Years later: Pilot Metropolitan, re-review

Title says it all!
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[@joanwerthman4116]

This reminds me of commenting on a recent Goulet Pens Q & A where someone asked about an indestructible pen. I started waxing nostalgic about my first: the Schaeffer school pen of 1965. It was only a dollar out of my allowance which after school bus fare left me with $3 for the week. It came with 2 cartridges and I hated ballpoint pens so I got it with no one to tell me how to care for it. It was a light demonstrator with a steel nib so for the time both cheap and cheap looking because no one went for see through plastic fountain pens. It wrote like a dream. Maybe paper was also better made then because there was no feathering problem with school loose-leaf paper. Since I didn’t know about cleaning or propriety cartridges when the 2 Scheaffer cartridges ran out I switched to Parker long ones with the reservoir you could tap for extra ink once the main barrel ran out. Worked fine. When they offered Peacock Blue ink, I happily switched. Only problem: waiting for the ink to change from blue black to peacock. That pen lasted years before I lost it in a move. So I figured if ever there was an indestructible pen, that was it. This prompted memories of others who used this or their No nonsense pens through the early nineties when they stopped making them. Someone mentioned you could get them on EBAY cheaply and they still write well. Mine just arrived. I cleaned out the ink and it worked just fine. Far as I know, that pen is indestructible and it’s a joy. Just surprisingly small, probably because it’s thick compared to a Bic pen and I naturally posted it to keep track of the cap. So I remembered it as being bigger. I still love if.

[@edwardstaats4935]

Love the idea of you going back after years

[@barbarawest1205]

Yep, the Pilot Metro was my re-introduction to fountain pens about the same time. And I also built up a little collection, mostly of the neutrals but my favorite is still that gunmetal with the houndstooth trim! I still have all mine, For awhile they also offered a 1.0 stub. I don't think that's the case any more, BUT the Plumix stub fits just fine in the Metropolitan.

[@carolyncoppola974]

This exact pen is my first fountain pen! I went to a high priced pen shop and saw it and fell in love with the houndstooth print! I didn’t know any better about it being way less expensive! Then I got home and did a google search and found Goulet Pens and never looked anywhere else! I originally bought this in a M nib but later swapped it out for a Kakuno EF nib and am still in love with this pen 3 1/2 years later! It never gave me any problems at all! I will never give this pen up! It holds dear sentimental value to me - crazy I know. No matter how many pens I ink at one time - this one is always in the lineup! It’s like my first child: all the excitement yet knowing you grew with the pen learning what to do and not to do. Just appreciating it for being the one that pushed me down the rabbit hole. I have expensive pens in my small collection but they just don’t have the same connection as this one does! Thanks for the review!

[@shaigluskin1225]

I choose plastic over metal pens 95% of the time so it would take a lot for me to seriously consider this pen. The plastic grip helps, but the pen just doesn't grab me. The Pilot Kakuno on the other hand is one of my favorite pens. This is obviously a matter of taste; no right or wrong.

[@archivist17]

I think my Metropolitan was the first of my fountain pens I properly loved, and I'd teetered on the edge of the hobby for over two decades. I realised recently that I hadn't inked it for a while, so, bracing myself for disappointment, I loaded it, and felt that fresh joy again. I know some people have a downer on it, and say the Explorer is better, but I like a plain black metal pen (I had the original centre section with no pattern), and it was like catching up with an old friend.

[@__YASH]

Can you tell something about Metropolitan grip ?

[@fatyak4122]

@@__YASH A very usable grip, I've been using for three years and didn't notice anything wrong with it (not slippery, without any sharp edges, plenty of space to put my fingers on). Then I watched a video or two, and well, maybe it could be a tad wider but not necessarily (my wife even prefers the narrower grip). The edge between the barrel and the grip? I never got the idea to pit my fingers there, so it never bothered me. Of course you could say 'I must put my fingers exactly on that spot, because I used to do it with my $xxx pen.' In that case nothing will help you.

