Group Buy This Weekend - Black Dragon River

[whitedot]

Threads on Black Dragon River FPs:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/250604-black-dragon-river-28-and-90/

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/131086-hei-long-jiang/

 

 

All items from this seller are eligible:

 

page 1 of listings

 

page 2 of listings

 

Estimated costs on top of price + courier from PRC to HKG:

1. Taobao service fee + approx. 4%
   
2. Credit card foreign transaction fee + approx. 4%
   
3. Regular airmail from HKG to you + $4 first resin FP and $2 per resin FP thereafter
   
4. Packaging + $1 per package
   
5. Paypal fees

Metal FPs and/or original boxes, if applicable, may incur extra. Nibs ship free combined with FPs. There are only six loose nibs.

 

I will have to unpack and repack, and cart them off to the post office. Not for profit. No bargaining. All participants shall make up any shortfall in estimated costs, pre-pay and bear all risks from order to delivery.

 

Please PM with GROUP BUY in the subject line on or before this Sunday, 12AM HKT.

 

1. List the items and quantities to be purchased. First ordered, first served.

 

2. I will revert with the estimated total.

 

3. By sending this first PM, you commit to payment within 24 hours of receiving the estimate. You also commit to making up any shortfall in the estimate.

Edited August 13, 2013 by whitedot

[Nek]

PM Sent

[Seele]

Whitedot,

 

Perhaps Nek and I can share HK to AU shipping?

[whitedot]

It would save you a few dollars, yes.

[whitedot]

Update

 

5 of 12 Heilongjiang Model 28s left pending payment

 

No nibs left pending payment

 

A quick reminder that all FPs offered by the seller are eligible.

 

You may therefore add a Wingsung, a Heilongjiang 50, a Hero etc. to your order. Screencap, or copy and paste the item name.

Edited August 14, 2013 by whitedot

[TakeoJiro]

thank you for offer .I dont see model 90 at tao-bao shop ,is it finished or they are from somewhere else ?

[whitedot]

thank you for offer .I dont see model 90 at tao-bao shop ,is it finished or they are from somewhere else ?

 

They are from another seller, and not included in this group buy.

[whitedot]

Update

No nibs left

No 28s left, pending payment

Please PM if you would like to be on the waiting list in case payment falls through.

Edited August 14, 2013 by whitedot

[whitedot]

Just waiting for one last payment......

[Nek]

Thanks for organising the group buy whitedot!

[Seele]

Let's hope everyone in the supply chain gets his (or her) acts together and we shall all be proud owners of HLJ pens... and perhaps more.

[whitedot]

Yep. If all goes smoothly, I may well organise another group buy. Suggestions welcome.

[Seele]

Yep. If all goes smoothly, I may well organise another group buy. Suggestions welcome.

 

Better wait for this exercise to conclude first, but it would make more sense to go for discontinued models/marques. Off the top of my head I think Gui Guan by SIPF might be a candidate to consider.

[newtimer]

Agree on discontinued models. Would love to see how the various brands (JinXing, Huashi, etc.) interpreted standard models like the 28 and 90.

[Seele]

Agree on discontinued models. Would love to see how the various brands (JinXing, Huashi, etc.) interpreted standard models like the 28 and 90.

 

The best known variant of Model 28 is the Golden Star (AKA Jinxing, AKA Kinsin), the "modern" type is in lightweight thermoplastics and are bulb fillers. They come with a variety of nibs too, including the 18K gold, if you feel such inclined. However they are easily bought on eBay from various dealers, along with the smaller Model 26 version. I also checked the other variants but most with regular nibs (as opposed to fude nibs) are getting low on supply these days. Yongjiu of Shaoyang - which is one of my favourite makers - also did them but they are considered to be rather lesser in quality.

 

Another possibility would be really good interpretations of the Parker 51; I collect them and use them extensively and I do know a few quite outstanding ones; just thinking out loud of course.

[whitedot]

 

The best known variant of Model 28 is the Golden Star (AKA Jinxing, AKA Kinsin), the "modern" type is in lightweight thermoplastics and are bulb fillers. They come with a variety of nibs too, including the 18K gold, if you feel such inclined. However they are easily bought on eBay from various dealers, along with the smaller Model 26 version. I also checked the other variants but most with regular nibs (as opposed to fude nibs) are getting low on supply these days. Yongjiu of Shaoyang - which is one of my favourite makers - also did them but they are considered to be rather lesser in quality.

