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The same Bexley Cutting Edge pen is currently being listed by two different sellers on EBay. It is number 36 of a limited edition of 100. The pictures are identical in both listings, but the sellers are different. Also in both listings the matching knife is missing. It is impossible for there to be two identical pens, with identical pictures to be sold by two different sellers. I placed this here as something likely is very wrong with this situation. One seller is listed as tomironn13 and the other is listed as Hoku-84. Both sellers have many more listings than there history would suggest they should have by a factor of 10 and both have pictures which appear to have been taken from someone else's listings as the pictures vary significantly from listing to listing and do not present as a single seller. One seller even has multiple identical listings of the same exact pen with the same pictures. Both indicate they are from Japan. If this warning should not be in Market Watch, please move it and let me know where warnings of dangers in the Market Place should be placed.

I received my Kaigelu 316 from Hong Kong earlier this week (seller: hq.market, AKA You Gain More!) It's a reasonably faithful knock-off of the Duofold, visually at least. A handsome pen (mine is the white with black veining), it's improperly balanced toward the back end, but not a deal-breaker. I inked it up with Diamine Sapphire and it wrote beautifully. I decided to take my lovely new counterfeit to work with me, and on my way out the door, clipped it to my pock... UH-OH. With this gentle action, the clip, retainer ring and cap came off the pen. No biggie, I'll just screw the top back on, right? I've read here many times that Chinese pens have issues with quality control, so I just assumed someone didn't tighten it down properly. Nope. The threads refuse to catch, even when tested without the clip or retainer ring in place. It's defective. eBay has a process whereby you can resolve an issue like this one. Communicating with the seller (hq.market, AKA You Gain More!) that the pen is defective has resulted in the kind of runaround those who hide behind a language difference love to employ. "The pen is not smashed" they replied after receiving a photo of the loose clip assembly. (The only way I could think of to photograph threads that don't engage; see below) Of course, each message exchange with seller hq.market, AKA You Gain More must go through a 24 hour cycle, presumably because of the time difference. I've heard that other Chinese sellers are really good at reimbursing or replacing; that has not been my experience with seller hq.market, AKA You Gain More! (Maybe they're referring to my blood pressure reading?) Caveat emptor. James

Just over a month ago, I got a Pelikan M200 with a broad nib. I like the pen as a whole, but I have quite a few gripes. I don't mean to rant, I'm just stating some of the things that have been bugging me. Sorry M200 fans. 1. It's way too light. I didn't think this would bug me, as I don't judge pens by their weight. However, the M200 doesn't feel comfortable in the hand. The grip and balance are fine, but the weight makes the pen feel cheap and unpleasant. That's my experience, anyway. 2. Hard starts. This may just be in my case. My broad nib may have baby's bottom. Very disappointing and greatly worsens the writing experience. 3. The joint in the grip section. The joint between the two halves of plastic is not seamless. Very minor issue, but it's there. 4. The front of the feed is wider that the nib. Just a little bit. 5. The broad nib is impractical. Completely unusable for maths and cheap paper. I'm saving for a spare medium nib unit. Just so that this isn't a rant, here are some things I like about my M200: 1. Classy and timeless gold & black design. 2. Comfortable grip. 3. Piston filling system. 4. Removable nib & feed unit. 5. Screw cap. 6. The feed is aesthetically appealing. 7. Wet flow. 8. The broad nib is great for recreational use. 9. Long nib. 10. Springy/Flexy/Soft nib. 11. Aesthetically balanced. 12. It's (almost) everything a fountain pen should be! Can you relate to any of my gripes?