Pelikan M800/805 on Massdrop

[Robert]

For $359.99 (including free shipping to U.S.), this looks like a very good deal:

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/pelikan...pelikan%20souv

[earthdawn]

Yea I just saw that..

M805 would be awesome

[manoeuver]

relieved they didn't have the one I'd have bought available...

[tandaina]

Looks like the M805 went instantly. And with the limited nib selection... Yeah I resisted easily.

[Willieboy]

My resistance was not so strong. I ordered a black M800 with medium nib. My heirs will love me.

[Robert]

My resistance was not so strong. I ordered a black M800 with medium nib. My heirs will love me.

Hey, you're getting a great pen at a very, very good price. After it arrives let us know how you like it.

[KBeezie]

I saw that, but then I also saw that I could get a new M800 (or 805 in another listing by the same shop) for $330 + shipping (Around $12-15 depending on weight for 3-4 day EMS).

http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/p...em/pelikan083/

Plus they have the nib option from EF to Double-Broad (good for grinding I guess). But wasn't sure if I wanted something as large as the M800, or if I wanted to get an M600 for around $260 from the same shop (or M400 for $203 for the Tortoise).

[tandaina]

Yeah I want a 600, especially with the brass I suspect the 800 would be too heavy for me.

[KBeezie]

Yeah I want a 600, especially with the brass I suspect the 800 would be too heavy for me.

For comparison.

M600 = around 18g
M800 = around 30g
My M640 = around 33g

Faber-Castell BASIC often equated as being "heavy" = 34g
Lamy Safari = 17g
Pilot Metropolitan = 26g
Kaweco AL Sport = 22g (classic sport 10g)

My M640 is only slightly lighter than the BASIC, but when I had the BASIC it didn't feel right, and felt 'heavy' especially with the balance it had. The M640 feels comfortable and has good balance despite being near the same weight. I suspect the M800 will also feel lighter in matter of perception since it's not much heavier than a Pilot Metropolitan, but it's larger physically and perception wise it makes it seem lighter than it is for it's relative size.

But I do wonder if the brass piston mechanism, makes it feel back-heavy or if they have it balanced.

[Willieboy]

Can anyone tell me how Massdrop is able to sell pens so cheaply, other than as a result of group buys? Having been on the planet for quite awhile, I have come to believe there are no free lunches. Now that I've placed my order I'm worried the pens may be seconds or display models that are scratched, etc. Anybody have experience with Massdrop, or have any insights into how there do what they do?

[Willieboy]

My resistance was not so strong. I ordered a black M800 with medium nib. My heirs will love me.

Hey, you're getting a great pen at a very, very good price. After it arrives let us know how you like it.

I'm looking forward to getting it. It will be only my second Pelikan. By the way, I'm in Houston too. Think Cypress.

[mhosea]

I have a couple of M800's already and so will pass. I love the M800's but they are large and, while not "heavy", they are "not light". Another difference vis-a-vis the M600 is that the nibs feel quite different, IMHO. I played with an un-inked M600 at a pen show and felt like the M600's nib was significantly softer than the M800's. The M1000 has a softer nib that the M800 as well. It's not a bad thing, just different. I think if the M600's come up with a similar percentage savings on Massdrop, I might be persuaded, even though the M600 is on the small side for me. I probably should have snagged one of the blue demonstrator ones (can't remember the model number) when they went on sale for something ridiculously low at nibs.com last December.

[tandaina]

Yeah I want a 600, especially with the brass I suspect the 800 would be too heavy for me.

For comparison.

M600 = around 18g
M800 = around 30g
My M640 = around 33g

Faber-Castell BASIC often equated as being "heavy" = 34g
Lamy Safari = 17g
Pilot Metropolitan = 26g
Kaweco AL Sport = 22g (classic sport 10g)

My M640 is only slightly lighter than the BASIC, but when I had the BASIC it didn't feel right, and felt 'heavy' especially with the balance it had. The M640 feels comfortable and has good balance despite being near the same weight. I suspect the M800 will also feel lighter in matter of perception since it's not much heavier than a Pilot Metropolitan, but it's larger physically and perception wise it makes it seem lighter than it is for it's relative size.

But I do wonder if the brass piston mechanism, makes it feel back-heavy or if they have it balanced.

Yeah the vast majority of my pens are *under* 18g in weight. 30g is *very* heavy in my collection. Enough so that I've always suspected an 800 wouldn't get much use. I think my MB 146 is the heaviest pen I own and I absolutely cannot post it or it's unusable.

