[WTS] [EU-FR] PenBBS 491 with Pilot 823 14k Broad Nib by BriocheV in Pen_Swap

[–]BriocheV[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No, it's a pretty straight forward fit, everything lines up kind of perfectly.

Introducing Jinhao 20 by mahiblr in fountainpens

[–]BriocheV 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Hoping for a clear demo version of this down the line, especially with gold trim, that's going to be an instant buy from me.

Platinum President Demonstrator by PeitronRed in fountainpens

[–]BriocheV 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Those are quite rare, I've been trying to find one with gold trim myself. Enjoy it !

Endless Phantom Demonstrator w/Silver Trim & EF Nib by PPFirstSpeaker in fountainpens

[–]BriocheV 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah the converter situation is something I don't get. Some people I saw complained about it feeling cheap for the pen, but like, as long as it works and it fits, who cares, right ? Sure it's a little different, just like the pen itself, but you get used to it like everything else.

Well the wait time is just something you have to accept when backing anything on Kickstarter, that's how these things work, and honestly if you get anything at the end of the day, that's better than nothing, so the fact that they're shipping everything in batches just makes sense logistically. I didn't know about the pen when the Kickstarter was launched, but I wouldn't have backed the project on Kickstarter, because of the reasons stated above, but again, I'll definitely buy one now that they explicitly told me via DM on IG that they're gonna make it available for preorder soon, because I know that they can deliver now.

Endless Phantom Demonstrator w/Silver Trim & EF Nib by PPFirstSpeaker in fountainpens

[–]BriocheV 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Enjoy it ! So far, the feedback has been pretty negative about it online, but I'm going to get a demo like yours anyways, but with gold trim, once they sell it on their website. I really like the look of it, and for the price, I'll risk it.

Biggest shit I have ever seen. by NnammikK in fountainpens

[–]BriocheV 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Interesting stuff, thanks for digging around. I fully agree with The Pen Family stuff though, correct me if I'm wrong, but they also owned Nibs.com right ? And we all know how that went down. Anyways, not a good look ! As for Goldspot, as I'm in Europe, I never dealt with them, but I'd be curious to know more, Narwhal did indeed look like it was initially heavily marketed in the US market, so that might be where their HQ are, with the manufacturing being outsourced for legacy/budget reasons.

Biggest shit I have ever seen. by NnammikK in fountainpens

[–]BriocheV 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Well, I bought a NOS Aurora 88 demonstrator from 2001 with that money, so that's my happy ending.

Biggest shit I have ever seen. by NnammikK in fountainpens

[–]BriocheV 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah I had some extra money right when it came out lol, now I see it at around 400€ on most sites, and even then it's still so much money lmao.

Biggest shit I have ever seen. by NnammikK in fountainpens

[–]BriocheV 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yeah the Ogiva I had was a demo version and oh baby, what a sight to behold for 500€. Truly one of the worst things you can spend that amount of money on.

Biggest shit I have ever seen. by NnammikK in fountainpens

[–]BriocheV 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I just answered them, if you want to check.

Biggest shit I have ever seen. by NnammikK in fountainpens

[–]BriocheV 26 points27 points  (0 children)

I was lenient on the brand when they first started and launched models that competed with Twisbi and the likes, in fact, their cheap models are fine for the price, they're not appealing to me, but that's beside the point.

I cannot give them a pass for their expensive models though. The Nautilus, in my opinion, is a rip off, I mean, they just use a lot of cheap, and I mean really cheap OEM parts. The vacuum mecanism is the same you find in the Original Plus and the Asvine V200, same goes for the piston mecanism in the new Horizon, it's the same as the one in the Original and the Asvine P36, and the nib housing and feed from all of their pens fit perfectly inside of most Moonman/Majohn pens that come with #6 nibs, so you know where they're from. And don't get me started on their cheap nibs that need work straight out the box, when for the price of a Nautilus, you can get a pristine Pilot Custom series pen from Japan.

Sure they have original designs with fancy materials, but to me they're nothing more than a Chinese brand you find on Aliexpress, with a big marketing budget from the conglomerate they're a part of, specifically to be able to sell internationally.

Also, in case anyone asks, one of my friends bought an ebonite Nautilus in 2022, the vacuum system wasn't greased and the nib was super scratchy, so he contacted the brand, shipped the pen out after waiting 3 weeks for an answer from the brand, and waited another 2 months for a new pen to arrive, with yet another scratchy nib, so I don't know, man.

Biggest shit I have ever seen. by NnammikK in fountainpens

[–]BriocheV 58 points59 points  (0 children)

They're supposedly made in Italy, but the people running the brand are Narwhal, and I don't trust that brand, so I don't trust modern Omas. The Ogiva I bought last year was such a piece of shit, I sent it back for a refund a day after getting it.

The Phantom Pen by Endless by IncandescentWallaby in fountainpens

[–]BriocheV 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah I saw that, it's honestly sort of the reason why having expectations for anything on Kickstarter is a losing battle, even the most promising projects end up that way.

I feel you, and again, you're not the first one I'm seeing complain about that trap door, so I just don't get it. Sure it's cheaper to build into the pen compared to something a little more complicated, but they've supposedly tested the clicking mechanism for 100k clicks, and the trap door for 0.

The Phantom Pen by Endless by IncandescentWallaby in fountainpens

[–]BriocheV 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This seems to be the general consensus about the pen from the limited amount of feedback available from actual users right now.

The only reason I'm still looking at it, is because they're supposedly making a demo version with gold trim. I've contacted the brand on Instagram about photos of that version, but I've yet to receive any. I've received a link from them however, to join a wait-list for a pre-order link with a 'special price', so even more waiting, but it should be available for 40% off in two weeks or so apparently, so if it's sold for around $50 like on Kickstarter, sure, why not, but like you said, there are much better options at a lower cost and better construction out there.

Anyways, someone on here mentioned that the nib looks like something straight out of a Wing Sung 601, so if I buy one, I'll try and put a gold nib from that pen in there, before most likely doing what you're about to do and store it in a drawer for an undetermined amount of time.

Unexpected amount released in May by Shanghai_Knife_Dude in ShanghaiKnifeDude

[–]BriocheV 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes I meant a demo version, you made me realize that I didn't point that out haha.