So how about those Platinum Preppies?

[wayne.robinson]

Mine has also cracked after only one eye dropper filling. But at $4, it doesn't really bother me.

[Oncdoc]

Mine has also cracked after only one eye dropper filling. But at $4, it doesn't really bother me.

Please share where to buy for that excellent price?

[wayne.robinson]

Mine has also cracked after only one eye dropper filling. But at $4, it doesn't really bother me.

Please share where to buy for that excellent price?

The Goulet's and many others have them at that price: http://www.gouletpens.com/Platinum_P..._Pen_s/879.htm

[klpeabody]

I have had great luck with the preppies. I've always got one filled up ED style, which usually means that I end up leaving the ink in there for a long period of time; sometimes a few months. Never had an issue. Always starts up right away and writes beautifully. I really like the fine nib for drawing, too.

[Sailor Kenshin]

I don't do eyedroppers, but have had for many years about a half-dozen Preppys in both nib sizes, and none of them have cracked so far, and none are hard starters. Guess they just like me. ;-p

I like them in return: colorful grab-n-go pens.

[rdcalhoon]

I find the eyedropper thing scary. Many is the time one of my Preppies has come unscrewed in my pants pocket. Now I am carrying my pens in my shirt pocket so the danger is less, but even so I would rather carry extra pens than take the risk with a pen I carry. Maybe the fact that I haven't ruined any clothing with a pen for decades means that I am not a true fountain pen user, but ink-stained wretch is not something I want to add to my job description.

[shumanfu]

Attachment 8869 My daughter modded one of my preppies... It now has a Naginata Concord nib. She's a 2 year nibmeister...

Still writes perfectly!

[cedargirl]

The excellent seal is one of the reasons Nathan Tardiff supplies them with some of his fast drying inks - mine came with my Kung Te Cheng ink.
I'm still on the first fill after 12 months - its an eyedropper and it is nearly empty. Hasn't dried out yet, but it does get periodic use.

I haven't dropped it yet but I have heard they are brittle.

[Flounder]

I wanted to love my Preppy, and several factors made it a real contender for daily carry as a uni knockabout. Transparent enough for at-a-glance ink milage, that spring mounted inner cap, the overall size and weight of the pen, and the cap being light enough to post without bothering me. Ultimately it refused to play ball with my favourite ink, and I tossed it out.

Lately I've noticed you can get an international adapter for the Preppy, but have been advised the barrel is too short to accept long international carts or an international converter. Too bad! I'm not too keen on eyedropper conversions, the Preppy isn't the strongest pen in the world.

[AndyT]

Lately I've noticed you can get an international adapter for the Preppy ...

Indeed. My last one from Cult Pens came with a standard cartridge and said adapter, both of which were promptly tossed into a dark corner. Not too dark, fortunately, because it turns out that a no. 19 needle fits in the adapter opening nicely making flushing the feed with a syringe a doddle. Also, the pen accepted an ordinary Chinese converter with a couple of mm to spare. Add a cable tie cap band and who could ask for more?

[discopig]

Preppies are definitely amazing pens for the price. Everyone should have at least 1 or 5 of them.

[Crossinghouses]

I bought a Preppy for fun when I was 15 to try out a fountain pen. I quickly lost interest after a while and left the pen unattended until I became interested in fountain pens again when I realised you could clean one out and fill it with any ink.

I picked up my old Preppy for nostalgia's sake and lo and behold- 7 years and it starts like I inked it yesterday.

How does this even happen.

[Cake]

I love me some Preppies for Noodler's KTC and Bulletproof Black. I use the converters inside as I'm afraid of ED-type pens making a horrid mess. I'm always sure to be careful with those cheapy plastic barrels anyway.

[mhosea]

Well, a modicum of nib responsiveness would be nice, as would a non-cable-tie cap band. Chinese pens seldom have caps that seal all that well, but some of them offer a better writing experience. I'm not that fond of Chinese pens on the whole, either, but after buying 2 at $6.90 each, I bought 10 Wingsung 3203's for $38. A drop of shellac in the bottom of the cap solves their cap sealing issue. A little nib adjustment makes them smooth writers, and the steel nibs are both attractive and responsive (for steel). Only problem, of course, is that a solid titanium-colored pen doesn't tell you what color ink you have in it, so it's not a replacement for a handful of Preppies. And yet, as I said before, I don't like writing with Preppies (don't like the nibs, I guess), so it really doesn't matter how inexpensive they are.

