Lucky 659 (Wing Sung 659)

[Flounder]

Introduction
The Lucky 659 is an interesting and inexpensive Chinese copy of the Pilot 78G, which is itself an interesting and inexpensive Japanese fountain pen. These pens are new to me; I was first made aware of the Lucky’s existence in January, when AndWhoDisguisedAs flagged them up on FPN.

 

I’ve been using the 659 for almost a month now, so I hope the impressions I’ve gathered in that time are of some use. From the start, let me say living with the Lucky 659 is a mixed experience. It is not a pure clone of the Pilot 78G, as it loses some of its Japanese counterpart’s functionality, while gaining other features.

 

http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy19/flounder2009/Lucky%20659/Lucky%20659%20Pilot78G%20overview.jpg

 

Appearance & Design
There's no mistaking the Lucky 659's design cues; it's a close copy of Pilot's 78G. As well as (pointlessly?) reproducing the original red, black, green, and blue models, two new finishes are available, solid white and a demonstrator.

I couldn't see the point in buying a Chinese clone in one of the 78G's trims, as the original Pilot is both inexpensive and still readily available new. Pairing a white pen with gold trim is really not my cup of Oolong either, so I knew straight away that the demonstrator would be the one to hold my interest. It does - it looks great! I prefer it to the others because only the demonstrator comes in chrome trim, all the others ape Pilot's 78g gold trim. The cap, section and barrel are all completely clear, and even the feed is translucent.

 

http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy19/flounder2009/Lucky%20659/Lucky%20659%20cap%20transparency.jpg

 

It looks cool, modern, and with no gold in sight, unpretentious. The overall effect is far less stuffy than my green 78G.
There's a mish-mash of markings on this pen. The cap clip is marked 'LUCKY'. "WINGS" is written across the nib, which also retains the Pilot "SUPER QUALITY" and nib size stamping! The web address mentioned on the packaging is the only thing written in English. It leads nowhere, even using Tor.

 

After living with the pen for a few weeks now, I feel the chrome trim and unplated steel nib lend this demonstrator a far more unaffected look than the 78G's gold plated nib and - most especially - its painted-on gold cap bands. The one fly in the ointment is the naff generic white knob on the screw-type converter. I guess Wing Sung/ Lucky couldn't quite stretch to making up a clear batch just for the 659.

 

http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy19/flounder2009/Lucky%20659/Lucky%20659%20Pilot%2078G%20cap.jpg

 

Some pens make you feel a little self-conscious using them in public, but not this one. Overall, I'm impressed by the demonstrator 659's looks. It's a modern, unfussy take on the 78G's design.

 

Construction & Quality
I’ve been greatly impressed with the Lucky 659’s business end – or ends, as the pen comes with both a Fine and an Extra-Fine steel nib unit. The iridium on both nibs is fairly true to size marked, and they were set up to a high standard at the factory: good tine gap taper, well aligned tine tipping, and ground well enough to write smoothly at both high and low angles, with no skipping on any strokes. The F nib’s feed was not quite perfectly aligned ink-channel to nib slit, but it performed just as well as the EF’s perfectly aligned feed.

 

http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy19/flounder2009/Lucky%20659/Lucky%20659%20nibs%20feeds.jpg

 

I like a pen that’s resistant to drying out with the cap off. While I hardly ever need this functionality, it’s reassuring to have the option available. Using Diamine Presidential Blue in a centrally heated room, both the F and EF nibs started straight away after 5 minutes, and within the first two strokes after 10.

 

The nibs are definitely an aspect of the Lucky 659 I found equal in quality to my Pilot 78G, writing a dependable and consistent line. I did notice the same injection-moulding bubbles in their translucent feeds as Berghain54 has reported on FPN, though happily they proved just as reliable as the 78G’s feed.

 

http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy19/flounder2009/Lucky%20659/Lucky%20659%20Pilot%2078G%20sections.jpg

 

There’s not much sparing of blushes on a demonstrator like my 659; it’s the nature of a see-through pen to face the world “warts & all”. The wonky thickness of the barrel wall fairly jumps out at you from auction listings, and its whole internal cavity is canted over like the tower of Pisa.

 

http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy19/flounder2009/Lucky%20659/Lucky%20659%20Pilot%2078G%20barels.jpg

 

While the 659 cap, barrel and section do basically look the same external shape as the 78Gs, comparing all those parts to the 78G you can see differences in the way they were made, and these differences have some bearing on interchangability of parts.

