Mad Science Pen Company Clingman

[Doug C]

All of those bright plastic sticks. Tons of them nowadays. I have to admit that some of them are very pretty, and I'll even own up to possessing a few of them (I love all my children). Over time though, they tend to start to look alike.

 

Then I saw the Clingman. Just enough craziness in the design (a little mad perhaps) and it changed my perspective of what a home grown fountain pen could look like.  The shape wasn't  really radical, but it had enough eccentricity in the details to have me adding it to my wish list. 

 

DESIGN: 10/10

 

We'll start off with the real reason for owning this pen. It is polarizing for sure.  You either love it or hate it but I am decidedly in the former camp. Jake of MSPC had a back log when I contacted him, and so it was a few months before he could start on my pen.  The first version I had seen was in a camo finish. I normally don't care for camouflage  anything, but this made the pen even more striking.  He informed me that this material was no longer available but he sent me a link with other available micarta colors.  The fact that it was done in micarta was the icing on the cake. It reminded me of a deep sea creature. 

 

As you can see, the normal cigar shape has been altered dramatically with a slanted cap and a prominent hooded nib. This shakes up your senses a little but in reality it is a very comfortable pen to hold and use. It will post but it is not that secure and really isn't needed.

 

The section is long so the threads don't get in the way at all, and even though the hood looks like it might obscure the nib when writing, it doesn't at all.  Truly a wonderful, fresh design.

 

NIB/FILLING SYSTEM: 7/10

 

Nothing to note here other than it is a standard steel JoWo nib (1.1 stub in this case.  Cartridge/ converter.

 

 

QUALITY: 9/10

Even with a heavy backlog, Jake didn't let anything slip through the cracks. The finish is perfect, the threads smooth (2.5 turns to uncap) and it feels light but substantial. I have included a picture of the interior to show the thickness of the pen walls.  Also note that, even with the crazy pattern, the design is perfectly centered over the nib. Little details like this really make or break a small pen producer.

 

VALUE: 9/10

 

The price for this pen was $170 shipped, which I feel is a great value. It is right in the sweet spot for other maker's pens, but stands out.

 

SUMMARY: 10/10

 

I guess I just don't have anything really critical to say; this is a just a really fun pen, and it is just one of his inventive designs. I already have my eye on a Beta 2.  MSPC is only available on Instagram (as far as I know-I'm not a Facebook user).

 

Get on his IG page.  You'll be there for a while.....

 

 

[Uncial]

It does look like a dieting sea slug.

Looks a little similar to a Venvistas (?) which I recently had the pleasure to try. Similar in the cap especially, and the way the nib is set. I quite liked it.

[amberleadavis]

I"m enjoying seeing it!  Thank you for sharing.

[Rebbe]

I really like the geometry of these. It's exciting to see a small pen manufacturer starting up, and encouraging that his etsy only shows sold out items. That's a sharp pen you've got there!

Is there a maker's mark or inscription somewhere on the pen itself? I'm not seeing one from the pictures. 

[Doug C]

1 hour ago, Rebbe said:

I really like the geometry of these. It's exciting to see a small pen manufacturer starting up, and encouraging that his etsy only shows sold out items. That's a sharp pen you've got there!

Is there a maker's mark or inscription somewhere on the pen itself? I'm not seeing one from the pictures. 

Nothing other than the Rickshaw Bagworks sleeve.

[jayKellner]

On 5/6/2022 at 12:26 AM, Uncial said:

It does look like a dieting sea slug.

Looks a little similar to a Venvistas (?) which I recently had the pleasure to try. Similar in the cap especially, and the way the nib is set. I quite liked it.

It looks a lot like a Venustas, but where the venustas looks sober, this one is a bit of circus, which I like in a way. I  had some venustas, from the first gen very creative, the second, the Italian incarnation, really boring, I think they went out of business now...anyway I've sold them out. But this one, I pass....I guess all we have left is pineider's back to the future, which looks really bad and a ripoff from the magna ( one I've sold).  this one is cheaper than any of those, so that is a plus though.

[Doug C]

1 hour ago, jayKellner said:

It looks a lot like a Venustas, but where the venustas looks sober, this one is a bit of circus, which I like in a way. I  had some venustas, from the first gen very creative, the second, the Italian incarnation, really boring, I think they went out of business now...anyway I've sold them out. But this one, I pass....I guess all we have left is pineider's back to the future, which looks really bad and a ripoff from the magna ( one I've sold).  this one is cheaper than any of those, so that is a plus though.

I have some of the very first Venustas and this miles ahead in design and quality. This is a much larger pen as well.

[inkstainedruth]

What's the pen used in the comparison photo?  I'm trying to get an idea of the size of the Clingman (although that rod stock used is kinda giving me the heebiy jeebies...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Doug C]

4 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

What's the pen used in the comparison photo?  I'm trying to get an idea of the size of the Clingman (although that rod stock used is kinda giving me the heebiy jeebies...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Pelikan M1000.

He has all kinds of resins available. 

[mhwombat]

Wow. If this thing dwarfs the M1000, I'd have a very difficult time using it. Maybe someday they'll do a smaller sea slug. Very creative design. I'd be very tempted to put googly eyes on it!

