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Fuliwen is not a pen brand I'm overly familiar with. It's been covered in Frank Underwater's blog and this particular pen, dubbed the Sceptre, has been reviewed by chrisrap52, WaskiSquirrel and Aaron's Pen Videos on YouTube. The pen was just over US$18 plus shipping on Taobao. It comes in cracked-ice style acrylic in red, orange, white and black. I went for the koi red on a lark as a follow-on to the Moonman N3 I recently added to my collection (and like very much). The pen is so similar to the Moonman N3 I thought the parts might be interchangeable. Turns out the nib units swap no problem. No luck with the caps and barrels. One of the strong points of the pen is how well it posts. No wiggle at all. That and the facets. I'm a sucker for facets. The nib is a #5, presumably of Fuliwen's own make. Somewhat unusually, it's available as an M. There's also a 14K gold nib option but that's outside my consideration. The nib proved pickier than I expected when it comes to ink. I initially tried J. Herbin Orange Indien but found it stingy. I then tried Noodlers Air Corps Blue Black to much better effect. Smooth and generous. In the mean time I was successful in getting the nib unit apart so it's easy to clean. (I also did floss the nib so that may have helped the flow.) Finally, I picked up some Diamine Vermillion as something that would fit the pen and hopefully write well. It's been a happy pairing. For a slim pen, the Fuliwen 016 feels great in the hand. Everything is smooth. The edges of the facets are rounded to the point that they are easy to miss. The section is long and the metal threads above the section are not sharp in the least. This is a pen that's easy to grip just about anywhere. It has a refined, welcoming feel in the hand and it's big enough to write with unposted. Posted it's an excellent size for me. Weight (inked) Uncapped: 14.22gPosted: 18.53gLength 137.5mm capped126mm uncapped156mm postedIn short, the Fuliwen 016 has much to like. Over the past couple of weeks, I've come to regard it as a near perfect exemplar of a slim pen. It is extremely comfortable in the hand and writes equally well posted and posted. I love how securely it posts. The lack of a clip is of no matter to me. Even a plus. Style-wise, the koi pattern was something of a personal leap but I don't have any regrets. In fact, another koi pen landed on my doorstep just today! If you're interested in something in this neighborhood, give this pen a look! More comments and photos here.

Yesterday I received a new nib for my rose gold Monteverde Invincia, a black 1.1 Monteverde stub. Unfortunately neither of these nibs fit into my Monteverde. After doing some research I discovered that the current models of Monteverde pens are not the same as the models which were available when I purchased my Invincia several years ago. With a little more research I discovered that my current nib has the same dimensions as a #5 nib. This was upsetting for a number of reasons, not the least of which was that I could not use my newly purchased nib in this pen. I have contacted the seller who is willing to take back the nib, but this leaves me with a problem. I very much want to put a stub or italic nib onto this pen. I have looked everywhere I can think of for a #5 nib that comes as a nib only (not attached to a feed section). The only places that seem to have loose #5 nibs are xfountainpens, Mazurka Pens, and Fountain Pen Revolution. Mazurka Pens does not have any stubs or italics. xfountainpens only has oblique broad and oblique broad X2. I have heard good things about Fountain Pen Revolution and have no issues with their prices, but I really don't want to wait for 2+ weeks to receive a new nib. Is there anyone out there who knows of a seller with #5 italic or stub nibs located here in the USA? Any assistance would be appreciated.