New Platinum Preppy Look, Oeste Red Ibis Prera, Sailor Friendship Pen

[Honeybadgers]

 

Fair enough. I should have stated that I'm comparing within the same sub-$10 or so price range. I should hope that a $20 Chinese pen, for example, would be better than a $4 one.

 

I'm not ruling out buying a Wing Sung 698 ($23 on Amazon via a quick search) just because I've had bad experiences with the Jinhaos I've owned, both of which were under $10.

 

Also, I didn't realize you were apparently comparing the Preppy with the Moonman M2 (also about $20 or so) as an eyedropper pen. Frankly, I'm not sure as that's a fair comparison either as the Moonman is more expensive than the Preppy, despite being a Chinese pen.

 

 

The 698 is $13 on ebay with free shipping.

 

If you want a good sub-$2 chinese pen to compete with the preppy, the wing sung 6359 is 95% as good as a lamy al-star.

 

if you really want to stick japanese, I also quite like the pilot penmanship.

Edited April 23, 2018 by Honeybadgers

[Dragonmaster Lou]

The 698 is $13 on ebay with free shipping.

 

If you want a good sub-$2 chinese pen to compete with the preppy, the wing sung 6359 is 95% as good as a lamy al-star.

 

if you really want to stick japanese, I also quite like the pilot penmanship.

 

Well, I didn't search ebay -- just what came up with a quick Google search. I know I could probably find it cheaper on ebay if I took the time.

 

That 6359 is interesting looking... It may be worth checking out at some point... To be fair, most of the other Chinese brands I've heard of, including Wing Sung, Duke, etc., generally seemed to only have pens in the $20+ range or so. Jinhao seemed to be the only sub-$10 ones I've seen and I've had rotten luck with them.

[tvradio]

 

Acrylic vs ABS.

Any idea what the Kakuno is made of? The $12.50 clear Kakuno might be a decent alternative if the clear Preppy does not appear....

[sdbruder]

And I just bought a Preppy Set to my daughter (which she is loving and its making a scene in her school, all other kids are “look! Its Japanese! and its a fountain pen!”)

 

And BTW, they are the smoothest extra fine nibs I ever written with. Almost got one or two of her set to me.

 

So I hope these new clear Preppies appear somewhere quick

[tvradio]

I just picked up my 4th Preppy/Plaisir at the Long Island Pen Show last week. I throw the cart in a desk drawer and use a converter with it. Great pen for everyday writing as well as for using with problematic inks. It's certainly not a gold nib experience and has virtually no line variation, but starting at less than $5 it's kind of a no-brainer, even if there's a small potential for cracking if you overtighten the section. Dry starts almost never a problem.

 

I recently bought a Pilot Petit1 but haven't inked it up yet. I love the nib on my Metropolitan, so it will be interesting to see how that cheap pen compares to the Preppy.

[MuddyWaters]

The preppy is really cool. I like that it's light and holds a lot of ink, but it requires too much pressure to write imo.

[MercianScribe]

I don't know what you people do with your pens, but I never figured I was particularly careful with mine and I've been using x750s fairly regularly with no QC problems, and a Preppy for EDC for about a year with no cracking apparent, not to mention pretty much all the colours of them available for my 10 and 5 year-old kids to chuck around.

 

Maybe I'm just charmed...!

As you were!

[MercianScribe]

 

 

The 698 is $13 on ebay with free shipping.

 

If you want a good sub-$2 chinese pen to compete with the preppy, the wing sung 6359 is 95% as good as a lamy al-star.

 

if you really want to stick japanese, I also quite like the pilot penmanship.

 

Ironically, apart from one very small, very thin BCHR I was repairing, and that demo Jinhao that always breaks at the end of its barrel (952? Ends in 2, anyway...?!) the Penmanship is the only pen I've ever had break on me, and in fairly normal use. Like them, mind.

 

BTW, the Crystal doesn't appear to be in the shops yet (I've been in and out of stationers this week and looking at Preppies too), but is on Japanese Amazon and Rakuten for ¥400 (¥432 with tax) and a bit less on Yahoo.

