Sailor Fude De Mannen?

[Maurizio]

I'd like to buy a Sailor Fude De Mannen pen. I already have the relatively inexpensive green pen with the fude nib and it's nice, but I'd like to have a higher end pen along the lines of my 1911 Realo which I like a lot.

 

Those with more knowledge of Sailor availability in Japan maybe can help me. Apparently Sailor has now made these pens, by design, into something exclusive with a commensurate crazy price. NYC's Fountain Pen Hospital sells them as part of their Sailor bespoke collection at a before-tax price of $660.00. I think that's ridiculous. I'm willing to pay what a Sailor 1911 costs, and a little more for the specialty nib but not twice the cost.

 

So, my question is, are these higher end Fude pens more readily available in Japan from stores or from a Japanese seller like the Tokyo Pen Shop Quill at reasonable cost?

 

I am assuming, just based on my look at the FPH website, that these bespoke pens are hyped up 1911's not KOP, unless I am wrong.

 

Thanks for any insight.

Edited April 29, 2020 by Maurizio

[zaddick]

They are 1911L pens and not KOP. The current production are the special edition pens and they are expensive. Perhaps retail is less in Japan but shipping may be an issue. They cost what they cost whether there is value for you or not.

 

You may find one used at a price you find reasonable. Or you can see of Nagahara-san will modify a pen for you. I am not sure if he does this work only for in-person modifications or takes online orders too.

[Maurizio]

They are 1911L pens and not KOP. The current production are the special edition pens and they are expensive. Perhaps retail is less in Japan but shipping may be an issue. They cost what they cost whether there is value for you or not.

 

You may find one used at a price you find reasonable. Or you can see of Nagahara-san will modify a pen for you. I am not sure if he does this work only for in-person modifications or takes online orders too.

Thanks for clearing that up Zaddick. I thought it was a 1911L, but wasn’t 100% certain. Yes, you may be right, if I really want one of these, I may just be stuck paying the exorbitant price. At $660. I’m not getting one anytime soon. I was hoping there might still be a “reasonable” solution and that these pens might be available in Japan at around the cost of a 1911L or a Realo with an extra cost for the specialty nib.

[zaddick]

Thanks for clearing that up Zaddick. I thought it was a 1911L, but wasn’t 100% certain. Yes, you may be right, if I really want one of these, I may just be stuck paying the exorbitant price. At $660. I’m not getting one anytime soon. I was hoping there might still be a “reasonable” solution and that these pens might be available in Japan at around the cost of a 1911L or a Realo with an extra cost for the specialty nib.

 

There may, indeed, be stock at a shop. I know of a person who found one for the retail price not terribly long ago. Unfortunately, I don't have any specific guidance on where to find them, especially in Japan.

 

Interest in these nibs has gone up. Maybe a year ago I saw one for sale on another site at a reasonable price in my opinion. I was quick to reach out, but after me people were offering to pay well above asking price. I was only willing to pay asking so i lost out on the pen even though i was first to say i would buy.

 

I hope you can find one at a good price.

[25_15_3]

Last time I checked, Sailor specialty nibs in Japan can only be purchased in person and cannot be purchased online.

[Maurizio]

Thanks Zaddick.

 

 

25 15 3:

This sounds just like the silly bespoke by-appointment-only nonsense they're doing at Fountain Pen Hospital.

Edited April 30, 2020 by Maurizio

[peroride]

>They cost what they cost whether there is value for you or not.

 

@zaddick is spot on

 

Last year, I went down that special nib rabbit hole and stateside only a few select vendors are in the Bespoke program:

https://www.sailorpen.com/where-to-buy/?wpv-country=usa

 

Two I directly confirmed:

• www.andersonpens.com - was in there early on
• www.dromgooles.com

 

It is not a pluck your money down, get what you want process.

 

Basically, visit in person and then they can mail. They may have to special order from Japan based on stock so that may add delivery time. Crazy as that sounds, I respect Sailor for that boutique market upscale move, trying as it may be. This is not a Wing Sung, PenBBS Fude, though probably better off with a bushel of those.

 

As for Japan, they were all over the place which was both refreshing and surprising: Morita, BunguBox, Itoya, etc at retail

 

I have seen some from Iguana Sell on Ebay (mainly NT) and like a bullet train at FPN classified.

 

Bear in mind, if it is just the nib grind, there are nib artisans who can do a Fude and Sailor does sell a Sailor Fude de Mannen Calligraphy Fountain Pen for under like 30USD

 

Good luck and have fun!

