Watching this makes me glad I still have my ochre Malden from many years ago as I love the slightly more rigid flaps. I have a VDS and the super squishy leather drives me nuts. Can’t wait for the new year when I use up my 2022 inserts in my pocket croc and move into my new and revamped Malden setup!
I own two older Malden Pocket, one in Navy with rings and one in Ochre which is deringed. In February 2022 I also bought a new Malden Pocket Ochre from amazon Germany (I'm German) which a friend wanted to use with rings. For only €53, sold and shipped by amazon, however the planner came from the UK. Stating: UK imports may differ from German versions. The offer is still available - but currently for €58. The photos in the offer still show the beautiful brown antique leather, as does my older Malden and also the older Malden in the video. My blue Malden also has these wonderful flats in the leather, although it has never been used. The delivery really annoyed me - the leather looked like artificial leather or inferior real leather that had been varnished over several times. There was no sign of antiquity at all. Furthermore, there was a fold in the leather on the front and the edge coatings and the seams were not nice and a bit uneven. In addition, in my case, the clasp was even a little shorter. And ... the Malden was made in China! See the comparison photos in my review on amazon - unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the code on the underside of the clasp, but does anyone know what it means exactly? It's probably about the production date and place of manufacture, but I haven't found an exact code list anywhere. I don't think it was a copy - but there are actually Filofax made in China; I've already seen some here in unboxing videos, some of which didn't have very nice leather or defective rings. Well, Filofax also seems to save up - although it's only a very thin leather split that is used for most planners anyway. In any case, I decided not to exchange it and I'm currently using my old Holborn Pocket again as a planner and wallet. Saves a lot of space in my handbag and is enough for me personally. The black Malden in the video is definitely a bad production, which I exchanged in any case. And don't the two new Malden also look narrower? Thanks for sharing.
From what I've been able to gather, the Maldens used to be made in India, but are now being made in China, and that that's when quality went out the window.
The ones Made in China do not have the back pocket, I saw one from Indonesia today and those have the back pocket. However the Made In Indonesia has a bit dull finish outside. Its not as glossy as the inside. Go figure. Buying Molden is like buying lottery ticket.
I was really disappointed also with the new black Maldens not having that back slip pocket. They even described on the website that it has the pocket, and customer service wasn’t sure how to respond when I asked about it. Not sure if they’ve corrected since then, but pretty sad when the company doesn’t even know how their product is made! And the quality overall was pretty meh…same with the ochre. I was able to find a slightly older personal, but had bought a newer pocket size and it felt and looked just…off somehow. Color was not nice, didn’t feel great. I sent it back.
The A5 doesn't have the back pocket either. Love that pocket in my personal. My A5 is the colour of your newer one and am hoping it patina to your 2016 colour 😊
Got A Pocket Malden and a Mni Malden and have the same problem on both and that is when you insert a pen in the pen loop, even a slim Filofax pen any side tabs get so squashed up when you close. Looks terrible and evetaully the tabs just come away. This even happens with side tabs that come with thr organiser from Filofax. Just seen that Filofax have launched a special limited black Malden in 4 sizes with gold rings and zip. Looks really nice but hesitant to get because of the pen loop problem. Not sure if they have altered the pen loop to make side tabs ok as with the Finsbury.
I got a Malden ochre last week, a model of the new series.In comparison with my old Malden Kingfisher blue, the new one feels rather stiff, maybe because it's new. I don't know. As far as I remember, the last one which was new, felt fluffier. I can't see a difference in thickness of the leather. It seems to be the same.