[mhosea]

I think my MB 146 is the heaviest pen I own and I absolutely cannot post it or it's unusable.

Brass filler threads? The 80's and earlier MB146's with the plastic filler threads have a bit better balance, IMHO. 'Course I love 'em both.

[tandaina]

Yeah I've got a 79 or 80 146, so it's lighter (well it feels like it to me) than the modern ones, and balances beautifully.

[KBeezie]

Can anyone tell me how Massdrop is able to sell pens so cheaply, other than as a result of group buys? Having been on the planet for quite awhile, I have come to believe there are no free lunches. Now that I've placed my order I'm worried the pens may be seconds or display models that are scratched, etc. Anybody have experience with Massdrop, or have any insights into how there do what they do?

Depending on the pen/manufacture, most likely sourced thru specific distributors/retailers, as such I don't think some would actually come with a warranty. For example The Platinum Century 3776 is roughly $170 retail in the US (or $160 for the Nice Pur special edition), but in Japan it's roughly $70-90 minus shipping for most of the models (ie: music nib still costs a bit even in Japan), but that is simply the local price there and with shipping being roughly $12-15 it's still cheaper than domestic here in the US. But you won't get a warranty on import (as even the warranty card says it only covers pens over 10,000 yen, and the Century 3776 is marked right at 10k, under the warranty coverage, which even if you had it, would have to send to Japan). I don't know exactly where the price inflates when it comes to US retailers, or UK retailers, etc etc. But it appears to greatly vary depending on brand/model, some tend to have a decent deal, some not so much (for example a Pilot Vanishing Point sale on mass drop is no better than the one that keeps popping up on Amazon every so often, and isn't much more than what it would cost to get direct from Japan).

I noticed the same thing happens with various electronics such as cameras, ie: grey market "white box", or "import" such as on B&H and Adorama, they don't have a Mfr warranty, but often times you're offered a warranty (ie: squaretrade etc) by the retailer. But in sorting the price you would probably ask yourself the same thing, how are they getting such and such camera for $20-50 cheaper than the normal US-based one?

Though I am a little confused on the Pelikan one since it's a German product, but to get it from Japan is cheaper than to utilize the Massdrop deal. So doesn't seem to be wholly geographic. But my guess is they found a distributor willing to offload a number of them at a certain price (which in some cases can get their partnership with the manufacture dropped if selling too low).

[earthdawn]

Can anyone tell me how Massdrop is able to sell pens so cheaply, other than as a result of group buys? Having been on the planet for quite awhile, I have come to believe there are no free lunches. Now that I've placed my order I'm worried the pens may be seconds or display models that are scratched, etc. Anybody have experience with Massdrop, or have any insights into how there do what they do?

Though I a little confused on the Pelikan one since it's a German product, but to get it from Japan is cheaper than to utilize the Massdrop deal. So doesn't seem to be wholly geographic. But my guess is they found a distributor willing to offload a number of them at a certain price (which in some cases can get their partnership with the manufacture dropped if selling too low).

I think you hit it exactly on that... It was certain size nibs on certain color pens. I wondered the same thing and now reading what you wrote that really makes sense.

[Willieboy]

Thanks KBeezie.

[wahoo01]

Can anyone tell me how Massdrop is able to sell pens so cheaply, other than as a result of group buys? Having been on the planet for quite awhile, I have come to believe there are no free lunches. Now that I've placed my order I'm worried the pens may be seconds or display models that are scratched, etc. Anybody have experience with Massdrop, or have any insights into how there do what they do?

Though I a little confused on the Pelikan one since it's a German product, but to get it from Japan is cheaper than to utilize the Massdrop deal. So doesn't seem to be wholly geographic. But my guess is they found a distributor willing to offload a number of them at a certain price (which in some cases can get their partnership with the manufacture dropped if selling too low).

I think you hit it exactly on that... It was certain size nibs on certain color pens. I wondered the same thing and now reading what you wrote that really makes sense.

I've ordered from them a few times and I've always gotten the sense that they're sort of the Costco of online sales. They get stuff that is not in the highest demand (hence the limited selection) and make a deal with the distributor that they'll move a lot of them for a discount. I noticed that they started pretty slow with fountain pens but once it looked like people were willing to buy a lot of them online, the fountain pen deals have been pouring in. I got a Lamy 2000 for a great price and I actually jumped on the m805 when it popped up. I vaguely regret not getting a red m600 when it was available.

FWIW, there has been discussion on the Massdrop thread that Massdrop is an authorized reseller and that Chartpak will handle any warranty claims, so it at least seems pretty legit though I have no firsthand experience with it.