Japanese Pocket Pens (in general)

[iosepus]

Interesting! My wingflow Platinum pocket pen implements 14 K gold nibs:

IMG_1504-blog-6-5-WM.jpg
IMG_1486-blog-6-5-WM.jpg

Cheers,

BT

[PithyProlix]

I have a yen for floral and other 'lady' designs. I just buy whatever comes up for sale at a good price, locally here in Thailand - I don't go looking for certain pens - so my collection is rather serendipitous.

I prefer color prints, like those on the left of the photo below. I have quite of few others in 'lady' colors but without any decoration.

The Platinum with tulips - third pen from the left, bottom row - is debatably a pocket pen: it's nearly as short as the other pens but not a short-long (note the length of the barrel vis a vis the cap).

I don't think I've seen a Japanese lady pocket pen with anything other than an F or M nib. I think the lady Pilots write just as well as the Elites, generally. The Platinum & Sailor ladies tend to be great writers too but I don't think they measure up to their top pocket pen models, generally.

[christof]

great collection! thank you for sharing.

[PithyProlix]

Interesting! My wingflow Platinum pocket pen implements 14 K gold nibs:

IMG_1504-blog-6-5-WM.jpg
IMG_1486-blog-6-5-WM.jpg

Cheers,

BT

Wowsa on that Music nib!

I have these in F only but the nib, along with the pen's relatively thick grip especially, is one of my favorites. Love the clip. Unfortunately, the nib collar tends to lose its plating, as with the one shown by @penwash, but it looks like you have done a great job maintaining it (unfortunately mine came with plating loss already).

[Yazeh]

@Pithy, really nice. I like the platinum with the red barrel, beside the tulip one. Looks classy and flashy on the same time
Are the "lady" Pilots the same as the Elite, only made 'ladylike" with the patterns?

[forester]

@Pithy:

Wonderful collection!

Thanks for sharing.

[iosepus]

I do not know of any pocket pen by Pilot named specifically Lady. I do know the L series:

P1070773-blog-3-2-WM.jpg

The pink transparent unit on the front is not labelled with an L on the cap, but it is otherwise similar to the rest in size and shape.

Re Elite models, they span through many years in production and they show many variations. On the following picture I am showing three different nib styles, plus an example of a 22 K gold nib:

IMG_2636-blog-12-7-WM.jpg
IMG_2640-blog-11-10-WM.jpg

And Pilot Elite pens came as full size and in a number of colors and finishes.

Cheers

BT

[manolo]

Really nice thread and pens!!
I would love to have one of those Platinum pocket pens fitted with a music nib, but I assume they must be quite hard (and expensive) to find.
(Hello, Iosepus, nice to read you here)

[PithyProlix]

@Pithy, really nice. I like the platinum with the red barrel, beside the tulip one. Looks classy and flashy on the same time
Are the "lady" Pilots the same as the Elite, only made 'ladylike" with the patterns?

There are "ladylike" Elites too! It's not so easy to see but in my previous photo the fourth pen from the left, top row, is an Elite. The photo below has three other ladylike Elites, along with that pen. (In my previous photo I neglected to include the two additional decorated pens that are in this photo because I had set them aside.*) The red one is undecorated (e.g. no floral motif) and has a clip like a regular Elite of its vintage but, given the champagne-colored cap and the color of the plastic, I feel like it was likely also marketed to women. (Perhaps a less casual look for female office workers? Just a guess ...)

Other than the lack of the "Elite" branding and the styling, it's hard for me to tell how some non-Elite "lady" Pilots models differ from Elites. A subset of those have slightly smaller nibs than Elites but otherwise seem the same, as far as I can tell. Note that I haven't taken them apart so I don't know if there are any differences within the section.

BTW, I also have a decorated "lady" Elite that is not pocket sized, nor a short-long, but is somewhat shorter than a full-length pen and a bit more slender than other Elites. Posted it is actually shorter than a posted Elite pocket pen!

With all the different stylings, sizes, nib types, and nib designs, plus a consistently high quality, the Elite is a really fun pen to collect.



*@Yazeh Pens #3 & #4 were set aside because they are inked with the Ostrich blue-black iron gall inks. I'm using those for my long, serial review of those inks on FPN (which you know and that I have been lax on!), along with two other Elite pocket pens (one of those is in a metallic, neon blue with a white section - I told you Elites are fun!).

