Chinese Pens Show And Tell.

[Mech-for-i]

Doppelganger pen OEM manufacturing at display  , on show here is the clipless Wing Sung ( Paili Licensed branding ) " Elegant " done in black anodized aluminum vs the Montagut " Dazzling Scepter " fashioned out of acrylic .. both having multiple finishes and clearly molded from the same basic plan , with a very pronounced triangular grip / section , and a fairly long one , while it look like having captured converter , its just a standard C/C , both the same with no.5 nib in a screw in nib unit , the Montagut use a Delike spec screw in unit with the de-facto 2.6mm throat spec , where the Wing Sung use the Jinhao spec screw in unit but with a wide ( aka Parker spec ) 3.2/3.4mm throat. The wing Sung come with a rather understated polished steel nib with the Wing Sung branding. I had swapped in a spare Jinhao nib unit I had with a  Thebai XXF nib. The Montagut come with a Montagut or generic branded nib and am planning to swap them out for something else.

 

[Herbs n Spices]

Hello All,

 

Long time reader, first time poster. I've so enjoyed all the posts on this board that I thought I'd kick in with a short review of a pen I haven't seen covered before.

 

 

Today I acquired a Hong Dian 6016, a heavy, wooden-barreled pen with a smooth and nicely wet 'F" nib that seems closer to a "M" to my eye. The weighty stainless (or chromed?) cap is cleanly engraved with figures that I'm told are related to the Zodiac. The cap is banded at the bottom and encircled with the inscription: "HONG DIAN 6016 LAN TIAN".

 

         

Internally, there hides a threaded inner plastic liner that seals somewhat incompletely -- perhaps allowing the pen to dry prematurely in future. Time will tell. The cap takes 2.5 turns to release --- so no quick capping and uncapping in a meeting with this one. The clip is very tight, but it clips to a shirt pocket with a slight effort.

 

 

The section and barrel end are both of the same stainless (or somesuch) and provides enough heft to balance the cap. The metal section screws into metal threads in the barrel, which is further sealed with an o-ring. A solid converter is included.

 

 

The stained matte finish of the wood is subtle, and offers a nice tactile feel. I find pens with barrels or sections thinner than those on a Pilot Metro too narrow to suit for long periods --- but I suspect that this Hong Dian has enough girth, combined with a substantial heft, to keep me going for longer periods.  Below for comparison (starting at the top): Moonman S3, WingSung 301, HongDian 6016, Pilot Capless, Baoer 100, Delike New Moon.

 

     

 

The writing experience with this pen is very pleasurable so far. With no adjustment whatsoever (only a quick cleaning) then pen writes very smoothly, almost like a Delike upturned nib.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The feed keeps up well and supplies a medium-wet flow.  I made no attempt at line variation as I doubt this type of nib would yield anything useful.

 

 

I paid 17.97 USD + tax from seller "esybuy" on ebay. All in all, I'm pleased with my purchase, I hope this has been useful, and that your day is a good one!

Cheers!  Herb.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 27, 2021 by Herbs n Spices
removing unnecessary pics

[Bikerchick]

14 hours ago, Herbs n Spices said:

Hello All,

 

Long time reader, first time poster. I've so enjoyed all the posts on this board that I thought I'd kick in with a short review of a pen I haven't seen covered before.

 

 

Today I acquired a Hong Dian 6016, a heavy, wooden-barreled pen with a smooth and nicely wet 'F" nib that seems closer to a "M" to my eye. The weighty stainless (or chromed?) cap is cleanly engraved with figures that I'm told are related to the Zodiac. The cap is banded at the bottom and encircled with the inscription: "HONG DIAN 6016 LAN TIAN".

 

         

Internally, there hides a threaded inner plastic liner that seals somewhat incompletely -- perhaps allowing the pen to dry prematurely in future. Time will tell. The cap takes 2.5 turns to release --- so no quick capping and uncapping in a meeting with this one. The clip is very tight, but it clips to a shirt pocket with a slight effort.

 

 

The section and barrel end are both of the same stainless (or somesuch) and provides enough heft to balance the cap. The metal section screws into metal threads in the barrel, which is further sealed with an o-ring. A solid converter is included.

