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Discussion On The Pilot Murex And Myu


TheLacOperon

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I have been following the pilot MUREX, MYU, and all variations of their design. The Murex is my dream pen, so I have been researching it fairly often.

 

It seems that everyone is calling them "RARE", even though 90% of the time, the pen they are selling is NOS. They are very beautiful pens, and I have wanted to pick one up for a while. I have been scouring the net, trying to find info, and it seems that the MUREX which was being sold for around $150 is now doing for over $300, depending on the nib.

 

I have read on here that they produced a lot of the MYU/Murex, and I was wondering if anyone can expand on that: whether we just can't find it easily in the USA because it was only sold in Japan.

 

Has anyone picked one up recently? What is a fair price for them?

 

Also, if anyone wants to post pictures of these beautiful pens, please do! Maybe a writing sample??

post-111024-0-47431500-1407338492.jpg

"Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe."

 

Surah Qalam (The Pen).

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Far as eBay goes, I currently only see two Murex (by name) for sale, in an auction format, both of which with a starting price of $230 and above.

 

If I switch over to completed sales, there's a few $250 ones by mr_bansal that's been unsold and listed numerous times, the rest all have sold.

 

The ones that did sell were:

 

$375.10 (27 bids), martiniauctions, August 2nd "*CLEARANCE SALE* PILOT Murex M90 Limited Edition pen ***3 days auction***"

$355 (18 Bids), Pen-Hal, July 28th "PILOT "Murex" Excellent Fountain Pen & Converter Stainless-Steel Namiki Japan"

$224 (21 Bids), takeda-ya, July 27th "NEAR MINT! PILOT NAMIKI MUREX FOUNTAIN PEN STAINLESS JAPAN[220]"
$250 (1 Bid), e-sell_jp, July 27th "
Pilot (NAMIKI) Japanese FP MR-500SS "Murex" F-nib 1977 The First Year Model! NOS"

$368 (33 bids), martiniauctions, July 26th "*CLEARANCE SALE* PILOX Murex M90 Limited Edition pen ***3 days auction***"

 

So on

 

Most of the ones that have sold (guessing depending on model), have sold for between 250 and 400 around average, with a few dropping down to 180-200. I'm guessing an M90 on average is going to run you $350-400 based on the ebay history.

I wish I knew more about them as well, then it'd be easier to plunk down 300-400 on one.

Edited by KBeezie
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Thanks for posting w/ such detailed info! I believe that the M nib is rarer, and more in demand by westerners because it writes like a fine.

 

Do you own a MYU / MUREX?

"Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe."

 

Surah Qalam (The Pen).

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Thanks for posting w/ such detailed info! I believe that the M nib is rarer, and more in demand by westerners because it writes like a fine.

 

Do you own a MYU / MUREX?

 

God I wish, they're beautiful looking and seamless.

 

But I have yet to spend more than $100 for a pen, and of the Japanese ones I mainly have a few modern ones (Platinum Century 3776 with Soft Fine, and Pilot Falcon with Soft Fine, and a few cheaper ones like metropolitans etc), and some vintage ones like my 70s Pilot Elite Mini with a 18K Soft Fine.

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Wow! Same with me. I have a estebrook sj black that is dear to me, given to me by Joe Szanto, so all of my pens are under $50!!

 

But I think that you should only buy something that you enjoy every second with- hence my interest in the murex.

"Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe."

 

Surah Qalam (The Pen).

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Wow! Same with me. I have a estebrook sj black that is dear to me, given to me by Joe Szanto, so all of my pens are under $50!!

 

But I think that you should only buy something that you enjoy every second with- hence my interest in the murex.

I do enjoy them, otherwise they'd be sold or given to someone who would enjoy them. (thus why some of the cheaper ones are pif'd after the feeling it out phase, or til something of the same vintage/style replaces it).

 

The only pen I have that has the closest resemblance to a murex is my Montblanc 225 from the 70s,not really a match but the nib kind of reminds me of the all silver futuristic straight angled edges and such. I'd imagine I'd like the murex all the same especially if it is a similar thickness but has a lil more heft to it.

 

The murex just looks cool too.

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I bought a Murex (NOS) with a medium nib on ebay about 2 years ago for $220, and at the time, I thought the price was a little steep.

It's a beautiful pen, and it does write finer than the usual Pilot medium nib.

it's also very stiff -- there's absolutely no springiness to the nib at all. It's like writing with a nail.

Scientia potentia est.

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Considering I paid under $150 for my MYU 90 in 2010 or 2011, I would not pay more than $200 for it now.

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I'm really in love with this design too, although I don't think I would pay as much for it as it goes for now. It would be nice if Pilot reintroduced a pen like this in their collection!

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Does anyone know of anyone or any sources of people who have murexes? I don't particularly like eBay. I messaged Mr. stutler and he has a NOS Murex for $300 =-O

 

 

I don't care if it is used, but the only ones that come up are crazy price NOS!!!

"Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe."

 

Surah Qalam (The Pen).

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  • 3 weeks later...

