Customer Reviews

Bought the pen because it was the only one that was 1. $3 and 2. had no negative reviews.
It came with a 2.25" ink cartridge it ran out after about 50 full pages of notes in 3 days for me because your hands never ever get tired... i don't know why...
never bleeds, never leaked, it gets dry if you leave it out uncapped for like a minute, but i'm guessing the drying issue is universal to fountain pens. I learned to just tap the table once before starting to write again and the dryness can be avoided.
Love the fine point; I can't imagine getting a european brand pen, and finding out that their "fine point" is really a "medium point" thickness... For this pen, it says 0.3mm, but realistically, it is about 0.5mm on paper, which is PERFECT.

Absolutely flawless.
Better than any pencil and pen I have ever used. (Dr.Grip, and alpha grip combined)
The fact that I have to change the cartridge frequently motivates me because it tells me that I'm doing a lot of work (unlike other ball point pens where the ink never, ever, ever runs out...)

Contemplating on whether to get a converter.
I absolutely love this pen, I am scared to get any other pens =\.

It writes like a dream but the barrel and cap are made from weak, brittle plastic. I've been very careful with mine and both the top of the body and the bottom of the cap have developed cracks. This is my second Preppy, which I got to replace the first one that had the same issue.

I know it's only a $3 pen, but I still expect it to not fall apart after a few months of easy desktop use, especially after buying the $8 converter. It's a shame too, because the fine nib writes like a dream, much smoother than many of my "real" fountain pens.

Very good functioning pen. I've had it for a good while now, about 5 months. Everything works well on it, except the barrel and cap developed cracks quickly. Recently the cap finally cracked enough to stop clipping onto the pen. A shame that happened just after buying the converter for it. I am going to keep it around and see if there is a way to remedy the cracking, perhaps with some gorilla glue or more tape.

After 6 weeks of only very occasional use, the cheap plastic body of this pen has developed very deep cracks rendering it completely useless in hand... Very disappointing.

Not a fan.

This pen really isn't that fine for a Japanese pen (not even close to a Sailor fine). It's a very dry writing pen, so much so that it skips or writes faintly on both inks I've tried (in fairness, neither were the cartridge that came with the pen, I've been eye-dropper-ing with Noodler inks). It was hard starting from day one. For $3 you can do better with a Pilot Varsity.

Your experience might be better with the cartridge ink than mine.

Smooth writing with great inkflow, but not fine enough a nib for my taste - my Sailor Inkbar still wins in that department.

Great pens for a great price. I bought this in several colors then went back and bought some for my son. A pleasure to write with. They have a nice fine line. I hadput one of them up for several weeks and when I got it back out it had not dried out. The ink comes in nice colors they are not very deep but still nice. I like the blue black best. The purple was too pink for me. Still how can go wrong for this price.

Great pen but the ink is a little grayish

Having read high praise of the Platinum Preppy, I had high expectations for the fountain pen. When I got it (in black and pink), the light weight, comfortable feel, and snugly-fitting cap impressed me. Unfortunately, both pens were slow starters and the ink seemed to flow inadequately; writing felt dry and skipping occurred too frequently for my tastes. I tossed the black ink cartridge and used a Platinum Pocket Brush Pen refill cartridge. Now the pen is a dream, with a nice, reliable line. With its own ink, I would rate the pen at 3/5, but with the different ink, I would rate it at 5/5, hence the 4/5 average.

I had used disposable Pilot brand "varsity" fountain pens for several months. The ink didn't last me more than a couple of weeks. I thought to myself," I wish these were refillable." Then I found this site with economy refillables. I recieved my Black Platinum Preppy pen just about 1.5 days after I bought it. Kudos on the fast shipping,..Wow! It works beautifully, and the ink seems to last much longer than the Pilot's. As far as the rattling noise, it is the plunger for the refill. Unless you're writing like a maniac, you wont notice it during normal use. It is noticeable if you pick it up and shake it like spray paint. Overall this is an awesome pen. Very tight Nib. My Pilot's were always breaking down, and needed constant cleaning. Anytime I jotted something down on heavy paper, they would get a tiny paper fiber stuck between the nib. Either it wouldn't write at all, or was intermitent. Possibly the most annoying thing ever. The Platinum Preppy however, has a better quality nib, and does not get paper stuck in it. Writes smooth. I like it, and will definately order more, probably a couple of the more high end pens also. Nice to see this kind of economy pen come through with so much quality! All straight from California, keep up the good work guys!

What can I say about a pen that already has almost 200 reviews?

Well, I would agree it's a great little pen, perhaps most suitable for beginners, or maybe children, as a first fountain pen (the demonstrator aspect really helps with this as well). Or maybe just as a fun pen, or a little variety in the pen stable, a la Pilot Varsity.

One thing that should be noted, is that my copy was not at all Japanese Fine. With the shipped ink, I would say it's a touch thicker than a Pilot Medium nib, except when it feathers excessively (which it does on quite a lot of less-than-great-quality papers), in which case I find it unusable. Could be a real issue for someone switching from rollerballs who typically uses the cheaper office supply notebooks. Something to bear in mind.

