Great deal on Sailor King of Pen

[james3paris]

Found a KOP medium demonstrator:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Sailor-Fountain-Pen-Demonstrator-10-9619-400/

 

Regular KOP at $376:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001TCGP2U/

 

[mke]

For the price of this demonstrator you can buy 100 Jinhao 9019 demonstrators.

They actually look better than this KoP demonstrator.

Of course, the KoP nib is better - but certainly not a 100 times.

[RJS]

I have a question after following that link to the demonstrator model... there's a diagram showing the KOP next to two versions of the Pro Gear and Pro Gear Slim. The two on the left of the KOP longer and have an unusual clip I don't recognise. Google translate doesn't shed any light on the matter. Any ideas? Thanks.

 

[Karmachanic]

34 minutes ago, RJS said:

The two on the left of the KOP longer and have an unusual clip

 

Pro Gear II from a few years back, which, as far as I can tell has since disappeared.

[RJS]

8 hours ago, Karmachanic said:

 

Pro Gear II from a few years back, which, as far as I can tell has since disappeared.

Thanks. I tried to find it on their official website, amongst the hundreds of fountain pens they currently sell, to no avail. The PG2 (also known as the Sigma) appears to be a short lived (and in my opinion, uglier) variant. 
 

The sheer variety of Pro Gear models currently on sale is mind boggling, with pricing all over the place, and many models limited to certain markets. A very scattershot approach- throwing all their ideas against a wall with seemingly little regard for what sticks.

[Merrick]

48 minutes ago, RJS said:

Thanks. I tried to find it on their official website, amongst the hundreds of fountain pens they currently sell, to no avail. The PG2 (also known as the Sigma) appears to be a short lived (and in my opinion, uglier) variant. 
 

The sheer variety of Pro Gear models currently on sale is mind boggling, with pricing all over the place, and many models limited to certain markets. A very scattershot approach- throwing all their ideas against a wall with seemingly little regard for what sticks.

 

It's all just color variants on the same basic bodies. There is little need to go chasing retailer exclusives unless you really desire a specific color way.

[mke]

1 hour ago, RJS said:

A very scattershot approach- throwing all their ideas against a wall with seemingly little regard for what sticks.

Don't forget that most color combinations are made-on-order for stationery shops.

 

There are only 3 gear models now - the two sigmas - those on the left - do not exist anymore afaik. 

 

Removing models from production is done by all manufacturers, I know models which lasted just the first run of production. Nothing special.

[RJS]

17 minutes ago, mke said:

Don't forget that most color combinations are made-on-order for stationery shops.

 

There are only 3 gear models now - the two sigmas - those on the left - do not exist anymore afaik. 

 

Removing models from production is done by all manufacturers, I know models which lasted just the first run of production. Nothing special.

I should have specified that my "throwing things against the wall" comment was about the endless colours/nib designs/exclusives/price points, and not about the variant model, the PG2/Sigma. The advantage of a range that isn't gigantic is to attract collectors to 'collect them all', which clearly in this instance would require extremely deep pockets and incredible dedication, along with a heck of a lot of international postage, even for someone living in Japan.

 

It makes total sense they would try a new "modern" design (PG2) but drop it when going through a company wide rebranding- I completely agree that's not unusual or unexpected.

 

[RJS]

55 minutes ago, Merrick said:

 

It's all just color variants on the same basic bodies. There is little need to go chasing retailer exclusives unless you really desire a specific color way.

Plus there seem to be a lot of variant nibs kicking about (different colours and designs), and now Slims that come with different gold percentages in the nibs.

[mke]

50 minutes ago, RJS said:

endless colours/nib designs/exclusives/price points

 

Japan is a country where the customer expects constant change to keep buying. Companies have to bring out a steady stream of new products. Probably, Sailor knows its business - the owner is one of the big stationery companies in Japan. Their main target is Japan not the foreign countries (it seems to have changed a little bit recently).

 

Sailor is used to produce pens for shops in numbers of 50/100 units. So, there is no problem for them to do the same in their account. 

That this is bringing a lot of money, you can see here:

https://sailorshop.jp/products/11-2922

https://sailorshop.jp/products/11-1722

They gave away a few thousand dollars from the sales to Morocco. How much they kept is off course not written.

 

 

Sigma might have had a meaning to Sailor like the Sailor theta pens: https://www.fudefan.com/2020/07/sailor-theta/

Actually, it was not a bad pen - I had one but sold it a few years ago. Without that strange clip, I would have kept it.

 

 

[mke]

2 hours ago, Merrick said:

There is little need to go chasing retailer exclusives unless you really desire a specific color way.

But this is what collectors do, isn't it?

 

I have seen people collecting one model in all varieties, I have seen people getting every orange/pink/blue pen.

I also have several pen models (not Sailor) in numbers larger than 1.

[Doug C]

The ony real (imo) KOP is the ebonite version. 

[EricTheRed]

I am fine with the acrylic version (which Mont Blanc would call precious resin).  What makes the KOP so popular is its renowned nib.  Ebonite is no big deal to me personally.  A lot of inexpensive sub $50 pens from India are ebonite.  Many of their manufacturers charge extra for acrylic instead of ebonite. YMMV.

[RJS]

2 hours ago, mke said:

 

Japan is a country where the customer expects constant change to keep buying. Companies have to bring out a steady stream of new products. Probably, Sailor knows its business 

 

 

By your logic, Pilot must NOT know what their customers want, offering their equivalent pens in a very limited colours with almost no change year after year. They can't both be right 😉

[mke]

52 minutes ago, RJS said:

By your logic, Pilot must NOT know what their customers want, offering their equivalent pens in a very limited colours with almost no change year after year. They can't both be right 😉

Your logic is somewhat limping. 

 

Who said that the customers of Sailor are those of Pilot? 

Pilot just interprets the market differently than Sailor. They also know.

 

If you think that Sailor/Pilot/... should change their product palette, tell them. 

 

[RJS]

6 hours ago, mke said:

Your logic is somewhat limping. 

 

Who said that the customers of Sailor are those of Pilot? 

Pilot just interprets the market differently than Sailor. They also know.

 

If you think that Sailor/Pilot/... should change their product palette, tell them. 

 

I wasn't the one that lumped all Japanese people into a single box...

 

Quote

Japan is a country where the customer expects constant change to keep buying.

I was replying to this, specifically. You can't sum up an entire population like that. Backtracking by saying Pilot have different customers is a bit late now, unless you're suggesting that Sailor pens appeal to Japanese consumers, while Pilot don't? 🤔

[james3paris]

$376

 

https://www.amazon.com/Sailor-profit-character-11-6001-420-japan/

 

$315  Sailor Profit Makie (see these pen pricing for $500 and up)

 

https://www.amazon.com/115010420-fountain-character-Sailor-Profit/dp/B004SFXZ82/

[james3paris]

Found this pen at Endlesspens.com:

 

After discounts, it is under $400.

 

https://endlesspens.com/products/sailor-fountain-pen-pro-gear-kop-sunlight-from-the-ocean-floor-special-edition-2024

[Merrick]

15 hours ago, james3paris said:

Found this pen at Endlesspens.com:

 

After discounts, it is under $400.

 

https://endlesspens.com/products/sailor-fountain-pen-pro-gear-kop-sunlight-from-the-ocean-floor-special-edition-2024

Listing looks like it's been removed.

[james3paris]

5 hours ago, Merrick said:

Listing looks like it's been removed.

When you sign in, it comes up, apparently,the pen is sold out.