I got this pen today

[USG]

On 8/19/2025 at 10:53 AM, PithyProlix said:

Show and Tell time! 'Twas a pretty epic day of pen buying, all from different local sellers. Should arrive in about 2-3 days. These are all 'keepers', meaning I didn't buy them to sell them. In order of purchase:

 

Montblanc 74 with OM nib. I'm not much of a Montblanc person but I love the pens in this series. (As I write this someone beat me to a 21 with an EF nib.)

 

Lotus Vamza in Nikko ebonite, Jowo #6 steel nib that seems to be an EF. A nice, large Indian ebonite pen has been a want for a while. We very rarely see any 2nd hand ones here in Thailand.

 

Sailor pocket pen with 18k white gold nib. I've seen a lot of Japanese pocket pen models but this was a first for me. Interesting Japanese pocket pens at a good price are a no-brainer purchase for me.

 

Custom 72 exclusive for Pilot shareholders, unused, with box, and all accessories. F nib. To ink or not to ink? That is the question. I already have at least two standard black Custom 72s with F nibs. The problem is that, even as it makes its way across the country to me, I hear it screaming at me for a nice brown ink (Parker Penman Mocha? TAG Stone Road or Ochiguri Iro? L'Artisan Pastellier Brun Ours? ...)

 

NOS Platinum 3776 Gathered circa 1978. It probably won't be NOS for very long! It has an M nib which I will swap with an F from a parts Gathered with the same feed. The early 3776s are among my top 5 favorite writers.

 

With 18k Script nib - one of my favorite Pilot nibs. I collect Elites and didn't have this color yet.

 

Nice haul !!! 😃👍

[jthole]

Technically I got this pen yesterday, but I think it still counts 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

[PithyProlix]

On 8/21/2025 at 6:15 AM, Misfit said:

@PithyProlix that Elite is so pretty in that color. I didn’t know it came in a turquoise color. 

 

Well, I forgot that I already have lady Elite versions of a fountain pen and a pencil in this color but it is nice to also now have the 'regular' version in this color. The photos show it as turquoise but it's really more teal. (The light blue is a baby blue.) For the vintage resin versions, I am also aware of a clear (which I have) and translucent pink demonstrator barrels. (There are also the Kara Kara versions with anodized aluminum caps and barrels in various colors.)

 

I think the Elite is particularly fun to collect because there are so many different versions, they aren't expensive, and they are great pens.

 

 

 

[Misfit]

@PithyProlix thank you for the additional information and photo of those beauties. I like the Elite. I got one on eBay from the 1970s. It is not always a good writer. I did give it time in the ultrasonic cleaner. Maybe it needs the bit of Dawn dish soap soak. 

[PithyProlix]

11 minutes ago, Misfit said:

@PithyProlix thank you for the additional information and photo of those beauties. I like the Elite. I got one on eBay from the 1970s. It is not always a good writer. I did give it time in the ultrasonic cleaner. Maybe it needs the bit of Dawn dish soap soak. 

 

For the 1960s and early 1970s versions there should be a small sponge that can be seen with magnification through the nib's breather hole. If the sponge is missing or overly deteriorated that could account for the problems you are having with it. I've been lucky in that all of my many Elites haven't have an issue with the sponge. (Perhaps because neither Japan, which seems to be the original market for my Elites, nor Thailand, where I buy and keep them, have low humidity. Not sure - just a theory.) @awa54 knows much more about this issue than I do. I believe he suggests trying a long soak in pen cleaning solution.

[Number99]

1 hour ago, PithyProlix said:

I've been lucky in that all of my many Elites haven't have an issue with the sponge.

 

If you checked the sponge on the back of the nib, you would have had to remove the nib to do so. At the same time, I think you were able to check the date code, but I haven't heard the results yet.

Do you know when the nib engraving changed from "Script" to "F"?

[Misfit]

Mine is from 1979. I was able to check the pen body code. The nib code is not visible. 

[Misfit]

19 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

I believe he suggests trying a long soak in pen cleaning solution.

I will have to try this. Thank you. Should I clean the pen first?

[USG]

20 hours ago, jthole said:

Technically I got this pen yesterday, but I think it still counts 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice 88 😀👍

 

[PithyProlix]

23 hours ago, Number99 said:

If you checked the sponge on the back of the nib, you would have had to remove the nib to do so.

