PenBBS 489 Touchdown Fountain Pen • First Impressions Review
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- Опубліковано 11 жов 2022
- A review of PenBBS’s latest pen and filling system, the Model 489 Touchdown in the Galaxy Blue resin.
You can find the 489 here (no affiliation): www.etsy.com/shop/PENBBSOffic...
And the ink here (no affiliation): www.birminghampens.com/
Paper was a lined Rhodia A5 top spiral.
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2:42 It's probably a coincidence ―synchronicity might be the right word.― but PenBBS have chosen the right time to release a Touchdown as Sheaffer have just re-released their compartmented ink bottle seen in their old ads.
Yea, I thought that was cool timing.
Glad to see you getting into Penbbs pens! I've been collecting them since they first started making pens and love how they use all kinds of filling systems.
happy that the old opening is back
Thanks!
Hi James, that is an absolutely gorgeous pen. I may have to add this to my collection. Price is great.
Aww I love the little ads from the 20's! I hope it comes back someday. I'm really not vibing with whatever's going on today.
But dang, this is a sexy pen. I might have to pick one up next month 👀👀👀
The first PenBBS pen I want. I love collecting different filling systems. That Galaxy Blue is stunning.
I also have a 308 in the Galaxy Blue and what a beautiful, beautiful pen it is. It's my favourite pen, just such a good writer and such a handsome resin.
Seeing this review, I’m inspired to get out my vintage Sheaffer with the TD filling system and ink it up. Thanks, James, for the review.
I love the color. I just ordered the Penbbs 494 piston fill. God bless you sir!! Keep making great videos.
Another beautiful pen, another wonderful review James! Good luck with your project brother 🙏💕
Got mine (also in Galaxy) last weekend (< 2 weeks shipping). It looks beautiful and it works right out of the box. Also the fine nib writes flawlessly. I also have some Sheaffer touchdowns so I find it fascinating to see this vintage filling system revived.
I was thinking about not getting this pen, but after your review, I have to reconsider my thinking about this pen
Yes, the Galaxy resin is gorgeous. I only have one other penBBS pen, the 456. This is certainly worth considering.
Great review of a lovely pen! I have this pen as well and have been extremely pleased with it. As you stated, it started out a bit dry (which is fine with me) and became more flowing with use. I didn’t have to do any tuning! PenBBS has another hit, I think. ✍️👍
Beautiful pen, love the resin
I inked up my very first penbbs today
A sharp looking pen. I'm pretty fond of PenBBS -- perhaps except for their experiments with new/old filling systems. I've been into FPs for almost 40 years and have had a few Sheafer "touch downs", the last a "Legacy" (think PFM). It was prone to nib leakage from day one (should've sent it back but didn't), eventually became inoperable as a touchdown but luckily was easily converted to cartridge fill. I hope you have much better luck! I'd be interested to hear if others have had more + experiences than I have. I always wonder (about new old filling systems) why they went out of vogue and suspect it's because they've been supplanted by more reliable systems.
Thanks for a well done review as always. We have very similar taste in pens so now I know I've good things coming. ("...English, that covers most of the globe!" :) You just confirmed a stereotype there. :))
I was thinking Chinese + English. 😀
@@JG3Reviews Aha! I'm not used to thinking in such a large scale. Icelandic doesn't cover a large portion of the globe. ;)
🤣
Lovely hands for showing off the pens.
I am hesitate to get this 489 as I am not sure if it is easy to clean the pen, it looks complicated to maintain...thanks for the review.
I feel like everyone making pen reviews is currently scrambling to throw together a 489 review. Haha. Got mine yesterday.
I only scrambled because I have a plane to catch, and I’m only taking one pen for the journey, so it would have had to wait nearly a month! 🤣
@@JG3Reviews you’re nailing it so far! You’re the first full review I’ve seen!
I have a couple of vintage Sheaffers with a Touchdown filling system (a Cadet and an Imperial) and I'm careful about what ink I use with those. Seeing as how this is a modern Touchdown, do you think I need to be as worried about what ink goes in this sac?
Being a fan of the Sheaffer's Touchdown, this was exciting to see. Of course, sac fillers in general have a place in my heart, probably because of my first good fountain pen, the Esterbrook J. Having a 'silicone" ( probably actually PVC like most from China, and like the Parker 51 used), I expect this should last a lifetime with no need for a sac replacement. They're DURABLE.
Now if they go a step further and recreate the Sheaffer's Tip-Dip feeds, which let you get more ink out of a bottle, and cut back on needing to wipe a nib...😁Have that combination in a Sheaffer's Craftsman.
Hope they hold up as well as the old Sheaffer ones! (My Craftsman is still on it's original latex sac. 😁) Thanks for sharing this, and the sac information I hadn't heard before about this pen! Hope you have a blessed week, and God bless, James!
I have never used a touch down, but if it was a good filling system wouldn’t it still be in use?
Short answer: there's nothing wrong with a Touchdown, pen technology just advanced. In the 50s and especially the 60s, Touchdowns (and their sibling the Snorkel) were competing with cartridge/converter pens which are understandably more convenient and less fussy than a pen with a sac semi-permanently glued into it.
Long answer: Touchdown-fillers have an ink sac in them which naturally wear down over time and which take (a little bit of) specialized knowledge and equipment to replace. They're also a little more sensitive to ink than plastic cartridge-converters and take a bit more effort to clean since you can't just disassemble an ink sac: it's glued onto the section. A cartridge doesn't care what ink you put in it, a sac does. I think the Touchdown is the best filling system that uses a sac but it's still subject to the flaws inherent to ink sacs.
Personally, I love my vintage Touchdown pens because the filling system is just plain fun to operate and I love how the pens look.
8:05 What pen are you holding now? Please understand even if it is strange using a translator
That’s a Lamy Studio.
@@JG3Reviews thank you have a good day:)
I followed the link but don’t see this in the Galaxy blue.
The Esybuy store on Etsy still has some at the moment.
@@JG3Reviews Great, thanks!
I love my vintage Sheaffer Touchdown pens and seeing that word immediately caught my eye! They're some of the least-messy-to-fill pens I own, and super easy and quick once you know how. I hope this pen holds up to that standard! I am a little disappointed that they didn't decide to imitate the Tipdip system found on later Touchdowns (like the Cadet) where the breather hole is at the very nose of the feed which minimizes the amount of wiping you have to do.
Do you find this pen difficult to clean?
I have not cleaned the sac, yet, but I think it should be fairly easy. The grip section can be unscrewed and flushed separately, as well. I would think the mechanism might need light silicone grease now and then.
I would say get thee behind me . . . , but, you're not Satan. Bought hearing aids for the first time this month, so, don't want to scandalize "anyone" with a pen purchase; but, wow.
Hi James, what's that lever filler in the background? Could you review it if possible?
I will, it’s a vintage Waterman 515.
@@JG3Reviews Splendid