Moonman M600S: Moonman #6 Nib, New Colors, Cheaper

[MadAsAHatter]

I just got my Moonman 600s in yesterday. I got the teal one. Wow is this a great looking pen, the online pictures don't do it any justice. When you catch it in the light it has a really nice shimmer to it. The nib writes really very smooth. The converter it came with has a spring agitator in it which throws me off. Every so often I can feel it move around when writing and it makes me think something is loose.

[drathbun]

Sorry. My bad. I saw the teal color and thought it was the S.

[richardandtracy]

I got my Teal one yesterday too. I was expecting a pen similar in size to the Parker Duofold International, but it's a Centennial size instead. I think the International is more elegantly proportioned, but the Centennial is a nicer size.

 

My first impressions are favourable. I have a Jinhao medium nib, and the Moonman fine was in the package too. Will use it for a while to make an assessment.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[almoore]

I just got my Moonman 600s in yesterday. I got the teal one. Wow is this a great looking pen, the online pictures don't do it any justice. When you catch it in the light it has a really nice shimmer to it. The nib writes really very smooth. The converter it came with has a spring agitator in it which throws me off. Every so often I can feel it move around when writing and it makes me think something is loose.

 

 

The agitator used to bother me but after a while you stop noticing it, if it carries on being a nuisance then the only solution is to replace the converter.

 

I got mine yesterday; odd thing really mine arrived with a Jin Hao nib installed and Moonman nib separate.

 

Al

[taike]

 

Now I kinda wish I had gotten a brown one as well. This is a really well made pen. I've put my take here.

[Aysedasi]

My 'dark red' version arrived this morning. It is actually a rather good looking brown. I bought it from pens-world on eBay. Took 10 days to get here in the UK. It arrived in just bubblewrap (but lots of it). No box or pouch (not that I'm fussed), just a compliment slip offering me discounts if I buy again from them - on Amazon. I bought the 0.7mm medium nib which I'm pleased to say does write a full medium line (I'm put off of many of these pens as they only offer measly fine nibs). So far, impressed with the finish and the writing experience and for that price, what's not to like?!

[drathbun]

 

Now I kinda wish I had gotten a brown one as well. This is a really well made pen. I've put my take here.

 

Excellent review as always EDC! I concur with all of your observations. I have three Kaigelu 316's and a Moonman M600 (brown checkerboard) and my teal M600S is my favourite of the lot.

 

I did an unboxing and first impression video of my M600S and inked it with J. Herbin Emerald of Chivor.

 

 

Then I swapped some nibs around to get my M600 that came with a Schmidt nib to a Moonman two-tone fine nib. The Schmidt nib is one of the reasons the M600 it is double the price of the M600S. The other reason is the checkerboard acrylic pattern. I moved the two-tone Moonman nib from my M6 to the M600 and the plain steel Moonman nib from my Moonman C1 to the M6. My C1 has a Fuliwen Medium nib which suits me better on that eyedropper.

 

[A Smug Dill]

I haven't inked my new brown M600S yet, but if the nib writes anything like the F nib on the Moonman M6 I received in the same shipment yesterday, I'd be delighted! I put J.Herbin Lie de Thé ink in the M6, and that F nib lays down such narrow lines that are comparable to "Japanese Fine" nibs.

[taike]

 

[snip}

 

I did an unboxing and first impression video of my M600S and inked it with J. Herbin Emerald of Chivor.

 

[snip]

 

Then I swapped some nibs around to get my M600 that came with a Schmidt nib to a Moonman two-tone fine nib. The Schmidt nib is one of the reasons the M600 it is double the price of the M600S. The other reason is the checkerboard acrylic pattern. I moved the two-tone Moonman nib from my M6 to the M600 and the plain steel Moonman nib from my Moonman C1 to the M6. My C1 has a Fuliwen Medium nib which suits me better on that eyedropper.

 

[snip]

 

Thank you. Right back at you. I keep an eye out for your videos. The Visconti-PenBBS head-to-head is a great perspective.

 

I went with Robert Oster Taiwan Blue because... you got there first with the most natural choice! Happily, the RO turns out to be a nice match too.

 

I think the Schmidt people may be gnashing their teeth at this point to see folks swapping their nibs out for Chinese competitors. I was curious to see if the Moonman nib played well with the Schmidt feed. It appears that it does!

