Dianshi DS-784 Hatch Mechanism Retractable

[J120]

Dianshi has entered the retractable student pen game with their hatch mechanism take on a retractable fountain pen. The first thing that caught my eye was that it uses a proprietary short cartridge that it appears only they sell. I will dig further to find out if any other companies produce an alternative option but the good news is the pen does come with a box of five in the package. There are three varieties of ink, erasable blue, erasable black, and nonerasable black. There are 6 colorway options as of this posting that I could find: Black, white, and four other pastel colors to choose from. The pens are are priced across Taobao from 4.37 to the flagship store listing of 5.33. Expect the independent sellers to double it like they have with the Oaso A016. As always, I purchase in bulk to cut out the "middle man or woman" and so I have an obscene number of stocking stuffers to hand out during the holidays. 

 

If you have a chance to watch the videos and reviews on Taobao you will get to see the pen in action. Nothing groundbreaking but the hatch mechanism appears to work as it should and it does the job, it writes and seals. As with the OASO A016....again, who is naming these pens, sealing over the long term will be the deciding factor. No idea if Dianshi and OASO have any connections but the innovation is appreciated and like the gasket sealing with the A016, it is nice to see an attempt to innovate in the space. Yes it is a student pen but until one of the European or stateside companies takes a go at this market, this is what we have.

 

Once the shipment comes in and these flood the market per usual on the traditional sites like Aliexpress I look forward to hearing everyone else's take on the pen. Majohn, OASO, and now maybe Dianshi are doing some interesting things in the space. Lanbitou and some other random independent manufacturers keep trying to make pen caps and pocket pen moisturizer happen so but to each their own. There are also so full nib but capped options popping up on Taobao so the student pen retractable market appears to be growing out East. We can only hope someone gets that Majohn feeling and makes something in metal soon. (The manufacturing, not the not so subtle Xerox creative but I digress.)

 

Updates coming soon.

 

 

[OCArt]

Thanks for posting this, I enjoy seeing what's new in Chinese pens.

[amberleadavis]

Thank you for sharing.

[jchch1950]

The colours are quite nice but especially important is that they have a closing trap that seems to keep the ink from drying without a cap.

[Dan Carmell]

Surprisingly, these have been on AliExpress for several days but at the usual initial inflated price. I like the hatch mechanism and the clip is interesting as well. 
 

I picked up my AO16 after reading this post It has been inked for months but not used for many weeks and it wrote immediately. 

[J120]

There is a demonstrator model of the DS-784 that the flagship store has in the R&D video.

The video can be found on Bilibili.  

It is nice to see someone explaining what went into creating a original model. 

Pro Tip-Use Google translate,  slow the video down. 

 

『小舱门』按动钢笔有什么特别之处？来看看耗时三年打造的按动钢笔~ https://b23.tv/Z6QlZzs

 

 

[dasnet]

Someone have the AliExpress  link? Thanks

[Dan Carmell]

45 minutes ago, dasnet said:

Someone have the AliExpress  link? Thanks

Hope this works! It’s in several stores now, so you may want to price check but this was lowest when I bought it:
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mr2FSBi

[Waltz For Zizi]

On 10/28/2023 at 1:51 PM, J120 said:

There is a demonstrator model of the DS-784 that the flagship store has in the R&D video.

The video can be found on Bilibili.  

It is nice to see someone explaining what went into creating a original model. 

Pro Tip-Use Google translate,  slow the video down. 

 

『小舱门』按动钢笔有什么特别之处？来看看耗时三年打造的按动钢笔~ https://b23.tv/Z6QlZzs

 

 

Why does the guy doing the review have vampire teeth?😬

[J120]

5 minutes ago, Waltz For Zizi said:

Why does the guy doing the review have vampire teeth?😬

@Waltz For Zizi No idea but I appreciate the air tightness demonstration.  They look real for the record lol

 

[Dan Carmell]

I received my DS-784 (in black, of course) today and I like it, from its hatch to its translucent knock end. I can’t quite get a feel for gripping it because my hand is acting up, but the pen feels sturdy and is more attractive that the ad photos suggested. It was ready to write within a few moments without fuss and writes very nicely. 
 

