Pen Review – The Platinum Preppy Fountain Pen
My husband reminded me that I haven’t done a pen/pencil review since basically the first one – though I did incorporate a review of the TUL pens by Office Max in one of my writing blogs (Tools of the Trade). I am going to try to be better about this – aiming for a couple of Mondays a month to get a review of a writing instrument up. Starting…now with the Platinum Preppy Fountain Pen series. The Rotring drafting pencil I won from Dave’s Mechanical Pencils will go up after my husband has a better chance to play with it.
You see, my husband really is an enabler when it comes to my love of all thing ink and graphite – and even though we’ve been together for almost 5 years, I’ve only recently discovered his well-hidden love of mechanical pencils. Hence, the enabling. Our artist friend, LA Williams, introduced my husband to several blogs and websites, and that’s been passed on to me. We found the Platinum Preppy fountain pens on JetPens.com. And as far as I can tell, they’re available in import only since the labels (except for a few key words) are all in Japanese.
So, nuts and bolts – these are inexpensive “beginner” fountain pens. They seem to run in the $3-$5 US range online. The Preppy fountain pen is a medium-sized, clear plastic barrel (which I like to see the amount of ink used) and come color-coded in seven different colors – cap and stainless steel nib dyed to match the ink. The nibs come in .03mm and .05mm widths and the ink cartridges are proprietary to the Platinum Preppy – though they do have a converter option. Refills come two cartridges to a pack for around $1.50.
I like these little guys. I like knowing by looking what color the ink is going to be (my husband bought me 5 of the available 7 colors as a gift – I’m not that fond of pink and yellow ink). I like seeing how much ink is left in the cartridge. I REALLY like the fact these seem sturdy and well-crafted for their price point so if one is lost, broken, or “Borrowed” by a co-worker and never returned, I don’t have to hunt anyone down because my awesome fountain pen is gone. Nor have I had the slightest issue with leakage.
The ink is bold – or as bold as a .03mm nib can be, but I like extra fine point pens. The ink stays pretty dark, and I’ve had little issue with feathering. It just seems like a solid pen for the price for me. I’ll definitely be getting refills for these guys when I finally use up all the inks. The colors are cheerful and bright for days when I need that, and the black and blue/black ink are solid for business purposes. It’s comfortable in my hand, especially for its price. The only reason I’m docking it a half-pencil is because you have to order it and wait – you can’t indulge a whim and get it from Office Max.
3.5 bronze pencils (out of 4).