New Armando Simoni Club Brown Arco (Banded Armadillo Version)

[hawpunch]

How's communication and support from ASC? I have two Hakases and have had so many of my questions answered (patiently) by Mr. Yamamoto despite the language barrier. I am a little perturbed that some buyers are reporting that its hard to get a hold of the company both before and after purchasing their pen. Are people happy with this pen?

[hawpunch]

 

will continue to manufacture until the end of existence of this celluloid, I bought through retailer not directly to them. If the ASC website indicates that you can buy, go ahead, they are also on Ebay, from there you can also buy it.

This time I will not go through this Arco Verde.

Thank you for the response! Do you know if the retailer you purchased from has any more? Who was the retailer? Thank you.

[luxseeker]

How's communication and support from ASC? I have two Hakases and have had so many of my questions answered (patiently) by Mr. Yamamoto despite the language barrier. I am a little perturbed that some buyers are reporting that its hard to get a hold of the company both before and after purchasing their pen. Are people happy with this pen?

 

Worst in class by a very large margin. Their goal seems to be ignoring people and bad service.

 

The entire operation, outside of manufacturing, appears to be a man and his wife operating out of an apartment in Florida.

Edited August 17, 2018 by luxseeker

[fountainpen51]

Thank you for the response! Do you know if the retailer you purchased from has any more? Who was the retailer? Thank you.

In Europe you can buy through Akkerman for a slightly higher price. In the USA Bitner also has them, maybe they can take photos to choose the model that you like the most in terms of their drawing.

If you can not comrpar through the web of ASC, they are in Ebay with the name of stylomaniak, but right now I do not see that they have. There are also others on Ebay that have them, with paypal you always have a guarantee, now you have to decide....

 

Ebay: 91l021 , This is another seller who seems to have a very good reputation.

https://www.vulpennen.nl/nl/merken/asc/p-1/

Edited August 17, 2018 by fountainpen51

[hawpunch]

 

Worst in class by a very large margin. Their goal seems to be ignoring people and bad service.

 

The entire operation, outside of manufacturing, appears to be a man and his wife operating out of an apartment in Florida.

Sadly this must be true. I haven't had a response to my emails. Bittner Pens just responded to let me know that they are sold out of the pens, but I wasn't sure if that also meant that the pens are no longer being manufactured. Emailed them to get clarification and waiting to hear back from them. In the meantime, I'm debating whether to make the purchase directly from ASC since it is listed as available for purchase on their site.

[hawpunch]

 

In Europe you can buy through Akkerman for a slightly higher price. In the USA Bitner also has them, maybe they can take photos to choose the model that you like the most in terms of their drawing.

If you can not comrpar through the web of ASC, they are in Ebay with the name of stylomaniak, but right now I do not see that they have. There are also others on Ebay that have them, with paypal you always have a guarantee, now you have to decide....

 

Ebay: 91l021 , This is another seller who seems to have a very good reputation.

https://www.vulpennen.nl/nl/merken/asc/p-1/

 

Thank you for your help!

[Blorgy]

I bought a new one and I tried to fill it with water. When I pressed the plunger, air bubbles emerged from the junction of the section and the barrel. The pens filler failed to fill the pens sac.

Edited August 18, 2018 by Blorgy

[Jason Oliver]

 

Worst in class by a very large margin. Their goal seems to be ignoring people and bad service.

 

The entire operation, outside of manufacturing, appears to be a man and his wife operating out of an apartment in Florida.

 

...and you say that like it's a bad thing ;-)

[hawpunch]

I bought a new one and I tried to fill it with water. When I pressed the plunger, air bubbles emerged from the junction of the section and the barrel. The pens filler failed to fill the pens sac.

This is not promising . When and where did you buy it from?

[Blorgy]

I would rather not name the dealer. I understand that the dealer has none for sale now. I described the problem because I wondered if anyone else had a similar problem.

Edited August 18, 2018 by Blorgy

[hawpunch]

I would rather not name the dealer. I understand that the dealer has none for sale now. I described the problem because I wondered if anyone else had a similar problem.

Fair enough. Did you buy it recently? I havent heard of this problem in any of the reviews Ive read and watched.

[Seney724]

There are those who would like the pen community to believe there are very few true Omas Arco (Bronze & Verde) left to be had. Many of these folks have either a huge conflict of interest and/or an ulterior motive.

 

The fact is there are plenty of these Omas produced Arco treasures which remain. More than enough to go around for anyone who would like to acquire a "real" Omas Arco celluloid pen. And, at a reasonable price...... if one takes their time to find the right seller.

 

It seems to me given all the similar feedback about ASC's poor (if any) post sales customer service, ASC's poor quality control and ASC's exorbitant prices, the smart move for most who want an Arco celluloid pen in their collection would be to stick with the original Omas.

