In my business travels, I have to pass thru the Frankfort Germany airport frequently. Which means going from the A terminal to Z terminal or vice versa. Which also means I have to pass right by the Mont Blanc store. All those stunning pens. Glad they are not a few hundred cheaper, as I would go broke. So I just gaze at the pens and buy a bottle or two of ink to feed my older MB's.
Sure glad new Mont Blancs are so expensive.
- Thread starter accunlmtd
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Nice MB's can be had on the secondary market for more than 50% off the new price. They are a nice pen 
How do they compare to a Pelikan?
Two equally excellent German companies.
A very diplomatic answer!
I can't speak to the comparison issue because I've never written with a Pelikan for an extended period. I know it is a fine pen, I just haven't found one that appeals to me visually - YET!
In all honesty, I think the answers you will find will be all over the board, both good and bad, for each company. I own 2 MB's and 5 Pel's. The fact that I own 5 of one and 2 of the other should speak to my thoughts. I like the way the Pels write better, but that is not to say the MB's don't write well, they do.
In reality, they are both well made, German manufactured, Piston filled pens (for the most part). Its kinda like asking which is better, a Mercedes or a BMW. At the end of the day, each is very nice, and each has its own unique characteristics which will appeal to different folks for different reasons.
I would say that the features of the Pels that appeal to me more are the striated sections and the nib characteristics.
They compare quite favorably.
But oh, please don't call 'em Pels.
But oh, please don't call 'em Pels.
Mont Blanc = Mercedes
Pelikan = BMW
Mont Blanc is selling a life style while Pelikan is just trying to sell you a really good pen. I have had each. I would say that currently the Pelikan is every bit as good as a Mont Blanc but that was not the case back in the '50s and '60s when the nibs of the MB were really outstanding, especially on the 149.
Spot on.
I like the heft and feel of a MB in the hand. The Pelikan (at least my M600) feels light and not as substantial and also doesn't post as well. But it writes slightly better than the MB 146 I've tried (both medium nibs).
The Pelikan is available in more colors and of course you can take the nib out and swap it...and you can also maintenance the piston if you know what you're doing. Montblanc? Forget about it...unless you scour eBay for handmade in China tools that unlock the nib and piston.
Both are nice pens. Both write well...Pelikan moreso. Both are overpriced for what you get IMO...but at least you get more options with Pelikan.
With the Sailor Realo and Pilot Custom Heritage 92 and Custom 823 available...it makes me really wonder whether either German offering is really worth their asking price. It comes down to whether you want to pay the price for an iconic brand and pen just to own it and see what the fuss is about.
That said...even though MB is viewed as a status symbol and has positioned themselves to reflect that...I wouldn't overlook a nice used one. Its a helluva nice pen and an iconic design.
The Pelikan is available in more colors and of course you can take the nib out and swap it...and you can also maintenance the piston if you know what you're doing. Montblanc? Forget about it...unless you scour eBay for handmade in China tools that unlock the nib and piston.
Both are nice pens. Both write well...Pelikan moreso. Both are overpriced for what you get IMO...but at least you get more options with Pelikan.
With the Sailor Realo and Pilot Custom Heritage 92 and Custom 823 available...it makes me really wonder whether either German offering is really worth their asking price. It comes down to whether you want to pay the price for an iconic brand and pen just to own it and see what the fuss is about.
That said...even though MB is viewed as a status symbol and has positioned themselves to reflect that...I wouldn't overlook a nice used one. Its a helluva nice pen and an iconic design.
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Bought new, I tend to agree.
After years of having fountain pens and thinking I'd never get a MB, just because, I finally splurged and got a used 244G in very good condition. Cost was just north of $200, so not ridiculously expensive. It's a smaller pen than my ideal size, but it has a wonderfully smooth fine nib with effortless flex. I'm not a huge fan of flex pens, because I'm a fast writer and don't have the patience to write more slowly to get nice line variation, but this pen has solved that problem.
I got my M600 off Ebay, described as new, at $100 off street retail price. I was expecting something like my Monteverde Prima in terms of size. When it arrived, it was similar in size, but slightly smaller in both length and girth. The $50 Monteverde also seemed more substantial than the $300 M600. To top it off, the nib tines were misaligned. Easily fixed, but an annoyance nonetheless. I read on FPN that this is not very common with Pelikan, but it happens. One guy said that every Pelikan he's gotten has had a bum nib out of the box. Don't know how true that is, though
The piston worked like I read it should...smooth as silk. Everything else was fine once the nib was fixed. Writes like a dream. The pen is a little small for my taste, though. I have to use it posted. I think the M800 would be a better size for me, but at the price that goes for, I'd much rather have a used MB 149.
