1950s Soennecken Prices?

[fountainpenkid]

I've been attempting to do a bit of research on the pricing of 1950's Soennecken models--specifically the 111 series--for a review-comparison between the 111 and the Pelikan 400. There are plenty of scanned-in advertisements that pop up from a basic google search, which allows us to compare Pelikan and Soennecken's marketing strategies, but the pricing, when given, is written only as "from 11 DM." It is most likely the price of the lady-model pencil, considering the far-less-intricate Pelikan 400 started at 25 DM, and the Montblanc 142, 38 DM, but it is strange that the text before reads (approximately) "with beautiful 14k nib." Why would advertisements for a top-line pen give the lowest price possible, far lower than any of its competitors? It seems not only deceiving but also a potential sales deterrent, with customers doubting its quality. Those who work in advertising/marketing might see this differently. The pressing question, of course, is what did the pens actually cost? The fountainpen.it page for Soennecken says the 111 didn't sell well in part because of "too high a price." The 111 nibs were larger than their competitors, and many of the parts were probably more expensive to produce (herringbone celluloid, faceted clip, click filling mechanism...), so this isn't surprising. But the pricing remains mysterious. If anyone has a catalog with this information, please share it with the world!

[fountainpenkid]

No one has anything on this?

[fountainpenkid]

Success! I emailed some collectors and eventually found what I was looking for: the prices were 40, 50 and 60 deutsche marks for the Lady, Superior, and Extra sizes respectively. While no German pen at that time eclipsed the 90 dm premium commanded by the Montblanc 149, the 111 were probably the most expensive for their size--the Lady, smaller than its 142 competitor, cost a 1.5 dm premium. But I suspect it wasn't their pricing outright that put buyers off, but rather their price in the context of their smaller size. Or maybe it was marketing--although I find Soennecken's advertising from the period to be creative and varied. Anyway, it is becoming clearer to me that there's probably more to this story than the simple answer collectors seem to give, i.e that Soennecken "just priced itself out of the market." When one considers that the Pelikan 400 cost a mere 25 dm, wouldn't Montblanc have as well?

I think there might be an elephant in the room: American imports. I forget the exact numbers but I've read in a few places that the Parker "51" and Sheaffer Snorkel--contemporaries with these great celluloid German flagships--cost as much or more than the MB 149 at the time. Regardless of the possibility that Europeans readily paid this premium for the cache of an American-made product, the high price was out there, seen, and presumably comprehended. Why would the Soennecken 111 in particular have seemed so expensive?