Sailor Love: Special Editions, Private Labels, Store Editions, Etc

[Preserved_Killick]

Sailor Pen Co. Ltd of Japan really gets me excited! I enjoy the quality of their pens and their nibs. Their resin materials, I find, are of wonderful quality. Notice the feeling of threading or unthreading the cap on a Pro Gear or a 1911 -- there is precision. And the nibs: consistently high QC, pleasant feedback, and so many options.

 

Okay, enough of that. Let's talk about the cool fact that Sailor's standard line of pens is complemented by special editions (like this or this or this), store edition pens (like this or this or this), and just odd stuff (this).

 

Which of such pens do people have? Where did you get them? What are the differences in the pen to the standard Sailor line?

 

I realize other threads (here or here) have dealt with facets of this question, but let's keep this to Sailor and include both Sailor-branded and private/store-label pens.

 

 

 

 

[ENewton]

I love my Sailor Pro Gear Slim but don't think there is anything especially distinctive about its plastic or threading. The body of the pen--a lightweight, purple plastic in the case of my pen--is for holding that delightful nib.

 

Obviously there are more expensive Sailor pens with fancy decoration, but I'll be interesting in learning whether there is some relatively modest price point at which the quality of the plastic and the threading becomes noticeably nicer than on the basic Pro Gear Slim.

[Tseg]

I saw a video if you shine your iPhone light into a Montblanc cap the black resin actually glows red as it is transparent. My Sailor Pro Gear KoP also glows the same dark crimson red. My Pelikan also does the same. Not sure if all black resin pens do the same? My Pilot Custom 823 Smoke does not (not true black resin). Does that qualify for odd stuff?

[whichwatch]

I picked up this Sailor 1911 L in super sparkly green finish at the LA Pen Show. It was apparently a special edition for the Japanese pen store "Penpoint". I'm afraid my pictures don't really capture the brilliance of the sparkly green material.

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7B98AC5495-59B1-4FF4-A3B1-518185EB78BE%7D/origpict/s1.png

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7BC36900B4-6F3F-46A7-A72C-C8D0915D3273%7D/origpict/s2.png

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7B5822F58C-51DD-4E41-80D1-C2BF7648E8A1%7D/origpict/s3.png

[Preserved_Killick]

 

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7BC36900B4-6F3F-46A7-A72C-C8D0915D3273%7D/origpict/s2.png

 

 

 

Where I come from, we'd call that pen color bass boat green.

[Algester]

on the hardware side they are all the same

the difference is only on color, like the Takashimaya's NT edition which is translucent white

do you like transparent glitter then Pen house's Realo line up of exclusive realos will be for you

Edited April 22, 2018 by Algester

[25_15_3]

on the hardware side they are all the same

 

The only pen that I can think of that varies is the Nagasawa Profit FL Realo. It has a metal section that doesn't exist on the regular line of Sailor Realos.

[Fatalpotato]

From price standpoint I do like that sailor pens are more equally priced throughout the world compared to platinum and pilot, which allows distributors to have their own special editions thanks to increased local sales. I've got a handful of sailors, which I made a review of one recently, that had single digit % price difference from what is listed on Rakuten or engeika. My only concern with the brand is their stupid filling systems but there are nice solutions out there for that too.

[Fatalpotato]

Also worth noting is that such special editions are available at not a very high price increase, which makes them lovely additions to a sailor pile collection imo 😁

Edited April 22, 2018 by Fatalpotato

[Kevan]

From price standpoint I do like that sailor pens are more equally priced throughout the world compared to platinum and pilot, which allows distributors to have their own special editions thanks to increased local sales. I've got a handful of sailors, which I made a review of one recently, that had single digit % price difference from what is listed on Rakuten or engeika. My only concern with the brand is their stupid filling systems but there are nice solutions out there for that too.

 

I've heard more than one person complain about Sailor converters. Are they really that bad?

[NinthSphere]

 

I've heard more than one person complain about Sailor converters. Are they really that bad?

