2014 Badger & Blade Awards - Pilot Custom 823

[Snargle]

I see that the 2014 Badger & Blade Award for fountain pens went to the Pilot Custom 823. Does anyone here on the nib have any experience with this particular model? Any pluses or minuses to be aware of?

It's quoted on Amazon at $288, but if you want to buy directly from Japan, Engeika.com has it for $234. Mmmm...tempting!

 

[Rockminer]

I don't have any direct experience with that pen, although I can say that I was very close to pulling the trigger on one.

For anyone interested in this pen, as Larry said, Engeika has it for a pretty reasonable price. The other plus to ordering from Engeika, is they will allow you to order it with any of the nibs available on the 743, if you're willing to wait for them to order it straight from Pilot, which to my knowledge no one else will do outside of Japan.

 

[Jut]

Does anyone here on the nib have any experience with this particular model?

That was kinda my thought when I saw that this pen won the "award".

I don't hear many on this site talking about this pen, at least from an ownership standpoint.

I find it very odd that the pen of the year for this forum is a pen that is pretty much non existent in discussions in this forum.

My only recollection about this pen being discussed in The Nib is in reference to individuals wanting to purchase the pen or considering purchasing the pen.

I'm starting to fear that these "awards" are being driven by some payola scheme.

 

[andrew98]

I have no personal experience with that pen or any knowledge about the selection process for the B&B awards. That said, I highly doubt anyone is profiting from the awards. I think all the items that are receiving awards are spendy, but they do represent good value, in my opinion. I also think that the Pilot 823 is really hard to beat for the money.

The reasons I don't have one are that I don't really care for demonstrators, am perfectly happy with C/C pens, and I enjoy the Pilots I already have. I'm very thankful that I never became fascinated with novel filling systems. Otherwise, the 823 would be at the top of my list.

-Andy

 

[syngent]

I mat have had something to do with this being the pen, but if you think there was a better choice you are more than welcome to discuss it

 

[Bushhippi]

This could get good......

 

[syngent]

This could get good......

lol wrong idea, I actually meant if someone has some choices they think would make a great choice for pen of the year this is a great place to talk about it.

I did suggest this pen because it met a lot of things many members talk about, was not a pen we see all the time, amd of course for the money gives a lot of pen back, compared to its rivals from Pelikan whose 800 series, or 600 series for that matter are more and in some cases much more money, for similar options from the Italian American and other German brands the prices knocked a lot of them out of contention. I had to make a case for a pen and the one I presented for this one got the award.

But as there are many of us there are many different opinions so if you have a case to make for a different pen by all means lets talk about it here, may help some guys look into some great pens

 

[Bushhippi]

Yah can't argue with that. Looking forward to following along.

 

[syngent]

oh one thing about buy from Engeika vs the NA dealers... this has to be the closest in pricing between direct Japan and NA prices, but here for 288 it does come with a bottle of ink in a nicer box, versus the standard plastic box Taizo ships from Engeika, so they are very close, at least compared to the almost 100 dollar difference you get with the Custom Heritage 92

But as Chris pointed out Taizo will order the 823 with any of the nib options the 743 has so there arw advatages both ways

 

[Jut]

Discussing a better choice now seems a bit after the fact at this point. One can't un-ring the bell. The "award" has went out to the 823.

One of the things I enjoy in this forum is the discussion about the various topics.

I have read the write ups on the other "award" winners as they have been released. I read about the belts, strops, etc..., and after reading about these I thought to myself, "I don't remember ever reading about any of these products on here before". I didn't remember any discussion about these awards, polls about favorites products for the money, or threads asking for the members opinions about what is the best product or so on. However, I told myself that I must have missed out on these subjects because I don't spend a lot of time in the sub forums that discuss belts, strops, etc...

But today the "award" for best pen came out. I spend a good deal of time reading and interacting in The Nib. It seemed odd to me that the pen representing our corner of Badger and Blade would be one that has received very little, if any, discussion, good or bad, from the members of The Nib.

