When I jumped into fountain pens, I took a bit of an unconventional route and ended up starting with Facebook Market Place Parker 21 that someone was selling for $15 CAD (win!). In turn, I was never really afraid of vintage but I also skipped trying out all the intro-level pens that, as fountain pen people, we tend to recommend to beginners. Over the years I have tried a few of them including Lamy Safari, TWSBI ECO & Pilot Kakuno but the Platinum Preppy has, for some reason, never ended up in my hands.
Platinum Preppy Fountain Pen Review
I always knew that at some point I would pick up a Platinum Preppy but it kept getting passed over as a “next time” item until the summer of 2024. Platinum decided to add another 6 pens to its WA Modern Maki-e series started in the summer of 2021 bringing the total number of pens in the series up to 24 and I was sold. Both #3 in the series Koi no Taki-Nobori (Carp Climbing a Waterfall) & #6 Asagao (Morning Glory) claimed my heart but in the end it was Asagao that came home with me.
The Unboxing Experience
Unlike a normal Platinum Preppy the Preppy Wa comes in a paper box where the only part of the pen you can see is the design. I actually really like this packaging especially for an inexpensive pen. With many fountain pens in the $5-$20 price range you need scissors to get into the packaging but with this Preppy all you need to do is open up the top of the paper box and you are ready to go meaning you can buy it in a pen shop and start using it right away.
Ways To Ink: Cartridge, Converter or Eyedropper
Unlike many pens on the market there are actually 3 different ways that a Preppy can be filled so let’s talk about each of them briefly as we decide what will be best for the Asagao.
First up, cartridges. Like most fountain pens this pen takes a cartridge but it is proprietary to Platinum meaning that unless you want to refill them with a syringe you are limited to the small group of colours currently available from Platinum. Platinum does offer a fairly good variety of basic colours but you are truly stuck with the basics when it comes to cartridges.
Platinum does have a proprietary converter available for the Preppy meaning you can refill the pen with whatever fountain pen friendly ink you wish but unfortunately it costs more than the pen, even this more expensive version, meaning we are onto option number 3, eyedroppering.
I find that eyedroppering is a concept that can be quite intimidating to beginners but once you learn how to do it, it can be a fantastic way to maximise the ink capacity of pens or avoid proprietary filling accessories. In basic terms, eyedroppering means filling the entire barrel of a pen with ink. It is important to only do this with pens that don’t have slits in the bottom of the barrel ruling out the Pilot Kakuno as an option for this filling technique but making this the perfect filling system for a pen like the Preppy.
Filling the Pen
I decided to eyedropper my Preppy because the standard black ink that comes in the cartridge just isn’t my thing for day-to-day writing. Eyedroppering a pen can be intimidating but we are going to break it down into simple steps.
-
Uncap the pen and unscrew the various parts. Set aside the cartridge.
-
Place an o-ring over the threads of the nib section until the ring reaches the lip of the grip section at the end of the threads.
3. Find a narrow container to hold the body of the pen in an upright position. This step is optional but it does make the next few steps easier.
4. Lightly coat the threads of both the nib section and the body with 100% pure silicon grease. I use a q-tip for this.
5. Using a pipette, fill the body with ink being careful not to get ink on the greased threads or overfill it. I tend to stop 1.5-2mm before the threads start to make sure I don’t risk overfilling the pen.
6. When you have filled the pen, screw the nib/grip section onto the body of the pen while still keeping the pen upright.
7. Once the body and nib section are on fully, turn the pen sideways to check for any leaks.
a. If ink does flow into the threads, put the pen upright again in the narrow container and unscrew the nib section. Then clean up the ink in the threads with a clean q-tip and add more silicone grease. Reattach the nib section and pen body once both pieces are regreased.
8. Cap the pen and place in a horizontal position to allow ink to flow into the feed before attempting to write with it.
Writing Experience
Like other Japanese pens, the Preppy does have more feedback than a normal Western pen but it is not unpleasant especially if you are used to writing with something like a mechanical pencil. I found it to be a skip-free writing experience even with a traditionally drier ink like Ferris Wheel Press Spadina Rose. With a fine nib you never really expect a bunch of shading in writing so I was pleasantly surprised to discover that there was a small amount of tonal variation in my writing from the tops of strokes to the bottom.
Overall
The Preppy lands solidly as a 7.5/10 for me. It is definitely not my favourite pen but, it is in a much more accessible price range than my favourites. I could see myself picking up another in the future if they released another special edition I liked but I doubt I would ever pick up one of the basic ones unless I was desperate for a fountain pen.
The writing experience was quite pleasant though and I love having the ability to eyedropper a demonstrator pen as I prefer that look. I do wish there was a bit more nib variation available in the special editions but with three sizes available on their basic pens, it is really hard to actually complain about that.
At the end of the day, I don’t know if anyone else does the low price tag limited editions better. Even if you were to buy all 6 pens in each series, at their current price point they would still be less than a single standard edition in most brands meaning you can have access to something special and different at a relatively low cost.