One trick I've used to find expensive camera stuff on the cheap has been to search for things that are misspelled and/or listed in the wrong categories where they're less likely to be seen. Also, set up an alert to be emailed any time something matching your search gets listed. That way, if someone lists something with a BIN price in your range, you have a better chance of snagging it before anyone else does. This may take a while, but there's a good chance that it'll work.

 

Finally, if you ever happen to find yourself in Japan, check out flea markets. That's how I got my Murex the last time I was in Tokyo. Went to a little flea market consisting of a dozen people with various stuff spread out on blankets in a park, and I went specifically looking for pens. Ended up with a Murex in great condition for ¥400.

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I bought one in '09, too for about $150. I'm going to offer it for sale here or on EBay. I'm really puzzled what to ask for it. Price gouging doesn't seem right for a pen I bought for the design, loved the way it wrote, but it doesn't spend any time in the rotation.

"how do I know what I think until I write it down?"

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I have a Pilot Elite Steel which has the inlaid nib (similar to the ones on the currently Namiki sterling silver pens), that I paid about $100 for a couple of years ago. A very similar pen to the MYU without the mystic qualities.

 

It is one of the very popular Japanese short/long pens (referring to the body/cap ratio) and it is a wonderful pen.

 

Just to get your feet wet, you might also take a look at Speerbob on ebay and pick up one of the NOS Pilot/Sailor/Platinum short/longs with steel nibs. I have a few of those and although they tend to have very fine nibs, it will give you a feel for these pens and they are dirt cheap ($10 to $20 if I remember correctly).

They tend to be cartridge only, but you'll fall in love with the way the long cap posts....

the Danitrio Fellowship

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From my point of view, at first you have to decide:

 

- Do you want a "vintage" Murex / Myu or do you want a "limited" Myu 90 from the 21st century?

 

When you have defined this, you have to allow yourself to take some time - because there is nearly no fountain pen with price differences as big as that Pilot family. I saw identical pens being sold for twice the price than the other - there is no real system behind it... whatever....

 

But at the end an advice: try to get in touch with this pen before buying it.

 

Why?

 

Because I haven't seen a combination of "the nib writes like a dream" and "the pen handles like a nightmare" like this before - ok, always in relation to my big hands, that love KOP, M1000 or 149...

There are no facts, there is no truth - just a data to be manipulated...

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I have a Pilot Elite Steel which has the inlaid nib (similar to the ones on the currently Namiki sterling silver pens), that I paid about $100 for a couple of years ago. A very similar pen to the MYU without the mystic qualities.

 

It is one of the very popular Japanese short/long pens (referring to the body/cap ratio) and it is a wonderful pen.

 

Just to get your feet wet, you might also take a look at Speerbob on ebay and pick up one of the NOS Pilot/Sailor/Platinum short/longs with steel nibs. I have a few of those and although they tend to have very fine nibs, it will give you a feel for these pens and they are dirt cheap ($10 to $20 if I remember correctly).

They tend to be cartridge only, but you'll fall in love with the way the long cap posts....

 

Would that be the Korean made Elite? (ie: if it had a little 'k' in a circle on it's sticker). Because I thought all the Japanese-made Elites only came in gold nibs.

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I have a Pilot Elite Steel which has the inlaid nib (similar to the ones on the currently Namiki sterling silver pens), that I paid about $100 for a couple of years ago. A very similar pen to the MYU without the mystic qualities.

 

It is one of the very popular Japanese short/long pens (referring to the body/cap ratio) and it is a wonderful pen.

 

Just to get your feet wet, you might also take a look at Speerbob on ebay and pick up one of the NOS Pilot/Sailor/Platinum short/longs with steel nibs. I have a few of those and although they tend to have very fine nibs, it will give you a feel for these pens and they are dirt cheap ($10 to $20 if I remember correctly).

They tend to be cartridge only, but you'll fall in love with the way the long cap posts....

If I may: I have a 20$ Elite (from Speerbob - awesome seller. Stands behind its product), and it writes like a dream, probably my most enjoyable EF (or western EEF) nib. But the design of the Myu/Murex (I have the second one and I am very partial to this iteration) is incredible and worth the price. It's not a story or a mystic about the nib, but really about the design. Someone here posted a pic showing a bamboo stick-pen and the Murex (or the Myu?) side by side. Striking! This pen make you trabil to the very origin of ink drawing and writing. The others iterations of the Long cap pens, regardless of their quality as tools, cannot match this, even if some (as the Volex) are quote nice. Edited by Namo

amonjak.com

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free 70 pages graphic novel. Enjoy!

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I've been tracking prices on these pens for the past year or so also, and for my target pen (the original Myu 701) prices exploded starting about 3 months ago. In these past 3 months they've climbed from an average of $150 for NOS to near $300 for gently used. The M90 (which was originally available in the US for $140) has been reliably selling for $500+.

 

To answer the question about why, yes, it's as you suspect: they are more easily found in Japan (averaging around $100 currently) because they were not exported back then. Recently foreign interest in them has increased for reasons unknown to me, and savvy Japanese sellers have been snatching them up to resell abroad.

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These pens have a really nice design, I'm actually surprised that no other manufacturer has copied it yet. Or have they?

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