 

IMO, ASC is headed down the wrong road. But, all in all, that's not such a bad thing. For now, there are lots of Omas produced Arcos to be had and, by the time they truly become scarce, either ASC will have seen the light and become more customer focused and concerned about their quality control..... or they will have tanked. If they tank, the remaining Arco rods then then might fall into the hands of a company which will do a better job of honoring their beauty and the special place they have in the hearts of those who love this fine vintage Italian celluloid.

[luxseeker]

I described the problem because I wondered if anyone else had a similar problem.

 

On the Filling Issue

 

All of my pens fill, but there is variation in how they feel when being filled. These pens have come from various sources. Some seem very precise, powerfully pushing air into the inkwell, while there are others that feel looser and produce less of an effect. I've never tested to see if they each fill the same volume of ink. I will try to take the best and worst of them and compare sometime soon.

 

I think they are all working fine and have generally regarded this as an acceptable novelty of any handmade item. There is a video on YouTube showing how to fill the pen - have you watched that?

[luxseeker]

All of these stories and my own experiences remind me of a time when I read about a guy on the Rolex forums who spent months trying to fix his Visonti Pininfarina. That story just made me tired. It was like he lived Lord of the Rings just to get that thing working right.

 

On the Service Experience

 

I would have expected better service from a small company, which is one of the reasons I mentioned their operations above. My mention of their size was not to fault them for being small (we've seen legendary service from small operations many times), but instead to highlight the point that there is little room for interpretation of their sentiment to 'not care.'

 

Because they are small and doing low volumes, we can be certain our e-mails and concerns are being delivered to the person(s) in charge. And we can also conclude that the person(s) in charge is personally shipping out the pens we receive. If the CEO (founder/husband) and VP of Marketing (wife) are handling everything out of one location, there is no excuse for bad service on such a grand scale. To not respond or take care in providing initial or even follow-on support can only lead me to believe they are incompetent, don't care or maybe both.

 

I'd have to write too much to truly convey how abysmal the experience has been every single time. Maybe there is something else going on, but openness would be the right approach if that's true.

 

This is a hobby and should be fun for everybody. I finally joined this forum to participate because pen people are pretty happy people who just love the ink, paper, materials, history, etc. I sincerely like that and want to continue to enjoy this experience. If a hobby becomes a struggle, then why bother?

 

On Buying Options

This journey has enlightened the path Seney724 has suggested above - originals are just a little bit more money and the level of support is the same for both brands even though one is out of business. But they are different pens, and this can not be overlooked if you like the qualities of the new interpretation. I like both.

 

I truly do hope ASC resolves these issues and brings us nice surprises. I see there is some movement on the Omas brand name potentially being brought back, and this makes me wonder what implications are coming for ASC as an entity.

[Mulrich]

There are lots of terrific pens out there, especially at the ASC brown arco price point. Don't waste your time on a pen that doesn't make you happy. And FWIW, I have one of these and don't have any problems with it aside from not liking the filling system (the novelty isn't worth the laborious and slow cleaning).

[Blorgy]

On the Filling Issue

 

All of my pens fill, but there is variation in how they feel when being filled. These pens have come from various sources. Some seem very precise, powerfully pushing air into the inkwell, while there are others that feel looser and produce less of an effect. I've never tested to see if they each fill the same volume of ink. I will try to take the best and worst of them and compare sometime soon.

 

I think they are all working fine and have generally regarded this as an acceptable novelty of any handmade item. There is a video on YouTube showing how to fill the pen - have you watched that?

I am glad that the filler has been generally successful. I bought my pen in May 2018. I watched the ASC pen filling video before I tried to fill my pen with water. I understand the similarities between the pen’s filler, and the filler in a 1930s Chilton.

[jmccarty3]

My ASC bronze Arco fills just fine, and I have had no problems with it. It's a beautiful pen, and has no defects. The nib is too wet for me, though, and I have been told by several nibmeisters at the DC show that there is no way to regulate it, so I'm considering selling it. If I decide to, I'll list it in the appropriate forum.

[freakman]

My ASC bronze Arco fills just fine, and I have had no problems with it. It's a beautiful pen, and has no defects. The nib is too wet for me, though, and I have been told by several nibmeisters at the DC show that there is no way to regulate it, so I'm considering selling it. If I decide to, I'll list it in the appropriate forum.

I have the same problem + another one. The pen is too wet and the ink flow stops sometimes. I couldn't see any problem with fitting of the nib. Maybe the feed has some problems.

[luxseeker]

Mine are all very wet also. Which has been fine for my taste.

 

My only writing complaint is a lot of skips due to a very small sweet spot on the pens. I had seen this in the video reviews though, so I think it's normal. In practice a bit annoying, but enforces some writing discipline.

[luxseeker]

What inks have you all tried? I've used Montblanc inks exclusively in these pens.