 

For a start, the 659’s barrel is threaded all the way to its mouth, whereas the 78G’s leaves a short space after the threads. The 659’s barrel abuts a dedicated spacer ring on the section (only one spacer ring is included in the package – mine is stuck on the F section). This means that screwing a 659 barrel to the 78G section is a bit balky towards the end of travel. The 78G section has more threads too, though they’re the same diameter and pitch.

 

Less consequential is the hexagonal internal moulding of 659’s cap and barrel versus the 78G’s slightly quartic moulding, and the depth of the barrel end dimple.

 

The cap posts properly, is well made, and with its metal clip, simple integrated inner cap construction and screw mechanism ought to be reliable enough. While there’s no visible difference between the cap threads I could discern, the Lucky’s feel slightly sharper when the thumb rests against them as you write compared to the 78G’s.

 

When weighing the positive and negative aspects of the 659, the shrieking, snorting elephant stomping around this section of the review has to be the omission of a cartridge piercer (more on that below). It’s highly impressive that both nibs write so smoothly with such fine tipping, but the inability to open fresh cartridges by itself lets an otherwise great pen down somewhat, I feel.

 

Weight & Dimensions

136mm capped; 122mm from tip of the nib to the end of the barrel; 151mm posted.

The section is 10mm diameter at its widest, and at 22mm long there is space for your fingers to spread out, if you favour a more relaxed grip. Although a slim & small pen, like the 78G the Lucky offers more section space than a lot of larger pens.

 

Like the 78G, the Lucky 659 is a light pen. I'm not sure how accurate my digital scales can be, but with both pens dry and without converters, the 78G consistently read a gram lighter, with the disparity being in the caps – 4 grams to the Lucky’s 5. The section and barrel were the same at 2 and 3 grams respectively.

 

I hope someone finds these figures useful. Personally speaking, I’ve noticed that I seldom gain much sense of how well a pen suits from reading its measurements. I’ve really no idea why that’s the case, but there you have it! Fountain pens are curious tools, a millimetre here or there seems to make a disproportionate difference to the way they feel in the hand.

 

Filling System & Maintenance

Most peculiar!

The Lucky 659 is emphatically 100% incompatible with international standard cartridges or converters, owing to its greater cartridge nipple diameter. Let me say that out the gate – this pen cannot use long or short international standard carts.

The 659's cartridge nipple is compatible in diameter with a Pilot ink cartridge. That's where the similarities end. The pilot cartridge pens I've handled all have an integrated cartridge piercer, in the form of a prong-like extension of the shaft the cart mates with. In fact, in taking the macro shots for this review, I was reminded that Pilot’s excellent cartridge capillary-flow channels are also present on the 78G’s cartridge piercer. For a cartridge pen, the 78G really has a lot going on where it counts.

 

Not so the Lucky 659! Its cartridge nipple barely extends above the feed, and it meets the cartridge perpendicularly across the entire lip. I can't see how this arrangement could ever actually pierce a fresh cartridge.

 

http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy19/flounder2009/Lucky%20659/Lucky%20659%20Pilot%2078G%20cart%20piercer.jpg

 

Furthermore, the 659 comes with two complete sections, one containing a fine nib, the other an extra-fine. ONLY my fine section allows pre-pierced Pilot cartridges to reach the cart nipple, where they will post rather shallowly. The other is slightly too skinny! I may experiment on the EF section with dry heat to open up the tolerance a little.

 

Surprisingly, feed priming from dry with a pre-pierced Pilot cart (filled with the same Diamine ink I used in the converter, to keep things in ceteris paribus) was uneventful. After a minute of standing the pen nib-down, the F nib was writing. While the mating area is fairly shallow, it did prove ink-tight; the flow of Diamine was perfectly metered, with exactly the same wetness as using the converter.

 

Neither the F nor EF sections had a large enough internal circumference to accept a Pilot 78G squeeze converter. The converter included free with the 659 is a bit of an oddity. It narrows both internally and externally at a point 1.5cm from the cartridge nipple.

 

This allows it to clear the narrow section, and also sacrifices space to an enormous, rivet shaped steel agitator within the converter (in fairness, the agitator does its job very well). Due to the piston seal stopping so short of the feed, it does take 3 cycles to completely exchange air for ink. Looking at photos of the con-50 converter - I don’t have one to compare it to - it's a close match, apart from the conspicuously generic looking piston knob.

