Do you have those Top 5 Pens wish lists made out yet? I hope so, because two of you are about to go shopping! The winners are:
Congratulations Paul and Brian! Get in touch via the Contact Page within a week and I will email you the JetPens GC codes ASAP!
Thanks to everyone who entered, and thanks, as always, to my good friends at JetPens for making this possible.
It is hard buying pens for other people! That is the realization I came to as I shopped for Myke's Franklin-Christoph at the 2014 Atlanta Pen Show. It finally made it into his hands and I share the story of how it came to be. I also talk a bit about my Nakaya purchase, great reader mail, and some top EDC pens.
The Pilot Metropolitan is the best fountain pen for beginners. There. I said it.
Ever since it was released, the Metropolitan has been gaining steam. I liked what I saw when I reviewed the original medium nib model, and now that the fine nib model has hit mass release I think it is the fountain pen to choose for beginners over my previous favorite, the Lamy Safari.
I still love the Safari, so what changed? The Pilot Metropolitan nib is superior. Japanese nibs are finer than their counterparts from the rest of the world, and the fine Pilot nib is amazing. I love it in the Pilot Prera, and now it is available in a pen less than half the price? I'm sold. The sharper edge on the step-down from the barrel to the grip is still present, so that flaw puts it even with the molded grip on the Lamy Safari. No pen is completely perfect, right? And while the Safari line has many more stock nib options, the Metropolitan is easily modifiable with the EF nib from the Pilot Penmanship or the stub nib from the Pilot Plumix, all for approximately the cost of the Safari.
What do I want to see next from the Metropolitan line? No more Python or Leopard patterns, that's for sure. Since it is a metal body pen and Pilot is doing some interesting colors in their Vanishing Point line, how about some colored barrels? Get on that Pilot - don't let the Kakuno line have all the fun.
(JetPens is an advertiser on The Pen Addict and I received this product at no charge.)
