. Likelihood of cross-threading when capping the pen.

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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The Platinum President fountain pen in blue in blue is still listed in the current President product lineup on Platinum Pen's website today.

 

On this very site, official distributor Nibs.com declared the President as being discontinued, at least in the N. American market, around this time last year. 

 

Assuming that's the case then the Platinum website is a de facto archive (and/or is simply out of date) demonstrating that the model at one time existed. Which of course we already know.  Whether it's currently available to purchase from Platinum is another story...perhaps it's officially supported outside of N. America. 

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, sketchstack said:

On this very site, official distributor Nibs.com declared the President as being discontinued, at least in the N. American market, around this time last year. 

…‹snip›… .perhaps it's officially supported outside of N. America.

 

The United States and/or North American market is nowhere near the centre of the world, or (in context) the focus of the fountain pen hobby, though, especially given the growing prominence globally of East Asian (i.e. Japanese, Chinese, and to an extent, South Korean) brands of pens and inks, as well as the growing presence of East Asian users and hobbyists online. Not that North American fountain pen hobbyists haven't already been importing pens from Japan and China (and not even limited to buying on eBay, Rakuten, AliExpress, etc.) in large aggregate numbers for years.

 

Unless the scope is expressly limited by the person asking the question, it makes no sense to assume by default that only the America-centric view is the correct answer. FPN isn't even domiciled on that continent; and the O.P. hasn't identified or disclosed where he/she is hailing from in his/her two-post history on FPN.

 

1 hour ago, sketchstack said:

Assuming that's the case then the Platinum website is a de facto archive (and/or is simply out of date) demonstrating that the model at one time existed.

 

The President sub-brand website is actually quite recent; it wasn't there 12 months ago. In any case, the model PTB-20000P#59 is in the Platinum Catalogue 2021-2022, of which I have a PDF copy downloaded from Platinum's web site last year. So, in answer to the O.P.'s question: no, there is no evidence that production of the blue Platinum President was short-lived and only lasted “for a few years after 2010 and then discontinued”; it was produced as least as recently as 2021, irrespective of who needs to jump through which hoops or go through which channels to source a brand new one. (I bought a new one in August 2021, from the independently-run English-language website of a Japan-based retailer.)

 

Added for clarity:

 

For the avoidance of doubt, I have neither of us have any turf to viably or necessarily defend. Both the US and Australia are just regional markets and sidelines 1. for Platinum Pen's target market and bulk of its sales revenue, and 2. compared to sheer numbers of fellow consumers, customers, and (even the not-yet-buying) hobbyists in Asia and Europe; so trying to be centre-stage in terms of narrative in an not-where-we-are online forum is quite misguided. I quite hate it when people accuse me of trying to act superior or central to some hobbyist concern, when I'm not at all; I'm merely pointing out that they — as my fellows, peers, and equals — also are not any different or more relevant. We don't have to all take the East Asian perspective; but our regional perspectives don't eclipse either that, or what is considered global

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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A little research on the Internet about the situation in Japan revealed a number of articles about "discontinued" and "limited reprint" products from two to several years ago.

 

A search for "platinum president blue" turned up a number of articles on president blue from various periods, and there was no clear information on anything other than the current product.

 

It is listed on Platinum's website and in the 2021-2022 catalog. (It seems to be available from spring 2021, I get the impression that Platinum is repeatedly discontinuing and releasing new products)

We also confirmed that it is possible to add the product to the cart on several sales sites. (But I have the impression that the selection of nibs is limited.)

 

Incidentally, there was also information about an overseas limited edition model and the old President's blue color, but these seem to be discontinued.

 

Platinum fountain pen official website. Discontinued models will be removed.

https://www.platinum-pen.co.jp/brands/president/

 

Catalog, page 11. https://catalog.kaientai.cc/iportal/CatalogViewInterfaceStartUpAction.do?method=startUp&mode=PAGE&catalogCategoryId=&catalogId=1361320000&pageGroupId=7&volumeID=CMC00008&keyword=&categoryID=&sortKey=&sortOrder=&designID=&designConfirmFlg=

 

Blog post in Japanese about the current product.

https://ameblo.jp/mannenhitsu1/entry-12725995709.html

 

The former overseas limited edition model is probably the same as or close to the current one.

*Image of overseas limited model. Quoted from internet information.

large.425916519_Screenshot_20221007-2355222.png.a24ce6cff0c38befbb631767d433356c.png

 

Edited by Number99
Add a reference image.
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I have a blue one, great pen, bigger than the 3776 and very nice nib. For me, a little nicer than Sailor 1911 (I sold my 1911 to keep the Platinum, the main reason being that I prefer the writing experience from a Platinum over a Sailor, but that's personal preference). I wouldn't mind getting another now that the model is discontinued but prices buying from Spain are quite expensive, not those offers I am seeing from Amazon USA.

3776 is a tad small for my like. I have a couple but only for their music nibs, apparently never available in the President.

I remember seing the President being sold in yellow, in coral (¡¡coral!!), in blue, black and red (or maroon or whatever). This was Japan ebay several years ago.

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10 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

The United States and/or North American market is nowhere near the centre of the world, or (in context) the focus of the fountain pen hobby

 

N. America is where I live, thus I'm contributing what I can safely assume to be accurate information. I didn't report on whether the pen is available in Japan, Zimbabwe or Jupiter because I'm not qualified. 

 

 

 

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6 minutes ago, sketchstack said:

N. America is where I live, thus I'm contributing what I can safely assume to be accurate information. I didn't report on whether the pen is available in Japan, Zimbabwe or Jupiter because I'm not qualified. 

 

Australia is where I live, but I personally have no problem with contributing information taken straight from foreign brands' and manufacturers' website to address questions of regarding their products, when those questions have not been expressly specified for the narrow scope of a regional market. I consider what the manufacturer states on static pages and documents, or returns on dynamic queries, on its website to be authoritative information, when it comes to whether a product is current, i.e. has not been discontinued. 

 

Whether official distributors are importing it into particular markets is irrelevant; I'm "not qualified" to unilaterally change the scope of "discontinued" to the country in which I live.

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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3 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

I consider what the manufacturer states on static pages and documents, or returns on dynamic queries, on its website to be authoritative information, when it comes to whether a product is current, i.e. has not been discontinued. 

 

 

This is a common course of action, one that most of use employ. That also assumes that the manufacturer has kept the information up to date. For example, I have a piece of software that is discontinued according to the manufacturer via a newsletter they sent to my email address. However the website makes no indication of this. Thus the "authoritative" website is misleading because as it makes no allusion to the software being unsupported. 

 

Information on the internet is often flimsy, ephemeral and out of sync if not outright outdated or incorrect. Just look at this thread, attempting to solve the great mystery of the blue Platinum President. So many sources, so much ..."information". To what end. 

 

If the original author has bothered to read this far into the thread, I wish them the best of luck locating a nice Platinum President. Regardless of color I think they're great pens. 

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Thanks to everyone for your replies and experiences with the President. Members here have a lot of experience and at times my head starts swimming when confronted with Japanese sites and iffy translations. I appreciate everyone's input. 

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