 

http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy19/flounder2009/Lucky%20659/Lucky%20659%20converter.jpg

 

It would be reassuring if someone with a con-50 could check whether it fits the 659 (the 659 converter does for the 78G), otherwise the longevity of its essentially proprietary converter is a concern. I tried spare parts from a couple of different international standard converters, without success; the shaft thread pitch was different, the seal stake was too deep, the collar wouldn’t clear the knob, and so on.

 

http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy19/flounder2009/Lucky%20659/Lucky%20659%20converter2.jpg

 

On the plus side, the nib & transparent feed are friction fit, and are both pretty easy to remove for cleaning a much neglected pen.

 

So... what to think? At first glance of the eBay listings, my first impression was that it must take international carts, as a converter-equipped Chinese clone. After all, look at all the Parker Sonnet clones, or those bafflingly popular Lamy Safari clones. Or, more dramatically, some nefarious agent of the Celestial Empire had swiped the plans for the Euro version of the 78G under Pilot's very noses, cackling maniacally under his hanfu.

Nope - what we have here is an odd design that takes away much of a cartridge pen’s functionality, to no especial advantage. In my opinion, the 659 has to score pretty poorly for filling and maintenance.

 

Cost & Value

On to the unsavoury topic of vulgar pecuniary concerns!

 

There are a few different eBay vendors selling the 659, all overseas. I went with jewelrymathematics. I’ve bought from them before without issue, and they’ve answer questions quite well in the past.

 

Jewelrymathematics lists the 659 as an inexpensive 9USD buy-it-now item, with the option to make an offer. I made a sportsmanlike offer, which was sportingly accepted, so I’ll be a good sport and demure on the exact price paid. As the Lucky was an unknown quantity, my offer was a few degrees south of the going rate for a genuine Pilot 78G.

 

Ordering from abroad proved to be no inconvenience as it happens - the excellent blister packaging both protects the pen very well, and even encased in bubble wrap, was small enough to fit straight through a standard letterbox.

 

As for value, at this price point I’ve no buyer’s remorse – you can certainly do a lot worse. At this price point, there are plenty of Chinese cheapies with functional cartridge piercers, but naff poorly sealing snap caps, flow issues, flaking paint and so on. The Lucky 659 gives a better writing experience for the price paid.

 

Conclusions

J’approve!

If you're exclusively a bottled ink user I would recommend the Lucky 659, in spite of its quirks and outright flaws. To me though, the 659's value is in its parts. The excellent nib, feed and cap will be used to spruce up my 78G. If you're reading this, Lucky, a few steel Pilot no.5 nibs for my CH92 would be great.

 

http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy19/flounder2009/Lucky%20659/Pilot78G%20with%20Lucky%20Cap.jpg

 

J’accuse!

Would I recommend one of these over the 78G? No.

 

For me, the option to use cartridges outweighs the 659's better looks and spare nib. Based solely on my experience of one example, I would recommend this over the similarly priced Platinum Preppy. The Lucky’s cap is doubly superior, with a proper metal clip and a more robust cap retention design (screw on instead of plastic snap-cap). It also accepted non-proprietary ink without fuss, and both nibs wrote a consistent line reliably.

Edited March 1, 2016 by Flounder

[mehandiratta]

Brilliant review..

I agree jewelrymathematics is amazing vendor

[visvamitra]

Stunning review.

[hellokloh]

I also bought mine from jewelrymathematics -- it was here (California) less than a week from when I ordered it. Kind of amazing!

 

Have you tried converting yours to an eyedropper? I've been using mine as an eyedropper for about a week and a half. I really liked the demonstrator-ness of it, so I thought I'd take advantage of it and look at my ink sloshing around!

[Flounder]

  On 3/1/2016 at 9:14 PM, hellokloh said:

I also bought mine from jewelrymathematics -- it was here (California) less than a week from when I ordered it. Kind of amazing!

 

Have you tried converting yours to an eyedropper? I've been using mine as an eyedropper for about a week and a half. I really liked the demonstrator-ness of it, so I thought I'd take advantage of it and look at my ink sloshing around!

 

Nope, I've no interest in eyedroppers at all unfortunately! How have your nibs been?

[truthpil]

Thanks for the superb and thorough review flounder!! An enjoyable read.

 

In China real 78g's are only $1-2 more than the Lucky so now I know to just stick with the faithful Pilot pens.

