The "Dolphin"

[penwash]

As to technique, I don't really want this voting campaign to reach into the deep recesses of wiping habits. When such tasks bring attention to themselves, there is a problem....Lets just leave that at that.

Bob

Bob, just to be perfectly clear, this "voting campaign" is done in the name of fun. Nothing serious, and all about pen geekery.

The only "conspiratorial" ulterior motive that I have here is to see if my original statement -- that this pen split pen people right in the middle -- still holds true.

And as we all can see, it does.

[Seattleite]

You can count me to the “like” camp.
I think it looks cute with his dolphin silhouette, kind of different. 👍

Not worse design wise than e.g. the 2 digit MB’s

I just finished putting a contemporaneous (to the Dolphin) MB 74 together by replacing a cracked barrel with one from a donor 24. A complete disassembly and cleaning was in order. In my opinion, the MB is a better engineered design, made to a higher standard. To be fair, even though the 74 is a 2 digit, it is near the top end, wearing the "Meisterstuck" badge on its gold filled cap. If I compare the 24 or 74 to comparable 800 and 1000 Dolphins, the overall similar superficial appearance quickly gives way to the general superiority of detail of the Montblanc, from the (easier to clean) hooded nib back. Not much experience with the 3x series, other than a scuffed-up 32 which I found years ago. Writes well, but the intarsia nib style does not do much for me.

No clue as to the original MB price in comparison the Sheaffer's, so comparison may be pretty unfair. To interested parties... I will gladly trade any of my little school of Dolphins for comparable early 60s Montblancs. Keeping the PFMs for now.

Bob

[Pterodactylus]

You can count me to the “like” camp.
I think it looks cute with his dolphin silhouette, kind of different. 👍

Not worse design wise than e.g. the 2 digit MB’s

I just finished putting a contemporaneous (to the Dolphin) MB 74 together by replacing a cracked barrel with one from a donor 24. A complete disassembly and cleaning was in order. In my opinion, the MB is a better engineered design, made to a higher standard. To be fair, even though the 74 is a 2 digit, it is near the top end, wearing the "Meisterstuck" badge on its gold filled cap. If I compare the 24 or 74 to comparable 800 and 1000 Dolphins, the overall similar superficial appearance quickly gives way to the general superiority of detail of the Montblanc, from the (easier to clean) hooded nib back. Not much experience with the 3x series, other than a scuffed-up 32 which I found years ago. Writes well, but the intarsia nib style does not do much for me.

No clue as to the original MB price in comparison the Sheaffer's, so comparison may be pretty unfair. To interested parties... I will gladly trade any of my little school of Dolphins for comparable early 60s Montblancs. Keeping the PFMs for now.

Bob

Thanks for your response Bob.

I cannot compare building quality as I do not own a Dolphin (in fact I do not even own a vintage Sheaffer, the only Sheaffer I own is a Valor I do not like much).

What I meant (and thought wrote) was that I do not really like the design of the 2 digit MBˋs (I own a MB 14 and I’m not really impressed neither by the haptic nor the building quality compared to their predecessors of the 50s, they are much simpler and cheaper made).
and looking at the Dolphin is not worse design wise for me.

[Bobby Check]

Let me first state that I am a huge fan of Sheaffer pens. I think they are often underappreciated by many pen collectors and the marketplace. So many of them are very high quality writing instruments and it seems a shame that they are not appreciated more.

The result is, I have picked up some wonderful pens over the years for very fair prices. I love the inlaid nib that Sheaffer put in so many of its pens. My favorites tend to be the Pen for Men pens, the Legacy series, and the Imperial desk pens.

I have owned Dolphins and I do not love them as much. In fact, I actively avoid them. I do not think they are inlaid nibs and to decorate a pen to look like that, seems scandalous to me.

Bobby

[pajaro]

I had a few of those Montblancs that I bought because I had liked the 144, 146, and 149. The two digit Montblanc models I had cracked somewhere around the section and barrel. I have noticed that when Montblanc has a problem, they usually correct it in a following issue.

