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Thread: Heidelberg Upheaval?

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    Exclamation Heidelberg Upheaval?

    Lamy has always seemed a relatively staid, conservative company to me. Lately, I have to question that. In the past few months...

    1. I happened to read their "warranty" included with a new Safari Petrol pen. Here's what it says...

    "Lamy Products warranties its writing instruments for the life of the product. If repair is required other than from abuse or misuse, then, for $9.50 handling and return postage charge, Lamy Products will repair, refurbish and return any Lamy instrument. If other parts have been abused, there will be a special charge. There are no labor or parts charges."

    The price of a Safari is around $30. So, if they sell you a problem, it's $9.50 to make it right -- plus postage, and they want it sent "insured." I'd guess that comes to around $15 total. For half the price of the pen, they will correct the problem they created.

    Last year I bought a Faber-Castell Loom with a broad nib. It was too broad and too wet for me so I decided to take advantage of the F-C nib swap program. You send them your pen, and they will tell you how much it will cost to change the nib. I sent them my pen. Next thing I heard from them was a week later when my pen arrived with the fine nib I had requested, no charge -- along with a nice letter from F-C, several of their pencils and a load of their promo materials. That's a classy company.

    2. I not only got one Safari Petrol, I got two. As I sit here comparing them in good light, it is obvious they are two different colors. One leans toward a dark blue, the other more green. You could call either one teal, but it suggests a lack of manufacturing control. I'd take a picture, but given variations in monitors and viewing devices I doubt most people would see the difference in a picture. In the sunlight here, I'd call it a pronounced difference.

    3. There is talk of Lamy discontinuing their extra-fine nibs. The Andersons, of Anderson Pens, recently said this is likely just a current production issue and would not be a permanent move. From my perspective, it's a who knows? I don't think I'd want rumors like that floating about if I were at Lamy.

    And speaking of rumors...

    Strange talk of new pens this year and next. The Aion is currently being shown on a German Lamy site. July 2017 is on the page, but anyone's guess what that means. Three others being talked about:

    1. Tribe -- an entry into the sub-$10 market now dominated by Pilot Varsity and Platinum Preppy.

    2. Guard Rail -- no info beyond the name. Sounds like a metal bodied pen.

    3. Wasabi -- a big push into the booming Asian markets.

    Whatever is going on in Heidelberg, they are keeping themselves in the news.

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    Senior Member grainweevil's Avatar
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    Default Re: Heidelberg Upheaval?

    The latest info on the EF nibs is not that they're discontinuing them, merely confining distribution to Germany and Asia. It seems Lamy are turning towards Asia to the detriment of existing markets - it's nice to feel loved over here, Lamy... An odd thing to do though, competing with the Japanese and Chinese manufacturers, considering how hit and miss their EF nibs are.

    As to the warranty, well, they're getting like insurance policies these days, aren't they? Firms will increasingly do everything they can to avoid honouring it anyway.

    Quote Originally Posted by Brilliant Bill View Post
    Last year I bought a Faber-Castell Loom with a broad nib. It was too broad and too wet for me so I decided to take advantage of the F-C nib swap program. You send them your pen, and they will tell you how much it will cost to change the nib. I sent them my pen. Next thing I heard from them was a week later when my pen arrived with the fine nib I had requested, no charge -- along with a nice letter from F-C, several of their pencils and a load of their promo materials. That's a classy company.
    That's good to hear. Parker get a lot of stick from FP users nowadays, but I have to say my experience of a nib swap with them was excellent. And it was genuinely free - they paid shipping both ways!

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    Default Re: Heidelberg Upheaval?

    I love the company. They've always been great to deal with, never asked questions when I had a complaint, just fixed the issues. Sorry to hear about your negative impression, but that's not mine.
    Also: Lamy seems to be rethinking their nib grinds as well as nib designs.
    And: I don't get the "strange talk of new pens" part - Lamy has just started the ad campaign for Jasper Morrison's new supernormal pen, the "aion" - a great complement to Naoto Fukasawa's "Noto" ballpoint - and they are bound to release more pens in the future: nothing strange here.
    I'd talk to Lamy about the Petrol's color variation. If one of your's is a one off, maybe it will be worth a thousand bit coins in 50 years?
    Last edited by inklord; June 4th, 2017 at 09:19 AM.

