Platinum Preppy Fountain Pen - review of 7 colors

[@fountainpenfanatic]

The Preppy is perhaps one of the most under-rated and maligned pens out there. I use one every single morning and it writes well first time, every time. For the price, it is hard to go wrong with a Preppy.

[@chrisrap52]

I agree. Glad I had these to show.

[@forjazznjava]

Troy LaPlante that's strong applause. "First time every time" is the gold standard

[@forjazznjava]

That pink is beautiful.

[@DealerBoy]

Thanks once again for an interesting and comprehensive examination of an affordable pen. I first heard of the Platinum Preppy about ten years ago. At the time it was being marketed as a disposable pen, much like the Pilot Varsity. Unlike the Pilot Varsity, it wasn't sealed up, thus suggesting the possibility of using cartridges and or converters. I bought a number of them all in different colors to use in annotating drafts of projects I was working on. (Back then each nib was coated with a color to match the ink.). While I liked the pens, the caps were the Achilles heel. They seldom lasted longer than the first cartridge did. They cracked and quite often the clip with snap off as well. I found I had more success using the the Pilot Petit. I understand that over the years that Platinum redesigned the Preppy to strengthen the cap. However, since the Preppy sells in the $4 to $5 ranger,

[@DealerBoy]

and there are an abundance of cheap Chinese pens in the $2 range I've used instead. My current favorite is something called a Pai Li 400. It's a pleasing combination of features from the Platinum Preppy and the Lamy Safari. They are transparent and come in different colors. It's about the size of the Preppy. The inside of the barrel is faceted like the Preppy but doesn't have all the decal work on the outside. The section is notched like the Safari and the nib and feed are a dead ringer for the Lamy. The cap has a wire clip ala the Safari instead of an easily snapped plastic one. It has an inner cap. While it's fixed instead of spring loaded, it fits snugly enough so that dry nibs and hard starts are not a problem. It came with only one Chinese ink cartridge and no converter. However I found that it accepts Lamy converters and cartridges. The kicker is that it only cost a $1.29. Unfortunately they have disappeared from eBay as quickly as they appeared. I suspect either Lamy or Platinum called foul.

[@peterjpuleo4133]

Two of three Preppys I bought simply won't write--ink won't feed. I will try some of your take-down techniques. Thanks.

[@UARELOVE1010]

It was helpful to see all the inks in the same place. All the videos I checked were eyedropped and I could not see the original colors!!

[@AnzanHoshinRoshi]

Thank you, Chris. The only Preppys that I have are a few that Noodler's included with inks long before the Charlie. I have one that is eye-droppered (Nathan ripped out the cartridge/convertor assembly). The thing can go without use for weeks, always writes and writes well. An amazing pen at the price.

[@WaskiSquirrel]

SInce they solved the cracking issue, this is a great pen. I've been using two of them for several years to write on my marker board. In that case, I replaced the nib with a felt tip and an eyedropper conversion. Noodler's makes a blue and a black ink for the whiteboard. Same two markers now for several years in my classroom. As fountain pens, they work well with "difficult" inks and start right up even months later.

[@chrisrap52]

Thanks for sharing your experience. That why we do what we do.

[@TheJanmaxPL]

Good review, god job!

[@chrisrap52]

Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching.

[@bikkies]

I have a number of 0.3 and one 0.5 Preppy. Annoyingly the 0.5 nib and feed seems to come out of the section far more readiy than the others, almost to the point of being loose, making me wary of inking it up. I prefer nibs that are more towards the medium size than fine. Feels like it could leak. Great pens though, and screaming out to be eyedropper converted. I also chuckled at the warning. I was going to use a Preppy as a screwdriver or coffee stirrer, but perhaps I'd better not.

[@peterr.905]

Sadly highly underrated pen; I've upgraded mine to a Plaisir, which is the aluminium version of the Preppy. The sections are interchangeable between Preppy and Plaisir very easily by unscrewing sections and swapping them over. The Plaisir has become my new workhorse fountain pen replacing my Lamy Safari and Alstar and Pilot Metropolitan.