[Dragonmaster Lou]

I don't know what you people do with your pens, but I never figured I was particularly careful with mine and I've been using x750s fairly regularly with no QC problems, and a Preppy for EDC for about a year with no cracking apparent, not to mention pretty much all the colours of them available for my 10 and 5 year-old kids to chuck around.

 

Maybe I'm just charmed...!

As you were!

 

Maybe you are charmed.

 

As for what happened with my x750, the cap band somehow got unglued, which is unfortunate as that's also what holds the cap onto the barrel when the pen is capped.

 

My 159, well, I was inserting a converter into it and somehow the entire section fell apart...

[bluebellrose]

I don't know what you people do with your pens, but I never figured I was particularly careful with mine and I've been using x750s fairly regularly with no QC problems, and a Preppy for EDC for about a year with no cracking apparent, not to mention pretty much all the colours of them available for my 10 and 5 year-old kids to chuck around.

 

Maybe I'm just charmed...!

As you were!

that was with the old pens with cheaper plastic. They've revamped them to use polycarbonate, so you probably have the newer sturdier pens. Thank Jinhao and Hero for prompting this change. Platinum had to up their game to compete

[Honeybadgers]

 

Well, I didn't search ebay -- just what came up with a quick Google search. I know I could probably find it cheaper on ebay if I took the time.

 

That 6359 is interesting looking... It may be worth checking out at some point... To be fair, most of the other Chinese brands I've heard of, including Wing Sung, Duke, etc., generally seemed to only have pens in the $20+ range or so. Jinhao seemed to be the only sub-$10 ones I've seen and I've had rotten luck with them.

 

Jinhao really is on the near-bottom rung of quality right now. Wing Sung was revived as a more "premium" brand, Moonman is also a more premium brand (since the "Lecai" name got tied up in a counterfieter) Duke is hit or miss, their designs are generally pretty weird. Hero has both garbage and very good stuff.

 

If you want to give chinese pens a try, pick up a wing sung 601. It's a F-EF parker 51 vacumatic in essentially every way, I have two, and recommend the sac filler a little more than the piston (the piston filler can just be a little stiffer, though it does work just fine, the sac filler is glassy smooth) and if hooded nibs aren't your thing, the wing sung 698 is a great piston filler that takes pilot's steel nibs (including the plumix/78G stub) and if you dig eyedroppers, the moonman M2 EF is a stunning, stunning writer. And if you like pretty acrylics, PenBBS is in the $15-23 range but their pens easily punch at the $40-60 level with spectacular build quality, materials, and a really cool #6 nib.

Edited May 4, 2018 by Honeybadgers

[Honeybadgers]

 

Maybe you are charmed.

 

As for what happened with my x750, the cap band somehow got unglued, which is unfortunate as that's also what holds the cap onto the barrel when the pen is capped.

 

My 159, well, I was inserting a converter into it and somehow the entire section fell apart...

 

The 159 has a common issue with this. a drop of super glue on the section piece and slide it back in and the problem is solved permanently. I don't love the 159, I honestly would like to see a version made by one of the better chinese manufacturers out of acrylics.

 

I'm extremely rough with my cheaper pens, as a paramedic, pens in my breast pocket get beat to hell. You should see my Delike Alpha, it's getting... patina... But it still writes perfectly and the cap threads are still buttery smooth (I don't recommend the aluminum alpha, but the brass one with the "bent" nib is an amazing pen, just needs the clip bent tighter before you can use the clip properly.

Edited May 4, 2018 by Honeybadgers

[MuddyWaters]

 

I don't love the 159, I honestly would like to see a version made by one of the better chinese manufacturers out of acrylics.

 

 

this, with a straight (not bent) nib would be amazing

[tvradio]

Any word on the crystal Preppy? I haven't seen any mention of it on ebay etc...

[cattar]

Preppies in 7 colors with barrel color matched to the feed and ink.

https://global.rakuten.com/en/store/penroom/item/39439/

[tvradio]

Neat. Looks like a hybrid with the 1st-gen Preppys, which had colored nibs.

 

Anyway, I looked on Rakuten and actually found the Crystal Preppy, for just under $4.

 

https://global.rakuten.com/en/store/bunkidou-shop/item/psqc-400-4-02/

 

Unfortunately, the standard Rakuten $18 USA shipping killed off my readiness to click the BUY button.

Edited May 10, 2018 by tvradio