Post of the Weird:
You can spend $100 on a fountain pen that will last you a lifetime, but those fancier pens come with hidden costs: new nibs, rare ink colors, writing notebooks, and customized ink converters.
Hidden costs? Rare ink colors and writing notebooks? What’s this guy talking about? And how are “writing notebooks” exclusive to $100+ pens? Doesn’t anyone with any sort of pen need a “writing notebook’? Pen community, go forth and comment at will at the bizzaro intro. The pen choices are relatively sound, until the Parker, IMHO. I would have put the TWSBI Eco, though it might have required some of those “rare ink colors” he so disdained, in that last slot. And, for the record, the Parker requires one of those customized ink converters.
Pens:
- Benu Pen Supreme Collection Nebula Fountain Pen (via Gourmet Pens)
- Inexpensive: Pokka Pens Pocket Pen (via The Pencilcase Blog)
- Parker Frontier Fountain Pen (via Write To Me Often)
- Aurora 88 Anniversario – Fine Flex Nib (via Gourmet Pens)
- Ranga Bamboo Fountain Pen (via Wondernaut)
- Video: Nib Newbs Platinum 3776 (via Anderson Pens Blog)
- A mass of Uni-ball pens (via The Finer Point)
- Taccia Spectrum (via The Gentleman Stationer)
Inks:
- Graf von Faber-Castell Garnet Red (via Write to Me Often)
- Monteverde Canyon Rust (via Pen Addict)
- Robert Oster Signature Sublime (via Alt. Haven)
- Robert Oster Clay Red (via Mountain of Ink)
- Robert Oster Signature Ng Special’16 (via Alt. Haven)
- Kaweco Sunrise Orange (via Pen Addict)
- Krishna Mandara (via Mountain of Ink)
- Robert Oster Deep Sea (via Mountain of Ink)
- Video: Hot Stuff Kyo-Iro Stone Road of Gion (via Anderson Pens)
Pencils:
- Koala Tools The Bear Claw 2B Pencil (via Comfortable Shoes Studio)
- Pencils Around the World (via CW Pencils Blog)
Paper & Notebooks:
- Grids & Guides Stationery (via Pencil Talk)
- Old and new left-hand friendly stationery from Staedtler (via Bleistift)
- How I use the three markers in my Bullet Journal (via The Ink Smudge)
- Chic Sparrow Pemberley and Leather Care (via JetPens Blog)
- Field Notes Field Trip (via Fueled by Clouds & Coffee)
- A Beginner’s Guide to Keeping a Journal (via The Cramped)
- William Hannah A6 Notebook/Planner (via Philofaxy)
Art Supplies:
- Kuretake ZIG Clean Color FB Brush Pen (via Pen Addict)
- A Moment in Pencil History: Caran d’Ache Prismalo Pencils (via CW Pencils Blog)
- Block Printing Basics: How to Create Patterns (via Think. Make. Share.)
- Chicago Symposium, Part 4: Sketch Kit Review and Swag (via Fueled by Clouds & Coffee)
- Fitting More Pans in a Square Metal Palette from Schmincke (via Roz Wound Up)
Other Interesting Things:
- Pen Addicts Norway: a Facebook group. (via The Ink Smudge)
- Video: Currently Inked #44 (via Pen Habit)
- iPenBox Subscription Boxes Surprise With Stationery Delights (via Econmical Penster)
Uh, hidden cost? All pens, be they humble ballpoint, gel pens, Sharpies, fountain pens need paper.
Self-control forestalls buying rare (I’m guessing the poster meant expensive) inks.
New nibs? Um, that one is uh…. heck you can buy new nibs for an under $100 Lamy and have a customizable fountain pen with those new nibs. But that isn’t what he/she was talking about?
Some under $100 pens come with internal fill systems. Proprietary converters come on under $100 fountain pens.
Was the point don’t spend $100 on a fountain pen? Or perhaps the poster wanted to stir up a discussion and count the replies to feel good about how many his/her comments generated.
Hidden costs apply to ballpoints. They are more often the pens that grow legs and walk off, I mean get taken and never returned. They add to the trash stream that is never ending.
Anyway here’s reply 1.
Okay I should have clicked on the link first. But still, hidden costs? Aren’t cartridges actually more expensive by the ml?
The only interesting thing I learned was about the Nemosine. Didn’t know a thing about it. Well the Muji either.
Is this the case of someone who doesn’t know much about fountain pens writing about fountain pens?
Here’s a (possible) secret: you can get a Pilot MR Retro for under $10 at walmart.com (I saw the turquoise one there, no nib choice.)
Sorry to add yet another comment, but the writer mentioned the sun and fission. I looked at Nemosine’s website and was glad to see no mention of fission with Neutrino.
The sun is undergoing fusion, not fission.
But darn it, now I kind of want one of their pens.
Thanks, Lori. I’m glad I’m not the only one who was stirred to outrage by the ridiculousness of this article.
No, you are not the only one. Its such an odd statement even for a person with no knowledge of fountain pens to make. I can’t see my dad or stepmother who don’t really know much about modern fountain pens making any of those assumptions regarding fountain pens, let alone just because the pen is $100 dollars or more. Such a Non Sequitur.
And I think he meant “cannon,” not “canon.” Oh, well …
I have the clear Singularity and really like it.
“The MR has a black plastic barrel and cap with metal accents, and feels much heftier than other plastic pens.”
Do you know why it feels much heftier than other plastic pens, Chris Wright? It’s because it’s — wait for it — NOT PLASTIC. In fact, that’s often one of the main selling points — it’s reasonably priced and it’s not plastic. Did this guy just look at the pictures at Amazon? Because right on the product page he/she links to it says clearly that the pen has a brass barrel. Good grief.
+1
Excellent points.
I thought the author was being tongue in cheek about “hidden costs” but, if he thinks the Metropolitan is made out of plastic, maybe I was giving him too much of the benefit of the doubt.