Wancher - Roll Of The Dice

[whitedot]

Wancher is the relatively little-known house brand of Engeika, a Japanese pen shop run by Taizo. It is the butt of many a repeated pun and some positive reception on FPN.

 

A diverse range of fountain pens has been offered, including:

 

a sakura maki-e Bexley;

 

an ebonite Platinum;

 

a Pilot VP doppelganger;

 

Lamy 2000 doppelgangers; and

 

the original Sunflower in Sunshine, long sold out.

 

Summary of the Sunflower in Sunshine

• US$85
• exclusive to Wancher
• orange celluloid
• German iridium point nib
• Made in Japan

Imagine my surprise when I spotted it on Taobao for CN¥98 (less than US$16), shipping inclusive!

 

 

Taobao is an online marketplace populated with mainland Chinese sellers. There are Heroes, Jinhaos, Wingsungs, Montblanc fakes, No Names - and three Wanchers. The Lily Flower in Water and the Beauty Mandarin were listed too. Now, I am no stranger to mainland counterfeits. But, I am banking on the early Wanchers being Chinese.

 

The Sunflower is on its way. Stay tuned! http://i.imgur.com/AkTc1GR.jpg?1

Photo by FPN Member aliikizkaya

Edited February 16, 2013 by whitedot

[hari317]

FWIW, I must have bought more than 50 pens from their ebay shop Engeika. Yeah, even on their ebay store there are some listings with dubious descriptions. They are good for the established made in Japan stuff like the Japanese big three, i would not touch their wancher stuff with a bargepole. YMMV.

Edited February 16, 2013 by hari317

[Lorna Reed]

The only Wancher item I have bought from Taizo, is a leather 2-pen case, which is of a perfectly satisfactory quality.

[suexilin]

I have been looking at these pens for quite some time on taobao... :hmm1:

 

I knew they are supposed to be Wancher, but the price seemed a bit suspicious. The pictures are taken from engeika's site. I was not sure if the actual pens are real or ... a hopeful imitation. Or even a sorry one.

Some of the commenters love them, some say they are not good, one succinctly wrote - well, at least your pictures really are outstanding.

 

Your post today pushed me over the edge and I just bought the blue one - Lily flower in water.

It is absolutely gorgeous on the pictures! I agree with that commenter.

 

I guess we'll see in a few days, when I get it, how it is. Granted, I have no idea how the real wancher pens are supposed to be. Not to mention that I am in the stage when I love all fountain pens.

 

But I'll post pictures.

[Hex]

I have been looking at these pens for quite some time on taobao... :hmm1:

 

I knew they are supposed to be Wancher, but the price seemed a bit suspicious. The pictures are taken from engeika's site. I was not sure if the actual pens are real or ... a hopeful imitation. Or even a sorry one.

Some of the commenters love them, some say they are not good, one succinctly wrote - well, at least your pictures really are outstanding.

 

Your post today pushed me over the edge and I just bought the blue one - Lily flower in water.

It is absolutely gorgeous on the pictures! I agree with that commenter.

 

I guess we'll see in a few days, when I get it, how it is. Granted, I have no idea how the real wancher pens are supposed to be. Not to mention that I am in the stage when I love all fountain pens.

 

But I'll post pictures.

 

I eagerly await your impressions. As you stated, I too have been watching these pens for a long time wondering about their lineage, especially the Bexley maki-e.

[whitedot]

I have been looking at these pens for quite some time on taobao... :hmm1:

 

I knew they are supposed to be Wancher, but the price seemed a bit suspicious. The pictures are taken from engeika's site. I was not sure if the actual pens are real or ... a hopeful imitation. Or even a sorry one.

Some of the commenters love them, some say they are not good, one succinctly wrote - well, at least your pictures really are outstanding.

 

Your post today pushed me over the edge and I just bought the blue one - Lily flower in water.

It is absolutely gorgeous on the pictures! I agree with that commenter.

 

I guess we'll see in a few days, when I get it, how it is. Granted, I have no idea how the real wancher pens are supposed to be. Not to mention that I am in the stage when I love all fountain pens.

 

But I'll post pictures.

 

Cool. So will I. If they look as pretty as the photos - yuan well-spent!

 

The guy on Taobao is selling Wancher Lamy 2000 lookalikes too, for quite a bit less. Either Taizo or this guy is pulling a trick. It may be that there is a third party, a common source. Faking a barely known brand seems rather silly. Then again, my mainland tongbaos have faked just about everything.

 

N.B. I have nothing against Taizo. He has been a reliable seller of other FPs.

Edited February 16, 2013 by whitedot

[jacksterp]

I'll join the crowd and say that I am extremely interested in some real world experience with these pens. Agree they look stunning.

[suexilin]

I just searched on baidu about this taobao shop, and found an interesting comment on a tieba forum, "你去淘宝搜“九州钢笔店”就行了。这家店主要卖低端日本笔。高端一些日笔是“一航”。这两家其实是一家，只不过为了区分价位而已。"

 

It basically says that this shop is known for selling lower grade Japanese pens, while another very well known shop is selling the higher grade more expensive pens, and that the two shops belong to the same company.

