MICRO Brand Fountain Pens

[Jaytabank]

Greetings all,

 

I'm spending a semester in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and I've seen a few fountain pens made by a brand called "Micro". The pens go for around 20-30 pesos here (~US$7-10), so they fit my (student) budget.

 

Here's the web site of a B&M store that sells MICRO pens(If the applet doesn't bring you to the right spot, click Elementos de escritura > Lapiceras .)

 

I've searched Google, FPN, and eBay, but haven't found any information on the brand.

 

For that matter, I'd appreciate the addresses of a few pen shops in Buenos Aires if anyone knows them off the top of their head.

 

As a final side note, plastic student pens are available here, as are some cheap Parkers. Most of these, however, seem to be limited to cartridges, as I haven't seen appropriate converters in the shops.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

[deitic_nib]

Hey, I went to Buenos aires also, I went there to study spanish for 9 months. Right about the Micro, I believe they are Korean made, I have a couple got them for 8 pesos, or so they put down a pretty wet line, they are alright. The ones I have are the cheaper student versions though.

 

Edit: Yea my Micro pens dont take my convertors.

Edited March 13, 2007 by deitic_nib

[Jaytabank]

Deitic-

 

How do your MICROs compare to the low-end Chinese pens? At current exchange rates the non-student MICRO pens (student pens of other brands are US$1-3 here, but I don´t really want those) are aruond that range, eg US$7-US$15. If I can get a cheap FP that writes about as well as my Hero 385 (which can be occasionally fussy, but is lovely when it works), I´ll be happy.

 

Were you able to find any other decent FPs in the city? I´ve seen some low-end Parkers (Frontiers, Reflexes), but they appear to be in line with US prices.

 

Where´s a decent libreria with a fair ink selection? Finally, do the MICROs take the standard international cartridge?

[Jaytabank]

I finally went out and bought a Micro Atlantico today for 24 pesos and change (about US$8). It takes international cartridges, but (curiously) my generic convertor won't work with it.

 

First impressions: it's made of metal but very light and has good balance unposted, but less so posted (heavy cap relative to the rest of the pen). It writes wet and smooth, but nib creep (I have a PR Spearmint cartridge in it) is clearly going to be an issue. Overall (and keep in mind this is after writing a single letter with it), I'd say that it'll make a good pen for class and that it's roughly on par (better, if nothing goes wrong) with my $14 Hero 385, with very similar looks (same clip design, near-identical body, only different colors). Could the Chinese-made Micro Atlantico be a Hero by another name?

 

It's worth mentioning that after substantial effort I couldn't find the Micro pen company's web site.

[deitic_nib]

I am pretty sure Micro is a Korean based company.

[kissing]

Yep, they're korean.

 

Korean fountain pens are actually quite uncommon though - as koreans' preferred writing instruments are extra-fine gel pens and needle points. I have a vintage korean-made Pilot fountain pen at home

 

Micro...I have some disposable rollerballs made by that brand. Other than that, I can't say I know much about them

[P.B]

Hi there, sorry for digging up an old thread, this is my first post here after discovering the site yesterday whilst researching what i now know to be a 1994 Singapore airlines Parker fountain pen. (I've always loved fountain pens since I was a child) Anyway today I stumbled upon a 'Micro' Korean fountain pen with 'stout' printed on the other side of the cap. It's a black marble design with gold plated cap ring and clip. The nib Says 'Masters' 'Miko' 'F'. I also think I've tracked down the makers here - http://microkorea.en.ec21.com/

 

Hope this helps someone in the future

 

All the best

 

P.B