Asvine V169 brass/Acrylic Vacuum Filler EF/F 5 colors

[J120]

The manufacturer is a known OEM but this is a bigger dip into the market. The Pen Supplier store on Aliexpress just posted these overlay vacuum fillers.

 

The pen drops continue coming fast. 2022 is going to be a wild pen year...

[OCArt]

Yes, now that China is making vacuum and piston fillers I agree we are going to see a lot of new models. China has really moved up their game over the last three years from $1 P51 variants to some really nice pens.

[Z man]

Wait a minute. The text says it fills from a bottle or "standard cartridge." How does that work with a vacuum filler?

[Mech-for-i]

1 hour ago, Z man said:

Wait a minute. The text says it fills from a bottle or "standard cartridge." How does that work with a vacuum filler?

 

I doubt it can judging from the photo, more like marketing personal doing the write up just copy paste old material and no one bother to even check .

[txomsy]

Maybe they came up with an innovative dual design. In which case, please dash off all that follows in this message as a misinformed, ignorant shameful post.

 

IMHO, that's a shame. I do certainly celebrate that new, nice models with other filling technologies are coming out from China, like these, but one is left to wonder if they have been so sloppy/careless with their process, what quality can one get?

 

This really looks like a beautiful pen, but with these mistakes I am led to think they are incorporating these new "improvements" just to look like other best-selling brands' pens, without any care for what they are selling other than to make it look like "that successful thingy". I know there are cultural differences, but for me looking like something is not the same as being like something, and craving for quick bucks with careless production and marketing does not help one's reputation.

 

Reputation is a fragile thing that needs a lot of nurturing and care. These slips are bound to earn more unsatisfied users than build up a nice image.

 

I can envision how someone buying it because of the "dual" filling, discovering no cartridges can be used, complaining and being asked to send it back for a refund (at the buyer's much more expensive cost), would feel.

 

I know, it's China and Chinese speak Chinese. It seems only natural to make a copy/paste to avoid mistakes. But serious brands are investing big bucks to have proper translations, open boutiques, distribute through local retailers whose sellers are locals that speak the local language... And don't give me the blurb of closed B&M shops in the US. I've seen plenty of B&M sellers in the rest of the World carrying one or the other of the well known brands. Not only in EU (most of it that I have witnessed) but also in Asia, Americas and Africa (a large part that I've been to, at least).

 

Bottom line, 40 US$ for something that comes with no guarantees and misleading descriptive information? I'll pass. I'd rather trust a cheap Pelikan, Parker, Pilot, or any from a very long list I can get at any B&M and return or complain in person if needed. Much cheaper, clear about what they sell and better guarantees.

 

Which is a pity, indeed, for it really looks good. But it's not only the looks.

[J120]

1 hour ago, txomsy said:

Maybe they came up with an innovative dual design. In which case, please dash off all that follows in this message as a misinformed, ignorant shameful post.

 

IMHO, that's a shame. I do certainly celebrate that new, nice models with other filling technologies are coming out from China, like these, but one is left to wonder if they have been so sloppy/careless with their process, what quality can one get?

 

This really looks like a beautiful pen, but with these mistakes I am led to think they are incorporating these new "improvements" just to look like other best-selling brands' pens, without any care for what they are selling other than to make it look like "that successful thingy". I know there are cultural differences, but for me looking like something is not the same as being like something, and craving for quick bucks with careless production and marketing does not help one's reputation.

 

Reputation is a fragile thing that needs a lot of nurturing and care. These slips are bound to earn more unsatisfied users than build up a nice image.

 

I can envision how someone buying it because of the "dual" filling, discovering no cartridges can be used, complaining and being asked to send it back for a refund (at the buyer's much more expensive cost), would feel.

 

I know, it's China and Chinese speak Chinese. It seems only natural to make a copy/paste to avoid mistakes. But serious brands are investing big bucks to have proper translations, open boutiques, distribute through local retailers whose sellers are locals that speak the local language... And don't give me the blurb of closed B&M shops in the US. I've seen plenty of B&M sellers in the rest of the World carrying one or the other of the well known brands. Not only in EU (most of it that I have witnessed) but also in Asia, Americas and Africa (a large part that I've been to, at least).

 

Bottom line, 40 US$ for something that comes with no guarantees and misleading descriptive information? I'll pass. I'd rather trust a cheap Pelikan, Parker, Pilot, or any from a very long list I can get at any B&M and return or complain in person if needed. Much cheaper, clear about what they sell and better guarantees.

 

Which is a pity, indeed, for it really looks good. But it's not only the looks.

Txomsy, until someone sees some hands on reviews of the model I withhold opinion on its short term or long term quality. That error in description is not from the manufacturer, it is from an independent seller. These pens are not being sold by a domestic based retailer or wholesaler. Unless you buy from a domestic based flagship store you are not reading marketing material from the manufacturer.  This is the copy and paste work of an independent seller. You may be absolutely correct but your concerns are with someone who bought 2000 or so units to flip for profit and not the OEM who made millions of these models after three years of r&d. What they accomplished in three years remains to be seen. A good technique in this market is to translate the domestic reviews on Taobao and Bilibili prior to buying anything you are concerned about. Domestic reviewers do not sugarcoat their feelings. Early on it was said the Majohn A1 was excellent while warning that the Lanbitou 3088 was not fit for purpose. Food for thought 

Edited December 24, 2021 by J120

[Licue]

Oh, skeleton pens! 😀

I like the look of the silver-transparent and the silver-bluegrey one.