 

Another possibility would be really good interpretations of the Parker 51; I collect them and use them extensively and I do know a few quite outstanding ones; just thinking out loud of course.

 

I just bought a Golden Star 26 frankenpen: 60s nib, 80s body, NOS. The ebonite button-filling bodies that I have come across are beat up with worn imprints.

 

Which P51 interpretation is your favourite so far?

[whitedot]

Update!

 

• Waiting on the last payment, which is expected in the next 4, 5 hours, failing which the last 28 will go to the first buyer in line.

 

• Waiting for the seller to revise shipping upwards. The additional charges will be incorporated in the order for nibs shown below. The default shipping applies to Mainland buyers, not HK buyers. Domestic PRC mail does not cover HK.

http://i.imgur.com/pW9Tu9A.jpg

 

• Meanwhile, the order for FPs has been paid for. The bit highlighted in yellow reads: 买家已付款. (The buyer has paid.)

http://i.imgur.com/VKSwheC.jpg

Edited August 15, 2013 by whitedot

[Seele]

 

I just bought a Golden Star 26 frankenpen: 60s nib, 80s body, NOS. The ebonite button-filling bodies that I have come across are beat up with worn imprints.

 

Which P51 interpretation is your favourite so far?

 

Whitedot,

 

There seems to be a lot of people after the old 12K nibs and willing to pay good money for them; generally the older the better, pre-war would be the best! So, this makes frankenpens quite common for using these nibs. I also second your observations regarding worn markings on the barrels, that on my 1930 Wm K Rockman Model 50 us really hard to see unless with the help of a good magnifier.

 

The 100 by Hero/Huafu is probably the default premier Parker 51 homage, but Wing Sung also made some good ones as well. Two others that I can think of, which are less common and without the use of the clutch ring, are the Longfeng (Dragon Phoenix) 695 from Shanghai, and the Jinhua J707 from Wuxi, especially the latter. There are also other lower-end ones which are astounding performers and of very high engineering standards, but these two I mentioned are definitely worth the hunt.

[whitedot]

 

Whitedot,

 

There seems to be a lot of people after the old 12K nibs and willing to pay good money for them; generally the older the better, pre-war would be the best! So, this makes frankenpens quite common for using these nibs. I also second your observations regarding worn markings on the barrels, that on my 1930 Wm K Rockman Model 50 us really hard to see unless with the help of a good magnifier.

 

The 100 by Hero/Huafu is probably the default premier Parker 51 homage, but Wing Sung also made some good ones as well. Two others that I can think of, which are less common and without the use of the clutch ring, are the Longfeng (Dragon Phoenix) 695 from Shanghai, and the Jinhua J707 from Wuxi, especially the latter. There are also other lower-end ones which are astounding performers and of very high engineering standards, but these two I mentioned are definitely worth the hunt.

 

I shall look into your suggestions.

 

Pre which war? Haha.

 

I paid really good money: 340 RMB. Loose nibs are 285 RMB. At least I bought the last 80s body, with gold trim. The 90s body in stock has chrome trim, and is a little cheaper. According to the seller, the nibs are very soft. They look a lot thicker than current production. As you can see, QC is an issue. Second nib from right needs help. Tipping shape and thickness vary a little. I have to say, I really like the imprint - the horizontal second and third to last strokes of 金, the yin-yang circling the star. Thought has been put into design. It's great to find that Chinese FPs have real pedigree.

 

http://img.taobaocdn.com/imgextra/http://img02.taobaocdn.com/imgextra/i2/372858177/T2DA_.Xn4aXXXXXXXX_!!372858177.jpg

Edited August 15, 2013 by whitedot

[Seele]

Looks like you have the earlier Golden Star 12K nib market stitched up! The more modern gold nibs bear various styles of markings, the 18K one does look rather nice, but for me, if I chance upon one for a song I would not say no, but then the standard steel nibs already present me with an interesting panorama in terms of finish and marking variants, including wrong spellings too. It's actually quite odd that GSP was not absolutely sure what their own name was, while it's official that it's "Golden Star" they sometimes used "Gold Star" instead, let alone the transliterated Chinese variants. But if you're a hair-splitter you might even insist that it's really "Kim Seong".