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    Default Re: Heidelberg Upheaval?

    On each of your points.

    In the US very few of your warranty repairs are carried out by the European company, but rather by their agents, and so the cover you get may not be to the same level. Both FC/GvFC and Lamy have had bad reports in the US in the past, but with Lamy, at least, the agent was changed and people reported very favourably. Notably in the UK and Europe the warranty cover is only 2 years in theory, but they seem to ignore that and just repair for free. The only costs are recorded postage to them.
    On the Petrol Safari. Were both sourced from reliable vendors, or was one or more from Amazon, eBay, etc. Lamy manufacture all their own pens and components and have tight tolerances. The colouration will be based upon chemical, not vegetable dyes, and so there should be no variation. I suggest comparing the LAMY logo on the two barrels.
    On the EF nibs in the US. All indications are most they manufacture go to East Asia, when fountain pens have become fashionable. It will probably only last a few years and so is not worth the large cost of up-tooling (and possibly expanding the factory). I suspect either the US was the lowest purchaser of EF nibs and so was the area (or one of) to be sacrificed for that item. If I (and others) are correct as to the reason, then once fountain pens lose their fashion status in the Far East then you'll see them again in the USA.

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    Default Re: Heidelberg Upheaval?

    I have a friend who owns a B & M store who says Lamy is difficult to deal with. Why did they release such a small amount of the Petrol ink and a large amount of Petrol safari's which are inexpensive pens? Most of their ink colors suck, in my opinion. I am about done buying anything Lamy. Too many other choices out there. Again, only my view.
    Sandy
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    Default Re: Heidelberg Upheaval?

    Quote Originally Posted by sharmon202 View Post
    I have a friend who owns a B & M store who says Lamy is difficult to deal with. Why did they release such a small amount of the Petrol ink and a large amount of Petrol safari's which are inexpensive pens? Most of their ink colors suck, in my opinion. I am about done buying anything Lamy. Too many other choices out there. Again, only my view.
    That's what a free market is all about.
    Also, as I have written elsewhere on this forum, I think there is a deep disconnect between the US fountain pen market and the German market. In Germany, the Lamy customer base seems more driven by youth culture and, in the higher price class, design concepts. In the US it seems more of a curio market (really: collecting the Safari, a school pen??). You can guess which customer group has Lamy's ear...

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    Default Re: Heidelberg Upheaval?

    Quote Originally Posted by sharmon202 View Post
    I have a friend who owns a B & M store who says Lamy is difficult to deal with. Why did they release such a small amount of the Petrol ink and a large amount of Petrol safari's which are inexpensive pens? Most of their ink colors suck, in my opinion. I am about done buying anything Lamy. Too many other choices out there. Again, only my view.
    Forced scarcity. It's obviously working. Lamy releases a limited number of pens/inks to the States and totally sells out. Better than an unlimited supply that may not sell out as rapidly. Guarantee that 500 units will sell or hope that 800 or a 1000 will sell? Pretty clear choice to me.

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    Default Re: Heidelberg Upheaval?

    Quote Originally Posted by AzJon View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by sharmon202 View Post
    I have a friend who owns a B & M store who says Lamy is difficult to deal with. Why did they release such a small amount of the Petrol ink and a large amount of Petrol safari's which are inexpensive pens? Most of their ink colors suck, in my opinion. I am about done buying anything Lamy. Too many other choices out there. Again, only my view.
    Forced scarcity. It's obviously working. Lamy releases a limited number of pens/inks to the States and totally sells out. Better than an unlimited supply that may not sell out as rapidly. Guarantee that 500 units will sell or hope that 800 or a 1000 will sell? Pretty clear choice to me.
    ... and look at the Lamy 2000 50th anniversary edition where they didn't do that... Goulet pens even offered a free Makrolon L2k with each purchase of those for a while, just to get rid of them

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    Default Re: Heidelberg Upheaval?

