DIY Planner - Pens & Pencils - Comments

3 x 5 Cover

Mesmer — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:49:04 -0400

Hi doug,

an excellent review of an excellent product; so much so that i went to their website to order one......
unfortunately their postage to UK is nearly as much as the cover itself and that makes it a little too expensive. Anyone know of a UK supplier or a simmilar item obtainable in UK ?

Mike

Recommend Platinum Preppy...

wikeh2004 — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 00:34:54 -0400

Hi Doug,

My friend gave me a pack of five Platinum Preppy fountain pens some months ago. They come in various standard and bright colors. The pen has a clear barrel and cap, with a clip and nib colored to match the ink cartridge that comes with it. The nib is a smooth Japanese fine, which works out to something like an extra fine, perfect for planners or journals. The cap has a spring loaded inner cap, which does a surprisingly good job of sealing the nib when the cap is closed. After I started up a green Preppy, I left it lying around for a couple of months. When I took it out, it still wrote the first time. Pretty impressive for a cheap pen.

It looks like it takes the Platinum cartridge, which is unique to Platinum, and it holds quite a bit of ink. It supposedly will take the Platinum converter (for bottled ink), which costs about double what the pen cost. :-) The Preppy is available from JetPens.com for only $3 each. Cartridges are available from there too. I'm sure the pen is available elsewhere.

I'd recommend it.

Walter

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"The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once." Albert Einstein and Buckaroo Banzai

Bic Select X

wamcadoo — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 01:19:00 -0400

I feel as though I should start with: Hi my name is Will and I am a fine writing instrument addict.

Here's my story:
A few weeks back I read about the Cross Roadster and loved the look of this stubby little gem. I scoured Staples and my favorite Stationers Bob Slate's in Cambridge (MA-USA) and the clerk brought out a similar pen called the "Stypen Up". It's a shorter pen like the Roadster which, by the way, I have since found and bought.

She opened the case of the Stypen Up and showed me that it was a retractible fountain pen, twisting the shaft as the nib popped up. I HAD to have it. I'd never seen a retratcible fountain pen. The body of the pen is cool, a gradient dark blue that lightens along the length, and I admit the plastic cap is a bit tacky but the clip on this model is made of metal with enough flex to be able to actually clip it without fear of breaking the plastic cap. In short, I love it. It writes very smoothly and every time I pull it out to use it people comment on how unique it is. Talk about pen envy!

I think the cost was about $10.00 and it has the refill cartridge type cylinder. I'll send a photo if anyone wants one.

Won't be on my short list, either

Jon Rutherford — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 23:01:45 -0400

Thanks for the review, Doug. The rubbery grip would have disqualified for my use -- I detest those things -- but the actual shortcomings you detailed definitely rule it out as an addition to my collection.

The Safari, I have nothing but praise for. True, mine have required tweaking, but that is of every pen I've ever bought, except one -- and that is a BIG surprise, for it's a Montblanc 146. As I wrote to a well-known pen dealer, Montblanc must have had a slip-up in quality control, for this pen actually wrote right out of the box, no adjustment, and it still, years later, writes perfectly, with glassy smoothness, on halfway decent paper. (Anything above a really fine nib is apt to be somewhat choosy about paper, for a variety of reasons I won't go into here).

I think the Safari is the least expensive pen that is known to be reliable, is beautifully made, feels good (with the cap off, that is), and writes in the way a writer wants a pen to write. The steel nib is nothing to be concerned about; with modern inks steel will last potentially for a lifetime or several lifetimes. As most here probably know, gold was only introduced because of the acidity of the inks in the older days. Now it's a fashion statement --- and 18-carat nibs are a nuisance as they are too soft to be consistent performers, in many cases.

Didn't mean to go on so long. I was going to rant about the miserable quality of paper nowadays, in the journals section, but this was more fun. I'm still mad that I had to jettison one new blank book (purchased) because it was totally unsuited to anything save perhaps some gel and ballpoint pens and Crayolas. But I found an old one from Barnes and Noble with splendid paper inside. Thank goodness I stocked up on those. I don't know if the ones they sell now that look the same, have the same high-quality acid-free paper inside.

bummer

jonglass — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 09:27:27 -0400

It's a shame about this pen. I've been looking for a year for this pen here in Krakow, and now, I find it's not worth the effort. Bummer---I wanted to like this pen. Thanks so much for the review.

-Jon

Google is your friend

ygor — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:56:05 -0400

Link
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"I think the surest sign that there is intelligent life out there in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us." (Calvin and Hobbes/Bill Waterson)

Just how do you go about

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 17:50:04 -0400

Just how do you go about refilling one of these pens?

Best Wishes
David

Varsity and Petit1

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 16:26:59 -0400

The nibs are the same style on the Varsity and the Petit1.

Main difference is the Petit1 has a fine nib, and the Varsity available in the US is a Medium sized nib.

The Varsity is also sold as the Vpen in other countries and these are available with a medium sized (nib same as the Varsities sold in the US) or Fine(same nib as in the Petit1).
I refill my varsity pens with bottled fountain pen ink. You can also refill the Petit1 cartridges with bottled fountain pen ink also. Save some cash and save some plastic from going to a landfill near you.

WWRD

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 03:18:46 -0400

Actually WWRD stands for 'What would Reagan Do" - It's a bumper sticker on Ebay. -- jack

Not A T Cross

Jack — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 03:15:22 -0400

I am having trouble finding the pen. Ebay has listings for $39.95 but it is listed as a Crossman Cross Roadster. This is not the old traditional A T Cross that most people think of. I find almost nothing when I google the pen. I wanted to buy it online given your very interesting review (thank you). Has anyone found it online? --jack

Try OfficeMax

davidd — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 08:51:07 -0400

I buy the Pilot Varsity at OfficeMax, where they're available in 3-packs (black, blue, & purple) for a bit under $9.00 USD. I also purchased some on eBay, paying only a bit more than half the OfficeMax retail price, including shipping.

It's been a number of years since I used a fountain pen, so the Varsity is serving as something of a reintroduction for me. I've never owned a "high end" pen, but I'm pleased with the consistent performance of the Varsity, and use it on a daily basis.

I've also begun providing this pen to my 4th-grade elementary classroom students for handwriting practice. The kids are notorious for grasping their pencils in a "death grip." The fountain pen, or "long-time ago pen" as they call the Varsity, requires the students to apply a lighter touch and a steadier, more consistent pace to their letter formation. So far they like it... and they've only bent one tip so far!

I'm wondering how the Varsity compares to the popular Pilot Petit1, a Japanese version of the disposable fountain pen. From images I've seen, the nib appears identical, the differences being a shorter barrel and more vibrant ink colors for the Petit1.

Varsity sighting

Sara — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:13:40 -0400

I ventured to Borders yesterday and they have Varsity pens in a display near the checkout... didn't pick any up since I have a purple, teal and black on in my current arsenal. They weren't marked with a price but if you are looking to pick up just a single one - this might be a good place to visit :)

my artwork | my blog

The middle pen

dougj — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 03:44:23 -0400

Ah, yes, sorry. Fixed!

Hah. I also went from the

GCU Prosthetic Conscience — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 18:03:16 -0400

Hah. I also went from the Varsity to the Parker Vector. It's like a natural progression.

Ummmmm...

caligatia — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 02:19:16 -0400

You say in your review that it's the pen at left, but I'm pretty sure the VPen is the one in the middle. At least, it looks like a Varsity, and I can see the first few letters of the word PILOT on it...

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