In a sense, our site has recommended the 823 to anyone looking at our site. If someone stops by The Nib and asks, "Why the recommendation?", I don't think anyone is going to be able to give them a good answer. I know I couldn't say, "Here's a Link to a member's review who owns it" or "Here's a link to a shoot out between it and other popular pens here on the Nib"

For the record, I don't have a Pilot 823. I am sure it is a great pen. I have 2 Pilot pens, and each is an excellent pen, so I have no reason to doubt that the 823 is not of the same quality. I just was a bit surprised that a pen that bears the Badger and Blade stamp of approval would be one that few if any members could recommend or critique based on the opinions expressed by the posts of its members.

 

[Snargle]

A reminder about Engieka, to see the Pilot pens (and to get their best prices) you need to set up an account on their website. It's free, only takes a minute, and they don't bombard you with email ads like many other sites do. If you're even remotely thinking of ordering from them, it's worth the effort to do it now.

 

[Rockminer]

Also, Engeika only offers the amber and black. The clear is discontinued, from what I understand.

 

[emt88]

I don't have one, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want one. Hmm, maybe for Christmas.

 

[syngent]

Also, Engeika only offers the amber and black. The clear is discontinued, from what I understand.

The clear is only offered from one Japanese pen seller as a SE for them, i forget the name but it has Quills in that name, i xan google it later, they also have a unique Vermilion (red) 845 no one else has

 

[Kevan]

I have an 823. I love it. They can be had for as low as $233 on Ebay (including shipping) if you don't care about the big gift box and ink bottle.

I have no problem with it winning the award. It's pretty much a flawless pen. The only thing I can see someone nitpicking about is that you have to unscrew the knob if you're planning on writing for long periods, and maybe also that it's only available as a demonstrator. It has a huge 2.2ml ink capacity if you use the "full fill" technique to get all the air out. It's well-built, it has a pleasant size and heft, has nice gold highlights...it really does hit above its class IMO.

Mine has a Medium nib...it's pure silk on paper. Though I find the smaller #5 size Pilot nibs more tactile and responsive to my writing style, the #15 nib is really springy and begs to be written with flourishes.

Regarding the "award," what's the big deal? The 823 is a straight-up value for what you get. What else would you prefer? Franklin Christoph? Edison? Pelikan M200? I think it stacks up to all those options honestly. Lamy 2000? That's a good alternative I guess. I've got both, both are great, but the 823 is the better pen. And you can't really give the award to the Parker 51 or any of the vintage pens that are discussed here, since they aren't readily available anymore.

 

[Kevan]

The clear is only offered from one Japanese pen seller as a SE for them, i forget the name but it has Quills in that name, i xan google it later, they also have a unique Vermilion (red) 845 no one else has

Tokyo Pen Shop Quill?

 

[syngent]

Tokyo Pen Shop Quill?

thats the one

 

[Snargle]

I also am a little confused about how these Badger & Blade awards were determined (not just the fountain pen, but the other items). I would think that there would have been some kind of selection process, be it most discussed, most positive reviews, of some other logical criteria. No offense to anyone involved, but it just looks like the award selection (committee/group/individual) just appointed a person knowledgeable in the specific area and said "give me a recommendation for an award winner." As Justin pointed out, the award winners are receiving B&B's public seal of approval and recommendation, but without any significant input from the 99.9% of the community who weren't even aware of the award process.

 

[syngent]

I also am a little confused about how these Badger & Blade awards were determined (not just the fountain pen, but the other items). I would think that there would have been some kind of selection process, be it most discussed, most positive reviews, of some other logical criteria. No offense to anyone involved, but it just looks like the award selection (committee/group/individual) just appointed a person knowledgeable in the specific area and said "give me a recommendation for an award winner." As Justin pointed out, the award winners are receiving B&B's public seal of approval and recommendation, but without any significant input from the 99.9% of the community who weren't even aware of the award process.

I think your putting to much on it Larry, its just meant to be fun.

And I don't think it was done as B&B's recommendation to outsiders, it was done as recommendations to B&B, outsiders be danged,... until the become members lol, then we love them


From that point of view, there is no point bringing up a pen everyone already has, it offers nothing to the community, bringing up a pen we know to be good but not to many has helps bring in a new conversation to this area. that I believe is a great thing.

 

[andrew98]

The only thing I find worrying about the "award" items is that I'm hearing about new high quality things I didn't realize existed but somehow "need" now. This could be bad.

-Andy