Sunday, February 20, 2022

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 330

This post will be more of a "show & tell" as the fountain pen -- aka the Pilot 'MR'/Pilot 'Cocoon' /Pilot '88G'-- has already been reviewed billions of times since it came out in 2012 (Doodlebud's YouTube review is excellent). It's a great starter pen and one I'd highly recommend. For info on the entire Pilot 'Metropolitan' lineup, check out JetPens' excellent overview here.  

(~please click on images to enlarge~)

I spotted this Pilot 'Metropolitan Retro Pop' in Turquoise Dots in Amazon.ca's Warehouse Deals section a couple of weeks ago. I already owned a 'Metropolitan Classic' fountain pen in plain black, but at $15.41 CAD, this one was too good to pass up.

The condition of the pen was listed as being in "Used - Acceptable" condition, but I'd had good luck with other used/returned pens I'd bought from the Warehouse, so I wasn't too worried about its condition. Sure enough, there wasn't any visible damage to its exterior---not even a single scratch. I removed the cap, and the section was also undamaged. Hmmm, so why was the pen listed as merely "Acceptable"??

Well, it turned out to be the nib - someone had snipped off all of its iridium tipping! 😲
I didn't notice it until I started writing with the pen...and the paper started to rip. Oh boy...


(Sorry I didn't take any 'before' photos of the nib - These after the 'after' photos)


Undeterred, I took some fine Micromesh and carefully reground the nib to made it usable again...

...and it worked! The nib even has some line variation now, but more importantly, it writes smoothly and my pretty little 'Metropolitan' is back in action again :)


(I love the pen's turquoise colour and the mid-century/space age-y design on its barrel)


One of our brand-new pen club members (Christopher M.) mentioned he was looking for some narrow-ruled notebooks. That reminded me how much I enjoyed using narrow-lined looseleaf paper in school, so I ordered these Extra Narrow Ruled Notebooks from Amazon.ca (link to Amazon page) earlier this month.

There's no manufacturer's name on either of them, but the Amazon listings say they were made by CompactLines Press. Each notebook has 110 pages and is described as being made of "Quality 60 gm paper". The cost of the notebooks was $7.99 CAD each.


Here's a closeup of their UPC and QR codes:


(photos & review by Maja)

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