I started buying Japanese pens in the late 80's when a lot of collector's in my region turned their noses up at them. Somebody came back from a trip from Japan with a box filled to the brim with old FP's & PCL's and wanted to trade for a bunch of vintage Big4 pens. He got 2 U.S.-made pens for every one I got from him, not a bargain back then, but I wanted them & turned out years later that a number of them were either on the rare side or just plain hard to find stuff today. Both parties were satisfied with the deal and that's the name of the game!
Several years later our Parker Pen rep, who was the Pilot rep once upon a time, decided to trade me all his samples for a Montblanc 149 FP and a matching BP/PCL set. several dozen no longer made models for 3-MB's...didn't seem fair, but that's all he would take! I finally convinced him to come in & get free MB refills when he needed them, that was more than enough for him (they don't make reps like this any more, customer wasn't "King" but was more of a "God" to him!). Anyway, more goodies added to the growing stable!
Which comes to the other reason for my post, a kamakura bori type of pen, as referenced in Stan's web site. Clip & alloy nib have the name "HOWARD" imprinted on them and the cap & barrel have a wonderful hand lacquered "carved" Dragon theme...
At first it was thought to be made of plastic, but after closer look with a 22X loupe (Stan used a 10X, but this really gets you closer to the material) it just might be bone like Stan surmised, has that porosity that bone has as well as the off-white/buff coloration on the plain areas. What looked like a seam you see on plastic or Japanese celluloid pens is no more than a ridge in the design where because it's the highest point, might have had the lacquer worn off from rubbing against material where it was stored or clipped to all these years. In any event, a very cool pen!
Aerometric fill, which needs a new bulb/sac, Black lacquered brass cap jewel which needs some touch-up (most of the Black worn off), XF alloy "HOWARD" #4 nib with typical sharp point but seems to flow nicely, very pronounced Dragon design wrapped around both cap & barrel from top to bottom, some brassing on both cap-band & clip...
Just thought I'd say hello to the gang and to share this uncommon find with people who appreciate the intricacies of the Japanese pen!
Domo Arigatoo Gozaimasu,
DocNib
PS--This pen will be going on the sale block one of these days...any idea on value would be appreciated!
Welcome, Doc! 
