Customer Reviews

This pen far exceeded my expectations. At the price how can you go wrong? That's exactly how I felt about this pen when I bought it, but I was surprised at how well it wrote with the default cartridge, especially it having such a fine point. It is light and ergonomic, well-balanced in weight distribution, and made of thick plastic with a hexagonal design inside the barrel which seems to reinforce the structure. My only complaint about the construction of the Preppy would be the clip, which is loose and shallow; it doesn't grip my pocket enough to keep itself from falling out.

The ink flows well and isn't particularly dry or wet. It writes smoothly and with no skipping, delivering a thin line with minimal scratchiness. It is a very vibrant pink, and stands out quite a bit on the page.

I love this pen and used mine every day for several months. The only downside is the barrel cracked after only a month of use. I wrapped it up with some cello tape and it's fine again. This is a fun pen, great for everyday use, and inexpensive both for the replacement cartridges and the pens themselves. I will definitely be adding to my collection.

I don't know what the previous reviewer was doing to make the pen leak so much, but one should keep in mind that different inks have different as far as viscosity, and without proper o rings, converting to an eyedropper style will not work with every pen style. Also, it won't crack by doing nothing.

This pen is great! The pink is pretty for a fun colored writing tool. Mine has never given me trouble and I'm glad refills are available since I use this all the time!

Love this pen! Nice dark pink ink. Writes very smooth. No bleeding or feathering.

Pretty and basic, really nice! The pink color is my favorite! I have two of these now and my first one was really nice! No skipping, no trouble of any sort, really smooth writing and almost no bleeding or feathering. The newer one I just ordered doesn't work for long periods of time and is a bit scratchy to boot! I'm working on getting it to work as well as my first one but this seems to be a rare case since the other new ones I ordered worked GREAT!

This pen is such a fun little thing to write with, I love the shade of pink that's used. And the nib being the same color and the ink is so cool. The problem I can see with this pen, for me, was that I bought a cherry pink Pilot Petite1 at the same time as this, and their ink colors were almost identical. But that's not a bad thing really, just for me. Overall though, this pen is a steal. I totally recommend it.

hi! i cant figure out how to work this pen...i pushed in the ink but it is not working.....
thanks 4 any help!

This pen is amazing, i love all fountain pens but this is one of my fave brands! It writes really smooth and comes in a bunch of differnt fun colors. I like the pink pen best. Easily refillable! Highly recomended!

By far the worst fountain pens I've ever tried. I turned mine into eyedroppers, and they leaked all over from the nib and then the barrels cracked after two days... of sitting on my desk. Not recomended at all.

I just bought this pen and am waiting for it to come in the mail. It usually takes about 1-2 days to get to me and I've ordered many times from jetpens. I read an article saying you can refill platinum preppy fountain pens with regular bottled inks by just adding an o-ring to the threads of the barrel. I am currently in love with the j. herbin and pilot iroshizuku bottled inks and am waiting on my glass pens and the platinum preppy pens to test them out. I am definitely looking forward to receiving these pens in the mail. I only wish bottled inks were cheaper... $22.50 for a bottle of iroshizuku is really taxing my wallet. overall, great buy though!

This looks like what I am looking for.
I need a pink pen to go with a Princess Bible I bought my Grandaughter. So, it needs to be a none bleeding ink. Is this one OK for that purpose?

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 =\.

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 converted all my Preppys to dropper fill just as jetpens suggests. I love these pens. Never once have they given me any trouble. No leaks. I've taken them on airplanes to China and they were fantastic. I have four filled with Noodlers ink: black 05, blue 03, whaler's brown 05, black 03.

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.

The Platinum Preppys are the best pen for $3 you will ever buy*. If you have ever wanted to try out a fountain pen, the Preppy is a great way to do it. At that price you cant get hurt much if you don't like it.

jeff stiefer

* For a full-sized cheap pen. I actually prefer the Pilot Petit (sold here at jetpens) but its a small pen and my not be good for big hands

For $3.30 I ordered these along with another pen. Just for kicks I thought I'd give it a run. I was totally impressed. the ink flow was silky smooth, almost like writing with a felt tip. The lines are broad for a Japanese pen. I plan to order a couple more to hold colored inks.

Best $3 pen of any kind I own.

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.

I completely disagree with the comment below. This is the most amazing fountain pen. One I put in the cartridge, the ink flowed easily and freely. The ink is beautiful and vibrant. I bought a refill and now I\'m back to buy more because of how frequently I use this pen. I took it with me to a convention along with another bag of pens. This pen fascinated me so much I ended up blowing through 2 cartridges. This is a must buy. At the $, this pen is a great price and quality.

A nice economical FP, writes very well with a smooth flow. If you don\'t write with it for a few days it does tends to dry at the nib but a second of scribbling brings it right back. Definitely recommended for a reliable everyday FP and as a great starting pen. For the $ this is a fine work horse. The purple is a very rich color, more on the violet side but still easy on the eyes.

The barrel cracked along the seam within days of receiving one of these pens...Very poor quality plastic...but when these pens do not crack they are great, they have a very nice nib and are easily converted for barrel fill to use with Noodler's Inks...It would be great if the company that makes these would put more effort into the quality of the plastic especially at the seam.

Love this pen. I got the medium point and the fine point (both black ink) and I love the way they write. The converter really lets you use any ink you like so these pens are the perfect fountain pens for newbies, but also great for students or those that want a pen to use for quick notes, etc.

This is the first time I've tried a "nibbed" pen I didn't have to dip. the flow is very smooth and I could get alot of good effects with it.
Flow is a bit thicker than I thought it was going to be but other wise I like using this pen.

The main feature of these pens, other than price (you need not cry too hard if one goes missing) is their ability to become eyedropper pens with a #5 washer available at any "hardware" store like Lowes or Ace Hardware. The instructions are posted elsewhere on this web site.

Just be sure to dab a bit of vaseline in the threads and you have a good writing pen that lasts literally for weeks or months without refilling.

As a college instructor I have one in each of four colors, black, brown, red and green, for everyday use in marking, editing, etc. Superb pens if used this way. Of course their writing feel is limited by their material and cost - but for a couple of bucks what do you want? Mont Blanc??

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