So the Esterbrook Brand being Revived?

[KBeezie]

So, it's December 1st, no updates on their website.

Only recent thing that happened is this post on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/15338498806...967953/?type=1

In their mobile uploads folder.



And as usual I still can't like/comment/etc anything on their page.

[gbryal]

Apparently it's a luxury brand now: $400 for their LE Deluxe pen. The new "J" is $75, $65 for rollerball.

[Scrawler]

They will have a very hard job improving on the original. I wonder if they will even be doing the trademark replaceable nib assemblies.

[KBeezie]

Apparently it's a luxury brand now: $400 for their LE Deluxe pen. The new "J" is $75, $65 for rollerball.

Yea saw that, and the $75 one doesn't look much better than what you can get a Ranga Acrylic for.

[pajaro]

Apparently it's a luxury brand now: $400 for their LE Deluxe pen. The new "J" is $75, $65 for rollerball.

Yea saw that, and the $75 one doesn't look much better than what you can get a Ranga Acrylic for.

It seems the Esterbrook brand os being brought back as another pretentious vendor of collectibles. As far as a relationship to the original Esterbrook product or the rest of this subforum is concerned, it seems to be a non sequitur. This new product being a John Doe product as if he changed his name to John Esterbrook to fool the unwary into thinking there was in fact a relationship to the original Esterbrook product.

[Scrawler]

I will not buy it just because its name is Esterbrook. I would buy it if it is a good pen that met my expectations for the price.

[tandaina]

The pictures you all have posted sure don't look like high end pens. Those looks barely above kit pens, ugly, unbalanced, and with nothing to recommend them over a hundred other cheap pens. :\

[mrcharlie]

I kind of resent the marketing which implies, if not outright states that "Esterbrook" is the US' oldest pen company, as if it had been in continuous operation since the 19th century, or as if this current company was in any way a continuation of the original company. They either bought the trademarks or acquired them due to the previous owner not making use of them for the required maximum amount of time you can not use but still own them. There is no other connection; no continuous management chain, corporate/company history, or production facilities. I guess it is legal, but it prejudices me against them.

There are other active names brought back from the dead where they acknowledge they are bringing back a formerly glorious name and not the old company with a new product and marketing plan, from Kaweco (pens) to Shinola (shoe polish and watches and journals and bikes and stuff) to Triumph (motorcycles) and that doesn't bother me. So far, this one does. The registered trademark says right in it "established 1858" but the current company sure as h___ was not.

[gbryal]

I share the sentiments of those who find the marketing aspect to be distasteful. On the other hand, I recently bought a new model Conklin Endura. Maybe I wouldn't have if I had an emotional investment in older Conklins, but unlike Esterbrooks, I heard of those later, and don't have several on hand.

I'd like to keep my mind open to the possibility that these first pens are driving funding to do real research and invest in production of pens worthy of the name. Part of me thinks we need anything that brings new customers to the hobby, even brand holding companies. On the other hand, we don't want to instantly lose the same customer because of a bad experience or color the reputation of vintage pens that have nothing to do with the new ones.

Still, like kbeezie said, you can get a good Ranga for the price. Or several Metropolitans. A passel of Jinhaos. Or a TWSBI Vac-700, which has roughly the same shape.

Until someone actually has one of these pens, we can only speculate as to the quality, though aesthetically, they wouldn't be my first choice. I am still guessing a rebranded chinese pen like the Nemosine, but I don't know that. That in itself doesn't mean it will be a bad pen, either. Still, $75 to find out.

On the positive side, vintage Esterbrook lovers can possibly reach a new audience with these new customers if they come and post in this Esterbrook forum about their new pens.

[KBeezie]

I kind of resent the marketing which implies, if not outright states that "Esterbrook" is the US' oldest pen company, as if it had been in continuous operation since the 19th century, or as if this current company was in any way a continuation of the original company. They either bought the trademarks or acquired them due to the previous owner not making use of them for the required maximum amount of time you can not use but still own them. There is no other connection; no continuous management chain, corporate/company history, or production facilities. I guess it is legal, but it prejudices me against them.

There are other active names brought back from the dead where they acknowledge they are bringing back a formerly glorious name and not the old company with a new product and marketing plan, from Kaweco (pens) to Shinola (shoe polish and watches and journals and bikes and stuff) to Triumph (motorcycles) and that doesn't bother me. So far, this one does. The registered trademark says right in it "established 1858" but the current company sure as h___ was not.

I agree the Established 1858 bit is flat-out false advertising far as I'm concerned because it's clear that the new pens have nothing to do with the old ones. If they also acquired the original patents and developed some revivals using roughly the same design with some modern adjustments, then it may be more forgivable, since at least something of the original was carried over.

I share the sentiments of those who find the marketing aspect to be distasteful. On the other hand, I recently bought a new model Conklin Endura. Maybe I wouldn't have if I had an emotional investment in older Conklins, but unlike Esterbrooks, I heard of those later, and don't have several on hand.

Speaking of Conklin I actually got a modern day Glider in exchange for some of my pens. From the picture I was expecting it to be constructed about the same as my Taccia Momenta (which originally was about an $80 pen as well). But the only thing really "cheaper" about the glider was the nib and feed (the nib I was at least able to replace with a #6 Franklin-Christoph Masuyama Needlepoint grind, but I did have to replace the feed with a similar one from one of my other nib units just to make the nib fit better as conklin's seems a little thicker), everything else on the acrylic seemed nicer the metal support in both the barrel and section so that it's not acrylic screwing onto metal but metal-on-metal along with the inside of the section seeming to be reinforced by a metal collar. So at least minor little things like that seems to improve the quality in general.