Overall, hard to go wrong at this price. May not be suitable for everyone in every situation, but it's still a great little pen.

Very fragile. And the nib is actually a medium nib. You can do many interesting experiments with it, or is just what is needed when learning to write with a fountain pen (The Lamy Safari would be better for that purpose).

Quite nice!

This was my first fountain pen, overall it works really well! Very glad I started with a simple yet functional pen. A few downsides though: sometimes it takes a while to start up, even if I was just using it and stopped for a minute. Also, the black ink isn't really black, more of a dark grey which I have grown used to after a while.
Overall writes very well and just made my second order from JetPens. Very excited to see what this new order brings :)

Price is good, writes very nicely, not too scratchy and also not quite fine enough for my taste. Major drawback is a design flaw in the cap. There are a few elevated plastic areas which are susceptible to stress cracks which will propagate around the entire cap within a matter of weeks.

The cheapest price on the market but the most efficient fountain pen, better than many brand as Mont Blanc, Montegrappa or Dupond. I put it in the draw around two months, as soon i took it, it started to make a very nice even writing line. The only thing I ask for, is an improvement on the design.
Cheers
Haussebn

A superb pen at the price. Writes a fine line, wonderfully well for me using Noodler's Heart of Darkness. I've had no trouble with cap or clip or barrel or section cracking in weeks of daily use and pocket or briefcase carry. I much prefer my Preppy to the Pilot Varsity, which I have tried.

Instead of the included cartridge I use used a Platinum Carbon Pen Ink Cartridge. So far both are working great, even though the Carbon Ink is not recommended for the Preppy. Of all my Preppies (6) just one has cracked -- a Preppy Sign pen. Elsewhere a Preppy entusiast has recommended reinforcing the cap with Scotch Tape before it cracks. She said after it cracks, don't bother -- it won't work.

I ordered this and the Pilot Vpen to try out fountain pens, in order to see if I liked them. While both felt good, I believe this to be the better. The ink was easy to install, the shape fits nicely in one's hand, and I haven't had any trouble with the ink. It's very nice to have cheap refills ($0.83 each), and the plastic seems thick enough to ensure that I won't have to buy another one for a while. All in all, I am enjoying this pen very much.

On a side note, I noticed that fountain pens put run thicker/thinner on different types of paper, to such a large extent that I couldn't write legibly on printer paper with my Vpen. The Preppy does better in this department.

Assuming it doesn't malfunction in the future, this will be my new go-to pen.

I ordered this and the Pilot Vpen to try out fountain pens, in order to see if I liked them. While both felt good, I believe this to be the better. The ink was easy to install, the shape fits nicely in one's hand, and I haven't had any trouble with the ink. It's very nice to have cheap refills ($0.83 each), and the plastic seems thick enough to ensure that I won't have to buy another one for a while. All in all, I am enjoying this pen very much.

On a side note, I noticed that fountain pens put run thicker/thinner on different types of paper, to such a large extent that I couldn't write legibly on printer paper with my Vpen. The Preppy does better in this department.

Assuming it doesn't malfunction in the future, this will be my new go-to pen.

This was my first fountain pen. As a starter pen it serves as a inexpensive introduction. Its not bad on decent paper, and for the price you really can't go wrong.

The big caveat is that when you move to something more refined it will feel like going from a tricycle to Formula 1 racer.

For a first experience with a fountain pen, I am deeply pleased. I am amazed at how well this writes, especially for it's low price. The line is steady, doesn't skip, and the ink it comes with doesn't bleed. It has definitely inspired me to keep on and improve my handwriting, as well as my knowledge of calligraphy and pen types. I am very happy, a great buy.

Great daily use fountain pen, and cheap! So many ridiculously expensive fountain pens out there. This is the only one I'll buy. It's a GREAT pen, but not so delicate, precious, expensive that I'd care if it got lost and needed to be replaced.

I researched many reviews of this fountain pen before ordering it, and I found them mostly positive. Being my first fountain pen, I am very intrested to see how the Platinum Preppy will write.(Be prepared for a story.) In my school, the 6th grade teacher only allows the erasable Papermate pens. Not even the Pilot Frixion! This was kind of sad because I was part of a pen trading group in my class, and we had all sorts of pens. (I personally prefer pens with good writing performance and professional-looking bodies(with an exception of this pen). I also only like black ink.) But most of the other teachers don't care about what pen we use as long as it's black or blue ink. Some of the kids in the "pen trading circle" still think that the BIC Atlantis pens are good! They aren't smooth, and look like they cost 25 cents. Well, that's their opinion. Some of them don't even like my Zebra R-301 and want my Papermate InkJoy insead. Really? Just wow... Anyway, I am excited to write with this fountain pen.

I love this pen. People comment on my signature because of this pen. I write my wife love letters again!