Majohn A1 (a capless clone)

[Miles Hand]

I've achieved some unwanted brassing of my VP by driving over it with a Toyota Yaris. I salvaged the nib unit but the clip section went down a drain in the gutter. The arrival of the A1 is very welcome.

 

 

[Rewpert]

2 minutes ago, Miles Hand said:

I've achieved some unwanted brassing of my VP by driving over it with a Toyota Yaris. I salvaged the nib unit but the clip section went down a drain in the gutter. The arrival of the A1 is very welcome.

 

 

 

Dare I ask, how well did it hold up? Is it just cosmetically damaged, or is the mechanism bust? Any chance of some more pictures?

[Karmachanic]

2 hours ago, Rewpert said:

I was looking forward to it brassing

 

 Me too.  Which is why I discretetly applied a little pressure, and 2000 micromesh, to find out what to expect.  First on the knock, then the body

[OCArt]

Mine has a clip and in small print and white paint it says "Moonman." And my clip is perfectly centered with the nib.

9 hours ago, Licue said:

Did you get the clipless version?

And what does yours say on the body? 'Moonman' or 'Majohn'?

."

[Miles Hand]

On 12/12/2021 at 12:54 PM, Rewpert said:

 

Dare I ask, how well did it hold up? Is it just cosmetically damaged, or is the mechanism bust? Any chance of some more pictures?

This happened a few years ago, so I'm not certain any more exactly what state the pen was in when I was done running it over. I recall that there was more than one piece to pick up and that the nib was damaged and it wouldn't open or close because the knock was distorted. I reassembled the trapdoor mechanism, which had been knocked sidways because the spring had bent a little. It was fiddly, as springs are, but it now works. I did some squeezing with pipe grips to make the knock less oval, more or less sucessfully. I carefully bent the nib back into position and with some tweaking and smoothing, actually a lot of tweaking and smoothing, I got it back into good working order. It sings a bit when it's running out of ink and it's not as fine a writer as it was, but it feels like a VP. If only the clip section had survived it would be a perfectly useable pen, but as it stands, it's a bit ugly and not portable.

 

Here are a few snaps of the VP, including views of the way the nib shoves the trapdoor open. I hope they're the sort of thing you were after.

[Karmachanic]

If you asked nicely Pilot might replace the clip/hood for you.

You'll need google translate:  https://www.pilot.co.jp/service/repair_receipt/   

[Miles Hand]

Thanks for that @Karmachanic. The cost of a routine repair without replacement parts seems to be 1100Y or about £7.33! Surely that can't be right. I think I'll submit an enquiry form and see how it goes. With the current price of a VP now at £185 it seems worth a punt on a factory repair.

[Karmachanic]

Note that you can request that the rest of the pen remain the same, if that is your wish.  Good luck!

[socialmoth]

On 12/12/2021 at 6:03 PM, Karmachanic said:

 

Brassing can be "encouraged", but only if there is brass.  The A1 is white metal underneath the coating.

Oh man, thanks for that. I'd been on the fence on it because the seller I'd contacted said it'd been made of brass, too 😬

Good to know.

[Karmachanic]

37 minutes ago, socialmoth said:

Oh man, thanks for that.

 

There's a ring between the base of the knock and the body. I sanded both together, maybe 4mm x 1mm, and where the clip/hood meets the body on the body alone, 2mm x 1mm.

 

Could be white brass?

[Tas]

19 hours ago, Miles Hand said:

This happened a few years ago, so I'm not certain any more exactly what state the pen was in when I was done running it over. I recall that there was more than one piece to pick up and that the nib was damaged and it wouldn't open or close because the knock was distorted. I reassembled the trapdoor mechanism, which had been knocked sidways because the spring had bent a little. It was fiddly, as springs are, but it now works. I did some squeezing with pipe grips to make the knock less oval, more or less sucessfully. I carefully bent the nib back into position and with some tweaking and smoothing, actually a lot of tweaking and smoothing, I got it back into good working order. It sings a bit when it's running out of ink and it's not as fine a writer as it was, but it feels like a VP. If only the clip section had survived it would be a perfectly useable pen, but as it stands, it's a bit ugly and not portable.

 

Here are a few snaps of the VP, including views of the way the nib shoves the trapdoor open. I hope they're the sort of thing you were after.

 

 

If Mad Max had a fountain pen . . .

I LOVE IT!

 

[J120]

As many others have already stated, I can confirm the nib units are interchangeable and it can use pilot cartridges.  

 

The random Hongdian was a gift due to the seller not providing the original packaging.  Apparently they had some spare PenBBS boxes lying around. Better packaging honestly but a pen I do not need but someone at the office will take it off my hands. 

 

I bought four of this model to test for myself the inevitable bs posts that will come questioning QC and defects, etc. I also want to use a Pilot converter and cartridge in 2 and the Majohn/Moonman versions in the other two to compare use and sealing questions. 