 

It's just an inference about the sponge based on the lack of problems I have had with my Elites.

 

23 hours ago, Number99 said:

At the same time, I think you were able to check the date code, but I haven't heard the results yet.

 

Sorry, I am not sure which pen you are referring to. I probably forgot ...

 

23 hours ago, Number99 said:

Do you know when the nib engraving changed from "Script" to "F"?

 

I believe the Script and F nibs are different, though similar. Is it not the case that Pilot had models that had both the "Script" and the "F" nib concurrently? 

[InkyProf]

Yesterday, not today, but still:

 

I have, I admit, quickly become a Desiderata Pen Co. fanboy, thanks to designs like these. This is a "Precession," whose barrel and cap, in this case, have the same brushed/matte ebonite finish as the BAMF I already own, but with a clip, and with a polished striped or rippled ebonite section hiding underneath. (Pierre also makes Precessions that are a muted ripple and polished all over.) It has a JoWo#6 fine nib ground in house to a .4mm cursive italic. I've only briefly tested the nib so far, but it was pleasing out of the box: quite crisp, but not hard to find and hold the sweet spot, and smooth.

 

[Armo]

This is an unmarked french accordian filler but is clearly a Gold Starry. Never heard of them before but quite a few on ebay so not that rare. It's only 11cm but the way the finish catches the light is something else.

[Misfit]

@Armo I’ve never seen pen innards like that. It’s a beautiful pen. 

[Number99]

22 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

 

It's just an inference about the sponge based on the lack of problems I have had with my Elites.

 

 

Sorry, I am not sure which pen you are referring to. I probably forgot ...

 

 

I believe the Script and F nibs are different, though similar. Is it not the case that Pilot had models that had both the "Script" and the "F" nib concurrently? 

 

The date code cannot be confirmed unless the nib is removed.

I understand that the fact that the pen was written normally indirectly confirmed that the sponge was normal. (Not by direct visual inspection.)

 

There is an Elite with "Manifold" printed on the sticker, an "M" engraved on the nib, "Posting" engraved on the nib, and "極細 (ef)" printed on the sticker. ( These could have been reversed.) 

I think it is rare to find a pen with "Script" engraved on the Elite S.

 

 

[PithyProlix]

46 minutes ago, Number99 said:

I think it is rare to find a pen with "Script" engraved on the Elite S.

 

It's not at all rare based on what I've seen here in Thailand. "F" is the most common nib for the Elite S (and Japanese pens in general) with "Script" not far behind. 

[carola]

4 hours ago, Misfit said:

@Armo I’ve never seen pen innards like that. It’s a beautiful pen. 

 

I own a Czechoslovakian Centropen Barclay from the 1950s that used to have pretty much the same filling system. Unfortunately it was broken before I got it, so I had it converted to a button filling system.

[Number99]

3 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

 

It's not at all rare based on what I've seen here in Thailand. "F" is the most common nib for the Elite S (and Japanese pens in general) with "Script" not far behind. 

 

I think I wasn't actively looking for them. For some reason, I have three "F" nibs on hand.

I remembered that I had cleared Script Nib and Posting Nib in the long Elite, so I thought I didn't need any other pens.

https://thumbnail.image.shashinkan.rakuten.co.jp/shashinkan-core/showPhoto/?pkey=44ccb7c60fd8ea05bd4d47964f14aafc5bf0fe06.63.2.2.2a1.jpg

The image in the link is from Rakuten Blog "虎っど歳時記."

https://plaza.rakuten.co.jp/trad47man/diary/201607200000/?scid=wi_blg_amp_diary_next

 

However, I am curious as to when they switched to "EF," "F," "M," etc. I also have a Pilot Elite (custom) that does not have a nib writing size engraving.

 

Edited August 24, 2025 by Number99

[pensuponpens]

7 hours ago, Misfit said:

@Armo I’ve never seen pen innards like that. It’s a beautiful pen. 

I have a Soviet era Russian pen from "Soyuz" that has that filling system.  It is simple and effective.

[inkstainedruth]

@Armo -- I'm with Misfit on that.  I've never seen an "accordion" filler before.  How does it work?  Do you push it down from the back towards the feed?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Misfit]