[@chrisrap52]

I agree. Thanks for your insights & experience.

[@peterr.905]

Hi Chris, thanks for the reply and you are welcome. The other money saving tip would be to refill the cartridges with an ink syringe with a blunt needle. These nibs are better than most of the more expensive ones you would find on Lamys (Safari, Vista, Alstar) or Pilot Metropolitan. Excellent value for money even if you go up to the Plaisir. You are doing a great job with these fountain pen reviews.

[@chrisrap52]

Preppy can be eyedropper. I've done that with some of mine..

[@peterr.905]

chrisrap52 thanks for sharing that and that's the beauty of these pens.

[@GearCave]

You think the platinum is better than the Lamy Safari?

[@MiguelGonzalez365]

As usual, a very interesting review. I've ordered two Preppy, they are going to be my first Japanese pens and I am looking expectantly forward to them. I just hope the problems with the cracks have been resolved. In any case, if the writing experience is good, the Plaisir will be an alternative. I live in Brazil, where the pen market is smaller than in other countries, mainly because people lost the habit of writing with a pen and there's not much demand. However, there seems to be a resurgence. The Platinum Preppy has recently started to be sold at a price of about $9. As an option, an adapter for the international standard can be purchased. Except for a children's model from Herlitz, which is priced at about $4, the Preppy is the cheapest pen available in Brazil. Some inexpensive Chinese models are similarly priced.

[@chrisrap52]

Thanks for your update on "Pens in Brazil". Hope you enjoy the ones you can buy.

[@visualkandi]

I bought a set a few of years back, all the caps cracked and rendered the 'slip and seal' mechanism useless. Perhaps Platinum should have invested a little more in the quality of their plastics and maybe these would be fantastic starter pens. Great video and thank you.

[@chrisrap52]

Mine have not cracked after many years of use.

[@boerenkool]

Me too - they're quite durable. The only one that's cracked is one I dropped on a hard tile floor (my clumsy fingers fault). The plastic is quite good.

[@diannacasey3054]

Having had the yellow cart, I found the color rather useless for general writing - much too light. A problem I have with the Preppy and the Pilot Petit 1, is that I have a tendency to drag the feed, which is a problem I don't have with other pens. Although you weren't writing in an optimal position, I also saw some feed drag in your writing samples as well. Thanks for the review.

[@goldensonar]

Great video, thank you for all you do for our community. Do you know any source that I could buy these pens with the colored nib. I am a fountain pen lover. Thank you.

[@loganbabcock6179]

How in the world did your friend get the new 2017 model of Preppy?

[@chrisrap52]

Ordered them from Amazon.

[@merlinuwe1]

Which ink did you use for the headline of the paper?

[@chrisrap52]

Good question. I have no idea. This was long ago. Thanks for watching.

[@phsyckomantis]

Will those cartridges fit a sheaffer viewpoint?

[@loganbabcock6179]

It’s Platinums own proprietary ink cartridge. You can’t use them elsewhere.

[@phsyckomantis]

Logan babcock thanks, was just wondering to see if they fit around.

[@Diffusion8]

I have two of the older Preppys, one a violet that writes and feels (nib) great, the other a black whose nib seems much finer, drier and scratchier despite both being 0.3mm! Not as impressed as with some of the less expensive Chinese pens I have.

[@chrisrap52]

These 7 all wrote well. Agree on recent Chinese pens.

[@aphrodisiaxe]

For the disclaimer about the pen only being used for writing is that there have been cases where people have used fountain pens to cause injury or kill other people. I don't know if that matters to anyone, but that's what it's there for.

[@chrisrap52]

Also need to say "Don't drink the ink." "Don't clean your ears with pen." If every warning was printed there would be a booklet with every pen.