 

 

The stained matte finish of the wood is subtle, and offers a nice tactile feel. I find pens with barrels or sections thinner than those on a Pilot Metro too narrow to suit for long periods --- but I suspect that this Hong Dian has enough girth, combined with a substantial heft, to keep me going for longer periods.  Below for comparison (starting at the top): Moonman S3, WingSung 301, HongDian 6016, Pilot Capless, Baoer 100, Delike New Moon.

 

     

 

The writing experience with this pen is very pleasurable so far. With no adjustment whatsoever (only a quick cleaning) then pen writes very smoothly, almost like a Delike upturned nib.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The feed keeps up well and supplies a medium-wet flow.  I made no attempt at line variation as I doubt this type of nib would yield anything useful.

 

 

I paid 17.97 USD + tax from seller "esybuy" on ebay. All in all, I'm pleased with my purchase, I hope this has been useful, and that your day is a good one!

Cheers!  Herb.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the review, Herb and welcome to FPN. Have a great day too. 

- Kaat

 

 

[sansenri]

On 2/9/2021 at 12:11 AM, Bikerchick said:

 That Platinum Koi is absolutely gorgeous, but very pricey indeed. Your post made me go look for a Fuliwen 016 but I couldn't find one anymore. That's what I get for reading posts on here that are two years old. Settled for the Jinhao Centennial instead.

 

I'm enjoying this one too...
I ventured on the nib substitution (planned from beginning before purchase, as I had a spare nib to accomodate) and it works!

 

[sansenri]

Ah, the dreaded double post! I was almost missing it...
 

 

[Mech-for-i]

The vintage 90's Hero 395 had a kind of cult followings among Chinese fountain pen collectors courtesy of its nib , and no less quite a few youtubers and bloggers publicizing it. Yes the nib is good for some decent line variation , and its juicy wet and smooth , but the following is kind of mislead; for the nib was actually used quite often on a number of models of the same era, notably the Wolff 168/268/267 , and Hero's own 39X series , other than the 395 , there's the 391 and the shown 390 and 399 ( colored marbled pattern and the nickel brown finish with arrow clip respectively )

 

 

the 390 can be had with a multitude of marbled lacquer finish , 3 shades of blue / blue grey , 2 shades of Green , Red & Orange as well as a Satin Matt black and all brushed steel. The 399 , always with an arrow clip ( shown on photo above at the top ), can be had with this Nickel Brown, Brushed Steel, and a number of Satin Matt finishes. Unlike the 395, they are both slimmer pen and do not had a metal chromed section, Hero try their hand on plastic and various ways of non slip pattern , grid chased on the 390, and raised rings on the 399. All of them are C/C fill

 

 

One thing of note is tha while this nib look like no.5 its actually both longer and wider by a slight margin

[OCArt]

Off topic, but has any one heard from Frank Underwater? His excellent website on Chinese pens hasn't been updated in more than a year. 

 

1 hour ago, Mech-for-i said:

The vintage 90's Hero 395 had a kind of cult followings among... [much snipped]

 

[Mech-for-i]

this TheBai  Thyer PRO arrive on my door step a couple days ago .. that is essentially an un-branded, un-marked OEM version of the Jinhao 85 flighter with the brushed steel finish cap spotting a Yuk pointed tip finale and a simple sword clip instead of the 85's arrow clip. The brushed steel barrel and trim ring are equally adorn with zero marking or anything. The pen interchange ( all parts ) with the Jinhao 85.

 

 

[Mech-for-i]

Paili Mogal

 

 

Paili is responsible for many cheap OEM production and many of the lesser Wing Sung models as licensed through WSE, their own range is full of low end pens better be forgot , but some time they just deliver once in a blue moon something that just amaze.

 

And here present the " Mogal " in aluminium construction with anodized finish in red, black, pale turquoise or lilac , as shown with no branding or legend save the stamping on the polished steel nib , C/C using the wide opening aka Parker/Lamy spec. Unlike other of theirs this nib is more like FM leaning towards M despite its saying fine.

 

Weight 22g , 15g without cap

 

Length 124mm uncapped, 140mm capped & 168mm posted

 

Girth on barrel 11.5mm thickest at position next to section with straight taper to 10.0 at end of barrel , section is 10.5mm with straight taper to 8.5 thinnest before the nib

 

Cap is 12.5mm external diameter all along excluding clip, clip is hinged spring load and a rather long 46.5mm

 

This pen write surprisingly smooth and wet with almost zero feedback , recommend for cursive if you can live with the wet flow

[garyc]

14 hours ago, Mech-for-i said:

Paili Mogal

 

 

Paili is responsible for many cheap OEM production and many of the lesser Wing Sung models as licensed through WSE, their own range is full of low end pens better be forgot , but some time they just deliver once in a blue moon something that just amaze.

