In Praise Of The Wing Sung 333

[bob_hayden]

I was surprised to find no review of these pens at FPN. First, a bit of background history on Wing Sung as best I have been able to reconstruct it -- mostly from bits and pieces from eBay listings.

 

Wing Sung was a major Chinese fountain pen manufacturer that went out of business in the 1990s. Their factory was torn down and replaced with housing. The brand name (and possibly other assets) passed to Hero. Much of the inventory went to the former workers, creating a reservoir of fountain pens in their closets and attics. Eventually someone figured out that those could be turned into hard cash by selling those pens on eBay. Some are still for sale but their numbers are declining. Of late, some new pens carrying the Wing Sung brand name have appeared -- presumably from Hero -- but they have no more in common with the old Wing Sungs than current Sheaffers have with the pens made in Iowa.

 

The Wing Sung 333 was a school or children's pen that was sold on eBay -- often in lots of 10, which cost $16-18 US, making it the Jinhao 599 of its day, You can see a picture of one lot of ten here if you scroll down.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/210683-your-best-cheap-pen/page-21

 

The photo does not fully do justice to just how cheap and chintzy these pens looked. The body and cap seemed to be cut from cheap plastic tubing. I don't know how the colorful patterns were attached but there is a clear seam as though the pattern were cut from wallpaper and rolled up and glued on. Curiously, the clips look like plastic, too, but I think they are actually very thin steel. In any event, none of my 11 333s has a broken clip. (I also have not experienced a problem with the clip coming loose as reported in the link above.) Nor have I had the paint come off the clip or the pattern come off the body or cap.

 

But the real reason for my praise is that the nibs seem to be the same as those on fancier Wing Sungs. I call it their "claw" nib because it curves downward toward the tip. It is generally very plain; on the four I just looked at I found no markings, a logo or Chinese character, and the word Lucky. This make me wonder if the 333s were made with leftover nibs intended for fancier pens. I won't call them rejects, though, because all eleven wrote great right out of the box and have continued to do so ever since. One thing I like about them is that they each look different which, in addition to their always behaving, makes them great pens for testing inks. You are never in doubt when looking for the "333 with barber-pole stripes" you described in your notes.

 

In fairness, I should say that these nibs, in the 333 and other Wing Sungs, is very toothy. By that I mean there is a lot of feedback and steady friction. I would distinguish that from scratchiness, which I take to mean erratic friction that throws your writing off course. If you favor that silky smooth feeling of bald tires on ice, you will not like this nib. I would compare those to 1950s American cars with power steering; the Wing Sungs to a sports car with manual rack and pinion steering. And I should say that the 333 nib comes in any width you want as long as it is between fine and extra fine.

 

I have always been curious about the "PLANER' imprint on many of the 333 clips. Google it and see if you can come up with a plausible connection. I wondered if it was a misspelling of "planar" or "planner". It is odd to see any word in Western characters here.

 

It tickles my fancy that these ridiculously cheap and cheap-looking pens write better and more consistently than many more expensive pens -- and I am not limiting that comparison to other Chinese pens!-) Alas, it's been a long time since I have seen these on eBay, and as a model discontinued more than twenty years ago, we may never see them again. OTOH, when eldest son clears out the estate of his factory worker father, he may find a stash of 200 under the bed ;-)

[chromantic]

Cheap and cheerful, sign me up! But you're right, none up on ebay atm;

I did, however, snag a Triumph-style nib 233 that turned up in my search, for all of $2.66. Thanks!

[bob_hayden]

Yes, those have been on eBay forever. I don't recall if I ever owned one. I did have some with the Triumph-style nib but I did not care for that. Like the original, it is very stiff. Others do like that nib, though, and I will be interested to hear what you think when your pen arrives.

[Sailor Kenshin]

I was surprised to find no review of these pens at FPN. First, a bit of background history on Wing Sung as best I have been able to reconstruct it -- mostly from bits and pieces from eBay listings.

 

Wing Sung was a major Chinese fountain pen manufacturer that went out of business in the 1990s. Their factory was torn down and replaced with housing. The brand name (and possibly other assets) passed to Hero. Much of the inventory went to the former workers, creating a reservoir of fountain pens in their closets and attics. Eventually someone figured out that those could be turned into hard cash by selling those pens on eBay. Some are still for sale but their numbers are declining. Of late, some new pens carrying the Wing Sung brand name have appeared -- presumably from Hero -- but they have no more in common with the old Wing Sungs than current Sheaffers have with the pens made in Iowa.

 

The Wing Sung 333 was a school or children's pen that was sold on eBay -- often in lots of 10, which cost $16-18 US, making it the Jinhao 599 of its day, You can see a picture of one lot of ten here if you scroll down.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/210683-your-best-cheap-pen/page-21

 

The photo does not fully do justice to just how cheap and chintzy these pens looked. The body and cap seemed to be cut from cheap plastic tubing. I don't know how the colorful patterns were attached but there is a clear seam as though the pattern were cut from wallpaper and rolled up and glued on. Curiously, the clips look like plastic, too, but I think they are actually very thin steel. In any event, none of my 11 333s has a broken clip. (I also have not experienced a problem with the clip coming loose as reported in the link above.) Nor have I had the paint come off the clip or the pattern come off the body or cap.