[@__YASH]

@@fatyak4122 I am a college student For long writing , notes making , answers , exams . Should I buy pilot metropolitan.i got few suggestions of Pierre Cardin president, lamy star 😢(very expensive) and jinhao x450/159 ? Can you help me too

[@fatyak4122]

@@__YASH No chance of taking a pen into your hands to try it out? If not then I guess it depends on your hands size, on Taobao I've seen that Metropolitans are 'recommended' for children 6-14 years old. But I'm more than 40 and I had no problems with using them. If you don't squeeze the grip too tight then it will rest comfortably in hand. The grip is quite long, near the nib is as wide as a pencil, near the end of the grip is maybe 1.5 diameter of the pencil. If you ask if recommend the pen then yes, I do. I have Lamy Safari (kind of - Hero 359), feels very plastic-y. Jinhao is quite heavy (44g). Metropolitan is as for me just right (27g). I will not say that it's better than any of those pens - it's more which of those pens is appealing to you and how much you're willing to pay.

[@__YASH]

@@fatyak4122 thank you so much

[@waltermolina7115]

Thanks for the revisiting on the pilot metropolitan. I also start my collection with a white pilot metropolitan with a fine nib, which I still have. Funny enough, I made the same mistakes.

[@stevekail4543]

The Metropolitan brought me back to fountain pens after a long hiatus. At work a pencil was often the best choice so I bought a Metropolitan mechanical pencil. It was and still is fantastic. So much better than disposable mechanical pencils!

[@liamstrain]

Thank you for the reminder that I wanted to add one of these - if only to have a pen to loan at the office.

[@nitina8564]

The metropolitan for me has proved to be a better value for money compared to a lot of much more expensive fountain pens. It's just an amazing pen regardless the cost of the pen. It's great for beginners no doubt but i don't consider it a beginner fountain pen as I've been using fountain pens for the past 30 plus years but i still love using the metropolitan a lot.

[@nrstooge]

I love the CM (cursive italic) nibs and i can find those on Jetpens.

[@larsgottlieb]

I'm sure you know these small things already, but perhaps others don't: The european Pilot MR is a Metropolitan that takes SI Converters and cartridges. It's great! Both Metros use the same nib units as the Prera and Plumix / Plumini pens. The plumix are great inexpensive domor pens, and they all come with Italic nibs. The black one even comes with several sizes of italics!

[@wendywander7]

Pilot Metropolitan was my first fountain pen, and I have collected several with fine, medium, and cursive italic (1 mm) stub nibs. I wrote with them exclusively until I had opportunity to try a wider variety of pens and grip styles. I now find the grip a little on the narrow side, but I still ink them up now and then. I think they're a great starter pen, durable and reliable. Thanks for the review!

[@user-gl5ld9vm7i]

This is a great video. Going back to the beginning is great for we new people in the hobby, like myself. I wanted to hear your original mindset when you got into the hobby. Isn't this nib also on the Prera and the Kakuno ?

[@ZiaLinkInk]

I have a new beautiful Pilot Metro "White Tiger" from Animal collection. OMG, love it, but I call it "dainty." Still, weighs 20 grms. I have a Prera that I "barrel fill" with shimmer ink and carefully checked the cheap Kakuno nib. My Prera has a CM caligraphy nib for shimmery joy, but the nib quality seems similar. The kakuno has faces on the nib, and seems much cheaper, but I'd love to hear P & T thoughts. I will be posting more comments today on other pen reviews. LOVE her! 😊

[@edwardstaats4935]

My complaint with it is not the grip but the sharp threads. I find it hard to use. I keep hearing differences in the barrel material, brass vs. aluminum.

[@Blue_Rosemarie]

I'm owning a Pilot MR3, which is the european version of the Metropolitan. It didn't come with a converter and don't know anymore if there was a cartrige included. But these cartriges you get here are full of blue anyways and I do not like that dull colour. I wrote with that ink everyday in school, so after using it for years and years, I just can't stand it anymore. Which was my first fountain pen I can not remember, that must have been when I was about seven years old. It took me until I was 26 years old to realise that there was I whole world out there. Before that I didn't know about bottled ink, didn't know about converters, didn't know nothing else then popping in cartriges into a pen. Didn't even know about different nib sizes (always just used standard M). Thank you for your content. I love it and I am watching every video, even if I nearly never comment on them. They allow me to zone out a bit and it is part of my fountain pen hobby to watch them. I still wanna learn more stuff, so I am always curious. Also to have a different perspective of a pen I own is quite interesting for me. Last, I want to say that I love that format of revisiting pens you own for a long time!

