Pelikan Identifcation Help...M200 Variant vs M481?

[sargetalon]

Hello everyone. I was hoping someone might help me identify a recent purchase. I troll the auction sites looking for deals and I find the best of these come in the form of mislabeled/poorly represented pens. I was on the hunt a few nights ago trying to track down some of the more obscure Italian market M100's when I came across a listing for an M100 with OBB nib for 49 euros. Nothing stood out other than the fact it was far from an M100 and I made the purchase on a hunch (the price seemed pretty good too).

First, the furniture is gold which disqualifies it from being an M100. Next, the cap band is not beveled with makes it not an M150 either. I was doing some research and found that ruettinger-web.de notes that there was a pre-'97 model M200 made in a small run for the export market that had a green ink window and 1 cap band instead of 2. The picture of it on that site as linked matched up pretty good so what I think I have then is an export model M200. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

What has me now doubting myself is an old catalog scan (depicted below) out of Japan that I found in a posting on another site which list an M481 that looks a lot like this pen as well. I'm still not clear on the lineage of the M481 and where it fits into the grand scheme other than it was a precursor to the M150, renamed when the M400 became popular in order to distinguish the lines. If anyone has more info on the M481, I would love to hear it. So what do you think? I'm certain that this find of mine is not an M100 as advertised but is it an M200 export model or an M481? Thank you in advance for your responses.

My mystery pen...
M200_Export1.jpg

M200_Export5.jpg

M200_Export.jpg

Catalog Scan of M481/150/100
post-18813-0-52472600-1331304910.jpg

[brewsky]

I'm notsure if you got a chance to see my post on fpn, but I beleive this to be the m481, the green tint matches with both of the pens. Also, the top of the cap matches these models. I hope someone with more expertise can help.

sent from my galaxy s3 via tapatalk

[sargetalon]

Thanks for the reply brewsky. I didn't get to see my thread before FPN went down but thanks for taking the time to reply again. I see what you're saying. It's a tough call but sounds like one vote for the 481.

[lisantica]

I apologize that I cannot offer any identifying information, but I felt compelled to tell you the hunch you took was a good one! It's a beauty.

[sargetalon]

I have been in contact with Werner over at ruettinger-web.de. After discussing my findings and suspicions, here is what seems to make sense. The M481 was offered in Europe as the predecessor to the M150 in black/green for export only from 1983-1985. It seems that there was a separate issue in Japan under the title of 481 that is the same size as the M200 but with some colors not offered in Europe. Therefore I suspect that the export M200 that Werner describes is actually the Japanese 481. That said, I think my pen is an M200 export/Japanese M481, not to be confused with the European variant. Clear as mud!

If anyone else has better info, please share as I'm still trying to muddle through these distinctions.

[79spitfire]

2 things make me lean more to the M200 variant.

1 OBB nibs are very uncommon in Japan, so unless the nib was changed it at least wasn't likely sold in Japan that way.
2 I could be wrong on this, it's more of a 'feeling' but wouldn't a M481 have a 14k nib? I could be wrong on this and it may be only the ones sold here in the US in the 'above M200' class have gold nibs.

Another possibility is, as you suspect, they are in reality the same pen, and only the name and some trims change depending on where they are sold! Much like the Pilot Metropolitan/Cocoon pens vary in price and trims for various markets, but are otherwise the same pen.

[sargetalon]

79spitfire...I completely agree with your observations of the OBB nib. The M481 was an early M150/200 variant so I would not expect it to have a gold nib as it would be part of the traditional series and not the Souveran line-up. I think that is why they changed the naming as it was confusing with the M400 being a Souveran.

From what I can piece together on purely circumstantial evidence, I think there are now 4 identifiable versions of the M481 made 1983-1985. What seems to distinguish these are a single cap band despite the pre-'97 styling, a smooth cap top without the Pelikan logo, and friction fit feeds (at least from the examples that I could find);

1) Green Barrel, Black Cap similar to the M150 made for the European market
2) Black Barrel, Black Cap similar to the M200 made for the Japan market
3) Green Barrel, Black Cap similar to the M200 made for the Japan market
4) Burgundy Barrel, Burgundy Cap similar to the M200 made for the Japan market

I think you might be spot on about the same pen with different trims analogy. Seems very reasonable.

[79spitfire]

That makes sense, in marketing, some times less expensive models (of anything) will often be given a 'more expensive' sounding name in certain 'target' markets.

Lexus is a good example of this. Most models are listed in Japan as Toyotas, but are marketed as 'Lexus' with model numbers in North America and Europe to sound more expensive.

[sargetalon]

1) Green Barrel, Black Cap similar to the M150 made for the European market
2) Black Barrel, Black Cap similar to the M200 made for the Japan market
3) Green Barrel, Black Cap similar to the M200 made for the Japan market
4) Burgundy Barrel, Burgundy Cap similar to the M200 made for the Japan market

I'm now fairly certain of my previous assumptions having found photographic evidence of each piece...

