Platinum Pen Co. of Japan put out a news release today that its popular Preppy fountain pen is going to be sold “overseas.”
We’re not exactly sure what that means yet since the Preppy has actually been available outside of Japan for a couple of years now, but we sent a request to Platinum for a list of countries where the pen is going to be sold.
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If you aren’t familiar with the Preppy, it’s a nifty little inexpensive (usually about £2 to £3), but a refillable fountain pen that comes in seven colors from black to pink. The pens are made of recycled polycarbonate and have stainless steel nibs available in medium and fine points.
The Pen Addict and OfficeSupplyGeek both have reviewed the Preppy, and both declared that the fountain pen gives a fine writing experience.
Whereas Rob takes it one step further and in his opinion, the Preppy is the best fountain pen in the world.
The pen is similar to the Pilot V4 and Petit1, except that the V4 is disposable, and the consensus among bloggers and fountain pen users seems to be that the Preppy writes a cleaner line than the Petit1.
(However, the V4 can be refilled, if you are careful. Just wrap a towel around the nib and pull. It will pop out. Then, you can refill the ink chamber and snap the nib back into place. Be careful not to overfill the chamber, or ink will spray out when you push in the nib.)
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You can see some photos of Preppy writing here, courtesy of churl, from the Fountain Pen Network.
Platinum makes refills cartridges for the fountain pen, but some owners have reported success converting them to “eyedropper” refills by first sealing the nib threads with silicone grease. Seth, at Good Pens, provides a step-by-step tutorial for making the conversion (nod to The Pen Addict for point to that link).
We’re rather fond of the V4 here but we’re curious to see where the Preppy is distributed and how it does.
Have any of you used either the V4 or the Preppy, or both? What did you think?
