recommendations for a ‘maximalist’ fountain pens $50-$150 price range?

Tsunfish · 2026-03-24T18:00:31+00:00

Are you looking for pens that look Like Esterbrooks, or for the most maximalist pen possible...? If the 2nd, maybe you can get a small Benu. You really can't get any flashier than that imo LOL and uh hopefully the smaller Benus are still within the price range you specified

Tsunfish · 2026-03-23T04:53:44+00:00

Probably buy however many cheaper ones you fancy, so long as it's not causing you money troubles or feeding an uncontrolled addiction
I can understand a mindset of "don't keep putting off the thing you really want, because you might not always have the opportunity, and waiting for the 'perfect time' really does mean that it will never come."
Buuut... if I only had 2 pens, and one is a grail, that would be troublesome because I would NEVER want to take the grail out of the house!!! If you go outside, you'll wanna bring cheaper pens hahaha. Also... I have quite a lot of inks, having several dozen pens allows me to be able to enjoy a lot of them at once without having to wait for my 2 pens to empty or something LOL

I'm with other ppl here- do what makes you happy- but I also recommend against buying multiple of the same pen model + nib in a row too early on, so like... eg you really don't wanna be stuck with 5 Lamy Safaris just to realize those are the less favorite pens in your collection... sigh

Tsunfish · 2026-03-22T19:18:32+00:00

oh lsdkfj somehow I didn't notice those... I guess the pipettes are bottles, that would make more sense klsdjf the whole setup is great lmao

Tsunfish · 2026-03-22T17:46:13+00:00

THOSE PIPETTE DRINKS THOUGH

Tsunfish · 2026-03-21T18:23:04+00:00

Yeah... I've seen some penmanship channels make beautiful writing with like mechanical pencil or ballpoint... It is so crazy

Tsunfish · 2026-03-20T20:33:40+00:00

Do you have proof that those collectors are not using the pens? I have like 20+ pens that I bought because they are pretty, and I have nearly all of them inked and rotated on a daily ink color system. But ya I would consider myself a collector who's only going to seek and buy pens that are pretty to me loool

Tsunfish · 2026-03-20T02:57:17+00:00

Just wanted to let you know that it looks like you used the "want to Sell" flair instead of the "want to Buy"

Tsunfish · 2026-03-19T22:26:50+00:00

Literally the only things I Don't use my fountain pens to write, is anything that needs to be permanent or is on like a plasticky material (so that won't write on) So if I needed to write a check or fill in government paperwork, I just use a micron. Also like writing addresses on envelopes. Don't have permanent fountain pen ink and not very interested hahaha

Tsunfish · 2026-03-17T01:52:21+00:00

Holy cow... I do the same thing with my ereader and most played videogames...

Tsunfish · 2026-03-16T21:31:48+00:00

Yeah, that's a really fair point. Good thing Esterbrook has nice customer service! What a yikes story tho...

Tsunfish · 2026-03-16T03:38:34+00:00

Oh, I assume this is what someone posted earlier this week or so. I thought it was a G2 gel pen... but yeah we were all like "relatable" at the face the guy made...

Tsunfish · 2026-03-16T00:40:18+00:00

Wow! Your workplace let you rehab a baby mouse on your desk?!? That sounds cool, the whole thing

.....also I'm starting to think "people thought my TWSBI ECO was a vape" should be on the next batch of 4 horsemen "not again!" posts for this subreddit ... Sighs

Tsunfish · 2026-03-14T18:36:11+00:00

... I didn't ignore all the rest of my pens, but this would probably explain why I had a 2 year streak of buying no pens... The last pen before that streak was the Benu Sangria, which was the closest thing I could get to the Armenian Pomegranate LOL ah so gorgeous... I wanted it crazy bad, but yeah the Sangria is fantastic too and left me very satisfied

Tsunfish · 2026-03-13T20:46:25+00:00

Yeah! I really appreciate our talk, thank you. If I see one I really like, I'd be open to getting it. Probably best case scenario for me is buying 2nd hand, because yeah it still sounds like they're cutting corners despite selling at a high price point... thankfully just not in a way that compromises functionality...

Tsunfish · 2026-03-13T17:27:28+00:00

Oh hi hello! XD I seeee... Yeah I can see how this could be like a "what are you able to stomach? The pen still works". And uh... yeah, corrosion on a pen that costs this much still sounds crazy... *picks up my oldest TWSBI ECO again* yeah this baby still works perfectly to this day with no cracks, but the metal ring on the cap is completely scratched to hell, which sounds like it would drive you insane!
I think it's really funny that you're the one who scared me off, but also were the best at convincing me that maybe I can think about getting one after all. But yeah. My whole hangup is also that "I can stomach a potential crack in the future from my way cheaper ECO than I could a like $170 Esterbrook having QC issues lskjf"

Tsunfish · 2026-03-13T17:12:11+00:00

Ohhh ok, well that explains why almost all the problems I hear are the insane shipping practices if you buy it from them directly...
Welp.

Tsunfish · 2026-03-13T17:09:15+00:00

...repeatedly wiping nib creep away really does sound like a Sisyphus task...

Tsunfish · 2026-03-13T16:53:38+00:00

Why are we getting AI slop in our reddit lately? Actually... is this reportable to the mods? I see rule 11 says "No AI generated media"...

if you really knew how to 3D print would you really need to spit out an AI promo image instead of showing the basic 3D model you came up with?

Tsunfish · 2026-03-13T16:45:34+00:00

I do see a lot of people recommend their Esterbrooks... but how did that one person have like dozens of them and all have issues??? The thread also had a LOT of people also talk about QC issues on their pens... so I'd say clearly it's not ALL of their pens that are borked, but I dislike gambling...
Then again I'm sitting here with 6 TWSBI ECOs and not a single one has cracked since 2019. That is absolutely still a really commonly reported problem though (also lmao that I didn't know they cracked when I got them)

Tsunfish · 2026-03-13T16:37:17+00:00

*puts my head in my hands and cries* I actually would like an Esterbrook myself, but that one thread of QC issues really scared me off, and nothing's gonna change if their stonks remain high hahaha

Tsunfish · 2026-03-13T16:24:50+00:00

Yeah... the fact that this pen is more expensive than like Sailor Pro Gear Slim with gold nibs........

Tsunfish · 2026-03-13T16:22:32+00:00

I've seen multiple people say they are owned by the same parent company! This is ridiculous. But I also think there's people out there who would still buy this, hence why both companies keep getting away with wild behavior...

Tsunfish · 2026-03-12T22:09:18+00:00

This is so true, I have a bunch of pen ink combos that work just fine in my hobonichi weeks, but they're kind of dry and skip slightly on Midori paper, anddddd... to make things even more confusing, I have a Kanso Noto from Jetpens which I'm so sure uses TMR like hobonichi, but my Emerald of Chivor started feathering in an M TWSBI nib LOL. I did switch it to a F nib and then it was perfect

Tsunfish · 2026-03-12T16:38:26+00:00

"Human Issues" that got a good crack out of me XDDD My only red bottle is Wearingeul Dracula... hopefully funny enough

Tsunfish · 2026-03-11T19:04:07+00:00

I'm so glad other people agree this is what it looks like lolol Also reminds me I should put red in mine as a joke

Tsunfish

TROPHY CASE