 

It's also good to see that Moonman nib units disassemble easily for everyone. PenBBS is more hit or miss for that. The one in my PenBBS 352 wouldn't come apart for love or money (so far).

[taike]

I haven't inked my new brown M600S yet, but if the nib writes anything like the F nib on the Moonman M6 I received in the same shipment yesterday, I'd be delighted! I put J.Herbin Lie de Thé ink in the M6, and that F nib lays down such narrow lines that are comparable to "Japanese Fine" nibs.

 

 

 

These are sold out where I buy on Taobao. Guess I'll have to wait for the next batch.

[Thymen]

I ordered a brown and a teal one. They are on their way, but it may take a while before they arrive.

 

I already have a brown marbled Parker Centennial Duofold Mk I, like the size and looks of it. If these Moonmans are anything like it I'll be happy!

[sansenri]

so, EsyBuy sent me a new M600s in teal and now it looks nice (perfectly straight ).

I'll post some photos, but in the meantime I have to report EsyBuy's correct behaviour and prompt action to accept the (evident) defect and accept to send a replacement, without requesting to send back the defected item.

The new pen mounts a fude nib and a spare Moonman fine is included in the nice paper box they used (this time) to ship the pen in.

Sally (at EsyBuy) guided the whole process and thanks goes to her for solving my problem rapidly.

Edited July 9, 2019 by sansenri

[Thymen]

I received my M600S pens today as well.

 

See: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/331278-what-chinese-pens-are-you-using-today-2018-2019/?p=4226695

[MuddyWaters]

I got my pen today as well. My first impression was disappointment to be honest. I was expecting the pen to be heavier in the hand and it feels a little cheaper than I expected.

 

When writing, I found the pen to be too back heavy to be comfortable (the section system is very light). The nib though pretty and smooth was a bit dry and wide/imprecise. Would I spend another $25-30 on this pen? Likely not.

 

I will continue to wait for the next in cue: wing sung 618.

[A Smug Dill]

The M600 is a ~US$20 pen (although I paid US$23+GST), and cheaper than its checkboard model siblings from yesteryear. I'm happy that it looks lovely enough, but was expecting it to feel somewhat cheap. There was a recent FPN thread asking whether it's "still" all about the nib when it comes to fountain pens; to me, if I'm buying Chinese pens for US$20 because they look good, the compromises to what makes a good pen are expected, as in this case. Some pens do punch well above their weight for the asking prices, in terms of construction quality, user experience and writing performance; they are delightful when I chance upon them, but not because I deserved or expected better for my spend.

 

I want to like the M600, but writing with it is just not that enjoyable, and I can't pinpoint the reason. It has supposedly an identical nib as in the Moonman M6 I bought for the same price and received in the same shipment, but while both my fiancée and I immediately felt in love with how the M6 handles, the M600 is just... usable in the way I feel a pen provided for customers to use in a bank or posts office is usable. Back-heaviness is not part of that, since I don't generally post caps on pens when writing.

 

I haven't had the pen long enough to know whether the cap seals well enought to prevent the nib and feed from drying out when unused and undisturbed for a few weeks. If it does, then I'll call the M600 a pretty and competently made fountain pen that I think is worth US$20, but just not worthy of being a "great" pen or recommendable pen in my book.

 

Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike the M600 enough to desist from ordering the blue one as well when it showed up at a price of less thanA$27, after I had firsthand user experience with my brown M600. I'm not expecting to get "luckier" with the performance of the blue one, as if what I find with the brown one is an anomaly.

[MuddyWaters]

Not sure why you would buy another after what you have described but that is your choice.

 

I think the nib has a little baby's bottom and with the slight back heaviness it is not ideal to hold in a relaxed fashion.

 

I would not say that I "deserved" better. I knew these types of things is a gamble. If someone asked me though for beginner pen suggestions in the price range, this isn't really a game changer at all. I would still suggest the metropolitan, loom, even safari. Wing sung makes cheaper pens that are more comfortable to write with and better performers.

[A Smug Dill]

Not sure why you would buy another after what you have described but that is your choice.

 

It looks pretty.

 

I'm the sort of fountain pen enthusiast and "collector" who'd buy three (out of five) different colours of the M100, and since then, all four colours of the M200 on the same order, because they look pretty. I don't like the standard F nibs on PenBBS pens that much, but I just bought another -- 308-11SF ('Purple Cloud') -- because it looks pretty.