1) M481/150 Green/Black (pic from lcaspal2 on foro de Estilograficas en Relojes Especiales)
srgt.jpg


2) M481/200 Black (pic from penboard.de at Martini Auctions)
M200_Export.jpg


3) M481/200 Green/Black (pic from Regina Martini at Martini Auctions)
24687_2.jpg


4) M481/200 Burgundy (pic from printhardcopy via eBay)
$(KGrHqV,!lEFBK9wqbPOBQjpcjh(w!~~60_57.jpg

The M481/150 has the beveled cap band and the Pelikan logo is inscribed on the cap top. This version is the same size as the traditional M150. The M481/200 has the single cap band despite the pre-'97 styling (200's had 2 cap bands) and a smooth cap top without a logo. Also, many of these M481/200's appear to have friction fit feeds from what I've seen though this may not be universal.

For me, this closes the book on a difficult to research issue but I wanted to share my findings on a confusing subject. I hope this helps others.

[whych]

M150-1.jpgIMGP1455.JPGIMGP1454.JPGIMGP1453.JPGThe top pen in the post is an M150/M481. It is the same size as the M150 and IS to all intents and purposes an M150.
The M481 comes from it being a boxed set - without the commemorative box and retro ink bottle, the pen is still an M150.
I don't know if they marked the similar boxed set with the M200 in it as an M200/M481.
The only way you can tell from the pictures is by looking at the nib. In the M150, the nib is shorter and the nib grade is close to the section. The M200 marking is further away from the section.
Here are pics of an M150 set in black:

[sargetalon]

Thanks for the info whych. You're absolutely right from what I can tell. Seems one of my sources was off about the size of the M481/150 and in retrospect, it appears that the M481 that caused the confusion is actually the Japanese variant which is 200 sized. Here are two pics below. Both had their gift boxes. The pen that is the M481/150 is indeed the same size as the M150 and that box, as you pointed out, is labeled M150/481. The other pen is the 200 sized variant from Japan and that gift box was simply labeled M481.

M481/150 compared to a modern M150. The size is the same
untitled.jpg


M481/200 compared to a modern M150. This is the pen that I initially thought was the 150 variant but clearly is the 200 in retrospect.
31fc179eefb9e658.jpg

[whych]

I have seen other similar box sets occasionally with M200 and M400 pens in them that come up every now and then. I think that in 1997 Pelikan brought tem out as commemorative items to boost sales.
The coloured sets and pens were never sold in Germany, but were 'Export' models. The Germans preferred their all black pens, so any coloured pen would not have sold in Germany.
Similarly with the gold nibs, you could buy an M250/M400 with an 18K nib outside Germany as standard because the local county they were sold in had controls on the gold content. (Most of the French Pelikans, for example, had 18 K nibs, while the german pen had a 14K nib.)
Pelikan may have come up with a 'Local' number for the pen to set it aside from the German version of the same pen.

[Tooru Hirata]

Hello from Japan

This is another page from the same Pelikan catalog.
Attachment 8092

We can see #250, #481, #150 and #100 but no #200.
At least in Japan, #481 was the alternative to #200 for certain period of time.


According to my understandings, the differences between #481 and old M200 are as follows,

Captop
M200: plastic/brass construction with Pelikan logo engraving
#481: solid plastic, smooth surface without engraving

Cap band
M200: double cap band
#481: single cap band

Hidden captop logo
M200: No hidden logo
#481: Hidden Pelikan logo engraving will appear when you remove the captop

As far as the size comparison, I cannot find any significant difference between my M200 and #481

Hope this may help.


Tor

[daenghafez]

Hi Tor, Can you re-post the attachment. Can't open it. Thanks for the clarification, by the way.

[Tooru Hirata]

Hi,

This is my second post. Try to attach file again.


M250.jpg


Can you see it?

[sargetalon]

That's awesome Tor! Thanks so much for posting this. It looks like the M250 came in grey, blue, and green marbled versions which I previously did not know about. I came across a marbled one on an auction site and though it was just an M200 with a gold nib swapped in. Glad to see this was a legitimate issue. Looks like I have 3 pens to add to my list of pens in the M100-250 range.

Let me ask you a question about the 481. I see a number of these have friction fit nibs. Can you comment further on this? Thanks.

[writingrav]

This is very helpful. Thanks for posting.

[daenghafez]

Hi,

This is my second post. Try to attach file again.


M250.jpg


Can you see it?

Yes, thanks for sharing.

[Tooru Hirata]

Yes indeed, my 481 has friction fit nib. But I've heard friction nibs are not model specific.
At least #500 with friction fit nib is known to exist.

A photo is shown here (sorry, written in Japanese)
http://pelikan.livedoor.biz/archives/52004258.html#more


Tor

[sargetalon]

Yes indeed, my 481 has friction fit nib. But I've heard friction nibs are not model specific.
At least #500 with friction fit nib is known to exist.

I have seen older 400's and some other models with friction fit nibs tried by Pelikan sporadically. Regarding the M200 series though, I have never encountered friction fit nibs. The 481 examples that I've seen all seem to have friction fit nibs. I'm not sure that is across the board or just anecdotal. Interesting design change for the Japanese market though.