The Pelikan P10 Twist was introduced in 1986 as a basic, accessible fountain pen for students and “youngsters” of the time. They had a relatively short production life which ended within the decade, but offered a surprising assortment of visual styles in that period. At the time of writing, these pens are available as “New-Old Stock” from EndlessPens for the extremely pocket-friendly price of $6 USD. I’ve been using mine for several months now and, I must say, I am blown away by the quality and comfort of this classic pen. Time for a quick look.
The Pen
The Pelikan P10 Twist is a plastic slip-cap pen made of plastic with a beak clip. The pen is stamped with Pelikan’s logo on the finial, a simple Pelikan logo on the nib, and “Pelikan W Germany” on the back end indicating that it was manufactured in West Germany (back when that was a thing.) The pen comes packaged with either a black or blue Pelikan standard ink cartridge, and is compatible with standard and short international cartridges but standard converters are a millimeter or two too long. The grip section tapers down to a slightly-pinched round finger-hold that provides reasonably comfortable writing. The steel nib is roughly equivalent to a western fine in width, and has a moderate but controlled ink flow.
Despite it’s bargain-basement price, the P10 Twist shares some of the design language of modern Pelikans that are (roughly) 25 times more expensive. Pelikan’s branding has always been very distinct, the “beak clip” is a strong example of that, but there is also a slight step down on the end cap that reminds me of modern piston fillers’ twist mechanism. This adds a nice visual feature in the color-blocking and also enables posting of the cap. With such lightweight components, I don’t mind posting this pen. I imagine that was an intentional design choice (with students in mind) to keep the cap from getting dropped or lost.
The Opinion
This is one of those impulse pens that I probably ordered to hit a free shipping minimum, and am I ever glad that I did! Overall I am really happy with the Pelikan P10 Twist. I like the standard form factor much more than modern Pelikan Twist pens, and it just so happens to write perfectly out of the bag. The nib isn’t overly-smooth, giving a bit of tactile feedback on most types of paper, it’s incredibly easy to fill, and even easier to clean as long as you have a bulb syringe. The pen is also available in a lot of different colors and patterns that are sure to satisfy everyone’s personal aesthetic. The downside of this pen is that it is finite, aka no longer in production. What pens are available are New Old Stock so when they’re gone, they’re gone for good.
At just $6 a piece, I’m not sure how much longer they’ll be available. I don’t like to be the one instigating FOMO, but if any of this resonated with you, dear reader, you can go check out the Pelikan P10 Twist at EndlessPens.com.
Disclaimer: The products mentioned in this review were purchased at (a surprisingly low) retail price for the purpose of use and review. All opinions stated are my own.
The Poor Penman 