News: M200 Copper Rose Gold Special Edition

September 21, 2023 By Joshua in News Tags: Classic series, Copper Rose Gold, Fountain Pen, M200, New Release, Pelikan 55 Comments

September is nearing an end and we have yet to see retailers receive stock of the M205 Rose Quartz which was slated for release this month meaning pre-orders remain unfulfilled. It looks like Pelikan has postponed the Rose Quartz until October in order to remediate an undisclosed issue which was discovered late in the game. Sources suggest that mid to late October may be a more realistic timeline which means that the M205 Rose Quartz is going to bump up against the M600 Glauco Cambon and the M600 Red-White. Perhaps news of the next new model out of Hannover might serve as a little salve for that wound but it also adds to the developing glut of fall releases. Pelikan has already delivered the M200 Pastel-Blue this year and the M205 Rose Quartz Special Edition is in the wings which is why yet another release in the Classic line comes as a bit of a surprise, but here we are. News broke today of the upcoming M200 Copper Rose Gold Special Edition. It is understandable if you’re getting Gold-Marbled vibes but there is a little more nuance to be found here. Specifically, the use of rose gold is something that is rarely seen on a Pelikan, but it is not without precedent. The next M200 to grace the Classic line is tentatively penciled in for an October launch and retailers should be taking pre-orders now. Read on to learn all about Pelikan’s newest Classic series fountain pen.

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Review: M200 Pastel Blue (2023)

July 30, 2023 By Joshua in Reviews Tags: Fountain Pen, M200, Pastel Blue, Pelikan 9 Comments

Pelikan’s newest addition to its Classic line dropped last month, bringing a new color combination to the series. That said, the M200 Pastel Blue sticks to the company’s tried and true recipe of “same pen, different color.” That isn’t necessarily a bad thing provided the color appeals to you. Pelikan has been releasing marbled finishes for nearly a century so it’s not surprising to see the tradition continue. Three years after its introduction in 1988, the M200 line was expanded to include Green, Blue, and Gray marbled finishes. More recently, we’ve seen Brown, Gold, and Pastel Green varieties, the last two being amongst the first to be coupled with white resin components. The Pastel Blue does likewise with an ethereal, almost cloud like marbling. No two pens are the same which makes each unique in its own right. The caveat here is that you have to be comfortable with a smaller pen, but the payoff can be huge. The Pastel Blue has serious workhorse potential but there are some pitfalls to consider. Continue reading to figure out if this pen is right for you.

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News: M200 Pastel-Blue Special Edition

May 11, 2023 By Joshua in News Tags: Classic series, Fountain Pen, M200, New Release, Pastel-Blue, Pelikan 35 Comments

I know that many of you have been anxiously waiting for the day to come when Pelikan announces the release of an M200 Rose Quartz Special Edition but I’m here to tell you that today is not that day. Looking back on historic trends, that announcement doesn’t usually come until August, and it has even been as late as October so you will have to be patient a while longer. That doesn’t mean you have to go away empty handed. Pelikan took to their social media channels today in order to announce the newest pen off the factory floor, the M200 Pastel-Blue Special Edition. If this newest addition to the Classic line is giving you that old familiar feeling, that might be because it bears a striking resemblance to the M200 Pastel-Green (2020) from three years ago as well as the M200 Gold-Marbled (2019). Sparingly used in the past on only a handful of models, Pelikan has really embraced white resin over the last decade. Off the top of my head, I can think of at least ten different models that have used that material in recent years, more than all of the prior decades combined. This new M200 is slated for a mid-June launch and retailers should be taking pre-orders anytime now. Read on to find out what you can expect from Pelikan’s newest fountain pen.

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Review: M200 Golden Beryl (2021)

December 12, 2021 By Joshua in Reviews Tags: Fountain Pen, Golden Beryl, M200, Pelikan 10 Comments

On deck today is a review of the fresh faced M205 Golden Beryl special edition fountain pen released last month. I have been excited to get my hands on this one and now am happy to be able to give you a closer look so that you might better judge the pen on its merits. Part of my excitement owes to the fact that we have gotten only a handful of new releases out of Hannover in 2021 when compared with years past which seems to be the new normal as forecasted in the company’s 2020 Annual Report. The exact statement in that text was; “For 2021, we will continue the tradition of reinventing the popular designs with new materials and colours, though we plan to concentrate on less product launches as we cautiously move forward in the market.” The Golden Beryl takes a somewhat different approach than the other thematic releases in the series and the question that it begs is whether or not the new tactic delivers? News of this one didn’t break until October, much later than has traditionally been the case, leading many to question whether or not we would actually see the Golden Beryl come to light. Materialize it did, joining the likes of the M205 Amethyst (2015), M205 Aquamarine (2016), M200 Smoky Quartz (2017), M205 Olivine (2018), M205 Star Ruby (2019), and the M205 Moonstone (2020) as the seventh pen in the now long running series. Interestingly, it is only the second model of those listed to incorporate gold plated trim, something we last saw on 2017’s Smoky Quartz. All of the models since 2019’s Star Ruby have utilized glitter to impart a shimmering appearance to the translucent material of the barrel and cap. Where the Golden Beryl breaks the mold is in the fact that the barrel itself is not colored in a way reminiscent of the ink that it compliments. This model actually has a clear resin which was admittedly unexpected when the product announcement came. Read on to discover whether or not the gambit was worthwhile.

