Please help me identify mystery pen (which MAY BE 1980s Tombow)

[scottrseaman]

I just purchased this pen on Ebay, but am very skeptical that it is a circa 1980s Tombow fountain pen purchased in Japan, which is how the seller described it.  It has no branding on it anywhere that I can find.  It is rather large, and looks like a cross between a Tombow "Egg" fountain pen and a regular Tombow fountain pen from the same era.  (Note photo of mystery pen with a regular Tombow 909 fountain pen laid next to it on the right for comparison.)  The pen also has a distinctive middle section with a raised rib pattern.  The nib is black and does not look like a Tombow nib.  The writing on it says "IRIDIUM" "*ECL*" (the *s represent letters that I cannot read, though it might be "VECLE") and "PEN".  The nib has a large flare, but the feed is cut the same as the feed on my Tombow 909.  In any case, I'm betting that it is some sort of generic pen from the 1980s, but not a Tombow.  If anyone has any thoughts, wild guesses, etc., I would be very grateful to hear them!  Thank you.

 

Edited December 27, 2020 by scottrseaman
Deleted photo files from initial post.

[scottrseaman]

I realized I should have pasted in photos rather than expect people to download them!  My apologies.  Photos are below.  Thank you very much.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Anne-Sophie]

 

Not an expert at all, but it could be a Tombow produced for the Japanese market?

 

Do a search here on FPN and see what Tombow history brings out. 

[scottrseaman]

Thank you very much for the reply!  That's certainly possible, though I've actually searched some Japanese-language websites, including Tombow's corporate website, and not found anything that resembles this pen and might have been sold only in Japan in the 80s. The fact that it does not say "Tombow" anywhere on it seems like a big red flag to me, and I should have checked into this more before I bought it!  It's either a rare Tombow of some kind (a prototype??) worth a mint or more likely, just a no-name brand or knock-off from the same period worth about $5.  I haven't cleaned it and tried to write with it yet, so it will either be something I use daily or put on my desk as a paperweight!  The nib is kind of funky looking, but if it writes well, I'll use it even if it's not a Tombow. 😁

[Steveg58]

My 90's Tombow only says that in two places. Engraved on the nib and painted on the cap. The paint wears off the cap reasonably easily. The clip construction looks like my Tombow Object but it would help to see the clip from the side rather than the edge. Is it an eyedropper?  It may have been re-nibbed at some point.

[scottrseaman]

Thank you for your reply!  I have attached another photo of the clip.  It still looks like some sort of strange cross-breeding experiment in the 1980s between a Tombow Egg and a Tombow 909, but I'm not familiar with the construction of the clips on other Tombow models.  It is a cartridge user, not an eyedropper.  I sometimes use Pelikan Edelstein cartridges in my Tombow 909, and I'm betting they will work in this mystery pen as well.  The black nib looks like a replacement of some kind, though I still can't figure out the brand.  The pen is VERY heavy and made of steel, I think.  The ribbing around the middle is very distinctive, and the pen almost looks like something made in Art Deco style in the 1920s or that appeared in a bad science fiction movie in the 1950s, but I'm pretty sure it is not from either of those time periods.  I think some Tombow Eggs also had a ribbing style, but it was not just around the middle of the pen.  I want very badly to think it is a really cool, old Tombow, but I'm doubting that.  It might even be some sort of hand-tooled pen that someone made in their basement.  It's built like a Panzer tank!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scottrseaman]

Photo of clip taken straight on.

 

 

[Steveg58]

The straight on view is identical in shape and proportion to the clip on my Tombow Object.

I'm no Tombow expert but it seems likely that the clip is from Tombow. 

[carola]

Whatever it is, it looks pretty cool!

[scottrseaman]

Thank you!  Until I can prove otherwise, I shall deem it a vintage Tombow of unknown origin/model and tell people it is the only one ever made and is worth several million dollars!  My task now is to find some sort of funky, chunky, space-age silver nib for it, which will make it look like something a 1950s robot would use.  I think it probably can use a Jowo #5.  If anyone has any ideas for a nib that would fit it in style and size well, please let me know!

 

[carola]

I don´t know... I kind of like the black nib. Maybe it´s a little small but the black matte colour fits nicely.