If I Like the Pilot VP, I Might Also Like.

AABCDS · Jul 2, 2014

I got a Pilot VP with a fine nib a few days ago and I'm really liking it. It's smooth and writes a little on the wet side with some Private Reserve Velvet Black.

I've seen Edison and Pelikan and have been curious about them but they seem expensive. Currently, I have the following:

Lamy Safari with an extra fine nib
TWSBI 540 with an extra fine nib
Black Franklin-Christoph B&B Essential/Collegia 27 with a steel extra fine nib - This nib was too fine and I had a hard time with it drying up between uses.
Blue Franklin-Christoph B&B Essential/Collegia 27 with a steel fine nib
Sailor 1911 with a hard-fine nib - Possibly my least favorite pen. It felt dry and scratch with Private Reserve Invincible Black. I'll have to try it with a different ink.
Pilot Metropolitan with a medium nib - I haven't tried this yet

What other pens would you suggest I take a look at?

Reckoner · Jul 2, 2014

Sorry if this comes off the wrong way, but are you interested in pens because you want a few good writing pens, or do you like the idea of buying more pens and having a collection? I was active on FPN for a number of years before I took up B&B, and I decided to stop my pen intake (except for my complete Lamy Safari collection) because I realized there weren't really many substantially "better" pens than what I have/had.

What do you like specifically about the VP? The size? The weight? The performance of the nib?

If you like the way the nib feels, you might like a Fine or EF in Pelikan depending on the model and material of the pen. For example, I'd say the M805 is close in girth to the VP, the M605 fine nib is close to the VP fine, and the M805 EF nib is close to the VP fine. If you like the size, you may look into comparably sized pens from Edison. I can't help you on weight because the VP is by far my heaviest pen.

Once you hit a certain threshold, you really are buying for prestige rather than performance. My first "nice" fountain pen was a Pelikan M605, which has been fitted with a custom stub stainless steel nib from a M215, and it's been the standard by which I've measured all other pens. The Vanishing Point is a fine pen, and my VP has outperformed many other "prestige" pens. It really hits a lot of my sweet spots. You might find that you don't "need" anything else. Want, of course, is something else...

rearviewmirror · Jul 3, 2014

Oh you NEED a Pelikan 200. Their steel nib writes better than the gold nib on my VP.
Looking at your notes, you already seem to know this, but the nib is the most defining part of a pen. To me, the most important.

andrew98 · Jul 3, 2014

A couple Pelikan M200 series pens (demonstrator and black Tradition models) are on sale at fountainpenhospital.com. You can find them in the "super specials" section (tab at the top of their site).

-Andy

AABCDS · Jul 3, 2014

Reckoner said:
Sorry if this comes off the wrong way, but are you interested in pens because you want a few good writing pens, or do you like the idea of buying more pens and having a collection? I was active on FPN for a number of years before I took up B&B, and I decided to stop my pen intake (except for my complete Lamy Safari collection) because I realized there weren't really many substantially "better" pens than what I have/had.

What do you like specifically about the VP? The size? The weight? The performance of the nib?

If you like the way the nib feels, you might like a Fine or EF in Pelikan depending on the model and material of the pen. For example, I'd say the M805 is close in girth to the VP, the M605 fine nib is close to the VP fine, and the M805 EF nib is close to the VP fine. If you like the size, you may look into comparably sized pens from Edison. I can't help you on weight because the VP is by far my heaviest pen.

Once you hit a certain threshold, you really are buying for prestige rather than performance. My first "nice" fountain pen was a Pelikan M605, which has been fitted with a custom stub stainless steel nib from a M215, and it's been the standard by which I've measured all other pens. The Vanishing Point is a fine pen, and my VP has outperformed many other "prestige" pens. It really hits a lot of my sweet spots. You might find that you don't "need" anything else. Want, of course, is something else...

I'm fairly new to fountain pens so I'm interested in trying a variety to what I like. I got the Franklin-Christoph ones because they are B&B brrad and the Lamy was given to me.

I really like the performance of the nib on the Pilot VP. I'm not too concerned with weight or size. The TWSBI 540 is probably the biggest of the bunch and I don't have a problem with it although the F-Cs are a big heavy posted.

I completely understand the concept of diminishing returns on pen performance. It also applies to brushes but that never stopped me.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...ar-from-the-Sixth-Batch?p=5298475#post5298475

rearviewmirror said:
Oh you NEED a Pelikan 200. Their steel nib writes better than the gold nib on my VP.
Looking at your notes, you already seem to know this, but the nib is the most defining part of a pen. To me, the most important.

The Pelikan 200 series is more in my price range at this point.

andrew98 said:
A couple Pelikan M200 series pens (demonstrator and black Tradition models) are on sale at fountainpenhospital.com. You can find them in the "super specials" section (tab at the top of their site).