 

The proprietary converter and lack of a cartridge piercer really does do this pen in, although I'm sure replacement converters will be available on ebay (jewelrymathematics will probably sell them if requested, seeing as he already sells several different sizes of Hero converters).

 

Thanks again!

[scrivelry]

Nice review!

 

I have one, nothing intelligent to add here except that in my case I think what is keeping the cartridge from fitting properly into the EF section is actually the feed diameter.

 

When I took this apart to look at it the nib went flying off and I've been looking for it for the last two days... I suspect I will find it in the printer as just about everything finds its way into my printer, but have not found it yet. When I do, I am going to see if that Extra Fine nib fits on the Pilot Plumix, whose stub has gone visiting elsewhere...

[hellokloh]

  On 3/1/2016 at 9:16 PM, Flounder said:

 

Nope, I've no interest in eyedroppers at all unfortunately! How have your nibs been?

 

My nibs have been great. The F writes closer to the Metro's M, but the EF is pretty close to the Penmanship, albeit really weirdly smooth.

 

Here's a writing sample: http://www.raccoonstar.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/img_3146.jpg (I can't figure out how to resize the picture in a reply... derp.)

[TassoBarbasso]

Mmmmmh.... I don't know, I keep reading good reviews of these Chinese clones. From my point of view, these are basically copies of other pens, exploiting other people's ingenuity and creativity. I find it unethical to buy them, and I don't think we should be advertising (and thereby promoting) copying behaviour on the forums. But hey, this might be a case of professional bias, since I'm a lecturer at university and can't stand students who copy

[Aramchek]

I'm tempted - even though I've yet again decided not to buy any more pens for a while, it is cheap, sounds like it is pretty good, and I've a thing for demonstrators.

 

The branding on it is a bit confusing though - Wing Sung / Lucky from Hero... WS and Lucky where apparently two brands from the same maker but my experience has been that WS pens have typically been far better quality (but less blingy). It seems likely that Hero bought WS or at least some assets - I've at least one Hero pen that uses parts (nib, feed, and section) that appear identical to several WS pens.

 

I guess I'm glad that the Wing Sung brand has returned, less so about the brand Lucky!

[abdcolvinian]

Wow Nice review , I have never tried a Wing Sung though I do possess a Wing Sung Nib .

[Tas]

Lovely, thorough review. Thank you !

[Frozz]

very clean throughout nice review ... i waited long for this review, with that said i have already bought 1 as i can't wait for your review

 

Anyway wan't planning to use it from the start as some information from flounder himself to me, makes me render it not a good choice for daily writing. I use it for demonstration purpose only, inked once shake a little took a bunch of photos and now is in my transparent pen tray demonstrator collection. i can safely say i got a 78g demonstrator now ... well sort of i guess

 

on a side note i first notice jewelmath's posting but thought the price let's put as "could do better and be more attractive", offered mine but got no reply so i proceed and got mine from Tao Bao Wang at a much better price.

[Frank66]

Flounder,

 

Thanks for your inept review ..... I have seen the Lucky 659 (Wing Sung 659) for a while now. As soon as I saw your review, I went ahead and ordered mine with the silver clip, and it is now on it's way.

The Wing Sung 659 looks like a demonstrator 78G, I like demonstrators. I used to adore my 78Gs so much, they write great, I have two in F, unfortunately I have not used them for a while now. The reason is because I had an accident, I was taking notes in a lecture with the 78G, as soon as the lecturer finished, we started clapping our hands, I did so with the pen in my hand, the ink leaked all over me, it was so funny... I just hope the Lucky 659 (Wing Sung 659) behaves better in that respect, believe me, I will not try to test it likewise again...

Other Wing Sung I have are: Wing Sung 500 (light, excellent EDC pen, seldom used, writes F), Wing Sung 810 (always inked in violet for side notes), Wing Sung 2002 (large metal gold trim, but writes excellent, the gold color may thwart some people off though, and thus is seldom used), plastic Wing Sung 30 (not used, transferred its converter to a Waterman Phileas). The only Hero Wing Sung I have not ever inked and I was disappointed as soon as I received it was the humongous Hero Wing Sung 590, this pen was not good for my taste, sorry... The rest of the Wing Sung I have though are decent pens!

Again thanks for your inept review Flounder.

Regards

Photios

Edited March 5, 2016 by Frank66

[Flounder]

  On 3/5/2016 at 8:50 AM, Frank66 said:

Flounder,

 

Thanks for your inept review ..... I have seen the Lucky 659 (Wing Sung 659) for a while now. As soon as I saw your review, I went ahead and ordered mine with the silver clip, and it is now on it's way.

