Search the Community

So after I got the Admok 28 in classic black with steel trim, Admok introduced the 28 in various acrylic colorways, some familiar from the j400/800 series, as well as some new colorways. The photos appear to show the new pens as shorter than the original in black—and they are, almost 5mm! The caps are the same size, the blind caps are interchangeable, the barrels are the same size as well. Who amongst you are savvy enough to account for those missing 5 mm? (Not me, until I exhausted all the possibilities.) Answer at the end of this post. I have to say the length of the black 28 is a little odd; it reminded me of those long Sheaffer’s “secretary” pen models from the 30s/40s. The cap/barrel proportions are better, to my eye, in this revised model. Did they fix the inadequate button filler, with its short sac? Well, that’s still a mystery because unlike the black 28, the section is glued in and can’t be removed. I received it today and three presses of the button delivered lots of bubbles to the ink bottle, so something was happening! I’m fond of button-fillers because it’s one of the few filling systems I’ve repaired. This pen was $28 pre-coupons (and pre-tariffs) because I opted to take it with a generic iridium nib rather than a Schmidt nib. I have lots of loose nibs but none were fitting properly and I finally tried a 14K heartbeat nib bought months ago and it’s a perfect fit. It writes beautifully but I won’t dwell on that. The pen sits nicely in my hand. It’s very similar in length and girth to the Admok J800, while its section is just slightly shorter, with a different sort of flare at the nib end. This is not a small pen, it’s the same size as the J800. The standout feature for me, as trivial as it is, are the self-colored cap and barrel jewels. I carry over from the vintage pen side a love of little touches like that, but I also like the contrast of a black section, and the 28 has both. Cap rings, ball clip, and end tassies with jewels all speak to the vintage origin of the 28. Like the J800, it is a solid pen, with a strong clip and an almost indiscernible transition from barrel to blind cap. If not for the tariffs, I’d be looking to buy several more of these in various colorways, so maybe I should be grateful for those tariffs. This is a nice pen, a sturdy button filler with vintage accents in a handy size. The left hand pen is a Golden Star 28, the right hand pen a Hero 856, a current production pen and a remarkable pen for its price, as SKD points out. Both are ‘cage-less’ aerometric fillers, not button fillers. As you can see, the caps and blind caps are interchangeable. Yes, it’s the cap threading that explains the difference in length. Further, the black 28 does not have an inner cap and may not seal effectively, while the new version has a pronounced lip built into the inside of the cap to seal against the section. Definite improvement!

Like a few others here, I’ve bought a couple of J800s and admired the quality of this ‘homage’ pen. When I saw several versions of this pen at my favorite AliExpress seller, I hesitated (double the regular price & would it be as nice as it looks?) and then grabbed one as I saw the tiny inventory disappearing—all gone in 48 hours. It arrived today and it’s very well done, as far as I can feel and see. The ‘gold dust’ sprinkling is uniform and the denser areas form a spiral of sorts around cap and barrel, while the little orbs of mother-of-pearl are well distributed across both. I think it’s reasonable to question the technique used to create this effect and others who know lacquer and maki-e techniques may want to weigh in. But it is quite lovely and if I put it among my several other maki-e or raden pens, it wouldn’t stand out as inferior or obviously different—I’ll try taking a photo to demonstrate after I finish this post and feed the dogs 😃 Ive included some photos of the pen and a video of it in my hand, still grubby from the garden when it arrived. It is sold out at the manufacturer and on AliExpress, but you might be able to find it if you’re in China. They are scheduling another maki-e J800 for autumn. On a side note, AliExpress sellers have recently dropped their price for the regular J800, from around $52 USD to as low as $47, a bit higher than comparable self-fillers from Hongdian or Asvine, and I hope others will voice an opinion about whether that premium is worth it. https://share.icloud.com/photos/0b1HBRyTZwraQNGspx7R6cKRw