-Andy

You're such an enabler, Andy. I might just end up making another pen purchase today.

LouieGrandie · Jul 3, 2014

AABCDS said:
I got a Pilot VP with a fine nib a few days ago and I'm really liking it. It's smooth and writes a little on the wet side with some Private Reserve Velvet Black.

Sailor 1911 with a hard-fine nib - Possibly my least favorite pen. It felt dry and scratch with Private Reserve Invincible Black. I'll have to try it with a different ink.

Instead of Hard-Fine you should have gotten a Medium-Fine. The Japanese pens are generally a size smaller compared to Western pens. That is their Mediums write like a Western Fine and their Fine writes like a Western Extra Fine. A Sailor Fine will be .30 mm while a Pilot will be .35 mm and Pelikan will be .40 mm. A Sailor M-F is .36 mm.

acesn8s · Jul 3, 2014

Order a few different sized nibs for the VP? I have a Binder stub and medium nib for my VP. I love using the stub.

You could try a Lamy 2000. It's a little different than the safari nib.

I agree with the Pelikan 200 suggestion. My 200 medium has a nice "flexy feel" to it compared with my other pens.

AABCDS · Jul 3, 2014

andrew98 said:
A couple Pelikan M200 series pens (demonstrator and black Tradition models) are on sale at fountainpenhospital.com. You can find them in the "super specials" section (tab at the top of their site).

-Andy

I didn't like the colors or the remaining nib choices available at FPH but I did find the M215 at Iguana Sell for $115.00 plus shipping. M215 in extra fine coming my way.

http://www.iguanasell.com/products/pelikan-m215-fountain-pen-black-chrome-trim-948356

andrew98 · Jul 3, 2014

AABCDS said:
I didn't like the colors or the remaining nib choices available at FPH but I did find the M215 at Iguana Sell for $115.00 plus shipping. M215 in extra fine coming my way.

http://www.iguanasell.com/products/pelikan-m215-fountain-pen-black-chrome-trim-948356

Nice. I have an M215 Lozenge, but I swapped its medium nib to an M400 OM nib. Great pen, and I would be perfectly happy if it were my only Pelikan. Enjoy your new pen! I've never tried a Pelikan EF nib.

-Andy

celestino · Jul 3, 2014

I really enjoy the Pelikans. I won't try to convince you to try one of the vintage M400 Fine nib. :001_rolle

Good luck.

AABCDS · Jul 3, 2014

celestino said:
I really enjoy the Pelikans. I won't try to convince you to try one of the vintage M400 Fine nib.
Good luck.

I'm sticking to just modern pens for now but I was doing some surfing and found out about the Atlanta Pen Show. It's too bad the 2014 show was in April so I'll have to wait for next year.

One good thing is that I found Artlite Pens and Gifts. I'm going to pay them a visit on Saturday.

http://artlitechairs.com/

andrew98 · Jul 4, 2014

That looks like a wonderfully dangerous place!

-Andy

airmech · Jul 4, 2014

My wallet just breathed a sigh of relief!!! If that was in the DFW area I may end up in the poor house!!!

Tom

AABCDS · Jul 4, 2014

airmech said:
My wallet just breathed a sigh of relief!!! If that was in the DFW area I may end up in the poor house!!!

Tom

I know what you mean. I'm reticent to go tomorrow because I know I won't be able to afford everything I'd want to try out. Plus, I already have notebooks that haven't even been used yet.

syngent · Jul 4, 2014

of you like the M215 is have a look towards pilot custom heritage 92's, from Japanese sellers you can snipe them on eBay for around 100 bucks i like the nib n my 92 a bit more then my M205 and it is a higher quality pen in the pilot regular line up

Doc4 · Jul 5, 2014

syngent said:
of you like the M215 is have a look towards pilot custom heritage 92's, from Japanese sellers you can snipe them on eBay for around 100 bucks i like the nib n my 92 a bit more then my M205 and it is a higher quality pen in the pilot regular line up

Indeed ... and they come in all sorts of nifty "demonstrator" options.

A demonstrator version of a cart/converter pen seems pointless, but on a piston, it's cool.

AABCDS · Jul 5, 2014

Well, I just got home after stopping by and managed to get out of there without buying anything. They had a nice Rhodia meeting notebook that I'll probably go back and get.

They also have nice closeout deals on a ton of pens from ballpoints, rollerballs, and fountain pens. They had a lot of deals on Montblancs. The two closeout deals that caught my eye were a Pelikan M600 for ~$270 and a Pilot VP in black with rhodium trim for $105.00.

They have a ton of notebooks, travel and box pen cases, Bosca wallets, and even bottles of fountain pen inks.