[@da2357]

My Pilot Metropolitan is still one of my favorite pens, second (third?) only to my Leonardo MZG and Pilot Custom 74. Mine is a fine nib.

[@ylee7644]

The Pilot Metropolitan was my first fountain pen, too, but in 2017. Mine was gray with the alligator print, but I have since bought two more, one being . I I really like them as starter pens, knock-around pens, and something I can lend to co-workers or my young students. They're easy to disassemble and clean, and they write very smoothly--at least the , anyway. I was fortunate enough to get a dry ink (Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Green, now discontinued) with my first pen, so it performed decently on the paper they use at work. This is definitely the pen I would recommend to potential new users of fountain pens.

[@Rgc571]

The same grey with a medium nib is my daily note taker for work. I wave it, drop it, roll it around, throw it on the desk and it keeps on writing. I also have a fine nib Metro that I use for annotation on poorer quality paper. (I have two extras because in two cases the pen shipped was not the pen I ordered and the seller sent the correct pen and told me to keep the other). Do not enjoy the stub nib, 1.0 I believe, because it is a little dry, some day I will get around to spreading the nib tines a little to se if that helps. Good video, thanks.

[@eedgerton769]

I really wish they would start producing these again in even more colors. (And yes I’ve seen all the series and also the Cocoons as well)

[@papshumidor]

I have a metropolitan that ive had since 2014, i still use it alot, i do my paper work with it daily at work. Love this pen

[@CementPie]

At 3:23 you say that the nib is available in fine, medium, and broad. Please tell us where we can find a Metropolitan with a broad nib. Last year I was searching world wide to find one to no avail. Medium isn't bad but too narrow for my taste so I'd buy an other one with a broad nib.

[@PensandTea]

I could only find broad through Japanese retailers as a special order. It’s not common but it does exist.

[@CementPie]

@@PensandTea Thanks for the quick response! In that case I'm trying to hunt one down again. 🙂

[@elainenabors9832]

I’m a newbie and it is one of my favorites and is technically my first pen as well, though I got three pens at once so any of them could be considered to be my first!! 🤣. I looooovvveee the Pilot Metropolitan pens so much that now I own three!!! Two have 1.1 stubs and one with a medium nib. I reach for them all the time and they are just so fantastic!!!

[@kathycullenstern9652]

I always recommend the Metropolitan. I especially like the fine nib.

[@korax67]

I have the same meteopolitan like you but I changed the nib the a fine one. Great pen, love it a lot !

[@Th3L0st0ne]

do you know which other pens can use a pilot metropolitan nib? I have a very Fine stub nib taken from Pilot Pluminix which I am using with Metropolitican. It is extremely smooth as well. So I am thinking whether I can use it with a prettier more expensive pen body

[@goaway2174]

I think it is brass not aluminum. Do you have a reliable source claiming it is aluminum?

[@thedirtygot9570]

I have 5, love them all!

[@matthewscott3689]

When you say “you had the gray one” before this… do you mean silver? Because the one you currently have is the gray one. Also, Metropolitans aren’t aluminum, they’re brass.

[@danlevene5478]

The sharp step above the section makes this pen unusable to me 🙁

[@PhilipAlexanderHassialis]

When you mention "Broad" you probably mean their 1.0 stub. Unfortunately, UNFORTUNATELY, this amazing pen doesn't have a true broad nib - and I would pay good money to get a true Pilot broad steel nib.

[@redson39]

I have 2 Metros and I still like them both even though I have expensive ones I feel the metro is still a good writer

[@ceyaDIN]

I never used good quality paper, always cheap school notebooks. Well, I only have half year in the hobby, but I already finished my pen collection, and none of them give me any problem with the flow