[Seattleite]

You can count me to the “like” camp.
I think it looks cute with his dolphin silhouette, kind of different. 👍

Not worse design wise than e.g. the 2 digit MB’s

I just finished putting a contemporaneous (to the Dolphin) MB 74 together by replacing a cracked barrel with one from a donor 24. A complete disassembly and cleaning was in order. In my opinion, the MB is a better engineered design, made to a higher standard. To be fair, even though the 74 is a 2 digit, it is near the top end, wearing the "Meisterstuck" badge on its gold filled cap. If I compare the 24 or 74 to comparable 800 and 1000 Dolphins, the overall similar superficial appearance quickly gives way to the general superiority of detail of the Montblanc, from the (easier to clean) hooded nib back. Not much experience with the 3x series, other than a scuffed-up 32 which I found years ago. Writes well, but the intarsia nib style does not do much for me.

No clue as to the original MB price in comparison the Sheaffer's, so comparison may be pretty unfair. To interested parties... I will gladly trade any of my little school of Dolphins for comparable early 60s Montblancs. Keeping the PFMs for now.

Bob

Thanks for your response Bob.

I cannot compare building quality as I do not own a Dolphin (in fact I do not even own a vintage Sheaffer, the only Sheaffer I own is a Valor I do not like much).

What I meant (and thought wrote) was that I do not really like the design of the 2 digit MBˋs (I own a MB 14 and I’m not really impressed neither by the haptic nor the building quality compared to their predecessors of the 50s, they are much simpler and cheaper made).
and looking at the Dolphin is not worse design wise for me.

What can I say, I mentioned that my 74 repair was due to a cracked barrel, and I have seen a broken section or two. But hey, when they don'tfall apart, I think that they are pretty nice pens!?! I too, like the earlier MBs. Hard to find here in my corner of the USA, though.

Bob

[Seattleite]

I had a few of those Montblancs that I bought because I had liked the 144, 146, and 149. The two digit Montblanc models I had cracked somewhere around the section and barrel. I have noticed that when Montblanc has a problem, they usually correct it in a following issue.

I guess that I don't have the perspective of experiencing the 2 digits when they were new, to see when the cracking issue came to light. So it seems that I have pens that I like which fall apart, and pens that I don't like which survive the ages. And so it is with pen collecting.

Bob

[Sailor Kenshin]

I. Just. Want. One.

[penwash]

This is a set of Sheaffer "Dolphin" FP and ballpoint.

I never had one in this cool clamshell case with it's 60s styling.



And the pen itself is a Touchdown, with F-M steel nib. Pretty sweet, the barrel still have remnants of the price.

[Bisquitlips]

Yeah... I need to add one of these to the Shaeffer collection.

Just looking at the pen's nib assembly/section, from a certain angle it actually looks to me like the rostrum of a Dolphin. Or in simpler language, the snout or beak.

Perhaps that is the reason for the parlance of "Dolphin" as a name for this pen. It fits and I do like it.

Anyway, thanks for posting this thread Penwash! Always enjoy your posts and especially your drawings!

[Sailor Kenshin]

Nice sketch as always. I finally got a Dolphin! A desk pen, of course lacking a cap. A Hero 616 donated one. It's a cartridge model in black, and once I cleaned it, it writes well with a medium line.

[pajaro]

I took a green dolphin Touchdown model with a medium nib, added a cap from the 1996 Holly pens, got a green Imperial ballpoint and added a Holly ballpoint cap to it, and I put them in a 1996 Holly box. I did the same with an Imperial Touchdown pen and ballpoint in burgundy. And there's an original 1996 red Holly set. I don't know why I like these so much. Probably it's because of the caps. And the green Dolphin that reminds me of my older green Dolphin Touchdown filler.

[pajaro]

This is a set of Sheaffer "Dolphin" FP and ballpoint.

I never had one in this cool clamshell case with it's 60s styling.



And the pen itself is a Touchdown, with F-M steel nib. Pretty sweet, the barrel still have remnants of the price.

Love this.

[Prettypenguin]

I like the dolphin pens- maybe because I grew up watching dolphins swim in the bay, I don’t know. I’ve been looking for just the right desk set or one in cool color like blue or green. I’m not actively looking, but if one falls into my lap I’ll probably buy it, as long as it’s either restored or a c/c.