Pen review: Retro 51 P-51 Mustang

One Flew over the Rollerball Box

My wife’s favorite activity is to hide Bic pens in my beautiful fountain pen display cases. My favorite activity is to pester her to drive me into the wilderness of Florida to meet with other people who have had to endure similar traumas in their lives.

Just this past weekend I joined my fellow fountain pen lovers at the monthly Orlando Pen Club meetup, which, for me, meant I got to be the not odd one out. And, as I am socially awkward (hence pen blog), it was a great pleasure to exchange stories, pens, snacks, and to be able to share ink samples (I live to give away liters of ink one sample vial at the time). I’m sure most of us gathered here today are surrounded by swarms of ballpoint pen users on a daily basis. Finding a pen club near you is the best.

Now, the thing about my addiction hobby is that try as I may, some people remain immune to fountain pens. The number of Varsities and Zebra Zensations I’ve given out… shame. Apart from my wife (who, mind you, likes nice pens and still uses a Bic), my brother is a similar offender, but unlike her, he claims it’s because he’s a leftie. And apparently, lefties cannot use fountain pens.

Yeah, right. Quick drying inks? Underwriting? Specialty Lamy nibs for lefties?!

Nothing worked on him. So, I did what any sane sibling would do: I got him a Retro 51 rollerball to play with.

Point in question. That’s his hand. I’m not a leftie. Retro 51 Tornado, Mustang.

The pen is the Retro 51 Tornado, I believe; the idea behind this one is to emulate the look of the P-51 Mustang, a World War II and Korean War fighter plane. This one was flown by the first African American squadron in U.S. Army. Pretty neat, right? But why this one, pray? Because my brother is obsessed with history, planes, and making my life harder than it should be for gift giving. I will say he said he liked it. But it’s “too fancy” and he’s “worried he’d lose it”, so naturally, it stays at home, and he still uses something disgusting to write with.

However, I will relay the message from him for all of you. The pen writes smoothly, the ink is consistent, pleasant, and bold. You know, almost like a fountain pen, without the extra steps. I believe that’s why Retro 51 is one of the few non-fountain pens that are still acceptable in our niche world.

Another point in question: the ink looks super cool and I am super proud of how he wrote this. Didn’t dot the i, but we’re all quirky like that.

In order to live vicariously through him, I got myself the matching fountain pen at the same time I got him the rollerball. By the way, that was a birthday gift and another milestone gift together. The fountain pen for me was… erm… to celebrate his birthday…

Anyway. Spoiler alert: despite some minor things which I’ll talk about later, I love the pen.

Unlike my brother, I don’t care much about 20th century war history, although I am obsessed with pretty much everything related to European history prior to that. I felt, however, that I should support him — and Retro 51 — by matching his pen with mine, while supporting a brand that is super neat and was, at the time, about to depart¹ our world forever.

Enter: Retro 51 Mustang in fountain pen version.

:imitates fighter plane sounds: Retro 51 Mustang fountain pen. The nib also sports their logo. Big plus.

I wasn’t playing. This pen means so much to me I took it to the Orlando Pen Show to have Kirk Spear play with the nib and make it a better writer. The original came with the M nib which was good, but nothing to write home about. It was your regular Jowo #6 nib, and most people like them, and I am like most people except for the fact I’m three addictions in a trench coat² without other personality traits. It wrote well out of the box, of course. Came with extra cartridges (no idea which, I wish I knew. I assume Retro 51 black ink?) and a converter (which is the only real way to fill a pen), in a nice tube box that I am sure I still have somewhere in the house.

The pen is metal, and, to be frank, even if I weren’t enthused by pens, I’d still say it looks sick. The attention to detail is beyond this world. Uplifting, one would say. If I didn’t know better, I’d say this was a miniature, tubular version of a plane with them screws, plating, rivets, exhaust pipes. Heck, even the clip reminds me of a plane.

Still, I have a few cons.

I mentioned that the pen is metal, but the grip, sadly, doesn’t feel as sturdy as the rest of it. Maybe it’s because of the blackness instead of, you know, silvery/grey that would match the rest of the pen? Anyway, the paint on the threads chipped despite doing my best about keeping the pen pristine; the threads themselves don’t seem like they would endure much pressure. And that bothers me; my fear would be that if I were to drop this pen, it would snap right where the grip meets the barrel. And the nib, albeit good, is not mind blowing (hence nib grind). To compare this pen to, say, a Karas Kustoms Ink — I wouldn’t be afraid to run the Ink over by a car³, but I wouldn’t dare do the same to the Mustang.

That’s the cons. The pros?

As I said, the pen looks amazing, writes well, and it matches my brother’s pen — so I won’t repeat myself here. The question is — would I recommend it? I think I would. I think I’d be missing out if I didn’t have it. And, this is not the only Retro 51 fountain pen that I have, so… you know.

Now… the NIB!

The regular side is a stub, and it’s nice and smooth. The reverse… is a tiny architect (just quoting Kirk here). And that, my friends, is super fun. I don’t usually print, so I’m not an architect type of person, but I wanted that option, and Kirk delivered.

So, here’s proof that fountain pens are superior to any other type of writing utensil:

I won’t lie, this was my first time using Robert Oster x Pen Addict Fire on Fire. Lookit that orange. Also, I love the grind. Perfect.

I’m just kidding. Based on what I saw, if, for any reason, such as you fell down a crevice and you need to get out somehow, you would be well advised to have a rollerball in lieu of a chisel in order to pull yourself out. I wouldn’t use a fountain pen in that case. So, if that happens, Retro 51 rollerball is probably a good choice.

And, if you want a cool looking fountain pen that won’t break the bank but would be a great conversation stater, the Mustang might be a good idea. They have other fountain pens too — for science buffs, there’s the Tesla model, and for plane enthusiasts, there are at least two more neat pens that look like they should fly. They don’t. Please do not toss them in the air. They might break if they land awkwardly.

P. S. The content is still and will remain free, but if you’re so inclined, you can always support my work by pledges, and in return, you get my gratitude. And some goodies ;) All donations will go towards banana addictions, and some towards pen stuff. More likely towards bananas.

1. See what I did there?

2. Check out the post about trench coats if you haven’t already!

3. I told you I was a horrible driver.