I purchased this pen from Swisher Pens about three months ago after hearing a fellow forumite mention that it was actually a good writing pen.


(Image harvested from the Swisher Pens website. This is the model I got.)

Face it, that image of a cow in an evening gown, flashing her udder at us (Cows Gone Wild!) is one of the most wonderfully silly things, ever.

First Impressions

It arrived in a ziploc baggie and had one small international ink cartridge.

This is a cheap pen, very light weight, almost all plastic, and does not have the bulletproof feel of a Pelikano Jr. The cap snaps on with a loud click, and the pen has never come uncapped at an inopportune moment, but there's a certain amount of play in it; I was worried that this pen would be cheap and bad.

Writing and Nib

The featherweight Kukuxumusu is very well balanced and the medium wide girthed section has a pleasantly textured rubbery grip. This is not a pen that will easily slip and slide in a writer's hand on a hot and sticky day.

The pen comes with one nib size -- medium. The iridium tipped nib lays down a nice, wet, medium-fine line and is a silky smooth writer. Really, the line width is much more like an asian medium as opposed to, say, "Lamy medium".

I can write for pages with this pen and my hand will not cramp or grow tired.

And, if nothing else, that cow in a dress never fails to make me smile.

Care and Feeding

There is no converter for this pen, it is cartridge only. To my knowledge, Inoxcrom does not offer a piston or aerometric filler for this pen. (I suppose that one could fit a Pelikan or international piston converter to the pen and use it that way.) After finishing off the ink in the tiny cartridge that came with it, I snapped on a Pelikan large cartridge and wrote it empty and then used a syringe to fill the cartridge with Platinum blue black ink and have scriffled along for the last month, problem free.

(I have not yet tried Noodlers in this pen.)

Final Verdict

The price renders it perfect for youngsters just starting out. The design renders it perfect for anybody young at heart.

If you pay more than $10 for this pen, that's too much, it's that obviously cheap. (Really, I doubt this pen cost more than a Pilot Petit to make, but Inoxcrom doesn't quite have the exonomy of scale that Pilot does.)

But, at the end of the day, I want my pens to write well and let me go for extended periods of time without fatigue, and the Kukuxumusu, with its light weight, comfortable grippy section, and smooth nib does just that.

This pen is both sublime and ridiculous! I love it!

they are made by the spanish company inoxcrom. it is a death cheap company that make biros mainly. but also fountain pens. and kukuxumusu is basque for something i have no idea what. but is the name of the character. you can find loads of stuff with the thing draw in t shirts notebooks etc....

kukuxumusu means the kiss of the flea in euskara, the language of the Basque Country.

Here it is the story: kukuxumusu

Inoxcrom is a Spain based company founded in 1955 as a fusion of other two postwar surviving pen companies and produces not only its own line of biros and FPn's but also for other design brands, as Jordi Labanda, Ruiz de la Prada or Kukumuxu. Has branch offices in other continents and is mainly known for making very good quality-price relation products.
Inoxcrom
Last year they were about to close down. Things seem to still pretty much on tenterhooks, but they still produce..... the factory premises were sold, skilled workers pre-retired or fired and the production moved to China. So from 2008 no product is manufactured in Spain anymore.

They have very affordable line of products, nice ones, but their top ones are excellent. Medium line, as Inoxcrom Sirocco and Wall Street Fpn's are really worthy pieces, if you still can get a EU made one. By the way, both nibs have a reputation for being specially well suited for southpaws. Lefties
They also have their own line of inks, pretty similar in quality and properties to Pelikan's.

By the way. A couple weekends ago I visited a big retailer and....the quality of the new foreign made ones is zilch. Ach!. Hurt the eyes. The lady at the counter said they've had a lot of complains. Buyers beware.

In the US you can buy online from www.zoxx.com (As usual, no affiliation, etc....)

Images of the Inoxcrom Wall-Street Titanium; Titanium

I bought 3 kukuxumusu inoxcrom ballpens last week. They are the Picasso, Che Guevara and Einstein rendition of kukushumusu aesthetics.

I'm a fan of kukushumusu, and I own several of their T-shirts (yes, I'm not ashamed of wearing them and carrying my Omas or Pelikans).

BTW, "kukushumusu" means something like "fly's kiss" or something like that. Don't take my word for it though.

Juan in Andalucía

I checked: "kukuxumusu" means "flea's kiss" in Euskera. Euskera is the Basque language.

Juan

This is a fun review. Thanks kadymae. Apparently "Cows Gone Wild" is not too far off track.

I have respected Inoxcrom for many years for good, low priced pens. I had no idea they were in financial difficulty, and especially that they had moved their manufacturing to China. Rats!

I agree with you, Ondina; as for the fountain pen inks, I think they're actually Pelikan (think Cross). Their gel pen refils (parker size) are way better than Parker's. Of course YMMV, but Inoxcrom gel refils don't ooze that sticky stuff, write a bit thinner and are cheaper.

Juan

Great review! This sounds like a pen I would buy and use.

That's a wacky pen graphic; I'm glad you like how it writes. Thanks for the review: I love it when people treat school pens seriously.

There has been enough said about the name, so I won't dwell on that. It's a fun pen to have and seemingly good to use too...what more can you ask of a pen at this kind of price?

Anyone:
I like small, short stubby pens like this. Especially ones that don't break my heart when they grow legs and walk off, aka inexpensive ones. I've had the devils own time today trying to find someone on the internet who will sell me a Ms. Cow pen or any of the T shirts also mentioned. Can someone, please PM me with their resource? Thanks. Jim

JHughes.1976@alumni.opt.uh.edu

I'm pretty busy this next 10 days, but I may be able to help shortly after July 10th. PM sent.