Jump to content

Wing Sung 698 Vs Twsbi Eco - Battle Of The Republic


Inky.Fingers

Recommended Posts

garyc,

 

Still as a state-owned enterprise, Hero is not just one company, but a group of companies, and the Hero brand is not exclusively owned by them; for instance, the Hero trademark, as applied to inks, is owned by the Shanghai Ink Factory, also trading as Shanghai Fine Stationary Co Ltd, and Hero is not allowed to use the Hero brand for its own inks: complicated huh?

 

Since it's state-owned, a lot of Hero's corporate manoeuvres were decided not in the boardroom but by the government policies, that included forced buyout of counterfeit manufacturers. Coupled with the abundance of counterfeits, the Parker-like pens can be a bit of a tricky situation unless you buy selectively and carefully.

 

Also worth noting is that current Lucky-Wing Sung pens, like the 659 and 698, although built by another autonomous company, are still authentic. Avoid those meant to be Wing Sung but branded Yongsheng; they are very poor sort of things indeed.

No, I am not going to list my pens here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • Replies 51
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Inky.Fingers

    7

  • Seele

    4

  • Jamerelbe

    4

  • J_MM

    3

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

They both are beautiful fp but personal I would stick with Twsbi only because of the awesome customer service and the available to get replacement parts vs buying a new FP.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Does the Wing Sung use a standard sized nib?

Jimmy, it uses a Pilot nib/feed - I replaced mine with the broad (italic) nib from my 78g

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The black and gold version REALLY speaks to me. And so does the white and gold.

 

Is the hardware robust, or will it deteriorate over time?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I was terribly confused when I saw a 2017 Wing Sung 698 with a cartridge converter in the box. Could it be that the Chinese engineered a way to remove the piston and pop in a converter or standard international cartridge? It took me a while to realize that the converter was a sealed applicator for extra silicon grease. Clever way to package the stuff, although I have plenty on hand already. I ended up ordering the black version of the pen with the brass or gold plated finial.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Any reports of cracking or other problems?

My debt he paid, my death he died, that I might live.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have added a cream/silver and a grey/gold version to my demonstrator 698. That is now on its second fill and I am still loving the nib, so sign of any problems whatsoever. So far, I've only dip tested the new grey version and found the nib was not quite as smooth as the demonstrator, therefore required a bit of buffing with micromesh.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I've been using the clear demo for around 2 months now (regular daily use) and it's holding up quite well. No cracks yet (and hopefully none for a very long time).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have my eyes on the gold nib version, and I'm hoping someone can tell me how wide it is? It is listed as F but that can of course mean very different widths depending on brand (and often model). I already have too many F nib pens that I never use because they're too wide...

 

Someone claimed those nibs where made by the old Wing Sung company (which has little to do with the current owner and user of that name) which seems implausible - a large number of gold nibs ending up in storage for decades? I'm still hoping it is true since one of my Wing Sung pens has a gold nib (of a different shape than that one) and it is really nice.

Слава Україні!

Slava Ukraini!

 

STR:11 DEX: 5 CON:5 INT:17 WIS:11 CHA:3

Wielding: BIC stick of poor judgment (-3,-5) {cursed}

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The gold nib is F but writes like FM to me. Nails these nibs are. Not a bit of flex in them. If you need XF or XXF, get it nibbed by a nibmeister. If you live in the States, let me know, I'll do a PIF.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The gold nib is F but writes like FM to me. Nails these nibs are. Not a bit of flex in them. If you need XF or XXF, get it nibbed by a nibmeister. If you live in the States, let me know, I'll do a PIF.

 

Sounds like you just saved me some money! One of the things that interested me with this pen is that it was remarkably cheap for a gold nibbed piston filler but if I'd need to send it to a nibmeister it would increase the total cost too much. (I don't even know if there are any good ones in any EU country? Sending it to the US would probably mean I'd end up having to pay VAT and toll a second time when it returns) I guess that money will end up in the Pilot custom 823 fund!

Слава Україні!

Slava Ukraini!

 

STR:11 DEX: 5 CON:5 INT:17 WIS:11 CHA:3

Wielding: BIC stick of poor judgment (-3,-5) {cursed}

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds like you just saved me some money! One of the things that interested me with this pen is that it was remarkably cheap for a gold nibbed piston filler but if I'd need to send it to a nibmeister it would increase the total cost too much. (I don't even know if there are any good ones in any EU country? Sending it to the US would probably mean I'd end up having to pay VAT and toll a second time when it returns) I guess that money will end up in the Pilot custom 823 fund!

Pablo at fpnibs.com in Spain is a good nibmeister.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

I have both. I just never got along with the Eco, for reasons that are probably no fault at all of the pen.

 

The Wing Sung is love at first sight. I won't miss that 0.2ml ink capacity. The Wing Sung is a lot more comfortable to hold and write with.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have both. I just never got along with the Eco, for reasons that are probably no fault at all of the pen.

 

The Wing Sung is love at first sight. I won't miss that 0.2ml ink capacity. The Wing Sung is a lot more comfortable to hold and write with.

 

Thoroughly agree with you. It is comfortable to write with, and I will ink it before my Eco. I did exchange the nib for a Plumix med. italic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Bought a 698 and arrived last week. I was given an Eco for my birthday in May, have had nothing but trouble with it.

 

The 698 is a pleasure to write with. The fine nib was as smooth as silk straight out of the blister pack.

 

My vote goes easily to the Wing Sung over the Twsbi.

 

 

Greg

"may our fingers remain ink stained"

Handwriting - one of life's pure pleasures

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't own an ECO, but I own a Vac700R and from the nib alone I'm not impressed. I own 3 Wing Sungs cuz they are like 1/2 the price of a TWSBI.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use my WS698 everyday at work and have not had any issues in performance or durability. No cracks in 3 months. I swapped a Pilot Plumix italic nib in and decided I wanted a broader italic. I found that a Jowo #5 fits. So now I'm using a 1.4 italic and couldn't be happier

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33474
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26573
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...