 

It is different but honestly the same pen. That says more to me about Pilot than Moonman/Majohn. With the exception of those truly unique material models and the people who need gold nib units I do not see the markup. Just as we can purchase at whatever price point we are comfortable with they as the manufacturer can set their market price. That Pilot is the steel nib variant but is is $50-$60 more of a pen. If this sealing is similar or better the markup is marketing and lack of fit competition.  I do not want to hear about warranties. I have not had any of Majohn/Moonman's products fail or fall apart and even if they did the price point and availability make repairs and replacements readily available.  

[Miles Hand]

My A1 turned up today and I'm very pleased with it. Apart from the steel nib, it's as close as can be to a genuine Pilot VP. The nib is very pleasant to write with straight from the bubble wrap (no fancy box from my supplier) with good flow and no scratchiness at all. Could almost be mistaken for a low cost Pilot steel nib. It passes the two minute test by starting at once after sitting unused for two minutes, which is very useful if you tend to pause while you write. 

 

The only issue I have with it is that the clip is not fixed perfectly securely. There is a very tiny bit of wobble, but at £160 less than the VP with the well fixed clip I can live with it. I'll probably tap it with a hammer when the honeymoon is over. So overall I think this is not much money well spent and I will use it as happily as I would a VP.

 

Here a some snaps to show the similarities of the A1 to the Pilot. Despite appearances they are exactly the same size.

[AmandaW]

4 hours ago, J120 said:

the markup is marketing and lack of fit competition

 

Or maybe the people who make them get better pay and working conditions? I am happy to pay for that.

[A Smug Dill]

5 minutes ago, J120 said:

Their skilled labor is part of a rising middle class. Get your facts together before you jump into the fear machine bucket of narratives and assumptions.

 

I'm more than happy to wager that a Pilot Corporation employee in Japan gets paid more, and enjoy better working conditions, than a worker in China doing the same job for Moonman/Majohn producing or marketing fountain pens, and I don't see anything poorly informed or ill thought-out about @AmandaW's assumptions.

[Karmachanic]

On 12/16/2021 at 12:00 AM, A Smug Dill said:

I'm more than happy to wager that a Pilot Corporation employee in Japan gets paid more, and enjoy better working conditions, than a worker in China doing the same job for Moonman/Majohn

 

I'll wager that a Pilot Corporation employee in Japan gets paid more, and enjoys better working conditions, than a worker in Detroit, or Bolton.

[penzel_washinkton]

Seeing the positive first hand experience from the users here, seems like I should have brought more units.

All of the ones with original pricing in Aliexpress are now sold out and only the marked up ones remains.

[A Smug Dill]

Just now, penzel_washinkton said:

Seeing the positive first hand experience from the users here, seems like I should have brought more units.

 

And perhaps you shouldn't have, because you didn't have the information that gave you the required level of comfort to do so. “Should” is not a case of what would getting better, or optimal, results in retrospect; (especially as a consumer) one is always operating with imperfect information and taking a punt with how to proceed, so being willing to forgo a prospective benefit in order to contain, or minimise, one's risk upfront is part and parcel of the thinking.

 

I ordered five units of the Majohn T5 at once (for a number of reasons, one of which being) not wanting to risk particular colourways to be sold out by the time I've formed an informed opinion from first-hand user experience; then, shortly after I've received my order, I saw the pen being offered (in all colourways) for 30% less in what turned out to be a flash-in-the-pan sale. “Should” I have waited, as if actually snapping up as many pens as I truly wanted at the lowest ebb in dynamic pricing is the goal? Or just to prioritise ‘safe’ — whether that is to secure all the colourways while I could, or not to over-commit on a pen model that may turn out to be a disappointment to oneself — over the best value for money when one accounts for everything after the dust has settled?

[OCArt]

Aliexpress now has versions of the A1 pen clipless and colors as a PRESALE. 

[penzel_washinkton]

On 12/18/2021 at 6:52 AM, A Smug Dill said:

 

And perhaps you shouldn't have, because you didn't have the information that gave you the required level of comfort to do so. “Should” is not a case of what would getting better, or optimal, results in retrospect; (especially as a consumer) one is always operating with imperfect information and taking a punt with how to proceed, so being willing to forgo a prospective benefit in order to contain, or minimise, one's risk upfront is part and parcel of the thinking.

 

I ordered five units of the Majohn T5 at once (for a number of reasons, one of which being) not wanting to risk particular colourways to be sold out by the time I've formed an informed opinion from first-hand user experience; then, shortly after I've received my order, I saw the pen being offered (in all colourways) for 30% less in what turned out to be a flash-in-the-pan sale. “Should” I have waited, as if actually snapping up as many pens as I truly wanted at the lowest ebb in dynamic pricing is the goal? Or just to prioritise ‘safe’ — whether that is to secure all the colourways while I could, or not to over-commit on a pen model that may turn out to be a disappointment to oneself — over the best value for money when one accounts for everything after the dust has settled?

 

True, and hindsight is indeed a beautiful thing remembering I don't even have my first A1 yet.

I will reserve judgement until I get my unit and decide from there.