Platinum Preppy Fountain Pen - 05 Medium Nib - Purple Ink

I bought this pen in three colors. I do not believe the colors make a difference--they were, each, faulty. And all in the same way. Following the instructions, I inserted the cartridge and thought that the ink would begin to flow. Not only did none of the ink flow, I had to run the nib under warm water, drying it carefully with a paper towel, I tried to prod the cartridge into beginning to flow, I put everything back together and, leaving the pen capped with the nib side down, I left the pens alone for a few days. When I returned, everything remained the same. No ink. No writing.
I find these pens to be quite aesthetically lovely, with the nib matching the ink and cap color. Someone clearly put a lot of thought into the design, but went blank on the engineering portion of the pen. There is just no performance. At all.
I am aware that the pens are valued at $3.30 each. So, some may say, you get what you pay for. I have paid hundreds of dollars for some pens, yet my all time favorite is one that I paid $17. to acquire. One never knows when one will find a little treasure.
Know this: You will not find a little treasure in this pen. You will find a little headache. Hardly pays to send them back. what a waste of money...as I bought cartridges, as well.

The purple ink color is a good strong purple, and the 05 nib puts down a medium wet line. I have tried the 03 and would say the 05 is much better in terms of ink flow, even if it tends toward the bold side. The nib is almost slightly italic - it can be a bit thinner horizontally than vertically. I would say it's much smoother than the Pilot Petite1. I would also prefer it with less branding. I received a generic Platinum Preppy with a 4.5oz bottle of Noodler's Baystate Blue which was converted to eyedropper, and that pen is a clean transparent gray all around, which is ideal. I'd like to be able to buy more of the no-name preppies.

It\'s a nice pen for the price, that\'s for sure. But I like the PILOT Petit1 better.
A big down side for me is the non-removable bar code and label. So it\'s not so
esthetically pleasing, but hey, it\'s ok for the $. The ink color is more violet than
purple - close to the cap color.

Once I got it started it was fine but the ink flow isn't as consistent as I would like, especially given the broadness of the nib. The color is great though and very vibrant. For my money however I'd rather invest in a nicer ink to refill my Lamy.

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 =\.