 

And here present the " Mogal " in aluminium construction with anodized finish in red, black, pale turquoise or lilac , as shown with no branding or legend save the stamping on the polished steel nib , C/C using the wide opening aka Parker/Lamy spec. Unlike other of theirs this nib is more like FM leaning towards M despite its saying fine.

 

Weight 22g , 15g without cap

 

Length 124mm uncapped, 140mm capped & 168mm posted

 

Girth on barrel 11.5mm thickest at position next to section with straight taper to 10.0 at end of barrel , section is 10.5mm with straight taper to 8.5 thinnest before the nib

 

Cap is 12.5mm external diameter all along excluding clip, clip is hinged spring load and a rather long 46.5mm

 

This pen write surprisingly smooth and wet with almost zero feedback , recommend for cursive if you can live with the wet flow

 

That looks very nice, just ordered one in the same colour. While I was at it, I also ordered a Paili A6565 and an 856. I wasn't able to find one like the black aluminium "Elegant" you posted back in February (edit: just did, when I searched for Wing Sung, not Paili. Doh!). The heavily chamfered section looks as though it could be uncomfortable. How did you find it to write with?

[Mech-for-i]

9 hours ago, garyc said:

 

That looks very nice, just ordered one in the same colour. While I was at it, I also ordered a Paili A6565 and an 856. I wasn't able to find one like the black aluminium "Elegant" you posted back in February (edit: just did, when I searched for Wing Sung, not Paili. Doh!). The heavily chamfered section looks as though it could be uncomfortable. How did you find it to write with?

 

it actually hold more comfortable than it looks, its a triangular profiled with fat round off edge so your fingers kind of naturally fall into place so to speak , mine come with a rather mediocre nib ad I switch it out for a TheBai XXF

[Matt Cave]

On 10/13/2020 at 3:11 AM, Mech-for-i said:

I was researching some pen for an elderly friend with history of issue with arthritis & CTS , and guess what I did find a somewhat OK pen for him , MUMO is a designer brand and they had fairly new ( just a couple months old ) fountain pen with a no.5 Schmidt nib but a fat fat barre; and cap ( 16mm barrel aka the same as Jinhao 159 but this pen is less tapered )

 

Hi Everyone - I've seen these pens on Aliexpress, just wondering if anyone has seen & used them - are they any good & worth the price? I love wood so I'm very tempted to check these out. Appreciate any thoughts

Thanks for your help, Matt

[Mech-for-i]

On 10/12/2021 at 8:14 AM, Matt Cave said:

Hi Everyone - I've seen these pens on Aliexpress, just wondering if anyone has seen & used them - are they any good & worth the price? I love wood so I'm very tempted to check these out. Appreciate any thoughts

Thanks for your help, Matt

 

A bit late, but I've handle and write with the pen , its OK , finish is not the best, not the worst, decent I shall say, but the nib is grossly out of proportion with the fat stubby barrel / section combo and the cap snap on with a thum .. am not sure but the wood look like just sanded and polished but not waxed / lacquered / oiled at all , that's what my tactile feels , is it worth it, well if you are after that rather , shall I say unique styling , yeah, then kind of , but there are IMHO better value in buying say Jinhao 9056, 9036. The pen itself is a styling exercise and should be viewed upon that .. 

[Matt Cave]

8 minutes ago, Mech-for-i said:

 

A bit late, but I've handle and write with the pen , its OK , finish is not the best, not the worst, decent I shall say, but the nib is grossly out of proportion with the fat stubby barrel / section combo and the cap snap on with a thum .. am not sure but the wood look like just sanded and polished but not waxed / lacquered / oiled at all , that's what my tactile feels , is it worth it, well if you are after that rather , shall I say unique styling , yeah, then kind of , but there are IMHO better value in buying say Jinhao 9056, 9036. The pen itself is a styling exercise and should be viewed upon that .. 

Fantastic thanks for that info, I really appreciate it. I'll look into those Jinhaos

[Mech-for-i]

Today I present to you guys the humble, minimalist, no gimmick Hero 25 , vintage late 1980's ( cataloged well into late 1990's ) , Hero's early 80's partnership with Parker , though end up not any production of Parker in China back then, do yield a bunch of off shoots both side and both ways and the Hero 25 is one of such ..

