Baoer 388 Nib

[Xmsteel]

I received my Baoer 388 today, and noticed the nib was different than pictured. The nib pictured just says BAOER vertically across the nib, but the one I received says "Iridium Point Paris". It also seems to write a lot finer than my Jinhao, yet my Jinhao was listed as a fine, and the Baoer as a Medium.

 

Do they recycle through nibs on these? I suppose I don't really mind, I kind of like the finer writing for a change even though it is a little scratchier than the Jinhao.

 

Oh, and though the seller was from China, the package stated it shipped from Singapore.

 

Edit: Top is the Jinhao "Fine" bottom being the Baoer "Medium"...

 

http://puu.sh/nPwR2.jpg

Edited March 22, 2016 by Xmsteel

[Ink Stained Wretch]

I received my Baoer 388 today, and noticed the nib was different than pictured. The nib pictured just says BAOER vertically across the nib, but the one I received says "Iridium Point Paris". It also seems to write a lot finer than my Jinhao, yet my Jinhao was listed as a fine, and the Baoer as a Medium.

 

Do they recycle through nibs on these? I suppose I don't really mind, I kind of like the finer writing for a change even though it is a little scratchier than the Jinhao.

 

Oh, and though the seller was from China, the package stated it shipped from Singapore.

 

Edit: Top is the Jinhao "Fine" bottom being the Baoer "Medium"...

 

http://puu.sh/nPwR2.jpg

 

You have to take the nib designations of these very inexpensive fountain pens, especially the ones from the so-called People's Republic of China, with a certain amount of salt. I've been pleasantly surprised when now and again a nib designated as "medium" actually turns out to be a medium, approximately, rather than than a fine or extra fine. I know that there's an entirely different opinion between the hemispheres about what the designations of "fine," "medium" and "broad" mean, but when the quality control is so loose you're just going to have variances among the pens, and even among the same brand, model and even batch of fountain pens.

[Trom]

There are two versions. I think the one you got, as on my 051, is a bit larger.

Edited March 23, 2016 by Trom

[ac12]

I have several B-388s, and there is a manufacturing variation between them in terms of tip size. So you could have gotten one of the smaller Medium nibs, or you could have been sent a pen with a Fine nib.

[Ian the Jock]

I too have bought what appeared to be a Baoer with a generic ipg nib (not the 388).

I'm led to believe that Baoer produce unbranded pens for secondary retail/re-branding etc and they carry no brand marks and an ipg nib.

When compared with an apparently identical "branded" version of the pen, they are of a slightly lesser quality (cheaper converter, cheap nib, and on one of mine, faults in the plating) and have a finer nib than the "true" Baoer branded pens, the medium nibs of which, I have found to be fairly consistent.

 

These pens aren't fakes or copies, but merely "cheaper" pens produced en masse for the secondary branding market.

 

Ian

[Xmsteel]

Well, I've been using the 388 as my daily for work, but had it stop writing one day and I had to use the converter and "force" ink for it to write again. Besides that, I like it for my work because it writes a little less wet (though I like wetter with my rhodia paper) on paper that can easily leak through and the overall nib size is so much smaller than my Jinhaos.

 

I still really prefer the Jinhao writing quality though. Do they have any that are similar if not identical to the 388?

[hbdk]

There is the Jinhao 601 which is very similar; a really nice writer