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Fingers Were Meant to be Inky

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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

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Dikawen 839 Fountain Pen Review

Dikawen 839 Fountain Pen Uncapped

My quest for the perfect “Inexpensive Chinese Fountain Pen” brings me to a brand I’ve never touched before…

Dikawen 839 Fountain Pen

Price: $9.50
Nib: Fine/Extra Fine
Filling System: Screw-Type Piston Converter & International Standard Cartridges

About the Pen:

I’ve done a fair amount of cruising around eBay looking for cool Chinese fountain pens. Why? Well for starters, many Chinese pens have interesting and unique designs that are different from more mainstream brands. And the fact that they’re typically dirt cheap doesn’t hurt.

When perusing the world of Chinese fountain pens, you’ll probably notice a huge number of brands available. Some are different brands owned by the same companies (like Jinhao & Baoer). Others appear to be different “translations” of the same brand name (like Wingsung & Yongsheng). I could probably rattle off another 20 Chinese manufacturers (I won’t) whose names are fairly well known.

But there are a handful of brands that seem to fly under the radar. One pen manufacturer that came up every so often was Dikawen, but I couldn’t find any chatter around the Innernets to tell me if they’re any good or not. I found a cool-looking swirly brown and gold Dikawen 839 for under $10, and decided to pull the trigger, despite the lack of information.

The pen itself elicits feelings of both delight and disappointment. Keep reading for the final verdict…. Read More

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Jinhao 159 Fountain Pen Review

A huge, orange Jinhao 159 fountain pen.

From deep within the “It’s not a knockoff, it’s an homage” files, I present the…

Jinhao 159 Fountain Pen

Price: $12.50
Nib: Medium
Filling System: Screw-Type Piston Converter (also takes Standard International cartridges)

About the Pen:

Do you remember the old Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoons where they would give each episode a normal title followed by a silly alternative title (such as The Flat of the Land – or – A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moose)? I feel compelled to do that here. So in the spirit of everyone’s favorite Moose & Squirrel, here is “Review: Jinhao 159 Fountain Pen – or – I Got Me a Big-Ass Pumpkin Pen.”

I’ve got several Jinhao pens in my collection (that I’m slowly getting around to trying). The few that I’ve tried so far have been pretty unimpressive. Until recently, neither the 159 or the x750 were in my collection. Both of these models typically get great reviews, so when the fine folks at Goulet Pens were running a “Free x750 with Purchase of any Jinhao” sale, I couldn’t resist. The color options are pretty limited, but I’m a sucker for orange, so… Read More

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TWSBI Diamond 580AL Fountain Pen Review

TWSBI Diamond 580AL Fountain Pen in the packaging box

Straight from the “What the heck was I thinking?” files, I present to you the…

TWSBI Diamond 580AL Fountain Pen

Price: $60.00
Nib: Extra Fine
Filling System: Piston

About the Pen:

I was in high school when Guns N’ Roses exploded on the scene. For some reason still unknown to me, I decided that I didn’t like the song Welcome to the Jungle. If I turned on MTV and that video was on, I’d immediately turn it off in disgust. One day I turned on the radio and there was this amazing song playing. I thought, “Wow! This song is great! I wonder who it is?” It turned out to be GNR’s Welcome to the Jungle. I was shocked. I didn’t understand how I could have possibly hated such an awesome song. I decided later that it must have been Axl Rose’s obvious jerkiness that turned me off. But before I digress too far, let’s bring this back around to the fountain pen review I’m supposed to be writing.

I did basically the same thing with TWSBI pens. Somehow, I got it in my head that I didn’t like the way they looked, that they were the ugly troglodytes of the pen world. Then one day, I happened across a random picture of this beautiful demonstrator fountain pen with vibrant orange parts inside. I thought, “Wow! This pen is awesome! I wonder what it is?” It turned out to be a TWSBI Diamond 580AL. I was shocked. I didn’t understand how I could have possibly thought these gorgeous pens were so gruesome. I decided later that Axl Rose must have had something to do with it. Jerk.

