8 replies to this topic

[JustWrite Pen Company]

We've just put together a range of 'Student Pens' costing between $2.75 and $4.95. This has been one of my pet projects for some time now and one of my original criteria was that the pen must take a converter AND Standard Cartridges. They all do except the Hero 266 but it's pretty easy to fill - and the Hero 358 ($4.80 with 4 cartridges) which will only take cartridges because there isn't enough headroom for a converter. Despite this inexplicable design choice, this pen and the Sellners ($2.75) are my picks. Both write amazingly well for such inexpensive pens, particularly the Hero.

 

[Newjelan]

Thanks Kevin, you've reminded me to have another look at your site when I return from holidays. Cheers

[Jamerelbe]

Kevin from JustWrite sent me a few of these pens as samples, some weeks ago now, to get my opinion on them before committing (I have three school-aged children, two of whom love playing with fountain pens) - and more recently I've been onto his website to purchase and try out the ultra-slimline Hero pen (haven't inked it up yet).

 

I'm hoping to put up some reviews over in the pen section - as a 'thank you' to Kevin, and for the benefit of anyone wanting to get a 'feel' for these pens before they buy.  For now, I just wanted to say, the Sellner pens especially are AMAZING value for money - especially for a German(?) made pen. They'll take long and short international cartridges, and write wonderfully smoothly.  The feed is a 'wick' feed (as is the Pilot VPen, I've discovered!), but that seems to work well. UNBELIEVABLE value for AU$2.75 (plus postage).  The Hero pens are made of a less durable plastic, and are designed to take proprietary (short Parker-ending) cartridges - but they come with 4 blue-black cartridges, which is a big plus, and again, are a very smooth writer.  Oh, and with a little bit of "encouragement" they'll take a standard international short cartridge happily enough, for those who are not fond of blue-black ink in a delicately-shaded pink or yellow pen...

[Tenkai]

Hope this is not necro, but does the feed accept varsity nibs?

Might be a nice solution to solve the hacking varsity, as now you get a varsity which is a C/C pen.

[Jamerelbe]

Hope this is not necro, but does the feed accept varsity nibs?

Might be a nice solution to solve the hacking varsity, as now you get a varsity which is a C/C pen.

 

If your question relates to the Sellner pen, the answer is a definite 'no' - though they look similar from on top, the shapes of the feeds are not compatible.  MAYBE you could pull out the whole feed on both pens and do a swap - the fin sections beneath the feeds are a comparable size, and it's just possible that would work.  That said, I don't know that you'd WANT to transplant nibs - in my experience they're fairly comparable in terms of smoothness, although the Pilot probably writes a marginally broader line.  

[Tenkai]

 

If your question relates to the Sellner pen, the answer is a definite 'no' - though they look similar from on top, the shapes of the feeds are not compatible.  MAYBE you could pull out the whole feed on both pens and do a swap - the fin sections beneath the feeds are a comparable size, and it's just possible that would work.  That said, I don't know that you'd WANT to transplant nibs - in my experience they're fairly comparable in terms of smoothness, although the Pilot probably writes a marginally broader line.  

 

Ah, I was just trying to get a varsity with cartridges ^^" Maybe take the feed and stick it in a Preppy body. Guess I'll stick with the varsity in preppy. It's a frankenpen thing ^^"

[aawhite]

.  .  .  

 

For now, I just wanted to say, the Sellner pens especially are AMAZING value for money - especially for a German(?) made pen.

 

.  .  .

 

Isn't Sellner an Austrian company? I believe Marchtrenk is a town in Austria.

 

It is possible that the plastics are made in Germany or Austria, but the nib section seems to be a run-of-the-mill steel nib from China, and very similar to the Smiggles fountain pens mentioned on another thread.

Edited by aawhite, 27 June 2014 - 22:54.

[Jamerelbe]

 

Isn't Sellner an Austrian company? I believe Marchtrenk is a town in Austria.

 

It is possible that the plastics are made in Germany or Austria, but the nib section seems to be a run-of-the-mill steel nib from China, and very similar to the Smiggles fountain pens mentioned on another thread.

 

Oops - yeah, you're right, Sellner is an Austrian company - the JustWrite website has this wrong, and I was getting my info from their website.  

 

Yes, the nib section looks a little bit like the flat nibs you find on the Hero 358 'Schedule Note', the Pilot Metropolitan... and for all I know the Smiggles nib as well - but I don't know whether that comes down to common design or common origin.  It also has in common with those other pens a wick feeding system, which seems to help prevent dry-out but can make it messy to try and change ink colours between cartridges.  Still, it's a very nice writer, and the kind of pen you won't cry over (too much) if it gets lost, stolen or broken.  The smiley-faces probably mean it's not an ideal office pen, though - sadly...

[basterma]

Most of these pens have the same general layout as pens branded as Reynolds (India) and Flair. The Flair pen I have is a great writer, but the proprietary catridges they come with are hard to find. The Faber Castell is likely made for them by the Chinese Beifa company.