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Natami Inception Review

taike

By taike
in China, Korea and Others (Far East, Asia)

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taike Rare

taike

Posted
Posted

The Natami Inception is a Chinese version of the Platinum #3776 Century. And a very well made one. So far it appears to only be available on taobao, but may make it to other sellers.

 

Natami_F_05.jpg

 

 

The Natami brand is a bit of a mystery. It is positioned as Japanese (日本NATAMI奈多美), but seems to have only this pen, a 10-color collection of ink, a notebook cover and a plastic pen box.

Natami_ink_01.jpg

 

The silver trim pens sell for just under US$12 on Taobao. The gold trim versions are about US$13. Some sellers even throw in a bottle of ink with the pen. Sadly, shipping ink out of China is a no-no so international buyers can't take advantage.

The pen is really very nice. It feels wonderful in the hand. The plastic seems harder than the acrylics used by PenBBS, Moonman, Delike and other Chinese brands.

The cap has a spring-loaded liner to seal the nib like the 3776, something I don't recall in other Chinese pens.

The cap comes off in just over two turns, which may be more than some like. I don't mind.

 

The pen posts fairly easily but not too deeply. It helps to give the cap a little twist when posting to get it post securely.

 

Natami_F_posted_02.jpg

 

The pen is 142mm capped, 122mm uncapped and 166mm posted. That makes it slightly shorter than a Moonman M100 and Wing Sung 618 when unposted.

 

Natami_pen_comparison.jpg

 

Posted, however, it is the larger pen.

 

Natami_pen_comparison_posted.jpg

 

Uncapped the pen is 13.14g. Posted it is 25.77g. The weight is comfortable to write with either way. I use it both posted and unposted regularly.

 

What makes this pen special? First, the facets. Count me a huge fan.

 

Natami_facets.jpg

 

I also really like the overall style of the pen. And the color. Well, Natami copied from one of the best.

 

Beyond the basics, what I really like about this pen is the nib. It's larger than the #5 nibs found on similar pens. In fact, it appears to be the same No. 28 nib as on the Wing Sung 627 and 626.

 

That's a big plus in my book.

 

Natami_Wing_Sung_627_nib-feed_comparison

 

And the nib writes very nicely. Wet, smooth and not too fine. It writes so well that I got a second one. This time green with rose gold trim.

 

Natami_Inception_Green_01_sm.jpg

 

All in all the Natami Inception is an excellent pen. Highly recommended.

 

More photos and comments here.

 

 

Check out my assembled FP reviews.

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penzel_washinkton Vintage

penzel_washinkton

Posted
Posted (edited)

Even the color scheme is a copy of the Platinum line, but the acrylic does not give that quality that the 3776 gives out (of course I understand that this is a far more cheaper price point).

It seems to be longer than the 3776?

Edited by penzel_washinkton
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Cyclohexene Mint

Cyclohexene

Posted
Posted

Even the color scheme is a copy of the Platinum lin, but the acrylic does not give that quality that the 3776 gives out (of course I understand that this is a far more cheaper price point).

It seems to be longer than the 3776?

Huh, I thought the 3776 Century has a reputation for cheap feeling plastic, which I have to point out is a hearsay and not a first hand experience of mine. Does the Natami's acrylic actually feel worse, or is this just your feeling from looking at the pictures?

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penzel_washinkton Vintage

penzel_washinkton

Posted
Posted

Huh, I thought the 3776 Century has a reputation for cheap feeling plastic, which I have to point out is a hearsay and not a first hand experience of mine. Does the Natami's acrylic actually feel worse, or is this just your feeling from looking at the pictures?

 

Since when does the majority claims that the acrylic on the Century feels like a cheap plastic?

I know that some say the plastic on the Century feels not of high quality but not the majority. Personally, I enjoy the feel of the Century very much and definitely the colors.

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  • 3 months later...
drathbun Rare

drathbun

Posted
Posted

It looks like the Natami Inception has shown up on Bobby's Etsy page for $20.50US. This is a bit more than EDC had originally seen the rose gold version for $13 on Tabao.

 

Natami Inception on Etsy

 

il_794xN.1974661851_gn8m.jpg

"There are thousands of thoughts lying within a man that he does not know 'till he takes up the pen and writes."