I don't have big hands, but I'm used to bigger pens. Which is part of the reason I hate that Pelikan has so many cool limited editions in the M200 size. Why oh why can't I have that new coffee-colored one in a larger size?!?!?!
Actually, the only Pelikan I bought new was a M1000 as a gift to myself several years ago. I bought mine from an authorized dealer, but still paid substantially less than street value for it. It wrote horrible out of the box.
Pelikan has a nib exchange service, which is free, and I used that with the 1000. The replacement nib wrote just as bad. I had to send it to John Mottishaw for service. Thanks to John Mottishaw (and about 90 bucks) It is one of my best writers now, but I feel that this is ridiculous to have to do for a pen that costs as much as it does. In fact, I wouldn't have even sent it to Mottishaw if I hadn't had so much invested in it in the first place.
On the other hand, the other 4 Pelikans that I have bought have all been purchased 2nd hand. Each appears to be at least 10-15 years old, and hasn't cost me anywhere close to what a new one would cost. Each writes great. I would buy another used Pelikan from this time period in a heart beat if the price is right; I will not buy another new one.
Oh? So I guess it's common then for the nibs to be sub-par out of the box.
I think mine is an older model too...maybe that accounts for the $100 discount from street price. I don't know how old, but it came in a black and yellow box that had quite a bit of shelf wear to it, and the inner box had the same black/yellow motif, with the pen inside secured with a ribbon. Looked nothing like the packaging I'd seen elsewhere, with the faux wax seal and elastic band, etc. The box had the papers and booklet detailing the nibs, nib exchange, etc. But I don't think it's a pen from the 90's because the nib's design matches the current ones.
Before I took to my nib's tines with my fingers, I mulled getting a replacement nib from Mottishaw. But this would've been the price of a whole new Lamy Studio or 2000 with a 14k nib.
I'm with you...any more Pelikans I get will be pre-owned from Ebay or Peyton Street Pens or something. But I have my eye on a Sailor Realo as soon as pen funds are replenished. Enough dilly-dallying...time for a Sailor. Can't decide whether I should go for a regular 1911 Large and use the savings to add a Naginata Togi nib or just opt for a Realo piston fill. Either way, it'll be interesting to compare the Sailor and MB 146 side-by-side since the 1911 is basically a 146 clone.
I think mine is an older model too...maybe that accounts for the $100 discount from street price. I don't know how old, but it came in a black and yellow box that had quite a bit of shelf wear to it, and the inner box had the same black/yellow motif, with the pen inside secured with a ribbon. Looked nothing like the packaging I'd seen elsewhere, with the faux wax seal and elastic band, etc. The box had the papers and booklet detailing the nibs, nib exchange, etc. But I don't think it's a pen from the 90's because the nib's design matches the current ones.
Before I took to my nib's tines with my fingers, I mulled getting a replacement nib from Mottishaw. But this would've been the price of a whole new Lamy Studio or 2000 with a 14k nib.
I'm with you...any more Pelikans I get will be pre-owned from Ebay or Peyton Street Pens or something. But I have my eye on a Sailor Realo as soon as pen funds are replenished. Enough dilly-dallying...time for a Sailor. Can't decide whether I should go for a regular 1911 Large and use the savings to add a Naginata Togi nib or just opt for a Realo piston fill. Either way, it'll be interesting to compare the Sailor and MB 146 side-by-side since the 1911 is basically a 146 clone.
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I like to write with the cap posted, so I am more comfortable with the M600 than the M800 - which I don't post. I have four Pelikans and they were all great writers out of the box (although the M800 was used). Two B and one M nib, the fourth is a stub. I loved the buttery stroke, but I find larger wet nibs to be a little boring so I sent them to Mike Masuyama at Mike-it-Work and he turned them into stubs. I sent two pens and the total was around $70 - which I find very reasonable as a percentage of the pen price. He is going to have a price increase next year, but I don't know how big the increase will be.
The Franklin-Christoph Italic nibs are ground by Masuyama. I've got one in steel and it's bliss to use. But I've never sent a pen off to a nibmeister before.
Really, I have some older Pelikans 140's I think that have some of the flex and semi flex nibs, that are actually better than my Mont Blanc nibs. I concede those nibs are not nearly as pretty as the Mont black nibs.
Now days I think the quality is about equal, and some of the smaller Pelicans are much more affordable.
While in Germany, get some Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black ink. It is unavailable in the states
