Pilot Prera

[Cedar]

Only one wee, little bitty problem....now I want MORE of them, but of course, in a color that I like. I'm not a " medium blue" pen person and ivory is okay, but then I saw some pretty, pretty, light blue, pink and lime green Preras offered by Ujuku but only in a medium nib. AND, I'd like the con 50 converter, instead of the con 20. Will some one please offer this pen in some nice colors, with the nice converters, with a nice price (so I can afford more than one at a time?) and a finer nib than medium? Oh well, Christmas is coming and there still IS a Santa Claus, isn't there?

Cedar

 

I looked at jpens this a.m. and saw the Prera with a fine nib. Not the whole color range but saw the lime green, blue, and gray.

 

http://www.jpens.com/index.php?cPath=44_107

 

Thanks for the head up KCat. Much appreciated!

Cedar

 

[alexanderino]

What ink are you using? Have you tried rinsing it?

At first, I used the supplied Pilot Black cartridge. When it dried, it looked more like light grey. Yesterday, I rinsed out the pen and used Noodler's Ottoman Azure. Same skipping problem

 

Prera nib and feed pull out easily so you might want to give it a good cleaning.

Right. I'll pull it out and clean it out thoroughly. Having said that, the scratchy nib must indicate it's not properly set up.

 

Thanks for your help, Taki

[Immoteus]

I have a question for anyone who has dealt with Ujuku. What is the average wait for shipments? (From japan to your location)

[garyc]

I have a question for anyone who has dealt with Ujuku. What is the average wait for shipments? (From japan to your location)

About 5 days to the UK was my experience.

[pilgrim]

I have a question for anyone who has dealt with Ujuku. What is the average wait for shipments? (From japan to your location)

 

28. 10. - paid to ujuku through palpay

3. 11. - sent from japan

7. 11. - arrived to Ljubljana (slovenia) custom office

12. 11. - came to my door

 

[gds]

I have a question for anyone who has dealt with Ujuku. What is the average wait for shipments? (From japan to your location)

 

Sunday 28 October - Paid

Friday November 2 - Shipped from Japan

Wednesday November 7 - Delivered to Ireland

 

I was very happy with the service (and they sent the EMS tracking details without being asked, which was nice).

[Pengrump]

Paid October 11, 2007. Pen shipped October 19 and arrived here in Boston, Massachusetts on October 22. Didn't get a tracking number until I asked for one, a couple of days before the pen arrived. They were very nice when I asked. I had begun to worry, but learned that it can take a week or more for them to get a pen in stock if they don't have it.

[pilgrim]

@: Pengrump, gds, garyc, alexanderino and others ...

 

how much did you pay for taxes (VAT) and duty?

 

for 60 USD package from japan is 20 more (in my case) quite a lot, isn´t it?

Edited November 14, 2007 by pilgrim

[Immoteus]

Thank you all for your replies. Pengrump, I think I'm in a situation similar to yours. While they are professional and courteous, I do get worried about the time it takes to deliver the package. I'm hoping its sooner rather than later. (I have 5 pens that I'm waiting to try.)

 

@pilgrim i think 20 usd is standard for S&H for North America. What i did was order $xxx.xx of pens to offset the shipping.

Edited November 14, 2007 by Immoteus

[alexanderino]

I have a question for anyone who has dealt with Ujuku. What is the average wait for shipments? (From japan to your location)

Mine was paid on the 26^th of Oct; it was shipped on the 2^nd pf Nov, and arrived on the 6^th.

 

@: Pengrump, gds, garyc, alexanderino and others ...

 

how much did you pay for taxes (VAT) and duty?

Nothing, since it's under AUD 1000.

 

While they are professional and courteous, I do get worried about the time it takes to deliver the package. I'm hoping its sooner rather than later. (I have 5 pens that I'm waiting to try.)

You're better off using Ujuku's message board. Yamada-san monitors it, and is very prompt in responding.

[pilgrim]

just got my two preras (ivory and straight gray with M nibs).

 

first immpresion? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - SMALL,

 

even smaller than pel2xx.

 

like a micro pen almoust.

 

a bit dissapointed!?

(maybe because I have got some days ago rOtring 600)

 

OK, while they are very light, will be my pocket pens.

 

[KCat]

just got my two preras (ivory and straight gray with M nibs).

 

first immpresion? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - SMALL,

 

even smaller than pel2xx.

 

 

(sniffle)

 

Well, in all fairness, I did show it side-by-side with an M400 and give exact dimensions capped, posted, and unposted.

 

If'n you decide to sell at some point, I'm sure someone will take them off your hands. How is the medium nib? I only have the fine which is more of an XXF by my standards. I love it but do wonder how the medium would feel.

 

I like the gray. Keep that in mind if you ever want to sell at a slight discount. It will be "used" after all.

[tamburlaine]

I'd really be interested in seeing a side by side comparison of scanned written samples from a Prera fine and medium. Can anyone oblige?

 

I have a fine Prera, my brother has been expressing interest in the pen but says the nib is a bit too thin for his tastes. He does like a fine nib, but Prera's fine is just too fine, perhaps the medium is nearer a normal fine, or at least an XF...