It is not a pluck your money down, get what you want process

[A Smug Dill]

I'd like to buy a Sailor Fude De Mannen pen.

_...‹snip›...

I'm willing to pay what a Sailor 1911 costs, and a little more for the specialty nib but not twice the cost.

 

So, my question is, are these higher end Fude pens more readily available in Japan from stores or from a Japanese seller like the Tokyo Pen Shop Quill at reasonable cost?

The RRP for Sailor's current "special nib" model — with essentially a Profit21 pen body — fitted with a Naginata Fude de Mannen nib is ¥55,000+tax, compared to ¥20,000+tax for a basic Profit21 (fitted with, say, with a 21K gold Extra Fine nib). If memory serves, Sailor's prices for pens fitted with the Naginata specialty nibs went up twofold in 2019, when eight out of the original 19(?) went back into production. So, paying "a little more" for the specialty nib simply wasn't on the cards three or five years ago; you'd have expected to pay about 40% more, and being rarer items you wouldn't expect to see the same level of discounting or as often as for more common pen models.

[mr_mbp]

There's one on auction in Japan right now: https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/auction/k462259341?conversionType=mypage_watch_list

[Maurizio]

The RRP for Sailor's current "special nib" model — with essentially a Profit21 pen body — fitted with a Naginata Fude de Mannen nib is ¥55,000+tax, compared to ¥20,000+tax for a basic Profit21 (fitted with, say, with a 21K gold Extra Fine nib). If memory serves, Sailor's prices for pens fitted with the Naginata specialty nibs went up twofold in 2019, when eight out of the original 19(?) went back into production. So, paying "a little more" for the specialty nib simply wasn't on the cards three or five years ago; you'd have expected to pay about 40% more, and being rarer items you wouldn't expect to see the same level of discounting or as often as for more common pen models.

 

I’m getting the idea that I was being unrealistic. I had been hoping that I could get such a pen, from a Japanese retailer in Japan, for a max amount of maybe $400. I was wrong as you and others have educated me. I already have the “green” Sailor fude pen, I’m also going to order the fude Profit pen which is around $19.00 and leave it at that. Next time I have $700.+ to spend on a fountain pen, which for me is a relatively rare event, I’m going to buy a Namiki Yukari; so I will have to scrub that desire for a gold-nibbed Sailor fude from my mind.

[A Smug Dill]

I had been hoping that I could get such a pen, from a Japanese retailer in Japan, for a max amount of maybe $400.

That would probably have still been doable five years ago. I managed to snag a brand new, plain black Sailor Profit21 with a Naginata Concord nib for just on US$200 back in March 2013, and that nib is in the same class of Naginata nibs (but 'inferior' to, say, those with Emperor, King or Cross variants), so I think US$400 would have been a generous budget for a new Profit21 fitted with a Naginata Fude de Mannen nib way back when.

 

I already have the “green” Sailor fude pen, I’m also going to order the fude Profit pen which is around $19.00 and leave it at that.

I bought the Sailor 10-0212-740, 11-0127-740 and 11-0127-767 Fude de Mannen pens, and I must say they make up the majority of the nastiest Sailor fountain pens I've used. (The other one that makes the grade, so to speak, is the 11-0073-120 desk pen.) Even the Chinese-made Duke and Hero fude nib pens are better.

 

I'm not sure whether the Naginata Fude de Mannen nib is closer to the 40° version (as on the 11-0127-740) or the 55° version (as on the 10-0212-740 and 11-0127-767). I personally found the 40° version slightly more usable, and from what some folks on here tell me, I hold my fountain pens at a steeper angle than they do normally when I write in English. (The angle is even steeper and closer to the vertical when I write in Chinese.)

[cgreenberg19]

I don't know if you can get a better price on a Sailor Fude Nib. You could buy a standard 1911 and bring it to a nibmeister who could match the angle of a Sailor Fude nib for much less than getting one Strat from sailor.

[tosakarinn]

If you just want a gold nib that is a fude, check this out! I heard he can take commissions (disclaimer, I am him)

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_NA0P9DXas/?igshid=1iifhgg9hlhhw

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9wXuAfDVj4/?igshid=1bkf8aruqusuk

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzm87_ODuwm/?igshid=ifpa9e2p1c3q

 

https://imgur.com/fpngallery/2dgJsH9

[tosakarinn]

Otherwise, i hear that he has a sailor factory Nagahara Sr concord nib for sale too.. but a bit above your price range.