 

It's not as if I needed another ten or so pens with which to write, when I already have more than a couple of hundred other pens (both cheaper ones and more expensive ones). A pen that is pretty and writes competently enough forA$30 or so (or less!) is OK by me. I also have a thing about matching pens to inks by colour, so having another blue/teal pen wouldn't go astray. That is why effective sealing by the cap is as important to me as nib performance; I expect the pens that don't house my favourite nibs to just sit unused and undisturbed most of the time, until I happen to want to use the ink colours with which they're filled.

 

For good pens that I'd actually want to write with beyond jotting down a few notes, I just ordered both a Sailor Professional Gear and a Sailor Professional Gear Slim (both from the Ocean limited edition product line) an hour ago. I'll need to have written with those particular pens first-hand, though, to know whether they're great pens; whether they'll write like my Sailor Pro Gear Imperial Edition, Sailor Profit Black Luster, Sailor Promenade, Sailor kabazaiku, etc. is yet to be discovered.

 

I see no problem with the M600 being a viable choice of a beginner's fountain pen, if that particular beginner likes the look of it; like I said earlier, I think it's a competent pen (at least on the assumption that the cap seals well; that's yet to be proven, over time). A beginner is not likely to be very picky about the finer points of nib/feed performance and nib characteristics. On the other hand, I don't have a problem recommending a 21K gold-nibbed Sailor Pro Gear to a beginner either, when those are good pens with high potential of being individually great pens. Why not start a beginner off with something great, irrespective of whether that's the only pen he/she will have, or just the first of five or five hundred? Being new to fountain pens doesn't mean he/she doesn't have money to spend or are primarily concerned about bang-for-buck, when he/she most likely hasn't developed enough of a framework against which to subjective judge the 'bang' or value of a pen anyway.

Edited July 12, 2019 by A Smug Dill

[richardandtracy]

I like light pens. It makes long writing stints a lot less tiring. The fact the M600S is lighter than my Duofold is, to me, an advantage rather than the opposite.

 

When it comes to designing pens, it is actually more difficult to get a light pen than a heavy one, so my view tends to be that lower design quality results in heavier pens. Think of the Jinhao 1200 - definitely not a top class design, and a very heavy pen. I know there are examples that could be cited for both sides of this argument, but getting a light pen that is also robust for a certain length and diameter is more difficult than a heavy pen.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[A Smug Dill]

I like light pens. It makes long writing stints a lot less tiring.

For me, it depends on what or how I'm writing. If exerting control over a pen to write in a particular script or hand (or, say, to get every Chinese character to fit inside a 5mm-square space, however complex or stroke-dense) takes a lot of effort, then irrespective of the weight of the pen it'd be tiring for me to write even half a page. I find it pretty difficult to exert fine-grained control over the M600S and how its nib writes on the page, whereas I don't have the same issue with, say, a Sailor Lecoule which is also very light. Writing with my Pilot 'Hannya Shingyo', which has a lacquer-finished metal body and is much heavier, is not tiring for me either because of its balance and weight distribution.

[Thymen]

Personally, I like the weight, balance and grip of the pen (un-posted). It gives me good control over my writing. I have two, with the Moonman F nibs, and they needed a little tweaking. The tines were very tight against each other, and after not writing for a minute or so, I needed to push a little harder to get them going again.

 

Just for the fun of it, I let the pens dry out for about five minutes, after which they did not write (on Rhodia) anymore. But after capping them and waiting for another five minutes, they started immediately again. Also, when I keep writing with pauses less then one minute, no problems with drying out.

 

Compared to my Parker Duofold Centennial, they are a little lighter, less back-heavy, the threads are a little sharper to the touch. Just like with the Duofold, I like the flared section, prevents the pen from slipping deeper into my grip.

 

I bought the pens to use in the office. I originally had some Jinhao pens for that purpose, but the X750 I do not enjoy writing with, and the 159 is too big. However, for office pens, drying out can be a problem, so I'll see how they behave. If they do not dry out when unused for a week, I'll be happy.

 

I'll think about buying some more as give-away pens. But the people for which they are intended may not use them regularly, so maybe better to get them a Platinum #3776 Century, with it's slip-and-seal caps...