    Both pens came from known, reputable dealers. Both I actually know personally, one I've met his Rediform (distributor) rep. Not much chance either pen is a knockoff.



    Quote Originally Posted by dapprman View Post
    On the Petrol Safari. Were both sourced from reliable vendors, or was one or more from Amazon, eBay, etc. Lamy manufacture all their own pens and components and have tight tolerances. The colouration will be based upon chemical, not vegetable dyes, and so there should be no variation. I suggest comparing the LAMY logo on the two barrels.

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    Default Re: Heidelberg Upheaval?

    Quote Originally Posted by inklord View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by AzJon View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by sharmon202 View Post
    I have a friend who owns a B & M store who says Lamy is difficult to deal with. Why did they release such a small amount of the Petrol ink and a large amount of Petrol safari's which are inexpensive pens? Most of their ink colors suck, in my opinion. I am about done buying anything Lamy. Too many other choices out there. Again, only my view.
    Forced scarcity. It's obviously working. Lamy releases a limited number of pens/inks to the States and totally sells out. Better than an unlimited supply that may not sell out as rapidly. Guarantee that 500 units will sell or hope that 800 or a 1000 will sell? Pretty clear choice to me.
    ... and look at the Lamy 2000 50th anniversary edition where they didn't do that... Goulet pens even offered a free Makrolon L2k with each purchase of those for a while, just to get rid of them
    Fair enough, I suppose they have to at least be a bit desirable and a good price point. I actually don't know, are the LE Lamy pens the same cost as a regular model?

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    Default Re: Heidelberg Upheaval?

    Quote Originally Posted by AzJon View Post
    ...I actually don't know, are the LE Lamy pens the same cost as a regular model?
    Generally yes -- e.g. the color-of-the-year Safari and AL-Star cost the same as the regular variants. The Black Amber is an exception (and kind of a disaster).

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    Default Re: Heidelberg Upheaval?

    Much ado about nothing, unless you collect the Safari, the LE ink and maybe LE ink cartridges.

    I bought the Petrol pen, the ink bottle and three boxes of cartridges, from the Pen Boutique. It's just a source I started using when my previous source went out of business.

    If you want this stuff, you know it will sell fast, so you have to have your head out of your --- and order it timely.

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    Default Re: Heidelberg Upheaval?

    Quote Originally Posted by AzJon View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by inklord View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by AzJon View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by sharmon202 View Post
    I have a friend who owns a B & M store who says Lamy is difficult to deal with. Why did they release such a small amount of the Petrol ink and a large amount of Petrol safari's which are inexpensive pens? Most of their ink colors suck, in my opinion. I am about done buying anything Lamy. Too many other choices out there. Again, only my view.
    Forced scarcity. It's obviously working. Lamy releases a limited number of pens/inks to the States and totally sells out. Better than an unlimited supply that may not sell out as rapidly. Guarantee that 500 units will sell or hope that 800 or a 1000 will sell? Pretty clear choice to me.
    ... and look at the Lamy 2000 50th anniversary edition where they didn't do that... Goulet pens even offered a free Makrolon L2k with each purchase of those for a while, just to get rid of them
    Fair enough, I suppose they have to at least be a bit desirable and a good price point. I actually don't know, are the LE Lamy pens the same cost as a regular model?
    Usually, though I have seen a few brick stores charging a small premium here in the UK. I suppose if a colour is in demand they are just trying to make a quick buck. Here's an example, a large stationary chain https://www.paperchase.co.uk/stationery/writing/lamy. Perhaps surprisingly, the LE ink is slightly cheaper at £2 vs £2.25 for the regular colours!
    Last edited by Tarbyonline; August 22nd, 2017 at 08:00 PM.

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