TWSBI is on a roll with all the new products they’ve released, are about to release, and have in the works. Not only are their products well made and affordable but they seem to have a knack for teasing us with upcoming projects. The TWSBI Click is certainly no exception. Continue reading for more details and a comparison with another well known retractable fountain pen.
The first thing you’ll notice about the TWSBI Click is how similar it is to the Pilot Vanishing Point. The pen will most likely use a custom Bock nib and a TWSBI in-house custom feed. It’ll be a converter filler and feature a different, simpler seal mechanism than the Vanishing Point, which TWSBI says will keep them away from any patent infringement. Surprisingly, TWSBI has said that it will feature a metal barrel and be available in only a few colors initially. TWSBI has stated that the design is finalized and they expect to be shipping pens in 6 months. Price point? To quote TWSBI, “for sure to be below $100.” Yep, another no-brainer.
One feature that has come under criticism is the clip. I’ve heard a lot of complaints about the clip location on the Pilot Vanishing Point that it’s too close to the nib making it uncomfortable to hold. TWSBI has tried to resolve this by moving it further away from the nib. This is making people concerned about how much of the pen is sticking out of whatever it’s clipped to. I could really care less where the clip is because it’s never bothered me in the first place.
My concern is whether or not TWSBI is going to be able to keep their quality on this pen as high as they have on their other pens and still come in under $100. The thing that makes the Vanishing Point so good is the quality of the mechanism and the satisfying click into the extended position. As with every other TWSBI fountain pen, I can’t wait to get my hands on this one.
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A clip in that position seems fairly worthless, no? Nearly half the pen would be sticking out your shirt pocket. Ok, if you're going all out for that FPGeek "look," this will work!
A selling point of the Pilot is that when the clip is used, the nib is upright, a supposedly leak-discouraging position. Is anyone really going to put a capless pen nib-down in a pocket, pen case, purse, etc.?
Uhmmm, the clip on the TWSBI holds the pen nib up. It's just moved further away from the nib.
When I look at the picture of the TWSBI Click, is the nib on the left or the right? I may not be seeing things correctly, but the orientation of both the TWSBI and the Vanishing Point seem identical – both nibs pointing to the left. The clips, however, are opposed. Am I missing something obvious?
Ah, now I understand your confusion. The clips are not opposed. The nibs are pointing the same way and they clip in the same direction.
A-ha! A little cleaning of the ol' Geek Glasses and I see the optical contusion that led me astray. Whew! TWSBI once again joins the ranks of Apple and can do no wrong =)
I'm not sure how I feel about a design so close to a such a unique pen as Pilot's Vanishing Point. I think I would feel like I'm using a replica. Definitely don't care for the clip. It looks like an inch of the pen would be sticking up out of my shirt.
I've mentioned this elsewhere, but it bears repeating; there are a lot of vintage pens whose clip design leaves as much of the pen exposed above the pocket, and to less purpose. To drop the name of one extremely desirable line with this "deformity", I might carefully cough in such a manner to suggest the words Wahl Doric.
My thoughts exactly. As soon as you mentioned "vintage" my first thought was the Wahl Doric.
As much as I admire TWSBI's carefully thought-out designs for their pens and ink bottles, I really don't see why they felt the need to redesign the wheel with this VP look-alike.
I can get a brand-new VP for less than $100 on eBay, and quite frankly, I'm a little disappointed with their decision to copy Pilot-Namiki's design
The Capless form factor is too-easily available for this product to be compelling. I would have been more interested in a knockoff of the Decimo form factor – slimmer.
If you look closely at the blue VP in the picture you can read the word 'decimo' on the clip. This *is* the slimmer decimo form factor.
The main reason I am interested in the TWSBI "click", is not the price-point of the pen, but the (hopefully) low price point of nib units.
I love my VP, but the nib units are about $60.00 a pop.
If TWSBI could market $20.00 +- nib units for this pen, it'll be a huge hit! I would love to have a VP style pen with a bunch of nib sizes for swapping.
I will admit though, that clip is not my style at all. The pen is to "smooth" and elegant for such a sharp, rigid looking clip. Now, put that clip on a hexagonal TWSBI click = perfect! Likewise, a more tapered/smooth-flowing clip would look good on this pen.
Just my 2 cents…
Either way, I WILL be buying one, just because it's TWSBI.
I love their products, and their QC is unrivaled in the FP industry!
Hmmm, that clip looks a little strange….But I’ll leave that to the folks at TWSBI to straighten out as so far they have been hitting home runs. But I am looking foreward to the nib set up.
Minor repositioning of the clip aside, I’d still think Speedy will (or has) heard from the Pilot Legal department. It isn’t anything I’d wish on him by any means but I would think that Pilot would not be amused by or happy with this development.