I don’t know anything about manufacturing techniques, but examining the hatch, especially its hinges, made me wonder if this part could be 3D printed. It’s very precisely made. 
 

The pen’s shape makes me think of a long/short pen from past decades or a long lost cousin of an early Pilot Capless. The slight taper and blunt end will mark a distinct look of its own, though, if the hatch mechanism proves durable. The clip follows the pen’s form and the translucent end of the knock is a nice touch. 
 

The only cons I’m sensing it that the clip and nib don’t necessarily line up—just a few degrees off, however; the other being that the finger indentations in the section seem awkward—but maybe that’s my bum hand acting up this evening. It wrote exactly as I expected it to, given the nib type and size (EF). At $14 shipped, it’s a worthy retractable fountain pen. 

[J120]

32 minutes ago, Dan Carmell said:

I received my DS-784 (in black, of course) today and I like it, from its hatch to its translucent knock end. I can’t quite get a feel for gripping it because my hand is acting up, but the pen feels sturdy and is more attractive that the ad photos suggested. It was ready to write within a few moments without fuss and writes very nicely. 
 

I don’t know anything about manufacturing techniques, but examining the hatch, especially its hinges, made me wonder if this part could be 3D printed. It’s very precisely made. 
 

The pen’s shape makes me think of a long/short pen from past decades or a long lost cousin of an early Pilot Capless. The slight taper and blunt end will mark a distinct look of its own, though, if the hatch mechanism proves durable. The clip follows the pen’s form and the translucent end of the knock is a nice touch. 
 

The only cons I’m sensing it that the clip and nib don’t necessarily line up—just a few degrees off, however; the other being that the finger indentations in the section seem awkward—but maybe that’s my bum hand acting up this evening. It wrote exactly as I expected it to, given the nib type and size (EF). At $14 shipped, it’s a worthy retractable fountain pen. 

Happy to hear your thoughts while waiting on my delayed shipment. 

 

There some more established companies out East like Dianshi that are starting to produce these "student pens." The models do not depart much from their current standard more traditional retractable lineups if you look through the companies inventory.  There is clearly a market for these pens and it will be interesting to see where rhis goes in the next year. It went from 0-1000 quickly from the ill advised open air models, the capped ones and the silly pen moisturizer. Dianshi makes some of the best quality retractable highlighters so this model is less a shock and more a confirmation of their QC. 

 

I asked about the demonstrator and it is not planned for release at this time but they have it and it looks amazing in the primo videos. 

 

The floor is the caps and open air models, Majohn has the high middle copying Pilot,  and then there is this. Oaso, Dianshi, and whatever M&G I'd cooking up. 

[J120]

Dianshi has entered the retractable market and first impressions are very positive. 

 

The bad: Dianshi did the " proprietary" cartridge thing and I have yet to find any short  standard international 3.4mm that fits as of this posting. I will update if I find anything that fits. These are not large capacity cartridges so only a week of testing will tell how far that short cartridge will go on a regular workday. 

 

The Good: Each pen comes with one empty cartridge inside the pen you can refill with a syringe with the ink of your choice. It also comes with 5 cartridges conveniently tucked in the case. 

 

The Pending: The reviews on Bilibili from the Eastern crowd have been positive so it will be interesting to see in testing during the work week if my experiences are similar. The pen is well made and does not feel like cheap plastic. The pen grip has those indented grooves that people either love or hate. 

 

The hatch appears well made and but for dropping it while retracted I do not see any issues arising with that. Dianshi is giving a lot for $5 but I wonder if the proprietary cartridges are going to be an issue. AliExpress sellers are willing to sell them, I checked, but that means carrying around specific cartridges along with your other daily carry. Not an issue for me but it might disuade the international standard crowd. 

 

Dianshi like Oaso has an entire catalogue of traditional retractable products so it should not come as a surprise that they came out the gate so strong. They make the best retractable refill highlighter in my opinion, DS-805S, and it will be interesting to see what's coming after this.