Kyukyodo Mascot

[Osmaroid]

First off, as this is only my 3rd review, I wondered whether to post this. It is not a pen any of us would use (I hope!), but just goes to show that fountain pens come in all shapes and sizes. And we need a little fun now and then, anyway.....................

 

Appearance -1 / 5

 

First the good stuff. The pen comes in a nice little wooden box with a closely fitting lid and a label saying what it contains.

 

 

On opening the box, we find............well, a funny little man is all I could say. This is the capped pen and it is tiny - about 2-1/2 inches long.

 

 

The red hat is actually the screw-on cap. Removing it reveals a small, pretty conventional fountain pen nib. The cap then screws on the rear to give a posted pen. A good job, because without the cap, it would be impossible to hold this pen to write with it !!

 

 

This is definitely the only pen I have come across where the section is a miniature head. So, in the field of appearance, this pen is not going to win any beauty contests. Indeed, it is probably the worst looking pen I have come across, and in the area of form follows function.................................

 

Filling Mechanism 2 / 5

 

This is, believe it or not, an eyedropper filler. The "section" or "head" unscrews to reveal a somewhat conventional section. This in turn unscrews to reveal a barrel shaped like a miniature goldfish bowl and the fact that the nib assembly actually uses a breather tube. It is the fact that it is a "real enough" pen to use the breather tube raises the score here to 2 out of 5.

 

 

Nib and Writing Ability 1 / 5

 

The nib is fairly conventional and, surprisingly, is not a terrible performer. There is some bite, but I have found far worse in many new pens. However, this section is titled in part "writing ability", and in order to write, it is kind of nice to be able to hold the pen in a writing position. Even when the little man's red hat is posted, this latter task goes from impossible in the uncapped version to almost impossible. Hence I give a score of 1 only because the nib itself actually works quite well!.

 

Overall Score 0.4 / 5

 

Yes, that is zero point four! I don't think that these will put Pelikan out of business, and I doubt that you will be rushing out to buy one soon. But when I saw it on eBay, I couldn't resist it because of the absurdity of it! Moreover, generating this review has certainly been fun - I hope that you have as much fun reading it.

[langere]

That's funny! I'm glad you did the review - this is good for a few laughs.

 

Erick

[shl]

haha!! actually I would love to find a pen like that

[Pen Is Mightier]

What an odd little pen. I don't think I have ever seen anything like it, one wonders who would think something like that would appeal to a mass audience of users. Anywho nice review of such a peculiar pen!

[InkyWinky]

That's one cool little guy!

[fraafreg]

This is so cute. It says 'FOUNTA IN-PEN' on the box.

[RedSox04]

I specifically enjoy the completed eyedropper system.

 

Can I get it in Maki-E?

[kahhoewan]

Fountain pen for beginners.

[Drone]

Finally! Someone got it right. This is EXACTLY how I would design my Grail Pen. Please tell me where to get one!

[tknechtel]

Okay, I have to confess - that is so bizarre that I wanted to buy one. And when I went to eBay and typed in "mascot pen," all that came up was a hellacious landscape of endless Sanrio Kitty ballpoints, enough to make one run screaming from the keyboard... Enjoy that grotesque little pen!

[Sailor Kenshin]

I must have this.

[Robinkeys]

It is actually rather cute... looks like a china doll cum lawn gnome.

[superfreeka]

What the ----!