[sansenri]

I don't mind seeing innovative design. The thing is though that in objects like pens design should try to stay very close to function, as the final purpose is write with the thing, and when design gets in the way of function (and we have seen this happen too often) the question that comes up is always: but why?

The colour pattern is quite fun and I don't mind it at all, the slanted cap is nothing bad, nor is the slightly hooded nib.

The thing that never convinces me, however small, however far back, in a pen, is the step. Is that step necessary? is the pen any better with that step rather than not? If the step is necessary to achieve the design...then design is being put before function, and in my personal opinion that is never good, and is often a deal breaker for me.

 

[jchch1950]

Very unique colours. Big size and a design that is not common. Reasonable price. Maybe I will try to get one.😉

[inkstainedruth]

17 hours ago, mhwombat said:

Wow. If this thing dwarfs the M1000, I'd have a very difficult time using it. 

Me too, which is why I asked what the comparison pen was.  Unless that Clingman is super lightweight, I'd have a lot of trouble wielding it (even an M800 is too heavy a pen for for me).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Doug C]

2 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

Me too, which is why I asked what the comparison pen was.  Unless that Clingman is super lightweight, I'd have a lot of trouble wielding it (even an M800 is too heavy a pen for for me).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

It's very light, and although the photo makes it look much bigger than the Pelikan, it is about the same size.  Just slightly thicker.

The section is very comfortable for me.

[jayKellner]

On 5/25/2022 at 12:51 AM, Doug C said:

I have some of the very first Venustas and this miles ahead in design and quality. This is a much larger pen as well.

I think we can certainly discuss quality, but given the sleeve that comes with the mad science, I can say that design seems not to be the artisan's strong point, also the size is I think too much, makes that N6 Jowo to look like a N5...just I think the carbon tube that used to be included in some venustas and the overall design is leagues away, I had one of the first carbon Ts, it was just a wonder....if you could put aside some issues. Too funky for me this mad science, I had already checked out their etsy page, 
but going back to venustas they haven't released anything new in years, therefore I lost interest, plus the page looks now really amateur, full of misspellings, too pompous for a brand that has done little lately and at the end is almost a one product venture, cheers to madscience for putting out something not very original, but at least funky....any other alternative for folks looking for strange pens? Should we dig on Etsy for a change??

[jayKellner]

22 hours ago, sansenri said:

I don't mind seeing innovative design. The thing is though that in objects like pens design should try to stay very close to function, as the final purpose is write with the thing, and when design gets in the way of function (and we have seen this happen too often) the question that comes up is always: but why?

The colour pattern is quite fun and I don't mind it at all, the slanted cap is nothing bad, nor is the slightly hooded nib.

The thing that never convinces me, however small, however far back, in a pen, is the step. Is that step necessary? is the pen any better with that step rather than not? If the step is necessary to achieve the design...then design is being put before function, and in my personal opinion that is never good, and is often a deal breaker for me.

 

I agree, but the question would be, do we buy this things because they are well designed, or because we like them........I use a lot a my 149, but.......sometimes I finish writing with a Lamy CP1. Maybe that answers something...I would say some pens are just to sign  or maybe for just being in a tray. 

[sansenri]

that's a very personal choice of course, and I obviously talk of my own needs and preferences when I say that I have several times refrained from purchase of a pen that looked good but felt uncomfortable in hand.

So even "well designed" can be subjective , on average though, well designed is a good starting point, I tend to think that it's easier to instill beauty in a "well designed" object, rather than trying to do that stating from a "badly designed" object.

(btw badly designed objects always makes me think of Donald Norman's The Psychology of Everyday Things, which when it was published in Italy, gained the additional title of "the masochist's caffettiera" nicely illustrated by this picture on the book's front page)

 

 

[DrDebG]

Bravo to the Mad Scientist who has created an innovative nudibranch-looking pen!  I am all for creativity, and if others like it, more power to them! 

 

As for me, I am content with my Lamy 2000 and Montblanc 146.  😁 

[Doug C]

All I can say is that it is a functional tool, and a pleasure to write with. From my perspective it is a great design and a breath of fresh air. 

[Paul-in-SF]

On 5/24/2022 at 1:53 PM, jayKellner said:

It looks a lot like a Venustas, but where the venustas looks sober, this one is a bit of circus, which I like in a way. I  had some venustas, from the first gen very creative, the second, the Italian incarnation, really boring, I think they went out of business now...anyway I've sold them out.

 

This isn't going to be a very useful post, but I'll post it anyway. I recently came across on, I think, Instragram, an account for a company that seems to be Venvstas under a different name, only they had more products than just pens. Maybe they absorbed Venvstas into their company, or maybe Venvstas always had more products than pens. Anyway, there were some new pen products that looked like the same designer as the Magna. 

The useless part of this post is that I don't remember the name of the "new" company. I just wasn't motivated to pay sufficient attention, since I have not had any further interest in Venvstas since I bought a Magna. My thoughts on that pretentious and horrible design are available somewhere on here if you search for them.