The Wing Sung 659 looks like a demonstrator 78G, I like demonstrators. I used to adore my 78Gs so much, they write great, I have two in F, unfortunately I have not used them for a while now. The reason is because I had an accident, I was taking notes in a lecture with the 78G, as soon as the lecturer finished, we started clapping our hands, I did so with the pen in my hand, the ink leaked all over me, it was so funny... I just hope the Lucky 659 (Wing Sung 659) behaves better in that respect, believe me, I will not try to test it likewise again...

Other Wing Sung I have are: Wing Sung 500 (light, excellent EDC pen, seldom used, writes F), Wing Sung 810 (always inked in violet for side notes), Wing Sung 2002 (large metal gold trim, but writes exvellent, the gold color may thwart some people off though, and thus is seldom used), plastic WIng Sung 30 (not used, transfered its converter to a Waterman Phileas). The only Hero Wing Sung I have not ever inked and I was disappointed as soon as I received it was the humongous Hero Wing Sung 590, this pen was not good for my taste, sorry... The rest of the Wing Sung I have though are decent pens!

Again thanks for your indept review Flounder.

Regards

Photios

 

That must have been an excellent lecturer!

 

We never used to clap at the end of lectures at uni. Sometimes people would "stage yawn" as a hint the hour was up. Once, a particularly fiery lecturer lost his cool in a major way, because a guy theatrically groaned, as if the speaker's interminable twaddle was sending him into death-throes.

 

I forgot about the 590, it is the only other Wing Sung I own.

[scrivelry]

My earlier comment about the feed being the problem in fitting in the converter was wrong - please disregard.

 

My converter does not seem to seat too enthusiastically but the whole shebang does work fairly well - my recurring problem is that I write for a while and then I have to push ink up with the converter - I think this might be because I did not flush properly before using (too excited) and I will do that before the next time I fill it to see if that helps.

 

Currently I have a very pink J Herbin ink in it, and an orange one will probably come next. I don't think I'm bothered about the lack of the cart piercer, even if I should be - without it the pen does not really do all the things one would expect, after all - but I have the demonstrator, and as such, I would far rather use the clear converter than a cartridge.

 

My EF nib is still missing - in this not exactly minimalist room it may be missing for years before it turns up - but the fine is working well for me and I may order a second one. I have not really decided yet.

[Frank66]

Hi Flounder and fellow forum members, Re: Lucky Wing Sung 659

It has been a couple of weeks now that I have received my Lucky 659 (Wing Sung 659). After the initial rinse with warm soap water and inking it with home-made teal ink, I put it to immediate use. (Fig 1) Here are few of my initial impressions:

- The F nib writes smooth and is finer than a Japanese fine to me, or a western extra-fine nib. I like the F nib more than the EF nib supplied also with the pen, and it is the F nib exclusively that I use with this pen. The EF nib is too needle-point for my liking, and it digs even in the most finest fountain-pen-friendly paper that I have. I found the EF nib not very useful for me, I will have to see if I can "transplant" it in some other pen or modify it to become a little broader. (Fig 2)

- As a demonstrator 78G look-alike, it is a very likable pen. I usually rotate it with my other demonstrator TWSBI Eco pen. I would describe the Lucky Wing Sung 659 as a slim TWSBI demonstrator. (Fig 3)

- I agree with Flounder's review, that you can get a tiny bit of ink moisture oozing inside the pen cap. In all honestly, it is not a lot or too annoying at all, and it is easy to clean with a Q-tip. It seems more like ink moisture than ink droplets that form from shaking the pen, I mean my impression is that these tiny droplets form inside the cap even if the pen is left undisturbed. (Fig 4)

- What I mostly do not like about the pen, is the white turning knob of the ink converter, which departs from the whole demonstrator image of the pen and I find it aesthetically a little displeasing. I tried switching the turning knob or the whole converter with other converters with a more translucent turning knob, but with no success. (Figs 5.1 - 5.3)

- Final thing, I do not know if this is only with my own pen, but when cap is screwed on the pen barrel, the whole pen seems a little crooked. This could be attributed to the pitch of the internal threads of the cap. (Fig 6)

- Please find below a writing sample with the pen used capped. Please note that the white turning knob of the converter does not appear too obvious at all here against the white background of the paper surface. (Fig 7)

Overall impression, thumps up, a very nice experience with a smooth writing demonstrator pen with the F nib. It would be a great pen for a student to carry to school, as it writes very smoothly and reliably thin lines, great for mathematics and physics formulas, it is relatively inexpensive, thus you do not care much if you drop it or lose it, plus you can see when you are near to running out of ink. For the rest of us who have finished school, I find it is a great pen for note-taking, especially for people like me that prefer extra-fine nibs. I currently like carrying my Lucky Wing Sung 659 along with my larger TWSBI Eco.