 

This gives me hope

Edited February 17, 2013 by suexilin

[whitedot]

I just searched on baidu about this taobao shop, and found an interesting comment on a tieba forum, "你去淘宝搜"九州钢笔店"就行了。这家店主要卖低端日本笔。高端一些日笔是"一航"。这两家其实是一家，只不过为了区分价位而已。"

 

It basically says that this shop is known for selling lower grade Japanese pens, while another very well known shop is selling the higher grade more expensive pens, and that the two shops belong to same company.

 

This gives me hope

 

 

Well done! (Now off to browse 一航.)

 

 

[tenney]

Seeing any Wancher products on Engeika's ebay site I always just figured they were mainland Chinese products.

[suexilin]

I believe that the ebay seller Engeika and the taobao's Yihang 一航 shop + Jiuzhou 九州 shop are connected.

 

Currently the headers of Jiuzhou shop and the Yihang shop are the same, with the same contact phone number,

 

and check out the third picture in this listing from the Yihang shop:

http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.3.w4457045342.68.5k6LCR&id=13152171183&

 

 

P.S.

Also, I am seriouly considering buying at least three more pens from them. Now, the problem is WHICH three pens, as so many look very very tempting. I just hope that pen I ordered will be ok...

Edited February 17, 2013 by suexilin

[studiohead]

Actually, I believe that Taizo-san is buying pens from other sources and branding them under his "Wancher" label. The Lamy 2000 look alike is from Eastrong http://www.eastrong.com/index.php

 

Some of his ebonite pens are made by Ranga and so on.

[jacksterp]

With this recent info. (thanks to suexilin and studiohead), I think I'll pass on these - at least for the time being. They seem too hit or miss.

[PenandDesign]

Waiiittt....a Pilot VP lookalike? Does anyone know any more about this? :roflmho:

[Strang]

I've purchased quite a few pens from Engeika - big three pens. I asked for specifics on the expensive maki-e Wancher, pointed questions you might say. Even though I have bought lots from him (got me on his "special" mailing list,) I received no reply about the Wancher. I did make the mistake of buying one of his Wancher watches. Cosmetically lovely and a horrid piece of junk mechanically. I suspect the pens are the same.

[whitedot]

Here it is. Please suggest ways to get rid of the toxic smell - probably adhesive, grease or polish! Otherwise it is not at all bad for US$16 shipped.

 

Jotting down first impressions:

 

• It is substantial. It is almost 6" in length, and the acrylic is thick. Weight is similar to that of a MB146.
   
  
• The bands are plastic, as are the threads. But, they are well-machined.The cap/section screw tightly onto/into the barrel. No wiggling. No gaps. The thinner bands are flush with the cap.
   
  
• The orange acrylic is nice - bright, slightly translucent in places, and much as I detest the word, a bit shimmery.
   
  
• It comes with a converter - friction fit, secure, above average capacity, with a ball inside to prevent tension.
   
  
• The nib is large, like the rest. It is firm and fine, reasonably smooth out of the box. No skipping or other issues.

 

http://i.imgur.com/OU347FH.jpg

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/vcAgHOu.jpg

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/FISt8FD.jpg

Edited February 20, 2013 by whitedot

[suexilin]

Not too bad!

I still have to get mine, I hope tomorrow.

Now I am prepared for the smell

[suexilin]

The pen arrived!

 

Few quick pictures and impressions:

 

It is very big. It is the biggest pen I have.

 

It is not heavy, and quite comfortable.

 

It does not smell at all.

 

It is really beautiful - shimmery was the correct word, as whitedot described it.

I cannot exactly capture on a picture the play of light on the body. It is like wisps of white clouds on a deep blew sky in a cool summer morning, or a Beijing winter day with northern wind.

 

The cap unscrews for a long time. It takes two 360 degrees revolving turns to uncap.

 

It posts, but it is awkward. Better unposted. I mean, it is huge.

 

The converter is big, I had not seen such a big converter before.

 

The section could become slippery very easy. Might be a problem for me.

 

The nib is nothing special, but performs ok.

It is stiff, and and let out a faint ink line.

Smooth, and not scratchy.

After spreading the tines a bit, it writes better.

 

I guess it is somewhere between EF of F, depending on paper.

 

It is very beautiful...did I mention that?

 

All in all, I am very pleased

For this price this is a stunning pen.

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8373/8493522911_0d5d1a1161_b.jpg

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8242/8493522821_3c1399c65b_b.jpg

 

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8085/8493522613_8e8540494f_b.jpg

 

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8087/8493523315_239896736f_b.jpg

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8392/8494622984_33a6011711_b.jpg

[suexilin]

After coming home and writing more with it, I noticed that the cap smells. From inside. Some sort of... glue? It is not very strong, but on the other hand I live in winter-dry Beijing. Maybe in Hong Kong is warmer and more humid, and the smell is much more noticeable.

[Flounder]

The orange Sunflower one looks really nice! Could the smell be burnt acrylic? When I grind my acrylic Kaigelu, if I concentrate in one area too long, it releases a sort of glue smell.