Banju Star Shark

September 4

The first time I ordered this pen, the AliExpress vendor sent it loosely wrapped in a paper envelope, so someone just used the pointy end of the pen itself to poke a hole and remove it before the envelope was delivered—or so I infer. Full refund and I reordered the pen elsewhere at a slightly lower price. It arrived yesterday and I do like the sculptural shape and interesting texture. I wrote about it on Reddit so I won’t go on here except to mention that the small Banju branded nib (EF) was surprisingly smooth and gives that little bit of bounce, something short of semi-flex but providing a pleasant feel and a tiny bit of flare, depending on pressure. Major con is the smooth under-sized section, although gripping it at the thread didn’t bother me for the short while I have tested it.

It also comes in textured green, a smooth matte silver, and smooth matte black. (Credit my dog’s blanket for background in photos 2-4 lol)

September 4

Oh I did forget one very significant point: that angular projection isn’t a clip, as I had assumed (I figured it was probably not functional but a failed attempt at a Lamy-style clip), but instead a roll stopper! Rather important point for anyone interested.

September 12

waterman carene -like

September 25

I also ordered this pen, thanks to the heads up from Dan Carmell. Same version he purchased. I don't mind the grip section, in fact I don't mind anything about this pen. I like the rough feel of the body/cap and I agree that it is a semi-bouncy nib, smooth enough and wet.

Two nits. The only ordering option was an EF nib, but I received F. And this came without a converter or cartridge. And while I was able to use a Hongdian converter, it was semi-too thick for the barrel of this pen. It stays in place, but when I unscrew the grip it wants to remain in the pen.

September 25

@Dan Carmell Interesting. Glad you did the addendum on the original post, because my comment otherwise would have been along the lines of "That's a very odd looking clip...."

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

ETA: Not sure the pen is actually speaking to me -- but that's okay. I like the fact that this is a hobby where not everyone is going after the same thing....

September 25

14 hours ago, lascosas said:

I also ordered this pen, thanks to the heads up from Dan Carmell. Same version he purchased. I don't mind the grip section, in fact I don't mind anything about this pen. I like the rough feel of the body/cap and I agree that it is a semi-bouncy nib, smooth enough and wet.

Two nits. The only ordering option was an EF nib, but I received F. And this came without a converter or cartridge. And while I was able to use a Hongdian converter, it was semi-too thick for the barrel of this pen. It stays in place, but when I unscrew the grip it wants to remain in the pen.

I’d be vexed to get a F instead of an EF, especially as the EF is within an acceptable range of fine-ness, but the F probably would not. I’d ask for a partial refund, AliExpress is pretty liberal about that for clear errors by the seller.

I picked up the pen after I read your post and although it’s been a week plus since I’ve used it, it wrote immediately.

September 25

13 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

@Dan Carmell Interesting. Glad you did the addendum on the original post, because my comment otherwise would have been along the lines of "That's a very odd looking clip...."

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

ETA: Not sure the pen is actually speaking to me -- but that's okay. I like the fact that this is a hobby where not everyone is going after the same thing....

My take on the not-clip from the photos was that it was probably an imitation of one of those clever Lamy clips that might not work properly. Well, I was right about the latter even though it’s not a clip at all!