I've never used an original Conklin so I don't have much basis for comparison in terms of being true to their history, but just from pictures the modern glider is certainly not a vintage glider

I just have a feeling that the esterbrooks seemingly similar in the acrylic design are not going to have those little niceties that improve the overall quality of construction simply as another acrylic clone of sort.

[Jon Szanto]

It is looking, and it has since the beginning, like just another rip-off of a name and lesser quality pens trying to ride those coat tails. The photos don't look good, certainly from an aesthetics point, though it is impossible to tell the quality. The modern Conklin's are a similar story: with the exception of their more expensive models, none of them seem to hold a candle to the original Conklin pens, and even the upper-tier pens (Mark Twain Crescent-filler, etc) have had q/c issues. Engraving is cheap laser engraving on ugly, oversize clips, etc. A real blight on the name of a fine company.

[gbryal]

I've never used an original Conklin so I don't have much basis for comparison in terms of being true to their history, but just from pictures the modern glider is certainly not a vintage glider

I like my Endura except for one thing; when the cap is screwed on I can move it side to side slightly, and eventually it comes loose. I contacted YAFA and they never wrote back. I don't know if the Endura was from the Esterbrook guy's tenure or YAFAs, but either way, that bums me out.

[manoeuver]

At least Conklin brought back the Crescent Filler. Other quibbles aside, if one wishes to, they can view the new Conklins as an homage to the old- the new boss was savvy enough to make that possible.

I've not seen that kind of effort from the new boss at Esterbrook- yet. I've got no expectations for the new folks (good or bad) but it's be a stretch to call what they've done so far promising.

Here's a fun question that Nobody's asked: If you were in charge of resurrecting a revered-but-defunct pen brand, what would you do to gain good press, good vibes and get the pen community behind you?

[david i]

At least Conklin brought back the Crescent Filler. Other quibbles aside, if one wishes to, they can view the new Conklins as an homage to the old- the new boss was savvy enough to make that possible.

I've not seen that kind of effort from the new boss at Esterbrook- yet. I've got no expectations for the new folks (good or bad) but it's be a stretch to call what they've done so far promising.

Here's a fun question that Nobody's asked: If you were in charge of resurrecting a revered-but-defunct pen brand, what would you do to gain good press, good vibes and get the pen community behind you?

Caveat to answer, because apparently the Wahl-Eversharp name has had continuous active ownership if not active product for many years, but you can see the phoenixing of a seemingly long-gone pen brand done rather well by looking at what Syd has done.

regards

d-

[Jon Szanto]

Here's a fun question that Nobody's asked: If you were in charge of resurrecting a revered-but-defunct pen brand, what would you do to gain good press, good vibes and get the pen community behind you?

I'd pretty much do everything that Syd Saperstein has done with the Wahl-Eversharp brand. Take the best of the past, marry it with contemporary methods and materials, promote it through the fountain pen community, have a presence within said community, and have a deep knowledge of the brand and the history of pens in general. Class act.

[KBeezie]

Here's a fun question that Nobody's asked: If you were in charge of resurrecting a revered-but-defunct pen brand, what would you do to gain good press, good vibes and get the pen community behind you?

I'd pretty much do everything that Syd Saperstein has done with the Wahl-Eversharp brand. Take the best of the past, marry it with contemporary methods and materials, promote it through the fountain pen community, have a presence within said community, and have a deep knowledge of the brand and the history of pens in general. Class act.

As opposed to (New) Esterbrook, you ask a question, one of three things happens:

1) You get question removed and banned from being able to comment on any future postings
2) You just never get an answer
3) Or you get told to email them for an answer, and don't hear back.

[manoeuver]

At least Conklin brought back the Crescent Filler. Other quibbles aside, if one wishes to, they can view the new Conklins as an homage to the old- the new boss was savvy enough to make that possible.

I've not seen that kind of effort from the new boss at Esterbrook- yet. I've got no expectations for the new folks (good or bad) but it's be a stretch to call what they've done so far promising.

Here's a fun question that Nobody's asked: If you were in charge of resurrecting a revered-but-defunct pen brand, what would you do to gain good press, good vibes and get the pen community behind you?

Caveat to answer, because apparently the Wahl-Eversharp name has had continuous active ownership if not active product for many years, but you can see the phoenixing of a seemingly long-gone pen brand done rather well by looking at what Syd has done.

regards

d-

David, as I wrote that post I was thinking about what awesome work Syd has been doing, and I wondered how quickly someone would bring him up as a great example of how to bring a name brand back.

[welch]

Looks like the reverse of what Syd "The Wahlnut" Saperstein did with the current Wahl/Eversharp Skyline. Painful to remember, but I hoped in 2009 that someone would

- take a government loan
- open a factory in Camden, NJ,
- begin making cartridge-converter pens that looked like the Esterbrook J-series, and with a nib that fit the Esterbrook Renew-point.

(I figured that real-estate in Camden must be cheap since the city has disintegrated over the last 45 years. New Estie? Ugh)

For me, the Levenger True-write is the closest we have to the glorious Esterbrook pens.

[manoeuver]

Camden may be cheap, but new jersey is a terrible place to try to do business. I wonder if there's even infrastructure left in Camden to support manufacture of anything besides soup.

[welch]

Camden may be cheap, but new jersey is a terrible place to try to do business. I wonder if there's even infrastructure left in Camden to support manufacture of anything besides soup.

Probably not...I say, having been there exactly once. Otherwise, NJ is pretty handy: I-95 runs right through, and there are still freight lines.