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Hello everyone. I have read numerous written and video reviews, by average users and by experienced users. It is surprising that some pen enthusiasts had a lot wrong. Finally I feel good about my purchase. I feel that I can close my month-long inquiry, because I greatly respect this opinion above all. I wholeheartedly welcome the Visconti company to my fountain pen collection. Before we get to my correspondence with Mr. Michael Masuyama, I will outline the general argument that I have collected against the Visconti Homo Sapiens line of fountain pens. Then you can proceed to read this correspondence that either affirms or dismantles some of the opinions out there. The top 5 criticisms of the Visconti Homo Sapiens Fountain Pens that I have found are as follows: (1) Nib problems fresh out of the box; (2) Palladium is a third the price of gold; therefore, there is no functional reason for the switch -- Visconti is merely choosing an economic alternative to gold; (3) The Visconti company is overrated, overpricing their fountain pens; (4) Palladium nibs will cost much more to repair because they are harder to work with (compared to gold); AND (5) Once again, the Visconti company went cheap on us and used a plastic feed, instead of a superior ebonite one. All of these questions are adequately answered by the great nibmeister, Michael Masuyama, with 30 + years of experience in working with an endless line of fountain pens. I do wish he had detailed the innovation that goes into creating a 23K palladium nib. I also wish someone could tell me how many karats were in the old palladium nibs of post WW2. That way, I can conclude that the value and innovation of palladium is not in the cost and use of this precious metal (as "a third the price of gold"), but in the creation of a "23 karat" nib . However, Mr. Masuyama did cut to the bottom line. Please read further ... Dave Yoneda: “Is the Visconti Homo Sapiens Fountain Pen supposed to need fixing brand new?” Michael Masuyama: “It is a sad reality that a high percentage of modern pens do not write the way they should out-of-box and more than often you need to have them properly tuned. In the old times, people with nib adjustment skill worked at pen companies, assuring all pens they ship worked well. Nowadays, those folks are long gone, retired, and there are only few with such skill still working in the pen industry. The pen industry is not really a growing industry so it doesn’t have any young folks eager to learn such skill. So, it is rather normal that a brand new pen needs some tune up work. It is not supposed to be that way, but it is what it is. You can contact the Visconti distributor and make a claim, and they may offer a nib replacement. If not, I will be happy to make the necessary nib adjustments and get it fixed for you." Dave Yoneda: “Is Visconti a good brand, if it looks and writes like this (please see pictures attached to this e-mail)?” Michael Masuyama: “It is a difficult question to answer for someone who spent 30+ years in the pen industry because I don't want to say anything bad about any pens. Italian goods (cars or pens) often require good 'tune ups' before they start to work well. Consider this when you buy a 'Ferrari' next time. If you buy a Japanese pen (or a car), it usually works well right from the beginning and never breaks down. This Visconti nib simply needs some nib alignment / adjustment and it will start working well." Dave Yoneda: “Is the nib inferior? I hear Palladium is 23k or 95% pure, and even though it's in the family of platinum, it's only a third the price of gold. So basically, am I experiencing a problem with this because Visconti went extremely cheap and these nibs tend to fall apart easily?” Michael Masuyama: “The 23kt Palladium nib is very soft. But it is not inferior. Visconti decided to use it for the softness.” Dave Yoneda: “Is it true that palladium will cost more to repair because it's harder to work with?” Michael Masuyama: “It is harder to work with compared to gold nibs simply because the Palladium alloy used is softer and has no elasticity. But I charge the same fee for steel/gold/palladium or any nibs. The Visconti Palladium nib has Rhodium plating over it. When bent, the plated coating gets wrinkled even after repair and the bent spot remains a bit 'fogged.' This is also true for other 'Rhodium plated' nibs.” Dave Yoneda: “Can you change the Visconti feed to ebonite, instead of the plastic feed that Visconti uses? I hear Visconti uses a plastic feed, and I would rather have something that will last long. If you do, please let me know how much that modification costs.” Michael Masuyama: “The reason that a majority of modern pens comes with plastic feeds is that the plastic allows very complex design of ink / air channeling using injection molding. Well-designed plastic feeds are much more sophisticated than ebonite feeds which can only come with a simple primitive channel design. The only advantage of ebonite feeds is that the material is more water friendly while keeping it wet with ink (ebonite tends to shrink once dried for a long time). Visconti's large size feed (Homo Sapiens) comes with very sophisticated channel design and made with such specification that fits to the Visconti's nib collar only. There is no ebonite feed that has a perfect fit for the Homo Sapiens nib collar. Only downside of the plastic feed is that the plastic tends to repel water (i.e., ink). Pen manufacturers use chemicals (such as polyethylene glycol solution, etc.) to make plastic feeds more water (ink) friendly. There is no problem with it.” * * * * * * I want to add my overall feeling after corresponding with Mr. Masuyama. I felt sad. I realize that Neil deGrasse Tyson was right when he said in the Figboot interview on YouTube that, with our world of texting, chatting, and typing which dominates the current written tradition, the fountain pen represents a long tradition of scripting that is quickly becoming extinct. When fewer and fewer people seem interested in being a nibmeister, the art dies. And if that art dies, what will happen to fountain pens in general? And consequently, what will happen to the written tradition? Will it all turn digital? Call it an evolving process, this written tradition; or, call it a terrible shame.