Cheep, cute, retractable

[Sailor Kenshin]

These retractable Luoshi branded fountain pens proved irresistible to me.  They have a Lamy Safari sort of profile, and are made of velvety-feeling something or other.  

 

Unlike the Pilot Capless, Moonman A1, and others, the layout is like most non-retractables; nib and clip being at opposite ends.

 

Ain't they cute?

 

View the sets here.

 

Pros: Five pens for less than three bucks each.  (Even cheeper now than when I bought them at about $16 for the set.)

Set is nicely boxed.

Comes in a few color variations.

Each has its own converter, so you can use whatever ink you like.

Each comes with a cap for when the pen's not in use.

Comes with box of cartridges.

And extra nibs.

Have I mentioned, they're cute?

 

Cons: Pale violet ink cartridges (a whole box, included) write a measly, thin line, but stain, and are almost impossible to clean.

 

Due to the unique layout, pens themselves are a little hard to clean, and dry out fast, sometimes even with the cap.  A lot depends on the ink.

 

Conclusion: I've been using a couple of these for a month now.  If you're curious, or fond of cute, check them out.

 

 

[Sailor Kenshin]

PS: They're hooded.  And seem to work best with dark, lubricated inks.

[Doug C]

If I buy these, it will only aggravate me that I spent so much on my vanishing points,  and even my Endless Creator that I paid $40 for. 

But I just might do it..🤪

[Paul-in-SF]

I bought a set of these, with "erasable" ink (same technology, apparently, as Pilot Frixion), so have been using one of them to do crossword puzzles (bound in a book, so not newsprint). So far I have been using the ink cartridges that came with them, which is a normal blue, and I haven't had any problem with them drying out (with the cap on). 

 

Other than the weirdness of having a retraction mechanism AND a cap that you have to put on to keep the nib from drying out (this is because retraction hides the nib behind the hood but does not appear to enclose the nib in any way), it's perfectly meh. If I had to grade papers with different colors of ink or something, they might be useful. Otherwise it's just a novelty to me. Without the erasable ink I wouldn't have bothered. I wonder how much of the production cost is tied up in that pointless retraction mechanism. Also I'm expecting to lose the cap at any moment; without the retractor, it could have just posted on the back of the pen. 

[Sailor Kenshin]

There is also, I am told, an all-black version, for those who like stealth.

[Doug C]

I was thinking that they might be good for prizes at the pen club meetings. 

[Sailor Kenshin]

15 hours ago, Doug C said:

I was thinking that they might be good for prizes at the pen club meetings. 

Go for it!