With Noodler's Gruene Cactus Eel ink. Your job is now to imagine a creature that is one part cactus, and one part eel.
I found this pen in a dusty plastic bin, in a claustrophobic little stationery shop (probably on the Avenue of the Americas) that looked like it had given up on ever being clean or orderly sometime in the mid-nineties. Sorry, guy, but that’s what your store is like. Get it together.
The pen itself contained an emptied ink cartridge, and a nib absolutely lost in the mire of long-ago dried up ink, a thick crust I’d say probably dates to around the year 2000. But I was not deterred, and seven dollars and MUCH cleaning later, I present to you the Parker Reflex:
Rescued from life in a dusty plastic bin, this pen was found without any packaging to protect it
I didn’t even know what kind of pen it was beyond “Parker” and the fact that it was quite possibly made in the U.K. (both clues are printed on the cap) until I found this review by Jim Mamoulides.
Arrow fins, or alien eyes? You decide.
It’s a basic school pen, one of my favorite categories of fountain pen due to affordability and the fact that such pens are an attempt at renormalizing fountain pen use. Love the plastic—it’s got that sparkle and marbling typically found only in the paint jobs of bumper cars at the county fair.
If you find the store I'm talking about and find this pen, check inside to make sure there's a cartridge. Pretty sure half of them didn't even have cartridges. SORRY GUY WHO OWNS THE STORE, JUST TELLIN' IT LIKE IT IS
The plastic is sturdy, and the cap stays on securely without being difficult to pull off. And check out that grip!
It's like a tire or a place mat, but for your fingers. On a pen.
How many other fountain pens do you know with a rubber grip? I haven’t been paying attention and am too tired to recall, but I’m going to wager not too dang many!
On to the main event
Writes wonderfully. I can easily imagine taking notes or writing up an essay with this pen. I think this might be a fine nib—can’t exactly be sure though; what I can see of the nib is completely unadorned.
Practical without being unappealing. Beauty through function and all that.
Technically, you can live without this pen. But it would be a shame not to pick one up, especially if you’ve got the opportunity. It’s a great, sturdy little workhorse pen that’s nicely made and well behaved.
Rescue your very own!
A very lazy search by yours truly seems to indicate Amazon as probably being the best place to pick one up online, but you can probably get a better deal if you dig one up in a store. Let me know if you know of any other good online retailers for the Parker Reflex and I’ll link them here!
No Pen Intended 
I’ve got three of these pens. Your dating is pretty darn close to my recollection of when I bought mine from Staples. Be careful – the plastic is NOT as sturdy as you think. All three of mine cracked on the lip of the cap causing the nibs to dry out quickly.
I have a soft spot for the Reflex pens, however. They were my first fountain pens. I think these have been discontinued – haven’t seen them in years, anyway.
I guess I’m just always holistically comparing it to the lowest of the low, the Platinum Preppy. That thing’s plastic is AWFUL. Cracks like crazy. More cracking than a seedy drug house. I may never forgive the Preppy line, perhaps even all of Platinum, for such atrocious and brittle plastic. And the fact that people use the Platinum Preppy as an EYEDROPPER? With that plastic? It’s an ink disaster waiting to happen. I will watch on my Reflex though, and be wary of any flaws popping up in the plastic.
I haven’t had REALLY bad experiences with the Preppy – yes mine cracked – but I agree with you about the eyedropper disaster pending. Give the Plaisirs a chance, though. They are metal cases and write beautifully!
“Be careful – the plastic is NOT as sturdy as you think. All three of mine cracked on the lip of the cap causing the nibs to dry out quickly.”
This! Mine was a nice writer (and, coincidentally, my first post school days fountain pen) but do watch out not to crack the cap or barrel.
Thanks, John! After I posted that comment I got to thinking it may have just been me and inexperience that caused the problem. You verified my view.
Joni
The nib looks like the same thing on the Vector.
It does. And you should be able to turn it over and see a letter there indicating nib size.
[…] Pen Intended: Parker Reflex Fountain Pen & Palomino Blackwing Wooden Pencil – […]
I will add to the chorus of woe, although the main point of failure is at the cap lip because there’s nothing preventing the cap from being pressed too far down onto the clutch ring. If you go carefully when capping, this may not develop. It is otherwise a reasonable starter pen.
[…] Pen Intended: Parker Reflex Fountain Pen & Palomino Blackwing Wooden Pencil – […]
[…] Interestingly enough, when I looked through the Schneider catalogue they sent, I discovered I actually DID have a single Schneider pen, the Voyage fountain pen, as yet unreviewed, rescued from the same dusty NYC pen shop where I got the Parker Reflex […]
Yup. My Reflex’s cap cracked too. Been in storage for years then noticed a crack that I don’t remember was there before.
I found this pen in a stationery store in my home town of Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, two weeks ago and could not identify it until I found youe post. Thank you for that!
Mine is a pretty cherry-colored one which writes stellarly despite being a very inexpensive pen. What a bang for the buck!
My guess is that this pen is still being made in December 2018 since it didn’t look like new old stock.