Last Group Buy - 24, 26, 28, Black Dragon River, And More!

[whitedot]

Due to popular demand, I am hosting another group buy in quick succession.

 

This will be the last group buy for a long time. Work will soon be cray cray again.

 

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. First two nibs or parts ship free combined with FPs. I will have to unpack and repack, and cart them off to the post office. All participants shall make up any shortfall in estimated costs, pre-pay and bear all risks from order to delivery. I am not affiliated with the seller. Not for profit. No bargaining.

 

The point of this group buy is FPN access to interpretations of all three main models: 24, 26 and 28. The 24 is exceedingly difficult to find. The listed models are linked to the relevant listing.

1. Tianjin Four Flowers 24
   Green
   Black
   
2. Golden Star 26
   Chrome trim
   Gold trim
   
3. Black Dragon River 28 (for those who missed out)
   
4. Yangtze River 28
   
5. Golden Star 28
   0.5mm
   0.7mm

In addition, the group buy covers all FPs and nibs that are:

• from the same seller,
• unavailable on eBay, and
• 150 RMB or below.

My favourite is the Wingsung 30 - pocket FP with screw cap, ink window, breather tube and perfectly formed, miniature ebonite feed.

 

To browse through the seller's listings here. The pages numbers are at the bottom. There are 26 pages, around 600 FPs in total. Please refer to the annotated image below.

 

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

 

Of course, a group buy isn't a group buy without a group. If there isn't sufficient interest, it will have to be aborted. If you have any questions, please post them in this thread.

 

To order, please PM with MORE in the subject line on or before the coming Friday, 30 Sep, 12PM 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 24, 2013 by whitedot

[Seele]

Please note that Pen 4, the Yangtze River Model 28 is fitted with a fude nib, likewise the ones in this listing:

 

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=15773664625

 

 

But of course the nibs can be swapped out too. This seems to be a major dealer and has quite an extensive collection including some Rockman/Guanleming models, at sensible prices. The simpler ones like the Wing Sung 30 might not look much but from personal experiences, these ¥2-¥3 pens, ostensibly kids pens, tend to be outstanding writers.

[WirsPlm]

Definitely interested. Will have to run everything though Google Translate later and see what's available. Thanks for the links to specific suggestions!

[Seele]

WirsPlm,

 

Some of the listings show pictures of the vendor's B&M store, it looks really scary in the sense that once you're inside you end up with your pockets empty and your credit cards maxed out. In the Taobao store many of the most interesting items are well hidden, such as early Hero-built Huafu with gold nibs, Gui Guan 88, pens from less-known makers in Shanghai, Anhui, and such. It's a bit of a big job to sieve through everything, but I think it is a nice way to spend some time on a weekend.

[TakeoJiro]

I think whitedot made a typo and probably it ends this friday 30 august , no time to spend at weekend for screen shoppping i guess

It's a bit of a big job to sieve through everything, but I think it is a nice way to spend some time on a weekend.

Edited August 25, 2013 by TakeoJiro

[Seele]

I think whitedot made a typo and probably it ends this friday 30 august , no time to spend at weekend for screen shoppping i guess

I was referring to the weekend just past, but I understand that Whitedot was referring to this coming friday. Better put some more dosh into my PayPal then...

[whitedot]

Ugh, typo, yes. Sorry!

 

Coming Friday. 30 August.

[WirsPlm]

Oops. Well, I'd better start scrolling, then.

 

EDIT: Actually, I don't think I'll be participating. I just bought a bunch of vintage pens through eBay, and I'm going to need to get some repair stuff for that this coming month. Thanks for putting it up, though, and hopefully I'll be in for the next one!

Edited August 26, 2013 by WirsPlm

[Inkstone]

I am interested in Guiguan 100 and Hero 892, but the 150 RMB limit kick me out.

[Threadbear]

150 RMB total, or max per item?

 

So many cool things there!

[whitedot]

Per item.

[Seele]

I am still writing out my shopping list; did anyone notice that they have a lot of Rainbow pens from Tianjin? The Sea-Gull air force chronograph was built at their old factory.

[whitedot]

I am still writing out my shopping list; did anyone notice that they have a lot of Rainbow pens from Tianjin? The Sea-Gull air force chronograph was built at their old factory.

 

One of the reasons behind picking this seller.

[whitedot]

Yangtze River is sold out.

[Aramchek]

 

One of the reasons behind picking this seller.

 

Is there something particular about Rainbow or are they "merely" good?

Curiously, I have a pen with a nib and feed that looks just like the ones on this Rainbow: http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.3.w4002-2275472573.77.6Lk5FD&id=15317996368

I'm afraid I don't know the name of the brand of that pen - the first character is "book", but I don't recognise the other one. Unfortunately, I don't know how to type Chinese characters so I won't be able to input them, and my camera would not be able to capture it.

The other Rainbow pens I found where P51 clones, but I didn't look through all pages. I probably shouldn't ask if there are any nice ones since I still need to be able to eat before the end of the month :-)

[Seele]

Aramchek,

 

I only have four Rainbow pens, and apart from an all plastic one without identification, they all seem to be very well built; perhaps the nibs were not the smoothest but a bit of smoothing would bring out the butterflies from the chrysali. The one you showed us is Rainbow's interpretation of the Parker 75 concept - and a lot of Chinese makers had a go at it. I do not have an example so I cannot comment on it. But the ones that I have, I can say they're well above average. When Tianjin was ordered to have its own pen industry, a task force team was sent from Hero to establish the company there, and they did well building Rainbow pens. They expanded and moved into a new factory and when they closed down, the new factory site was turned into a housing development.

 

Here are some of the additional Rainbows this seller has.

 

Rainbow 202

 

Rainbow 800

 

Rainbow 207

 

Rainbow 201

[Aramchek]

Not easy to tell the difference between them...

I do have one Rainbow pen, an 811. It's been some time since I had it inked, but it is well made, and I seem to recall that it also wrote well.

[whitedot]

Future participants, I would be ever so grateful if:

1. you would hyperlink each ordered FP to the relevant Taobao page, as Seele and I have done in the above posts and/or
   
2. not amend your orders after the total has been calculated.

Some orders are rather lengthy. This would be most helpful. Many thanks!

[whitedot]

It is 12:30 PM on this rainy Friday afternoon. This Group Buy is officially closed. No new items or orders, please.

 

All quotes have been sent. The window for payment will close 24 hours from now.

 

Will all participants double-check that a mailing address has been provided?

 

Thank you!

Edited August 30, 2013 by whitedot

[whitedot]

Update

 

I am waiting on a few mailing addresses, and top-ups.

 

For those who like to watch their fountain pens trek south from Shandong, the courier is 圆通速递 and the tracking number is 9005893808.