Platinum Preppy Fountain Pen 0.3 – Fine
The Platinum Preppy has gained popularity owing to its high writing performance while maintaining a very low price since its Launch. Along with the growing number of fountain pen users, there are more customers enjoying ink colors. This has led Platinum to create the colourful pens which allow you to write with the ink that complement the colour of your pen. The nib made of highly-polished stainless steel, and the mixed metal point that provides excellent abrasi on resistance, make Preppy one of the best quality fountain pens for this price range. It also utilizes the Slip & Seal Mechanism, which prevents the ink from drying out inside the pen even after a year without usage, providing a smooth, consistent writing experience at any time. The Preppy model enhances the joy of writing with a fountain pen. Enjoy it with the ink color of your choice.
samantha (verified owner) –
Great value. Writes perfectly every time. Just right for note taking.
gnwooding (verified owner) –
This is an amazing pen for the cost – I have a couple and they all perform perfectly. This is the perfect pen for carrying around with you since the cost almost makes it disposable.
The nib is smooth but with a bit of feedback (to be expected on a Japanese fine nib).
I use mine with the Platinum Gold Converters and they work great.
Norman (verified owner) –
Sadly the Red. 3 fine that I got with a bu ch of other colors, was a complete fail from day 1. No amount of tweaking and fiddling could bring on an ink flow worth mentioning. It seems that particular item is a dud. On the other colors, strangely some . 2 extra fine nibs have better ink flow than the.. 5 fine nibs.! It’s luck of the draw
botes.grant (verified owner) –
I bought several of these Platinum Preppy’s in 0.3 and 0.5 nib sizes. They are inexpensive and yet still perform well for the price. Great for drawing and as first-time pens for kids to “cut their teeth on”, as it were. The cap seals tightly and the nibs don’t dry out quickly, so you can ink them up and leave them in your pen/pencil case for quite a while.
stephen.seeney (verified owner) –
One of my first “starter” fountain pens, and had several pleasurable hours of usage.
Even more hours with the different colours available (Blue, Green, Red and Purple).
And with the “Slip n Seal” of Platinum I can enjoy several more hours regardless of when I use them again. That reminds me…
Haven’t tried the Prefountes yet, but believe they are the “bigger brothers” of the Preppies, so one can expected value for money as well!
Sevineshan –
Great pen! Smooth writing and very comfortable feel.
mattrudlles1 (verified owner) –
This is a great pen and I have already posted a detailed review of the Preppy Crystal on WriteGear so I won’t do that here.
The black colour body is nice, and next to the Crystal, it is the least in your face colour of the lot. It is a neat idea to colour coordinate your pens with your inks too.
Mandy (verified owner) –
What a nifty little pen. What a great writer. I’m not throwing mine away. The only problem is that the ink cartridge that comes with the red pen is… distinctly pink. Buy the Platinum adapter and use other international cartridges. Great for marking tests/exams to those teachers out there. I have plans to convert this pen into an eyedropper type. It should take loads of ink!
laurenseraph –
Revising my initial review of the Crystal Preppy (although the suggestion about using a syringe to fill a cartridge still stands)
The Preppy has a surprisingly smooth nib and the F/0.3 nib offers what, for me, is the perfect line weight. It’s a tacky-looking pen, but at such a low price-point I ended up buying several so that I’d always have one at the office and one to throw in a bag without worrying about losing an expensive pen.
But you do get what you pay for, and their quality seems to be wildly inconsistent. Out of the 6 or 7 Preppies that I once had, in various nib sizes, only two remain. The others either developed frustrating problems with ink flow (hard starts, the feed drying up after longer writing) or the cap or barrel cracked, damaging the seal and further inhibiting flow. I’d fiddle with the nibs or tape up the cracks, but the problems inevitably returned and I eventually tossed any of the repeatedly unreliable pens, wishing I’d spent that money on another Lamy or Kaweco. They might be pricier, but can handle being carried around and will start writing immediately.
I still use my last two Preppies (F and EF) on a regular basis though. They’re better suited to wetter inks to help with flow. Avoid depending on them for taking notes in a meeting or lecture unless you’ve gotten one of the better ones, with a dependable ink combo.