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Thread: You most disappointing pen or pens

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    Default You most disappointing pen or pens

    Hi Guys

    Just wondering

    In your pen collection what's you most disappointing pen or pens

    Not just the rubbish ones but ones that should have been a lot better than they turned out to be.

    I only have about 25 pens in my collection and already I have a couple of lemons

    In no particular order

    Parker 17 Super Duofold, (Very Scratch Dry Nib)
    Sheaffer Imperial IV (Very Very Scratch Dry Nib)
    Montblanc 149 (Dry Nib)

    Whats your howlers

    Paul

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    Senior Member fountainpenkid's Avatar
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    Default Re: You most disappointing pen or pens

    Sheaffer Touchdown Crest (scratchy xf nib, leaky, not too pretty)

    I sold it eons ago...but it still holds as the most disappointing pen.
    Will
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    Default Re: You most disappointing pen or pens

    I'm happy to say that my disappointing pens are on the cheaper end.

    I have a Cross Century I bought in the 1990s. It was my second fountain pen and turned me off on metal pens. It's not bad, but I hate writing with it and I hate holding it. The pen doesn't "disappear" when I use it.

    Also, two Chinese pens were disappointments. They look classy, but one barely writes, and the other is huge, but barely holds any ink and has an annoying tendency to skip.

    My most disappointing pen ever was a Nemosine. I read great reviews and the pen was gorgeous, especially for its price. When I got it, the cap was cracking and falling apart. When the company sent a replacement, it did the same thing. When I started writing, it felt good despite the cap, but began leaking within a day. The other pens are still in my case. This one (and the replacement) all went in the trash.

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    Default Re: You most disappointing pen or pens

    Pilot 743. I love everything about this pen except that it writes a bit too dry.

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    Default Re: You most disappointing pen or pens

    Aurora Ipsilon which is with 14k medium nib. I can say that I'm writing with the nail.

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    Senior Member Tracy Lee's Avatar
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    Default Re: You most disappointing pen or pens

    Not an Aurora Ipsilon fan either.

    Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk 2

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    Default Re: You most disappointing pen or pens

    A black Hero 330 arrived with a crack in the section. It wasn't worth the effort to return it. A green Hero 330 and a red Hero 336 in the same order spit ink on the least little shake.

    A rose colored Tombow Object couldn't keep its cap on after just a few weeks of ownership. Tombow made good on that. They no longer had that color but sent me a black one instead.

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    Default Re: You most disappointing pen or pens

    Stipula Modello T. The build felt cheap, the shape felt awkward, the titanium nib was anything but pleasant. An all around 'no thanks'.

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    Default Re: You most disappointing pen or pens

    Quote Originally Posted by Tracy Lee View Post
    Not an Aurora Ipsilon fan either.

    Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk 2
    With the money that I paid for the Ipsilon, I should buy the Visconti Rambrandt which is better than Ipsilon.

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    Default Re: You most disappointing pen or pens

    Every Noodler's pen I've used was an absolute piece of junk. Smelly, and could barely get them to work after tinkering for ages. I ended up getting a few pens from FPR that worked so much better. My TWSBI mini and Vac 700 were huge disappointments as well. My Mini cracked around the piston shortly after receiving it, and had the driest scratchiest nib I've ever used. The 700 also has a terribly dry nib that consistently skips and is just a pain to get working.

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    Default Re: You most disappointing pen or pens

    All of the modern Conway Stewarts that I have tried. I had two lever-fill Dandies and two limited edition overlaid pens. I don't know why I kept buying them--I suppose I had read so many good reports and so I figured I would get a good one eventually. The nibs were all horrible (none of them wrote at all out of the box and needed to be reground by a professional), and one of the lever-fillers came to me from the factory with a twisted sac. I still have two of the pens; after a nibmeister reground the nibs, they write well, but I still have negative associations with the brand. I will no longer purchase from them.

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    Default Re: You most disappointing pen or pens

    I often find that modern pens are set up with nibs that write too dry, but it's not hard to adjust them to have a wetter flow.

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    Default Re: You most disappointing pen or pens

    I'd rather not dwell on the negative, but celebrate the positive, like a lovely little Waterman Taperite Demi with a semi-flex nib I recently restored.
    "When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick;
    and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

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    Default Re: You most disappointing pen or pens

    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Szanto View Post
    I'd rather not dwell on the negative, but celebrate the positive, like a lovely little Waterman Taperite Demi with a semi-flex nib I recently restored.
    Amen brother. Preach the Gospel.

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    Default Re: You most disappointing pen or pens

    A blue Sonnet. It should have been Army Green, because it was a tank.
    Much Love--

    --Virginia

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    Default Re: You most disappointing pen or pens

    Another vote for an Aurora Ipsilon. Traded it in for a Pelikan.
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    Default Re: You most disappointing pen or pens

    Quote Originally Posted by KrazyIvan View Post
    Another vote for an Aurora Ipsilon. Traded it in for a Pelikan.
    Great idea

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    Default Re: You most disappointing pen or pens

    Montblanc 149. I am not sure what the fuss is all about. I have 2 other MBs - a Brahms SE and the Jonathan Swift WE, both of which I like a lot more. The 149 isnt a bad pen. I just dont think it was worth what I spent on it (which was still a fair bit less than full retail), especially compared to what else I could have gotten at that price.
    Trying to be half the person my dog thinks me to be!

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    Default Re: You most disappointing pen or pens

    Some of the most expensive are apt to be the most disappointing given the expectations involved. Certainly true for me. I can (mostly) shrug off a less expensive pen that just doesn't do it for me. Harder to take when it was a sizable commitment.

    I'm still debating over my Pelikan 800, but I feel a creeping disappointment. Nothing wrong with it, but its sort of dead and flat in the excitement area. I don't experience the joy of putting ink to paper. So guess that qualifies for now, although I'm still trying to warm up to it.

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    Default Re: You most disappointing pen or pens

    Quote Originally Posted by ransky View Post
    Some of the most expensive are apt to be the most disappointing given the expectations involved. Certainly true for me. I can (mostly) shrug off a less expensive pen that just doesn't do it for me. Harder to take when it was a sizable commitment.

    I'm still debating over my Pelikan 800, but I feel a creeping disappointment. Nothing wrong with it, but its sort of dead and flat in the excitement area. I don't experience the joy of putting ink to paper. So guess that qualifies for now, although I'm still trying to warm up to it.
    I'm with you on the Pelikan 800. It does its job very well but is totally devoid of any personality or character whilst using it. I have an old Pelikan which is a delight and I thought I would love the new 800 - but it is a bit of a nail.

    I have also had two MB146 that didn't delight me either - couldn't see what all the fuss was about and neither sprinkled my writing in fairy dust.

    TWSBI - lot of hype, piston fill but very average writers.

    Having dismissed those, I have a lot of pens, even from humble names, that are an absolute delight to write with. It is always a thrill to pick up one of those and apply inky words to some quality paper.
    Last edited by UK Mike; June 17th, 2013 at 02:43 AM.
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