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News: M200 Golden Beryl Special Edition Demonstrator

October 6, 2021 By Joshua in News Tags: Fountain Pen, Golden Beryl, M200, New Release, Pelikan 18 Comments

Starting in 2015, Pelikan established an annual tradition of crafting fountain pens from their Classic series that matched their Edelstein limited edition Ink of the Year release. Historically, news of those models would drop in August, but the release schedule has been on its ear for well over a year now as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic and likely some internal issues as well. Many have come to fear that the tradition would finally come to an end this year given the company’s silence as 2021 begins to wind down. Whether or not we’d ever see this model come to light has been one of the most common questions that I’ve fielded over the last several months. Pelikan put those fears to rest today with news of a new Classic model M200 to accompany this year’s Golden Beryl, the seventh such release from the company based on their line of limited edition inks. Prior to the M200 Golden Beryl, we have had the; M205 Moonstone (2020), M205 Star Ruby (2019), M205 Olivine (2018), M200 Smoky Quartz (2017), M205 Aquamarine (2016), and the M205 Amethyst (2015). Some of these models have made a bigger splash than others and several are now quite hard to come by. It was 2019’s Star Ruby that first employed a glitter induced shimmer effect along the translucent material of the barrel and cap and, like the M205 Moonstone that preceded it, the Golden Beryl looks to incorporate the same. Pre-orders are going live today from many vendors with this one due out sometime in November 2021. Read on to discover all of the essential details regarding the newest fountain pen out of Germany.

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Review: M200 Pastel-Green (2020)

May 19, 2020 By Joshua in Reviews Tags: Fountain Pen, M200, Pastel-Green, Pelikan 13 Comments

With the first half of 2020 almost behind us, you may have noticed a relative dearth of new fountain pens releases coming out of Hannover. This is likely in no small part due to the turmoil that has engulfed the world as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic. Thus far, we have come to see just three new models brought to the market in 2o2o. These include the M200 Pastel-Green, the M1000 Raden Green Ray, and let us not forget the more limited release of the M800 Chinese Demonstrator. While we anticipate some fresh new models for the second half of the year, I thought that it might be worthwhile to take a look at what we already have in hand. Announced at the end of last year and released in late March, the M200 Pastel-Green is an interesting new member of Pelikan’s Classic line-up. The company has really embraced an array of pastel colors married to white resin accents over the last few years. That said, the Pastel-Green is now just the third pen from the M2xx series to utilize white resin, following closely on the heels of 2019’s M200 Gold-Marbled. At the risk of deluding myself, I’d like to think that perhaps someone at Pelikan is listening as it appears that some of the features that I critiqued in my Gold-Marbled review were addressed with this release. The reason that I chose to review this one today is for the uniqueness of the finish which is somewhat different from prior releases. The Pastel-Green is a special edition meaning that it will only be around for a limited time so read on to find out whether or not it’s just the trick to brighten up this otherwise bleak Spring.

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News: M200 Pastel-Green

December 11, 2019 By Joshua in News Tags: Classic series, Fountain Pen, M200, New Release, Pastel-Green 16 Comments

With the year winding to a close, you could certainly be excused if you thought that Pelikan was done with new product announcements. It may come as a surprise than to learn that we have not one but two new products to talk about today courtesy of the well-respected German retailer Fritz Schimpf. First up is a new M200 model set to debut in 2020, the Pastel-Green. Pelikan must have had a lot of white resin left over after their run of the Gold-Marbled because we see it again utilized here. It’s nice to see the company shift some of their attention away from the higher end Souverän range and focus more on their entry level Classic series. I also like the fact that the company seems to be experimenting with more unique materials and stepping out of their comfort zone. In this instance, we have a resin barrel with a marbled pattern of pastel green. White resin accents set off the light green, flanking the barrel just like what we saw with the recently released Gold-Marbled. This one is anticipated to be available at retail outlets sometime in mid-February 2020 and I would expect that vendors will start taking pre-orders soon.

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Review: M200 Gold-Marbled (2019)

November 24, 2019 By Joshua in Reviews Tags: Fountain Pen, Gold Marbled, M200, Pelikan 22 Comments

With two in a row, this back half of the year certainly has felt a bit heavy with reviews, a testament to some of the recent creativity that we have seen out of Hannover. Up for appraisal today is Pelikan’s newly released M200 Gold-Marbled fountain pen. Prior to now, we’ve only ever had one white pen in the M2xx line-up, the M205 White which was released 10 years ago. That white M205 holds a special place in my heart as it was the first Pelikan fountain pen that I ever purchased, something akin to Scrooge McDuck’s lucky Number One Dime. Of course, it’s hard to look at the new Gold-Marbled model and not see parallels with the M400 Tortoiseshell White. Maybe it’s just me but I don’t think that it takes a huge leap of the imagination to envision someone blurring the lines on the tortoise and blending the colors into something near to what we see on the Gold-Marbled. Regardless, this finish appears unique and worthy of review. The last M2xx not released as part of the Edelstein companion pieces was the Brown-Marbled in 2017. While that one is part of the standard line-up, the Gold-Marbled is meant as a special edition meaning once the supply chain runs dry, these will no longer be available. Read on to find out whether or not Pelikan has the Midas Touch as far as the Gold-Marbled is concerned and see if you should consider making space amongst your flock for this one.