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah12/phzervas/C6EB7D96-158D-4694-81C1-2D7374105075_zps00jzkbqx.jpg

Fig 1. Lucky Wing Sung 659 fountain pen.

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah12/phzervas/56379CC4-C930-4F12-8B19-7134212BBCBF_zpsbqdbuvzu.jpg

Fig 2. The EF nib that comes with the pen was too needle point to put into comfortable writing use. (sorry the picture is quite out of focus)

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah12/phzervas/E4B8E77E-FEF3-4467-8253-3057DEA65461_zps3pis5ahc.jpg

Fig 3. The Lucky Wing Sung 659 vis-a-vis my TWSBI Eco fountain pen.

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah12/phzervas/85C88EC6-CAEE-46EE-A688-1C644ED60CED_zpsztm5p1qx.jpg

Fig 4. Ink droplets forming inside the transparent cap of the Lucky Wing Sung 659.

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah12/phzervas/3107CC60-8B7F-49C2-8B81-E394AD8992EC_zpsnejpnmvq.jpg

Fig 5.1 White opaque color of the turning knob of the Lucky Wing Sung 659 contradicts with the remaining demonstrator impression of the rest of the pen.

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah12/phzervas/2998F6D1-3ED7-4350-8773-B7477CAD6D3E_zpsfdc5qmmt.jpg

Fig 5.2 It would be nice if the turning knob of the pen converter was made of a more translucent plastic as in the pictured converter above.

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah12/phzervas/BC26C07B-78D2-4661-8097-3E7933B37575_zpsfpwit3lu.jpg

Fig 5.3 The more translucent plastic turning knob of this Jinhao 159 fude fountain pen converter would probably better complement the demonstrator appearance of the Lucky Wing Sung 659.

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah12/phzervas/F0B3839F-7CD7-4776-A9A1-C6CC24E1EA87_zpsdmhxz3it.jpg

Fig 6. When the cap is screwed onto the barrel, the pen appears a little crooked. This could be attributed to the machining of the internal threads of the cap. Note the ink droplets left uncleaned inside the cap, where they have been forming for quite a few days of daily carrying the pen in my pockets. It is very easy to clean them with a Q-tip.

http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah12/phzervas/CE19D506-A429-4C74-A63B-F61BC4D2985F_zpskxm72atu.jpg

Fig 7. Writing sample with the Lucky Wing Sung 659 (as this is a relatively medium size pen, writing was done with the pen capped). Please note that the white turning knob of the converter does not appear too obvious at all here against the white background of the paper surface. The ink is a home-made ink recipe for teal ink, although in the photograph it appears more like a blue-black ink.

Thanks.

Edited March 26, 2016 by Frank66

[Dickkooty2]

A great review. I am forewarned on the international cart question. But I am a bottle of ink kind of guy anyway.

 

Just ordered the demonstrator. I have a green 78 Pilot with a stubby M that writes beautifully. I got the Lucky Wing Sung (sounds like a character in a film noir detective flick) because I love the Gentle Giant Wing Sung with a 2.1 nib and a liked the look of the demonstrator.

 

I look forward to the mail!

[estie1948]

Excellent and very thorough review! Thank you.

 

-David (Estie).

[truthpil]

  On 3/2/2016 at 1:58 PM, Aramchek said:

 

 

The branding on it is a bit confusing though - Wing Sung / Lucky from Hero... WS and Lucky where apparently two brands from the same maker but my experience has been that WS pens have typically been far better quality (but less blingy). It seems likely that Hero bought WS or at least some assets - I've at least one Hero pen that uses parts (nib, feed, and section) that appear identical to several WS pens.

 

 

Wing Sung is the Cantonese pronunciation of the Chinese word for "hero." On the mainland, the Mandarin pronunciation Ying Xiong is also put on labels of Hero products. The multiple languages get confusing, but it's all one brand.