Platinum Preppy Fountain Pen - 03 Fine Nib - Blue Black Ink

The Platinum Preppy is one of the first few fountain pens I've owned/used, and as cheap as it is... this is a great pen. I give it good marks for having a very buttery writing experience, as well as good flow even after you ignore it for a few days. The Blue-Black is somewhat light but I still like the slight variations in the shade of blue. If I have anything that I would improve in this pen... well I love fine lines so an extra-fine nib would be ideal, because for me the fine nib seems fairly thick almost like a .5-.7mm ballpoint/gel pen line. Also, probably attributed to low cost and being clear, the plastic in the cap and barrel is pretty fragile. The second time I used my pen, I slightly twisted the cap as I removed it. This cracked the barrel about 3 places, easily remedied with some clear tape... even If I got a defective barrel, I think a matte finished black body on these pens would not only help aesthetics but probably allow more durable plastics to be used. If I return to the Platinum brand on my next order, I might give their Plaisir line a go... they seem like a more robust version of these little beauties.

P.S. the coloring on my nib started coming off almost immediately, now I have a half blue, half silver colored nib... this did NOT effect performance.

I have several Preppy pens, and give them out regularly to friends and siblings. They are a really good pen for the price. I have had several for almost a year now and have only ever had one crack. The crack is in the cap and it only happened because I dropped my seven pound laptop on the pen. This isn't a pen that can take a lot of abuse, but at this price that's not really expected. They are well worth the price.

Great pen for a great price. I really like the blue black ink color and it flows very smoothly. The fine point is a nice true fine point

The pens writes fine for the price...But the ink color is terrible. It's so light and weak, I can't stand writing with it. It looks like it's been run under water and watered down. Not my idea of high quality at all. Maybe I'll order another color ink to see if it's any better. Black maybe?

At this price, it's a steal; I have one of these and it works great. I just wish it was a little heavier.