 

But the real reason for my praise is that the nibs seem to be the same as those on fancier Wing Sungs. I call it their "claw" nib because it curves downward toward the tip. It is generally very plain; on the four I just looked at I found no markings, a logo or Chinese character, and the word Lucky. This make me wonder if the 333s were made with leftover nibs intended for fancier pens. I won't call them rejects, though, because all eleven wrote great right out of the box and have continued to do so ever since. One thing I like about them is that they each look different which, in addition to their always behaving, makes them great pens for testing inks. You are never in doubt when looking for the "333 with barber-pole stripes" you described in your notes.

 

In fairness, I should say that these nibs, in the 333 and other Wing Sungs, is very toothy. By that I mean there is a lot of feedback and steady friction. I would distinguish that from scratchiness, which I take to mean erratic friction that throws your writing off course. If you favor that silky smooth feeling of bald tires on ice, you will not like this nib. I would compare those to 1950s American cars with power steering; the Wing Sungs to a sports car with manual rack and pinion steering. And I should say that the 333 nib comes in any width you want as long as it is between fine and extra fine.

 

I have always been curious about the "PLANER' imprint on many of the 333 clips. Google it and see if you can come up with a plausible connection. I wondered if it was a misspelling of "planar" or "planner". It is odd to see any word in Western characters here.

 

It tickles my fancy that these ridiculously cheap and cheap-looking pens write better and more consistently than many more expensive pens -- and I am not limiting that comparison to other Chinese pens!-) Alas, it's been a long time since I have seen these on eBay, and as a model discontinued more than twenty years ago, we may never see them again. OTOH, when eldest son clears out the estate of his factory worker father, he may find a stash of 200 under the bed ;-)

 

I saw those from that original post and HAD to have them! They're lots of fun, and I PIFd a bunch, but kept a few. I also have a couple of the conical-nib WS pens. The feeds tend to wander.

[chromantic]

^^ bob - Just received shipping confirmation today, will post again when I get it.

[richofthetower]

Hi Bob,

Just realized: "planer" may be an attempt to ride the coattails of Parker's "flighter" brand.

 

Get it? Plane? Flight?

Rich

[pajaro]

But will the pen dry out on me during the day between uses?

[chromantic]

^^ bob_hayden My 233 arrived. It's adequate. Looks ok and writes well enough if, as you said, stiff. Was hard to get the squeeze filler to fill the sac completely and the little ink window seems rather useless. The clutch on the cap has a distinct 'gap' where it seats all the way down to the section but you can pull it up a bit, exposing part of the ink window, then it takes a firm pull to take it totally off.

 

Nib seems about a medium and is on the wet side. I put Kin-mosukei in it and, compared to my OHTO Rook compact also using that ink, the line is both thicker and darker.

[bob_hayden]

I think the Wing Sung factory shut down more than 20 years ago so many of the Wing Sungs for sale do not take cartridges. Does that apply to your pen? I get the impression that cartridges were too expensive a way to buy ink for the local market back then, and may still be today. When I have had such Wing Sungs they were not able to slurp up much ink.

 

My other favorite Wing Sung is the 500 which appears to have the same innards as the 333 but in a classier painted metal body.

[chromantic]

^^ bob - Yes, the Wing Sung has the old ink sac/squeeze bar fill method. The new Rook uses short standard carts that I syringe filled with the Kin-mosukei. To get the sac full on the WS, I ended up taking the off aluminum sheath and squeezing the air out of the sac by hand and dipping the nib while squeezed thusly; had to be careful as there's a long, very thin something-or-other that extends into the sac from the feed and I didn't want to break it.

[bob_hayden]

Good tip! Being retired I am usually home so I just live with the small capacity of the older Wing Sungs, though the 333 takes short international cartridges and the 500 takes Parker or Lamy cartridges, and corresponding converters..

[chemoelectric]

Yup, I got Wing Sung 500s (and Hero 50s) for the Parker converters in them.

 

That said, if you look at those "claw" nibs with a loupe you may find that the tines are misaligned. At least that is my experience. They can be rather smooth if the tines are aligned.

[chemoelectric]

^^ bob - Yes, the Wing Sung has the old ink sac/squeeze bar fill method. The new Rook uses short standard carts that I syringe filled with the Kin-mosukei. To get the sac full on the WS, I ended up taking the off aluminum sheath and squeezing the air out of the sac by hand and dipping the nib while squeezed thusly; had to be careful as there's a long, very thin something-or-other that extends into the sac from the feed and I didn't want to break it.

That is the breather tube.

[bob_hayden]

Yup, I got Wing Sung 500s (and Hero 50s) for the Parker converters in them.

 

That said, if you look at those "claw" nibs with a loupe you may find that the tines are misaligned. At least that is my experience. They can be rather smooth if the tines are aligned.

 

I have not had that problem with maybe 20 pens if you count the 333s. Usually if the tines are misaligned I experience resistance that depends on the direction of motion with vertical strokes much smoother than horizontal. Or there may just be resistance to sideways motion so I end up with something akin to Arial Narrow;-)

[bob_hayden]

Just saw this today for those who would like to pay one hundred times as much for a flowery pen.

 

https://franklinplanner.fcorgp.com/store/category/prod2750003/US-GG-Nature/Botanica-Pens-by-Cross?skuId=65584&affiliate=1057&sourceid=19480&sc=0908CSE_FreeShip&newpc=18574&CA_6C15C=330001490000022225

[bob_hayden]

If you have been longing for one of these now rare pens be advised that you can now find Wing Sung 44s on eBay for under $2 US. (That's the starting price and that's what I paid.) It's the same pen but with solid color barrel and cap instead of the wild prints. Your call whether that is better or worse. Search eBay for "Wing Sung 44".

[Bo Bo Olson]

that silky smooth feeling of bald tires on ice,

 

Like that line.