The Lamy 2000s. Time for a review.

These are the Lamy 2000s .

Is there much left to say about the iconic Bahaus juggernaught that is the Lamy Mozzerfunkin 2000? We’re all about to find out.

The 2000 is a modern classic in every sense of the word, but you already knew that. What’s a little more interesting are the few (very few) variations that have come out over the years, and the way the new ones compare with the original.

Most of the 2000s are Makrolon, a material used exclusively for the 2000 as far as I can tell. I’ve seen that term used literally nowhere else. You’d think they’d make speedboat hulls out of the stuff, or maybe the gearshifter on the damned space shuttle or something. No. Lamy is hogging all the Makrolon for their pens, and I suppose that’s their prerogative.

I’d like to have a Makrolon shillelagh when I’m an old guy maybe. Stagger around and use it to knock some sense into some robots when they get frisky. Mind your tone, robots.

There have been precious few special editions of the 2000 over the years, there was a stainless version with a makrolon stripe on the section one time, and Lamy made a single pen set in red once, if I recall correctly.

More recently there have been 2 more models– the production model lots of folks call the 2000M, wherein the M means Metal, and the metal is stainless steel. I have one of these bad boyzz. There was also the puzzlingly named Amber, which was made of metal and had a different color. This was a limited run anniversary pen that cost 500 f’n dollars and nobody bought. Seriously, if you bought one, let me know and I’ll deride you mercilessly forever. Just kidding. Don’t tell me.

So I’ve owned 3 2000s in my penhaving career. The first one I got from somebody in Eastern Europe back in 2012 or 13. It came with a double broad nib that was smooth and nicely bouncy. I think it was made in the 80s or so, it wasn’t really weathered, but the Makrolon had acquired a smoothness that indicated it may have spent a lot of time in somebody’s hand. No biggie, it worked quite well. I took it to a pen show (Baltimore?) and had Pendleton Brown put his famed Butterline Stub on there. The nib sings. It’s one of the very best in my collection, for sure.

The pen on the other hand, hasn’t fared so well. I think I screwed the section on too tight once or twice, and it kinda split a little bit. It leaks. Then the threads that hold the section on the barrel assembly stripped out on me, so the section prefers staying in the cap to coming out to write.

I put the old PB BLS nib in a new 2000 and it’s singing away like old times. The old pen body is parts now I s’pose, but not the section or the barrel.

The problem some people have with the 2000 is the presence of two tabs or ears or whatever, that keep the cap attached when it’s time to put the pen down. Those people are the same kind of people who sell a car ‘cause they don’t like the way the gearbox lever transitions from second to third gear. Make sure you find those people and you get them out of your life. The exception would be if somebody can’t use it because they have psoriasis on the pads of their fingers, or they’re dealing with a little bit of leprosy, which brings up a whole new set of questions about where you find your acquaintances. Seriously, psoriasis? Maybe I should stop.

So, here’s the scoop. These pans are classic and look not at all dowdy in the way some other pens of the 1960s do. If the 2000 came out for the first time now, it might be thought of as a Kid’s pen at first look, due to it’s little bit chunkyness. One look at the brushed stainless steel section and hooded nib, and those ideas would sizzle away. That business end screams “Adults Only” if ever a business end of a fountain pen screamed that kind of thing.

So there are some major differences between the regular-style 2000 and the Steel one. One, obviously, is the weight. The steel pen is heavy. Real heavy. It’ll kill you, although I hope it does not. It’s also vastly different looking with the cap off because it’s metal from tip to tip, unlike the Makrolon version, which abruptly changes color at the section. The metal 2000 looks more like a teardrop, or a spaceship, or dare I say something MYU-ish. It really is a striking pen in a way the original is not. Hopefully not literally striking, because you may be badly injured.

Again this one is very, very heavy. Almost too heavy to use, and for me, too heavy to use all that often. Another things with this pen: the combined factors of its weight, smoothness and the narrowing shape of the section can make it difficult to hold, especially if you’ve been eating greasy food or applying industrial lubricants in an industrial-type situation (sounds like none of my business.)

Pity, cause it’s a looker for sure. Speaking of looking, don’t try to see the level of ink in a 2000m, cause there’s no ink window. One of the nice things about the original 2000 is the ink window, which is small but functional. It’s nice to have, cause without it the only way to know how much ink is in there is to advance the piston until ink starts spraying out of the thing, and then guess where the piston is. You may as well just jump out of a building (from a safe height of course.)

My 2000 has a lovely cursive Italic grind on it courtesy of none other than Richard Binder, the Indiana Jones of Nibmeisters. All I’m saying is don’t swing your curvy sword around in front of him if he’s feeling under the weather. You’ve been warned.

In conclusion, have a 2000. Check out the metal one and see if it’s too heavy or if the section is too smooth for you. The regular-type 200 will suit more people, and I daresay it’s a better pen. But what do I know.

I like:

• The longevity of the design.
• The snap-on cap and it’s adorable little ears.
• Vintage 2000 nibs go in new pens easily.

I don’t care for:

• Slippy section on the 2000M

Bang for the buck: Pang-Zoop for the Makrolon Original

Special out of the box: Your first one sure is.

Looks: like the future in 1966

Writes: for a long time.