 

Patrick

[Pengrump]

I just paid the shipping charge Ujuku charges for EMS to the US. Didn't get charged any customs duty. The only time I've been charged customs duty was on a pen from Pengallery in Malaysia that got sent by Fedex, and even then the Fedex fee for processing the customs charge was more than the charge itself.

 

I left a message on Yamada-san's message board and he replied the next day. He seemed to think I'd already gotten a tracking number, but I hadn't. That came later. All in all, I was okay with waiting for the pen, once I realized that it had been ordered and shipped out. Before I learned that was the case, I was pretty nervous. I'd buy from Ujuku again and wouldn't be so nervous now, knowing that the pen could be delayed for a couple of weeks.

 

(Of course, I was just thrilled when I got a Sesenta from Soundboy that arrived four days after I'd paid him. Now that was amazingly fast, even faster than my regular Japanese pen pusher Engeika (Taizo-san).

[pilgrim]

Well, in all fairness, I did show it side-by-side with an M400 and give exact dimensions capped, posted, and unposted.

I know, I know ...

but seeing is not the same as feeling and touching the pen.

 

Pilot prera M nib is much too fine for me,

 

about seeling preras I do not think at the moment.

We will see, the ivory maybe will turn to Christmas gift for 8 years old daughter

[CMaxx]

I hope it's not considered rude of me to post this in this thread, but I do have a brand new Prera, straight gray, with a medium nib for sale. It's still sealed in the bag inside the box. (You can see pics in my thread in the Marketplace.) I also have an extra CON-50 or two. PM me if you are interested.

 

CMaxx

[alexanderino]

I noticed my Prera's flow is rather stunted, and it skips when making a right-to-left downstroke.

Well, what do you know? I pulled out the nib and feed, then aligned the tines by eye. Also pushed them slightly upward, away from the feed. Now it writes like a charm! It’s closer to a western medium now, but I’m not complaining — saves me sending it back

 

Hope the ‘fix’ holds. I'll confirm tomorrow. Then it’s review time!

[garyc]

@: Pengrump, gds, garyc, alexanderino and others ...

 

how much did you pay for taxes (VAT) and duty?

 

for 60 USD package from Japan is 20 more (in my case) quite a lot, isn´t it?

I paid no import duty or vat, and I bought 2 pens at the same time - a Prera and a Lucina - postage was $1.50 more at $16.50.

 

Maybe I was just lucky. What is the limit meant to be before import tax kicks in?

[garyc]

I'd really be interested in seeing a side by side comparison of scanned written samples from a Prera fine and medium. Can anyone oblige?

 

I have a fine Prera, my brother has been expressing interest in the pen but says the nib is a bit too thin for his tastes. He does like a fine nib, but Prera's fine is just too fine, perhaps the medium is nearer a normal fine, or at least an XF...

 

Patrick

I'll see what I can do tonight: I also bought a Prera fine and found it a bit too, err, fine, so bought a medium as well. I also have a 78G M, Lucina F, Birdie F, VP F and Pluminix (school pen) with italic medium, plus a Cross Solo B (same or very similar nib as the Lucina as far as I can tell) just to give some comparison.

 

Of them all, I think the 78G M suits me best, but the Prera M is good too, plus it feels nicer in the hand and is a better looking pen IMHO. The VP F has a different character altogether, smooth and not needle sharp at all: I like it alot too. I keep looking for a Solo M but they are hard to find (at least, without paying 20 odd USD for postage, which is annoying).

[garyc]

I'd really be interested in seeing a side by side comparison of scanned written samples from a Prera fine and medium. Can anyone oblige?

 

I have a fine Prera, my brother has been expressing interest in the pen but says the nib is a bit too thin for his tastes. He does like a fine nib, but Prera's fine is just too fine, perhaps the medium is nearer a normal fine, or at least an XF...

 

Patrick

I'll see what I can do tonight: I also bought a Prera fine and found it a bit too, err, fine, so bought a medium as well. I also have a 78G M, Lucina F, Birdie F, VP F and Pluminix (school pen) with italic medium, plus a Cross Solo B (same or very similar nib as the Lucina as far as I can tell) just to give some comparison.

 

Of them all, I think the 78G M suits me best, but the Prera M is good too, plus it feels nicer in the hand and is a better looking pen IMHO. The VP F has a different character altogether, smooth and not needle sharp at all: I like it alot too. I keep looking for a Solo M but they are hard to find (at least, without paying 20 odd USD for postage, which is annoying).

Ok here is a sampler using the pens I mentioned, plus a Safari and Kultur for comparison, along with a close up of the Prera Medium (on the left) and Fine nibs.

(uh, except Photocbucket has resized these images down too much, I need an alternative ... lets try adding a close up crop from flickr..)

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r77/garyjc_photos/CRW_1163-2.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2065/2036928617_f68a71a8d9_b.jpg

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r77/garyjc_photos/CRW_1169.jpg

Edited November 16, 2007 by garyc