Sailor Fasciner Fountain Pen Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

Sailor is one of the brands that I'm a huge fan of without even owning many of their pens. Every time I've bought or tried a Sailor fountain pen, I've been very impressed – even (especially) with their budget-friendly offerings.

The Fasciner is no exception. It's a great all-around pen, and looks gorgeous to boot. At just over $100, it's not an impulse buy, but it's definitely worth every penny.

Aesthetics

The Fasciner has the same body shape as a Sailor 1911 pen, but with a white body and gold trim. Handling the pen, you can tell immediately that it's solidly built. It might not be one of Sailor's premium pens, but it definitely isn't cheap, either. The quality can be felt when handling the pen and also when writing.

The section is made of metal and has a small rubber o-ring that snugs up to the body when the section is screwed on, which makes for a tight seal in case of any accidental ink leakage inside the body. Internal bleeding might not be the best phrase, but you get what I mean.

The clip is a great strength – not too tight or loose. I haven't really clipped it to anything besides the inside of a case because the body feels too nice to risk getting scratched or scuffed. Although, it's done pretty well against any accidental blemishes on my part. As a desk pen, you don't have to worry about being careful with it. In a bag or pocket with other objects, it might not fare so well.

The cap is a screw fit, and it feels great coming on and off the pen. When screwing the cap on, instead of hitting a sudden stop at the end of the threads, you reach a soft, gentle end of the threads. It's a small detail, but it makes me smile every time. It just feels great.

The nib is "pink gold" color, but I can't detect any of the pink. I was assuming it might be something like the TWSBI rose gold color, but I just can't see any of the pink. Despite that, it looks great. I'm not a big fan of gold trim, but it works really well on this creamy white pen. It gives it a highly classy look, and I like it for that. The trim on the cap is done very well. None of it looks or feels like cheap decoration flourishes – they're solid components of the pen.

The cap posts on the back of the pen, but you have to place it firmly on the end to make it stay. Otherwise it will wobble a bit when writing.

Writing

As every Sailor pen I've tried before it, it writes beautifully and effortlessly. It's a fine nib (no other options available here), and it runs finer than other Japanese nibs, like Pilot or Platinum. It's almost too fine for my taste, but it isn't an issue because it writes so smoothly.

This wasn't always the case, however. When I got the pen, it was a really dry writer. It wasn't unusable, and some might even prefer how it wrote out of the box, but I lean toward wetter nibs all around. A couple of gentle pulls on the tines to bring them away from the feed a bit fixed the problem for the most part. At some point I might like to have it worked on by a professional, but it writes great now.

It's the kind of fountain pen nib that I'm 100% confident about. Know what I mean? It's had zero issues with starting, skipping, drying, or any of these problems that sometimes plague or briefly affect pens. Some of my pens have 95% of my confidence, because every now and then they might skip or have a hard time starting, and they always respond to the same fixes. They write well, but sometimes have a small little issue. Not this one. It's a great writer.

It also feels great in the hand, as you might expect from Sailor. It's well balanced in the hand when writing and feels like an extension of your hand instead of a separate object.

Overall

If you're a fan of Sailor's pens, the Fasciner is a great piece to add to the collection. If your'e new to Sailor, it's a nice middle-of-the-road place to try them out. It's hard to beat the High-Ace Neo in terms of value, but you get a lot of extra class and finesse with the Fasciner.

As you might expect, it works with Sailor's cartridges, or you can purchase a converter to use with bottled inks.

Retro 51 Tornado Limited Edition Popper Flipper Roller Ball Pen Review

There is a short list of pens that I recommend more frequently than others and the Retro 51 Tornado is a mainstay on that list. It fits the traditional writing experience that many people are looking for, while being well-styled, durable, refillable, high quality, and a great value.

The Tornado Classic Laquers model is the stock line where new users should start. At $21.00 it provides an experience found in much more expensive pens. I call it the Montblanc of the people. Once you decide this is a pen that suits your needs, you can head down the rabbit hole into some of Retro 51's limited edition releases like the new Limited Edition Popper Flipper Roller Ball.

If there is a hangup with any Tornado model it's that the stock refill is wider than some people like. It uses the Schmidt P8127 refill which has an 0.7 mm tip, but you can easily replace it with the Schmidt P8126, which says it is 0.6 mm but I fell that it writes more like an 0.5 mm. You can see a sample of each below, and if you want to use your Google-fu you can find hacks for other refills. Regardless, this is one of the best refills going, especially for liquid ink pens.

With only 750 made, this retro pinball design is sure to be gone soon. I have #552 sitting on my desk and since my Retro 51 Vintage Surf is my go-to roller I want to give this one a good home. Just leave a comment below by Wednesday night at midnight EST and I will announce the winner on Thursday.

(JetPens is an advertiser on The Pen Addict and I received this product at no charge.)

Kuretake Zig Cartoonist Mangaka Flexible Pen Review

Image via JetPens.com

Everyone knows I love a good brush pen, but not for the normal artistic reasons. I like writing with them, and the added flair they add to my lettering is enjoyable. Some are better than others in the writing department though, so where does the Kuretake Zig Cartoonist Mangaka Flexible stand?

First off, Kuretake has become one of those brands that can do no wrong in my book. The Zig Cartoonist Mangaka Outline Pen is my favorite plastic tip pen, beating out stalwarts from Sakura and Copic, and the Fudegokochi Super Fine Brush Pen is the best writing brush pen I own. Just look how clean my lettering is in those reviews. Hard to not be impressed.

The Zig Cartoonist Mangaka Flexible Pen is a different animal from those two. It is a soft tip brush which allows for a range of both thin and thick lines. Essentially, it is exactly what you should think of when you are thinking about a brush pen.

I don’t have the hand skill to do this pen justice but I was impressed with the quick, clean transition from wide to narrow in the lines. The meat of my letters were solid and the end of the lines had that nice snap you want to see in a brush. This is an effect you cannot get from a standard drawing pen.

For my daily writing purposes it isn’t all that great - the Fudegokochi works better for that. But in the right hands - artistic hands - the Mangaka Flexible would sing.

(JetPens is an advertiser on The Pen Addict and I received this product at no charge.)