It first appeared in the 2010 catalogue in Personal (£65) and Pocket (£55) sizes and in just three colours (Black, Crimson and Ochre)
My own personal feelings when I first saw it in the Filofax shop in Neal Street, London was 'not for me' but within a few months I had bought the Crimson Personal, which is very much sought after these days!
Move forward in to 2011 and the Personal and Pocket sizes had been joined by the Mini and A5 sizes. Crimson had been replaced by 'Vintage Pink' and Grey had been added to the colours for Personal and Pocket.... although Grey was only available in Germany, but I managed to get a Grey A5 in the London shop.
There was a production error with the first batch of A5's, a lot of them got fitted with 25mm rings instead of 30mm rings... guess who pointed this out? Yep me!
I had got a Grey A5 with 25mm rings, it just seemed odd, and oversized... It was eventually replaced with one with 30mm rings a few weeks later. So I have two A5 Maldens in Grey one with 25mm the other with 30mm. Something to check if you are buying one pre-owned.
There was also a range of accessories available in the Malden design.
Moving in to 2012 the range of colours reduced to just Ochre and Purple.
As well as zipped folio
In 2013 the range expanded yet again with Zip organisers in Compact (Personal) and Pocket sizes. But the Malden Mini was no longer listed.
The range of accessories had also expanded too
By 2014 we were back to just Pocket, Personal and A5 in just two colours again.
2015 was more of the same, they were also heavily in to tablet cases as well by then.
This was the last full paper catalogue that Filofax produced so using the web archive of the Filofax Website we can see that in 2016, the colour range had expanded again.
Moving forward to 2019 the current range looks like this:
One thing that I noticed whilst writing this post was how the price of the Pocket size has gone from £55 to £75 and Personal £65 to £89 over the nine years.
Each year we have wondered if this was the year that the Malden was going to be phased out or not. However, it must be quite a best seller to have continued for so long. There were even copies of it being sold on Ebay and Amazon under the name of 'Sherwood' at one time.
I know not everyone likes the Malden, for various reasons, but personally I quite like the overall design of the organiser. It has some quirks in some sizes, but overall I think it works for most people.
I've kept most of the ones I've bought the only one I didn't bond with was a black Pocket size. I have Maldens in nearly all sizes, but not all colours!
Do you own or have you used a Malden in the last decade?
I just got one yesterday. I took out the rings because I bullet journal. It's a pink A5 with plenty of room for pens and loose papers.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to have the confidence to switch out my Personal Malden original (large) rings with the rings from a compact because I like to "stuff" the pockets but only really use a diary and notes in the actual rings. I'm scared of damaging it long term though!
ReplyDeleteHi! I´d love to encourage you in changing the rings if you feel smaller rigns would be better for you. I´ve changed the 2.5cm rings in A5 Chameleon filofax for 1.5cm and I love it that way. There are instructions (video) available here on phILOFAXY provided by Steve Morton. I felt unsure when preparing for the procedure, but in fact it was easy & I do not regret doing so! ☺
DeleteThanks Monique. I have a compact I could use to make this happen. I've seen the video that Steve has made but I might get my husband to help!! EEK!!
DeleteIt is still on my list of filofaxes that I have to get :)
ReplyDeleteLovely design and lovely leather. I run between Malden and a Gillio which wins for its large back pocket, but if a Malden came out with a back pocket I'd be Malden all the way.
ReplyDeleteAs Mr.Philofaxy knows, I go wayyyy back with Filofax -especially Malden. At one time I owned most of the colors they made, But none was as well-loved as my Crimson Malden.
ReplyDeleteAfter ruining the first one I owned, by leaving it on top of my car (as I drove away) I had no other option available to me in the US, but to purchase from Filofax France!
After becoming disabled in 2010, I had unexpected bills to pay - so I was forced to sell my red beauty.
Now, 9 years later, I live in hopes of finding another new Crimson Malden, before moving on to planner heaven......ooh la la......got Malden?
Thanks for your informative post Steve. I have quite a few Maldens, mainly in pocket size. Easily my favourite.
ReplyDeleteThis was really nice to see. The personal malden has been my love since moving from a compact franklin covey.
ReplyDeleteI've owned a fuchsia, and stone but couldn't bond with them. Currently switch between my crimson, ocher, and purple. My daughter fell in love when my kingfisher arrived so it never really was mine. I ended gifting it to her. One question though... I didnt see it in the history above what year was the kingfisher color introduced. Is it still available? Thank you again for all your wisdom.
Malden is just a classic. I was gifted my 3, an A5 and matching ochre personal and a crimson pocket,for my 50th birthday, as I was born in Chelmsford and my parents then lived near to Malden. A lovely way of marking my birth and miraculous survival as a poorly premmie and all thanks to the St. John's Hospital medical team in neo natal care. xx
ReplyDeleteFor me, my A5 ochre Malden is my perfect Filofax. I've been using it for about 4 years now and can't imagine ever wanting to replace it
ReplyDeleteI have a personal malden in ochre that I have been using on and off for over 2 years, and I am still in love with the soft leather. It is my EDC planner/wallet combo. Yesterday I managed to get an amazing deal on a second hand but never used black malden also in personal size, must be one from the early years.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet we are in 2022 with pink joining the malden family!
ReplyDeleteI've been trying to hunt down a Purple A5 and finally found one in mint condition which I absolutely love. Then within a week I found a personal sized 'more-well-loved' looking one also in purple, which is now on its way to me as I type!
ReplyDeleteHiya, the Malden in the new colour burgundy is available and it looks really nice!
ReplyDelete