So after I got over my shock, I started hitting the pen sites to find out if all TWSBI pens looked this good or if it was just an anomaly. Keep reading to find out if I realized the error of my ways…. Read More

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Wing Sung 3203 Fountain Pen Review

Wing Sung 3203 Fountain Pen

Those of you following my reviews may know that I am on a quest for the perfect “cheap” Chinese fountain pen. Well folks, that day may have very well come. If you want the quick version, I basically can’t find anything I don’t like about this pen. If you want some details, then please allow me to introduce you to the…

Wing Sung 3203 Fountain Pen

Price: $7.00
Nib: Fine/Extra Fine
Filling System: Screw-Type Piston Converter

About the Pen:

Wing Sung is one of China’s oldest and most well known pen companies. At some point, it was acquired by the Shanghai Hero Pen Company and Wing Sung was adopted into the Hero brand of pens (the largest and most well known Chinese pen manufacturer). After finding out about the world of inexpensive Chinese fountain pens, I’ve tried several different brands, including Duke, Yiren, Jinhao, Baoer, Crocodile, and Kaigelu. I had seen many Wing Sung pens available, but none of them really jumped out at me until I saw the 3203 out on eBay. Modern looking and classy, the 3203 has a very understated and refined look. It sports a beautiful gunmetal/titanium finish that I just couldn’t resist. I snatched it up for the princely sum of $7.00 (including shipping from China to the US!), and quite frankly, it might just be the steal of my eBay Fountain Pen Rampage.

Keep reading for the rundown…. Read More

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Are We Destined to be Googlized Pod-People?

I’m a member of Google’s Opinion Rewards program, where they throw a few pennies at me in return for filling out surveys. They’ll add between 10 cents and a dollar’s worth of credit to my Google Play account in return for filling out surveys. These credits can be used to buy music, books, apps, or movies. It’s pretty cool.

Yes, I am fully aware of Google’s motives here. They want my data so they know what types of advertisements to put in front of me. It’s called “targeted advertising” and it makes a lot of sense. Advertisers will pay Google a lot of money to serve their ads to specific groups, and this leads to more “clicks per impression.” Amazon and Facebook do the same thing. Lately I’ve noticed fountain pen ads on all sorts of random web pages I go to. Targeted advertising at work.

Most of Google’s surveys are related to shopping habits. Today, however, I received a survey about my ability to move about my home unencumbered. My initial thought was, “Oh, they must have an advertiser who manufactures devices for people with disabilities.” I answered the question, got my $0.20 in credit, and thought to myself, “Gee, pretty soon Google will know more about me that I know about myself.”

Then it hit me: The realization that this could all be setup for a darker, more chilling reality.

What if targeted advertising is just a disguise for something far more sinister? Is Google trying to engineer replacements for all of us? Could they potentially gather enough data to reconstruct our DNA? Do they want to replace us with Googlized clones of our current selves? Are we destined to be search-friendly pod-people?

Seriously, is this how the Body Snatchers scenario is going to go down?

Donal Sutherland in Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Donal Sutherland in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, © Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc., 1978

/ / Fountain Pens, Reviews / 7 Comments

Conklin Duragraph Fountain Pen Review

Conklin Duragraph Fountain Pen, Amber, In Box

I took a break from my quest to find the perfect inexpensive Chinese fountain pen to play with something a little higher up the food chain…

Conklin Duragraph

Price: $44.00
Nib: 1.1 mm Italic Stub
Filling System: Screw-Type Piston Converter

About the Pen:

I’ve had my eye on the Duragraph for a long time. I stumbled upon it while perusing the GouletPens site and it immediately caught my eye. To put it simply, the pen is just gorgeous. There were three color models available, all of which looked really nice. The one thing keeping me from making the purchase was that Conklin is run by the same people behind the Monteverde brand. I have a beautiful Monteverde Invincia that just refuses to write.

Knowing the two brands are related, I was hesitant to pull the trigger, fearing that the Duragraph would suffer from the same ink flow problems (both pens have 1.1 mm italic stub nibs). I read a pile of customer reviews on the Duragraph, and no one reported any difficulty in that area.

Soooooooooooo, I finally gave in and ordered one. And boy, am I glad I did.

Conklin Duragraph 1.1mm Italic Stub Nib
… Read More

/ / Fountain Pens, Reviews / 11 Comments

Jinhao 189 “Great Wall” Fountain Pen Review

Jinhao 189 "Great Wall" Fountain Pen

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

Jinhao 189 “Great Wall” Fountain Pen

Price: $9.50
Nib: Medium
Filling System: Screw-Type Piston Converter

About the Pen:

In my recent eBay bender, I managed to pick up eight Jinhao pens, but this is the first one I tried. I’ve heard many good things about the Jinhao brand, and I was interested to see how their pens would perform. The 189 is one of their specialty pens, celebrating China’s most famous and recognizable landmark: The Great Wall. I liked that the pen was ornate without being gaudy. Most of the Jinhao pens I bought were in the $1 to $6 price range, so I had pretty high expectations for the 189, being that it cost nearly $10.

This is a pretty intricate pen, so this review contains a lot more pictures than I usually include. My apologies to those with limited bandwidth…. Read More

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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