 

Capacity is the primary thing. Especially ridiculous when your company has such thirsty nibs as the Nagahara or even the music or zoom nibs. You would think they could manage something larger, at least for the piston or larger pens. Great pens otherwise.

[Fatalpotato]

I've heard more than one person complain about Sailor converters. Are they really that bad?

Ninthsphere covered basically the whole issue. If somehow they had 50% more volume I think they would be perfectly fine but as is they are really lacking for being the only proprietary converter allowed in otherwise awesome pens

[Tseg]

Ninthsphere covered basically the whole issue. If somehow they had 50% more volume I think they would be perfectly fine but as is they are really lacking for being the only proprietary converter allowed in otherwise awesome pens

 

Their cartridges have 50% more volume you are looking for. When I travel with my KoP Broad I usually do cartridges and it works well. At home I don't mind adding ink, in fact I prefer to add to the converter with a syringe to keep my nib clean... I could syringe a cartridge as well. I have not tried that yet as I prefer smaller capacities for the exact reason I like to change colors.

 

Long term, it is much easier to replace a cartridge than maintain/repair an integrated filling system.

 

The converter situation is a non-issue for me.

[Fatalpotato]

Their cartridges have 50% more volume you are looking for. When I travel with my KoP Broad I usually do cartridges and it works well. At home I don't mind adding ink, in fact I prefer to add to the converter with a syringe to keep my nib clean... I could syringe a cartridge as well. I have not tried that yet as I prefer smaller capacities for the exact reason I like to change colors.

 

Long term, it is much easier to replace a cartridge than maintain/repair an integrated filling system.

 

The converter situation is a non-issue for me.

Yeah when I know I have to take out a kop that's what I do as well but for a pen that asks the price of a kop(and otherwise deserves that price) these cheap tactics are really annoying because what sailor needs doing is not rocket science just build a decent converter

[Olya]

Sailors are great! The sparkly green above is stunning!

 

I find that the one closing mechanism that feels the best of all is on Sailor's Promenade model, and the Realos that have the slip & seal likely feel just as nice!

 

If you are on the lookout for a Sailor with a lush feeling closing mechanism, go for the Promenade

[Kevan]

Thanks for the clarification on the converter issue. After I posted yesterday I searched to see specific issues people had, and some mentioned that Sailor converters leaked, which I admit alarmed me a bit. I'm really attracted to that Anderson Pens special edition Pro Gear in Slate Blue, and I want to get one. I didn't want to deal with converter issues after buying it. But if it's just about capacity, I'm okay with that. I plan to get a MF nib, so it won't guzzle ink, and I change inks a lot anyway.

[Fatalpotato]

Thanks for the clarification on the converter issue. After I posted yesterday I searched to see specific issues people had, and some mentioned that Sailor converters leaked, which I admit alarmed me a bit. I'm really attracted to that Anderson Pens special edition Pro Gear in Slate Blue, and I want to get one. I didn't want to deal with converter issues after buying it. But if it's just about capacity, I'm okay with that. I plan to get a MF nib, so it won't guzzle ink, and I change inks a lot anyway.

A nice choice of color. Be aware that the mf is like a fine or probably closer to extra fine in non Japanese nibs. I've been using a kop for more than a year now and leakage has never been an issue for me, the build quality is top notch. Tbh a pen sized similar to 1911 wouldn't hold much more ink even if had piston filling but the same capacity in kop is a little absurd Imho.

[hellokloh]

I have three -- Pro Gear "Kingfisher" and "Blue Lagoon" and a BungBox Pro Gear Slim "Silent Night". They all write the same as the normal editions, but have different color schemes. I enjoy mine and find many of Sailor's more standard offerings a little boring. But in the end, I think it's mostly hype.

[Preserved_Killick]

Boring. Hype. Mere words.

 

But that Kingfisher defies description.

[hellokloh]

People seem to love or hate it. I've seen it described as "pen made of spare parts" and "OMG MUST HAVE"