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Fingers Were Meant to be Inky

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Baoer 508 Fountain Pen Review

The Baoer 508 Fountain Pen, uncapped, with the pen's section resting on top of the cap with the top of the nib facing the camera

Getting back to some good, old-fashioned inexpensive Chinese fountain pen action. Is it cheap? Or is it good? Could it be Both?

Baoer 508 Fountain Pen Review

Price: $3.00
Nib: Medium (on the finer side)
Filling System: Standard International Converter & Cartridges

About the Pen:

Exploring the world of Chinese fountain pens is an adventure. Some are inexpensive, others are less so. Some are outstanding performers, while others are absolute disasters. And there seems to be no real correlation between price and quality. Some of my best finds were in the $4 to $7 range, while some of my biggest disappointments cost between $12 and $19.

Some Chinese pens lead to adventure not because of the price-to-performance ratio, but because of some of the crazy things that happen with them. The Baoer 508 is a perfect example.

I filled the 508 with ink from a sample, so I used a syringe. I was also filling another pen, so I stood the 508 up on its cap to let gravity help the ink find its way to the nib. After about three minutes, I came back to it and took the cap off. Ink went flying… Read More

/ / Fountain Pens, Reviews / 19 Comments

Baoer 388 Fountain Pen Review

Baoer 388 Fountain Pen Uncapped

Look up in the sky! It’s a Parker Sonnet! No, it’s an homage! No, it’s a blatant Chinese knockoff called the…

Baoer 388 Fountain Pen

Price: $5.50
Nib: Medium
Filling System: Screw-Type Piston Converter / International Standard Cartridge

About the Pen:

Somewhere between homage and counterfeit lies “blatant knockoff.” I don’t own a Parker Sonnet, and even I can’t deny the uncanny resemblance between the Baoer 388 and the iconic Sonnet: from the shape of the section, to the rounded off barrrel, to the simple gold cap band, and all the way to the looks-like-they-stole-it-from-Parker arrow-shaped clip. Blatant. Knockoff.

How does the Baoer 388 compare to the Parker Sonnet as a writer? I have no idea. And that’s not the point of this review. Now that we have the “evil twin” business out of the way, I’m going to review this pen for what it is: an inexpensive, but usable Chinese fountain pen…. Read More

/ / Babble, Fountain Pens, Reviews / 7 Comments

Baoer 79 “Skywalker” Fountain Pen Review

Baoer 79 "Skywalker" Fountain Pen (Capped)

Next up in my “Inexpensive Chinese Fountain Pens” series, I present to you…

Baoer 79 “Skywalker” Fountain Pen

Price: $5.00
Nib: Medium/Fine
Filling System: Screw-Type Piston Converter

About the Pen:

I was very excited to get this pen. It’a knockoff of a much more expensive (and famous) German pen, and I’ve only heard good things about its performance. For $5, it seemed like a no-brainer. When it arrived, I was impressed with its seemingly fantastic build quality. It looks and feels like a high-quality writing instrument. I inked it up with some Noodler’s X-Feather and went on a little writing excursion. Turned out to be more of an adventure than I expected…. Read More