 

Measuring  133.5mm capped , 113.0mm uncapped, & 144.0mm posted , Section measure a comfortable 23.5mm or 20mm excluding the trim ring both end ; with a girth of 9.5mm on the cap with no taper , 9.5mm all the way down to middle on the barrel which then it start to taper sharp to 9.0mm then gently to 8.0mm at the end then rounded off. The pen weights in at ( empty ) 9.6g or 6.6g with cap off

 

 

Its of overall Aluminum construction except section in plastic, with branding and model name embossed on the cap lip , the pen utilize the trusted but old fashion fixed aerometric filling and as photo shows the nib / feed is of the type used by Vector it writes an FM and nib is firm but smooth. The finish on hand is the Dark Blue Preadolescent and it seems the only colour option but do not quote me on that, am just not so sure. In its days its reputed to be a good up market student pen

[AmandaW]

Does anyone know anything about this pen? I found it listed at Aliexpress with very little detail - it says Hero, but no model number.

 

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003015536138.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.52de8f6avpIqPx&algo_pvid=133ef3e8-f2bf-4ff5-9a85-77f10dbec3a9&algo_exp_id=133ef3e8-f2bf-4ff5-9a85-77f10dbec3a9-0&pdp_ext_f={"sku_id"%3A"12000023239242621"}

 

[Mech-for-i]

9 hours ago, AmandaW said:

Does anyone know anything about this pen? I found it listed at Aliexpress with very little detail - it says Hero, but no model number.

..

 

 

It looks to be the Hero 1502, an entry level ( non school , student nor vintage range ) general purpose fountain pen. Nothing particularly special with the model, typical metal ( likely brass ) construction and typical Hero spec C/C fill 

[VillersCotterets]

On 10/25/2021 at 4:18 AM, AmandaW said:

Does anyone know anything about this pen? I found it listed at Aliexpress with very little detail - it says Hero, but no model number.

 

Yes, it's likely a Hero 1502.

The Chinese market has been flooded with ordinary products revamped with "Morandi" colors following the success of the 2018 TV drama Story of Yanxi Palace (延禧攻略) that used a muted pastel-like palette in the introduction of every episode. 

About every product stereotypically associated with "housewives" in China were offered in that Italian painter's palette, from scrapbooking stickers to decorative vases.
 

 

[Mech-for-i]

Presenting here vintage mid to late 1990's { 古典文 ) Classic 309 , the brand was short lived but made some of the better pens during the period ; almost all are all metal construction with some having dubious decoration / styling. But the 309 is one nice pen to had , it can be had in the overall BRG ( British Racing Green ), Ferrari Red, Black, and a French National Flag combo of Blue on the cap + Red on the Barrel with white on the cap band with chrome masquerading. 

the 309 had an all metal construction with a no.5 FM nib with fair large round tipping, with the brand name ( in English ) and the logo stamped there , all the 309 had the same chased grid pattern and black lacquered metal section, C/C filling using the de facto Hero 2.6mm spec. The clip had a roller at the end and is firm. Almost all Classic pens write wet and smooth

 

Weigh : 39.4g , or 24.2 without Cap

Girth : 13mm on the barrel at the chrome trim ring taper to 11mm a the end of barrel , 12mm taper to 9mm ( not counting the flare out finger stop ) , Cap had a very slight taper from 13.5,, from the end of the large chromed pattern cap band to 13mm top of the cap

Length : 137.5mm Capped, 121.5mm including nib uncapped, 155mm posted

 

[Mech-for-i]

showing off the Hero 616s

 

The Hero 616s, befit its namesake is exactly the same , styling wise, size wise as the old vintage 616, and as well its predecessor 616Plus , so I would not bother to put the numbers here except for the weight which reads 21.5g or 14.5g uncapped ( mind that I had several of them and they do show variation on weight )

 

The difference 616s present is a factory standard Star Trek inland on the hood , a brass lacquered barrel , finish in 4 vintage colour choice of Lake Blue ( as shown ), Rice Bran Grey, Deep Burgundy, and Black and an extra Black all over ( as shown ), a gold plated clip and a colour matched top cap finale , it retain the renewed 616Plus integral C/C filling + single piece feed and now de facto 18.5 nib ( not the same as vintage 616 which use all different )