For a lot of pen-lovers, when you mention a sub-ten dollar fountain pen, this is what their minds jump to. Sure, there are other pens that fit the description, and many of those are good as well, but this is the one that leaps to mind. And considering that I was very intentional about looking at this category, it’s downright criminal that I haven’t reviewed the Platinum Preppy.
The Platinum Preppy is a budget fountain pen made by the Japanese company Platinum. It has a plastic body and is very lightweight, coming in at ten grams. It’s worth noting that this is the same weight as other plastic and resin bodied pens in the beginner category, such as the Lamy Safari. And it’s a decent weight, not being so light as to feel cheap, and being very well-balanced. With that said, it does feel like plastic in the hand and it reminds me of an office supply pen. Not at all a major issue, and if that’s the only trade off for the price,
And indeed, that feels like the only trade off. The aesthetics of this pen, while not at all my style, are easily likeable. The barrel itself is translucent and coloured with the same colour as the ink that comes with the pen, though one can use any colour that they wish. And this is an element of what the pen was designed for: being easily accessible; but it also has the side effect of just being a really fun design.
The cap is a clear snap-cap that can be posted. With the weight of the pen, having the cap post doesn’t really changed the writing experience, so it comes down to if you’re afraid of losing the cap. the clip is also plastic and coloured to match the pen body and works fairly well at holding the pen to clothing. It’s also super easy to cap and uncap.
The grip is also clear, allowing users to see the feed and ink inside the pen. I appreciate the larger than normal grip, even if I think it looks funny and even though it’s plastic, I found that it wasn’t slippery. More importantly, my hand didn’t cramp when using this pen.
And the writing experience of the Preppy is wonderful. It comes with medium, fine and extra-fine steel nibs, of which I tested the fine and extra-fine options, with Platinum’s black and blue inks in a Rhodia Webnotebook. And even the extra-fine is a smooth writer with hardly any feedback. The lines are rich, but thinner than you might expect. This contruibtes to a shorter drying time, though it’s still fairly long. It’s also notable that the pen takes only Platinum’s cartridges and converters.
Now, this is also a bit of an inconsistent pen. when it works, it’s brilliant. However, I would occasionally have issues with the ink feeding. It didn’t happen often enough for it to affect my opinion of the Preppy, but is worth noting.
With all of that being said, the Platinum Preppy is a bargain. For five dollars, and sometimes cheaper, the writing experience is awesome and the design is super fun. I’d definitely recommend trying this pen out.
This pen was purchased with my own funds.
The Pen Lover's Nook 