 

I've pretty much no experience with vacuum pens myself, only read about them. Iirc they hold a lot of ink and are kinda difficult to clean, correct?

 

[J120]

It depends on the design.  The Wing Sung 3013, 699, and the PenBBS models are easily disassemble. They do hold a ton of ink so be cautious if it is not something you plan to write with often. This OEM is not new but this is their biggest pen drop so it remains to be seen what the quality will be like. On appearance and video alone it looks the part but until someone holds it and test it for a few weeks you can never tell.

[pensuplier]

The pen was produced by the factory which has produced fountain pens for Moonman and Penbbs.

It is said that they spent two years to design and improve this pen.

Below is the details i have:

The skeleton is cut out from a solid tube of brass and treated in a chrome coating.
The body is made of acrylic 
The piston filling stick was made of durable stainless steel with iridium tip
It is surely a vaccum founain pen for bottled ink only.

Anyone who has this pen may share their experience.

[Karmachanic]

On 12/29/2021 at 11:49 AM, Licue said:

they hold a lot of ink and are kinda difficult to clean, correct?

 

A lot of ink?  Yes.  But one can unscrew the section and partial fill, if so desired.

Difficult to clean?  Not this one.  Unscrew the section and flush.  Done!

 

I'll wait for the matte skeleton version.

[pensuplier]

You may get better price in www.amazon.com other than other market.

 

[Aysedasi]

I'd probably buy one for the novelty value, but only F and EF nibs available.  

[pensuplier]

On 12/31/2021 at 7:35 PM, Aysedasi said:

I'd probably buy one for the novelty value, but only F and EF nibs available.  

Medium nib is available in Amaozn now.

[Aysedasi]

11 hours ago, pensuplier said:

Medium nib is available in Amaozn now.

Ah..... thanks for that. 

[WLSpec]

I just picked up two from Amazon after watching Chrisrap's review on youtube. I was always intrigued by MB skeleton pens and the Laban seemed like a budget option, but I really wanted to wait for one that wasn't a c/c filler. These ones seem like a fairly inexpensive way to test the waters. I do intend to swap the nibs if I can for different size 6 nibs - maybe Jowos or something similar. 

[Licue]

3 hours ago, WLSpec said:

I was always intrigued by MB skeleton pens and the Laban seemed like a budget option

Me too 🙂

And which Laban?*

 

*Edit: Never mind, I found the Laban Skeleton - not budget-y enough for me 😉

[WLSpec]

10 hours ago, Licue said:

Me too 🙂

And which Laban?*

 

*Edit: Never mind, I found the Laban Skeleton - not budget-y enough for me 😉

Yeah, they’re not cheap… but a bit better than Montblanc’s minimum of 10k for their skeleton pens 😄

[J120]

Just saw the "new" Conklin Endura Deco. You can not convince me these two pens were not made in the same factory. 

 

[Ted A]

On 2/12/2022 at 3:44 AM, J120 said:

Just saw the "new" Conklin Endura Deco. You can not convince me these two pens were not made in the same factory. 

 

 

They might be made in the same factory but there are a lot of differences:

The barrel acrylics are different colors.

The cutouts in the metal are different.

It appears the section is a different shape. The Asvine hourglass. The Conklin tapered

The clip is different

The Conklin cap band is wider.

The clips are different

The Conklin appears to have threads on the blind cap to allow for posting. 

The Conklin come in chrome, rose gold and gunmetal finishes. Asvine chrome only as far as I’ve seen.

And with the Conklin you can get their full range of nib sizes.  I wonder if a Conklin nib could be simply swapped into the Asvine.

 

Lots of differences. One would have to decide if the 150% (roughly) price difference is worth it

 

 

 

[WLSpec]

19 hours ago, Ted A said:

 

They might be made in the same factory but there are a lot of differences:

The barrel acrylics are different colors.

The cutouts in the metal are different.

It appears the section is a different shape. The Asvine hourglass. The Conklin tapered

The clip is different

The Conklin cap band is wider.

The clips are different

The Conklin appears to have threads on the blind cap to allow for posting. 

The Conklin come in chrome, rose gold and gunmetal finishes. Asvine chrome only as far as I’ve seen.

And with the Conklin you can get their full range of nib sizes.  I wonder if a Conklin nib could be simply swapped into the Asvine.

 

Lots of differences. One would have to decide if the 150% (roughly) price difference is worth it

 

 

 

I've been using mine a lot recently, and I have to say, it's really nice. I only have one gripe with the pen, which is that it has the slippery metal section, but that's just a personal preference. If you are fine with that, the pen is 100% worth the price. Comfortable in the hand, looks good, the piston mechanism works flawlessly, and the stock nibs are really nice (and nib swaps are easy; I currently have a vintage Moore nib that needed a home in the clear Asvine pen).