- William Thackeray

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Mech-for-i Collectors Item

Mech-for-i

Posted
Posted (edited)

well I own both , and both are not really feeling cheap as far as the material goes , sure the Natami's material feel less up market as that of the 3776 and part of that feeling I would attribute to the actual material engineering ( mostly thickness ) , and the 3776 material feel denser ( I must say feel cause the weight suggest they are probably much the same ) , from a price point vs actual delivery of product POV, the 3776 do had some question their material choice and its indeed proven tha the 3776 seems to suffer on and off from aging molding and there is regular report of pens that come with hairline crack / scratched / finishing blemishes ; for its price its certainly not quite as good as some of its peers ( Pilot / Sailor ) but still quality material and well put together ( though the reported finishing issue seems regular enough that anyone buying a new one should check carefully )

 

The Natami used injection molding that likely are of a different type ( Higher pressure / quick cooling ) and likely material that had the cost in check, that stated, its still nicely done up especially for its price ( which is only 1/5 to 1/8 even 1/10- of the 3776 depending on where you buy , both ). Some had report to had rather dry writing experience, mine do just fine, not dry but not wet either ...

Edited by Mech-for-i
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Mech-for-i Collectors Item

Mech-for-i

Posted
Posted

Does anyone know if the Platinum section will fit on the Natami body?

 

NO it won't

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drathbun Rare

drathbun

Posted
Posted

I received my Natami Inception yesterday. Unfortunately, I came broken. Bobby is replacing it for me. I did a short unboxing video of my sad discovery.

 

"There are thousands of thoughts lying within a man that he does not know 'till he takes up the pen and writes."

- William Thackeray

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drathbun Rare

drathbun

Posted
Posted

 

Maybe at $5, maybe at $10.. But $20? Versus the original Platinum 3776 with a gold nib at $70, it does not look a good deal for me...

 

 

 

Platinum 3776 with a gold nib at $70? I have it priced at $176.00US at Goulet Pens, which is $230 Cdn. Way more than my $34 Cdn for the Natami.

"There are thousands of thoughts lying within a man that he does not know 'till he takes up the pen and writes."

- William Thackeray

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drathbun Rare

drathbun

Posted
Posted

That is sweet justice lol

 

You're happy my Natami came broken? Nice. It is being replaced BTW.

"There are thousands of thoughts lying within a man that he does not know 'till he takes up the pen and writes."

- William Thackeray

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drathbun Rare

drathbun

Posted
Posted (edited)

The replacement nib/feed/section for my Natami Inception arrived while I was away traveling. Before I left I used vice grips to bend the section back into a straight line (although it still left a gap) and I used the pen for a number of weeks like that. Now that I've replaced the broken one, I made a YouTube video of the pen. I like this pen a lot but I'll have to get another one because this one was snagged by my wife. :)

 

yG9i04W.jpg?1

 

Edited by drathbun

"There are thousands of thoughts lying within a man that he does not know 'till he takes up the pen and writes."

- William Thackeray

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Ememel Near Mint

Ememel

Posted
Posted (edited)

I absolutely love the look of my transparent rose gold Natami, but don't really appreciate the nib. It writes on the dry side and will regularly skip some strokes, not anywhere alarmingly, but still. I've had mine inked with Sailor Nioi-Sumire and Diamine Earl Grey, which both should be quite flowy inks. Also, the nib is stiff, where I happen to like the WingSung's spring.

 

Do anyone of you happen to know what nib to replace the Natami's with, if I opt to do that instead of tuning?

Edited by Ememel
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drathbun Rare

drathbun

Posted
Posted

I absolutely love the look of my transparent rose gold Natami, but don't really appreciate the nib. It writes on the dry side and will regularly skip some strokes, not anywhere alarmingly, but still. I've had mine inked with Sailor Nioi-Sumire and Diamine Earl Grey, which both should be quite flowy inks. Also, the nib is stiff, where I happen to like the WingSung's spring.

 

Do anyone of you happen to know what nib to replace the Natami's with, if I opt to do that instead of tuning?

The Natami nib is just slightly smaller than a standard #6. I tried to fit a Schmidt and a Fuliwen #6 into the feed/section with no success. They went in but nowhere near far enough.

"There are thousands of thoughts lying within a man that he does not know 'till he takes up the pen and writes."

- William Thackeray

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Ememel Near Mint

Ememel

Posted
Posted

The Natami nib is just slightly smaller than a standard #6. I tried to fit a Schmidt and a Fuliwen #6 into the feed/section with no success. They went in but nowhere near far enough.

Thank you for your insight, I'll keep that I'll in mind. At some point I'll probably try tuning the flow first, since a silver/gold nib would not look as nice as the rose gold anyways.

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