I know there is a thread about gold vs. steel nibs, but I was wondering about the VP nib specifically. I want to know because there is a really nice yellow VP that is only sold in Japan so it only has a steel nib.

Has anyone tried the VP steel nib? How does it compare to the VP gold nib? Is one more springy than the other? Does one lay down a finer line?

I didn't know the VP came with a steel nib! Well, I didn't know about the 18k nibs either for a while. I wouldn't think there is a difference in line width between the steel and the gold nibs.

Steel nib? Are you sure it's not rhodium plated gold?

Yeah, the solid colour VPs in Japan with Rh trim come with steel nibs (black, blue, yellow, red, silver).

The gold trim ones come with the 18k nibs.

You can make it out at the Pilot Japan website.

Is there a price difference?

I sent an e-mail to Pilot USA suggesting that they develop a manifold (many-fold, as in multi-layer forms) steel nib for the VP. I got a formulaic answer (nicer than no answer, which is what I expected). I also asked Richard Binder how much he would charge to develop such a nib, and he replied that it would be very expensive as a one-off project (I don't blame him) and he wasn't interested yet in the notion of a larger quantity run (I don't blame him for that either). It was beyond my budget, so I let go of the idea except to bring it up here.

Yeah, the steel nib/rh trim pens retail for around $100, the gold nib/gold trim ones retail for around $150 and the ones with a pattern are about $170ish.