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Thread: The curious case of Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black

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    Senior Member dneal's Avatar
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    Default The curious case of Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black

    I had been under the impression that Pelikan blue black was no longer available in the States, and no longer used iron gall as an ingredient.

    When I was last stationed in Germany, I made sure to bring some with me when I returned to the U.S. Although I still have some cartridges, my bottles are empty. I discovered Amazon has it, in the large 62.5ml bottles. I bought some, it arrived in a couple of days and life is good again.

    I hadn't paid attention to see if there were any change to the formula that made it available now (the wisdom of the internet long suggested there's some "forbidden" component to it), so I fired up the Google machine.

    Much of the search results still addressed that it was discontinued in the U.S., some say there's no longer any IG in it; but I happened across This page at Pelikan's site

    "The least complicated ink which is still relatively light resistant, is the ink "4001 blue-black", our item no. 310 607. This ink contains iron gall, which makes it much more resistant than for example the ink shades 4001 royal blue or 4001 brilliant black, but due to the addition of special ingredients, you can still use this ink without qualm in piston or cartridge fountain pens. Within time, the ink will change its tone from blue to gray, but it will remain visible. It is not quite as light resistant as the Fount India. Due to the small concentration of iron gall, this ink will not damage your paper (which sometimes happened with historic ink made of iron gall."

    So Pelikan blue-black is available to the U.S., and it does still contain IG. Sorry if none of that is news to you, I've apparently been under a rock.

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    Senior Member The Good Captain's Avatar
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    Default Re: The curious case of Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black

    My favourite ink of all time and I've been happy with all its quirks for years. It's never caused me any issues at all.
    Enjoy!
    The Good Captain
    (Gaston F Limoges)
    "Meddler's 'Salamander' - almost as good as the real thing!"

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    Senior Member Lady Onogaro's Avatar
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    Default Re: The curious case of Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black

    I think Lamy's Blue-Black is also an iron gall ink. Or it used to be. Does anyone know?
    Lady Onogaro

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    Senior Member guyy's Avatar
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    Default Re: The curious case of Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black

    Lamy BB used to be. I don’t know about now.

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    Default Re: The curious case of Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black

    Quote Originally Posted by guyy View Post
    Lamy BB used to be. I don’t know about now.
    https://gdoc.pub/doc/e/2PACX-1vQohlC...S7kVTuH5M5BvPr

    not iron gall anymore apparently

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    Senior Member The Good Captain's Avatar
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    Default Re: The curious case of Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black

    No, Lamy isn't anymore. I've still got a couple of bottles of the original IG but always prefer the 4001. Also, the Montblanc Blue-Black IG but I confess, I haven't used that in some considerable time.
    Still prefer the 4001!
    The Good Captain
    (Gaston F Limoges)
    "Meddler's 'Salamander' - almost as good as the real thing!"

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    Senior Member AzJon's Avatar
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    Default Re: The curious case of Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black

    I've always wondered where the Pelikan bb no longer being iron-gall was started and why it continues to persist.

    It apparently contains ingredients that make it illegal to import, but it does pop up on websites for sale from time to time and seems to have no issue being bought on eBay and sent to the States. I imagine that its just not worth anyone's time to bust people for bringing small quantities of a relatively benign product into the country.

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    Senior Member calamus's Avatar
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    Default Re: The curious case of Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black

    I think there might be problems if a large US company like Staples or Office Depot started carrying 4001 Blue-Black, but not when it's being shipped one bottle at a time from overseas.

    I have a bottle I've had for a few years that I got on Amazon. One of my favorite inks. It has a timeless, classic quality to it.
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    (What are you laughing at? Just change the name and the joke’s on you.)

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    Default Re: The curious case of Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black

    My understanding is that due to an ingredient that is on some EPA list, that rather than reformulate, Pelikan has chosen to not import it into the US instead. It must have been a small percentage of what they do exportto various markets, and because no other markets seem to have issues with it, that is what they do.

    Getting it from European vendors or some third party Amazon vendor seems to not raise red flags however.

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    Brad "Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind" - Rudyard Kipling

    "None of us can have as many virtues as the fountain-pen, or half its cussedness; but we can try." - Mark Twain

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    Default Re: The curious case of Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black

    Toxic Substances Control Act. TSCA. One of the ingredients is likely not declared and absent from the approved list and unless you want to do paperwork you don’t ship. There is a way to get it though, you just need to know the right people.

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