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Fingers Were Meant to be Inky

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Pelikan Classic M200 Fountain Pen Review

The Pelikan Classic M200 Fountain Pen in Green Swirl Resin with a black cap and piston-filling knob, Capped

Nice to meet you, Peli. I though you’d be broader.

Pelikan Classic M20o Fountain Pen

Price: $152.00
Nib: Extra Fine
Filling System: Piston

About the Pen:

On a recent trip to New York City, I stopped by the Fountain Pen Hospital to see how much trouble I could get into. They had a pile of Pelikans in a case near the front of the store, and the green and pearl swirls of an M200 caught my eye. Such a beautiful pen!

As I meandered around the store, the damn thing kept calling to me: “Kennnnnnnnnnnn! Buuuuuuyyyyyy mmmmeeeeeeeeee! You’ll loooooooove mmmeeeeeee!” I fell in love with the way it looked, but I was hesitant to spend that much money on a European pen that may be too broad for me to use every day. Regardless of how expensive a pen is, I buy it to use it, not to display it as art.

A close-up shot of the Pelikan M200 barrel's green and pearl swirls

I milled about the store for a while, but kept coming back to those luscious swirls. They didn’t have an EF on-hand, but they did let me test one with a Fine nib. I liked it a lot (super smooth), but as I expected, it was a little too broad for my everyday use. I took a chance and asked them if they could swap out an EF nib from another M200, and the dude was like “Oh yeah, sure, no problem!” So I screamed “Sign me up!” and threw money at him. I didn’t test the EF before leaving, so I wasn’t sure what to expect when I got home.

Shock of shocks: This EF really is… Read More

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TWSBI Diamond 580AL Fountain Pen Review

TWSBI Diamond 580AL Fountain Pen in the packaging box

Straight from the “What the heck was I thinking?” files, I present to you the…

TWSBI Diamond 580AL Fountain Pen

Price: $60.00
Nib: Extra Fine
Filling System: Piston

About the Pen:

I was in high school when Guns N’ Roses exploded on the scene. For some reason still unknown to me, I decided that I didn’t like the song Welcome to the Jungle. If I turned on MTV and that video was on, I’d immediately turn it off in disgust. One day I turned on the radio and there was this amazing song playing. I thought, “Wow! This song is great! I wonder who it is?” It turned out to be GNR’s Welcome to the Jungle. I was shocked. I didn’t understand how I could have possibly hated such an awesome song. I decided later that it must have been Axl Rose’s obvious jerkiness that turned me off. But before I digress too far, let’s bring this back around to the fountain pen review I’m supposed to be writing.

I did basically the same thing with TWSBI pens. Somehow, I got it in my head that I didn’t like the way they looked, that they were the ugly troglodytes of the pen world. Then one day, I happened across a random picture of this beautiful demonstrator fountain pen with vibrant orange parts inside. I thought, “Wow! This pen is awesome! I wonder what it is?” It turned out to be a TWSBI Diamond 580AL. I was shocked. I didn’t understand how I could have possibly thought these gorgeous pens were so gruesome. I decided later that Axl Rose must have had something to do with it. Jerk.

So after I got over my shock, I started hitting the pen sites to find out if all TWSBI pens looked this good or if it was just an anomaly. Keep reading to find out if I realized the error of my ways…. Read More