Finally I have managed to obtain my Grail Pen. It is a LE Hello Kitty Fountain Pen lovingly made with the ancient and legendary Chinese process of Kitty-e, the delicate art form of wrapping a Hello Kitty sticker around a plastic pen. But where to begin the review.

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First impressions:
7/6
My pen arrived in a beautifully designed transparent cellophane wrapper that allowed me to glimpse my new treasure and served to heighten the excitement of holding my new pen in my hands for the first time. I could literally see Hello Kitty looking out at me and begging me to hurry and set her free.


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Quality and Finish:
9/7
It is difficult to describe how I felt when I first held this pen. Through the slightly transparent barrel I could see the amazing NIB that one would expect of a pen of this quality. Unmarked but obviously pure stamped tin. It is a cartridge filler and the maker was kind enough to include one generic purplish color ink cartridge. A testament to its quality, the ink in the cartridge was not dried up and had not leaked excessively. This pen is everything you would hope for from such a Limited Edition. Only 100000000 were ever produced so far and you can imagine my joy at actually obtaining one.


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On to the writing experience:
8/5
This pen would have rated even higher if it had actually worked. After carefully attaching the ink cartridge and spending endless minutes attempting to lay down ink on paper I stopped. The thought occurred to me - would I really want to write with a pen like this? Of course not, but I was comfortable with the assumption that if it did work it would write like no NIB I had ever tried before. As for balance I would say this is a pen that would give the same writing experience whether it was posted or not.


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Overall:
13/8
When all was said and done I gave this pen a 13/8 with the understanding that if you too wish to spend the time, energy and money to obtain your very own piece of Kitty-e art you will have the knowledge that very few others wisdom and intelligence would allow them to make this kind of investment.


Final thoughts:
This is a pen that has found a safe place at the bottom of my heart and at the back of my sock drawer. As much as I would like to display it and allow others to share my experience, I found showing this pen and the fact that I paid for it might be too much for the general public to understand…and maybe affect their recognition of the great sense of pride I may previously have had. It takes a special kind of person, such as those on this prestigious forum, to spend excessive amounts of money for items where the value is this obvious.

bwaaaaaah!

Makes me want to go out and buy 1000 of these pens!

Thanks for making me laugh really hard - I love your sense of humor!

Great photos!

Erick

I have several friends who NEED these pens, thanks for the chuckle.

(If you've got a Hello Kitty credit card, you need one of these pens to sign the sale receipts, right?)

kitty-e --- I LOVE it!!!

Is this the rumored super-secret Transparent Precious Resin?!

Finally a fine (as in "you should be fined for posting this") writing instrument worthy of Birdsplat.

Yes, I drink the Montblanc Kool-Aid. Mmmmm. Tasty.

Two xmases ago, in the middle of a "diamond is forever" ad, I told my Dear Husband that if he got me any diamond jewelry, he was a dead man.

A moment later, I amended to, "If you're going to get me any bling, I want Hello Kitty bling!"

I thought I was safe, but, NOOOOO.

2006 is the year that a pendant came out where Kitty's Bow was made up of pink diamonds.

I got Hello Kitty Bling.

After getting me 2 FPs for xmas this year, DH asked if there was any more that I wanted.

You can very well imagine what I jokingly said.

I want.

Not kidding.

Want more than one.

I'll park my Sapporo and 51 and take Hello Kitty to work. I'm sure it'll cause a stir, a stir of jealousy! /cackle

Great sense of humor. Loved it!

Great review! Thanks for the laugh.

I might have to pick up a few of these -- my 8 1/2 year old granddaughter is a Hello Kitty fanatic. She currently has a Sailor INK PEN which I got from Jared when he was in Japan. I got her a Hello Kitty notepad for Christmas, as a stocking stuffer, and she was in 7th heaven, on cloud 9. If I get her one, I shall be sure to explain the intricacies of the ancient (?!) art of Kitty E.

Donnie

Brilliant!! The review made my day!!

Thanks for one of the funniest reviews (and commentary on reviews) that I've read here. I hope that your Hello Kitty LE provides you and your sock drawer with many years of enjoyment.