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Twsbi Mini In Lilliput

duboing

By duboing
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duboing Near Mint

duboing

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This is my first TWSBI, but I expect the inter-brand comparisons will flood in from the real experts. Instead, here’s how this pen fits into my collection of minis.

 

From top to bottom, in order of acquisition...

 

Merlina, M (semi-flex)

Montblanc Mozart, M

Sailor Sapporo, F

Sailor Sapporo, M

TWSBI Mini (clear), EF

 

http://i1185.photobucket.com/albums/z356/bongina/100_1568.jpg

 

And posted:

 

http://i1185.photobucket.com/albums/z356/bongina/100_1571.jpg

 

 

The Sapporos are my daily writers, and I wanted something that would fall between the two in nib width. After some good advice from FPN members (thank you AltecGreen, autopsy and Angry__Panda), I opted for the EF TWSBI. This turns out to be a shade broader than the Sailor fine. Bingo.

 

http://i1185.photobucket.com/albums/z356/bongina/100_1575.jpg

 

The nib is nice and smooth. Flow (with Herbin Lierre Sauvage) is nice - consistent enough to not stutter, but controlled enough to not feather on standard printer paper. Crisp, flowing lines on my preferred papers (Black ‘n’ Red and Clairfontaine), but slight (tolerable) feathering on Moleskine.

 

In looks, this is a wee bit stumpier than the Sapporos... it’s not what I would call an elegant pen, but it does look sharp, and sort of sci-fi with all that clear plastic, darkly shiny rhodium trim, and futuristic cap jewel. The real bonus with this pen is that way it feels in the hand. I didn’t expect to like the facets, but they’re soft-edged and lovely. The weight is surprisingly substantial, and it all adds up to make the pen feel more expensive than it is.

 

http://i1185.photobucket.com/albums/z356/bongina/100_1567.jpg

 

 

The screw-action of capping and posting the pen is slightly damped by the rubber seals, and it feels great. If (unlike me) you have doubts about mini pens, screw-posting is your friend. It feels so much more robust than push-posted pens... like a serious pen. The fairly wide barrel offers a pretty decent ink capacity... with the EF nib, one fill is going to see me through quite a lot of writing.

 

I don’t really do marks out of ten, but I can see this becoming a real workhorse for me. I’m already thinking about who might need one for Christmas. And at the price, I might even get a second one to leave in work.

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amberleadavis Pen Dust

amberleadavis

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Very nice comparison. Thank you. Those Sapporos are really big. yikes.gif Though I think the Merlina is dang beautiful.

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

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duboing Near Mint

duboing

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Very nice comparison. Thank you. Those Sapporos are really big. yikes.gif Though I think the Merlina is dang beautiful.

 

Ha-ha! Thank you. It's probably not often that the Sapporo is the big fella in a collection!

 

You're right about the Merlina - it is a particularly beautiful pen. It was also a gift from my Grandma, so it's even more precious to me.

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trhall Rare

trhall

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Great comparison photos. The Sapporo Mini is a bit shorter than the TWSBI Mini. I don't have my standard sized Sapporo to compare with, so this was very nice to see. The Sapporo Mini is shorter than the TWSBI Mini by the length of the piston nob on the TWSBI.

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amberleadavis Pen Dust

amberleadavis

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Ah.... Thank you for the clarification.

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

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peelsreveni New

peelsreveni

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thanks for this! a sapporo fine is also my daily carry and I've been debating getting the twsbi mini, I think this just helped me make up my mind :)

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chiaroscuro Extremely Rare

chiaroscuro

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I got mine. It functions perfectly although the feed is askew (or is it that the nib is askew on the feed?). Smooth enough and the line is a bit thicker than the typical EF, which is what I wanted. It's not at all my aesthetic, though. Maybe it'll grow on me, but I won't be leaving my home with this one for now. Still, it's a good deal.

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Joka New

Joka

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I ordered a mini today. The Diamond 540 that I purchaseed before is a bit too big indeed, for me at least. Nice review, thank you. I also have the Sapporo and others from Sailor. I am waiting to receive from Japan a Pilot Heritage that "plays" in the same category with a FM nib. I have problems in adapting to the Sailor with the Toggi MF nib. And...did you try the $26.00 (eBay) Crocodile from China, a perfect and very good imitation of the Montblanc Boheme? I have both the Boheme and the Crocodile and I think the Crocodile is a great pen, I like it. :-)

Edited by Joka
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