[Avalona]

I've only used the Preppy once - I had it eyedropper-fill converted for me from Goulet Pens. Alas, it didn't work out. It leaked everywhere - I had Diamine Marine showing up all over the place, no matter how I had it laid. I ended up throwing the pen out (which I generally hate to do with any pen, but there was no way to fix the leak). Now, I'm still willing to give them another chance (as I do want some pens to take to university that I don't mind losing, and the Preppies seem to be one of the best for that), but the next time, I'll be just refilling cartridges instead. I do like Platinum - I plan to get at least one more Plaisir, I love how the medium nib writes, and the Preppy and Plaisir share the same nib. I just had a very bad experience with the eyedropper conversion. I don't know if it was the ink itself (doubting it since it works fine in my Plaisir, which has somehow become my turquoise-ink-only pen, and I alternate between Sheaffer Turquoise and Diamine Marine in that one), or if there was a hairline crack somewhere that I didn't notice until after it was filled (more likely). I'll take the safety of having a cartridge instead next time.

[Sailor Kenshin]

They're relatively big-capacity carts with a wide bore you can even fill with an eyedropper. And by that I mean the glass thing with the squeezy bulb.

[Brianrh]

I have only recently received my 0.3mm Preppy and I am still working my way through the cartridge which came with it. After a problem initially getting it to write it starts every time but does seem to be a bit of a dry writer but it's ok. I do enjoy writing with it but look forward to being able to try one of my usual inks with it to see how it compares.

Never having used an ED or converted a pen to an ED it does seem to me dangerous carrying around a pen which relies on the barrel being screwed up firmly to stop ink leaking out. Also as a person who fidgets with pens I'm sure I would be unscrewing it without thinking and have ink everywhere.

I was wondering if the barrel was glued to the section permanently, if it would be possible to remove the nib and feed and fill the ED using a syringe and blunt needle. An additional benefit would be it would strengthen the barrel against cracking.

[TSherbs]

I don't do eyedroppers, but have had for many years about a half-dozen Preppys in both nib sizes, and none of them have cracked so far, and none are hard starters. Guess they just like me. ;-p

I like them in return: colorful grab-n-go pens.

I have had 2 crack of the four that I own. These two remaining are doing well, however, after 12 months of use, and I use them every week (at some point). But at a 50% failure rate (for me), I am glad that they do not cost more (and I have not bought more). I fill them ED. A LOT of ink in there, and it does NOT evaporate.

[Tangster]

I have only recently received my 0.3mm Preppy and I am still working my way through the cartridge which came with it. After a problem initially getting it to write it starts every time but does seem to be a bit of a dry writer but it's ok. I do enjoy writing with it but look forward to being able to try one of my usual inks with it to see how it compares.

Never having used an ED or converted a pen to an ED it does seem to me dangerous carrying around a pen which relies on the barrel being screwed up firmly to stop ink leaking out. Also as a person who fidgets with pens I'm sure I would be unscrewing it without thinking and have ink everywhere.

I was wondering if the barrel was glued to the section permanently, if it would be possible to remove the nib and feed and fill the ED using a syringe and blunt needle. An additional benefit would be it would strengthen the barrel against cracking.

Yes, you can do this. Same method to refill as the Pilot Varsity, you'd fill it through the hole in the collector with a syringe needle.

[Brianrh]

I have only recently received my 0.3mm Preppy and I am still working my way through the cartridge which came with it. After a problem initially getting it to write it starts every time but does seem to be a bit of a dry writer but it's ok. I do enjoy writing with it but look forward to being able to try one of my usual inks with it to see how it compares.

Never having used an ED or converted a pen to an ED it does seem to me dangerous carrying around a pen which relies on the barrel being screwed up firmly to stop ink leaking out. Also as a person who fidgets with pens I'm sure I would be unscrewing it without thinking and have ink everywhere.

I was wondering if the barrel was glued to the section permanently, if it would be possible to remove the nib and feed and fill the ED using a syringe and blunt needle. An additional benefit would be it would strengthen the barrel against cracking.

I've just flushed out my Preppy and refilled with Diamine Midnight Blue ink and it has made the Preppy write wetter and smoother than it had done with the Platinum ink that came with it. Now it is very satisfying to write with more so than some of my other FPs that write smoother than the Preppy. Strange that.

Next step convert to a ED but just a little more writing with it first.