[PithyProlix]

Pilot has a very cool page with historical advertisements: https://www.pilot.co.jp/100th/en/gallery/ Scroll down to 1967 and you will begin to see a handful of ads that feature pocket pens. I especially like the one with a male and female fingernail - I guess the "fingernail" nomenclature for nibs is legit! Also the 1978 ad with cartoons of historical figures, where you will see that Pilot used "Lady" in their marketing.

Some other resources I don't believe were previously cited in this thread. Most of you are probably are aware of these but, if not, you are in for a treat:

• @iocepus's blogsite Crónicas Estilográficas, with a search on "pocket": https://estilofilos.blogspot.com/search?q=pocket
• Jerry Yu's Pocket Pen Chronical blogsite: https://pocketpenchronicle.com/

[iosepus]

Arguably, the popularity of the (Japanese) pocket pen outside its original market is based on the Pilot Myu-701 released in the early 1970s.

This pen used to cost JPY 3500, and came with three different nib points--F, FM, and M. Here you can see those three possibilities:

IMG_7474-blog-12-7-WM.jpg

IMG_7505-blog-1-1-WM.jpg

The FM nib is the rarest of them all--by far.

Of course, we all know there were some other finishes --black stripes, either black or white--, but that will be the topic of another entry.

Cheers,

BT

[christof]

...
The pink transparent unit on the front is not labelled with an L on the cap, but it is otherwise similar to the rest in size and shape.

...

This is an incredibly cool pen! I guess that they are not that easy to find...

[PithyProlix]

I didn't even know the Myu-701 had FM nibs! I have had three - two Fs (one black striped) and one M.

Though they are very attractive pens, honestly, I am not thrilled with the Myu & Murex nibs - too stiff for my tastes. (And given the prices they sell at, it didn't make sense to me to keep them.)

[PithyProlix]

I don't think I've seen a Japanese lady pocket pen with anything other than an F or M nib.

Doh! I want to correct this. The red Elite in my photo a few posts back actually has a Script nib. I'm still assuming that one would be considered a "lady" pen.

So, perhaps, for pocket pens, Pilot's more specialized nibs only appear on Elites? I'm not with my pens right now, but I must have at least 30 Pilot pocket pens and I cannot think of a non-Elite that has anything but an F, M, or unlabeled nib. I believe the only Pilot pocket pens I have seen without a size marking are ones with a semi-hooded 'dart'/'arrow head' shaped nib.

And, regarding Pilot's semi-hooded 'dart'/'arrow head' nibs, which also appear on some full length models: I really like the gold ones and, even if some think they might be a lower-end nib, my experience is that they are great writers. This nib type does not always have a visible marking indicating they are gold, by the way. Maybe I will start a new thread on those nibs...

[iosepus]

(...)

So, perhaps, for pocket pens, Pilot's more specialized nibs only appear on Elites? I'm not with my pens right now, but I must have at least 30 Pilot pocket pens and I cannot think of a non-Elite that has anything but an F, M, or unlabeled nib. I believe the only Pilot pocket pens I have seen without a size marking are ones with a semi-hooded 'dart'/'arrow head' shaped nib.

(...)

You might be onto something! I also see that--F and M nibs on non Elite pocket pens, and some more variations --Script, Manifold, EF, SF, B-- on the Elite models. The only exception to this rule was the above-mentioned FM nib in a plain steel Myu-701.

On the pic, a B nib on a cross-hatched Elite:IMG_7790-blog-3-2-WM.jpg

Cheers,

BT

[Cyril]

Very nice thread on these interesting Pocket pens. Thank you all for sharing your experience on this particular pen. I love pocket pens. !!!!!!
I love Japanese pens. I think I have few pocket pens and they have F nibs. Few years back when I was on to Japanese pens I was hunting for a Pilot MYU but never got them into my pen collection.
They are so expensive and rare I gave it up. But I love to have a EF pen MYU one day. I love the design and the rigidness of the nib design . it is a unique pen.

[PithyProlix]

This Kaimei and Morison look like cookie cutter pocket fountain pens, right?




Well, look again!

• The Kaimei is a natural hair brush pen, fed by a fountain pen ink cartridge. Kaimei, which has been around since 1898, is historically famous for their calligraphy ink and, more recently, for cartridge brush pens. They still sell this pocket brush pen, also in marbled brown, blue, and grey colors: http://www.kaimei1898.com/detail/item_ma6201.html
• The Morison is a rollerball that is also fed by a fountain pen ink cartridge. I still need to clean it out so I don't know how well it works yet.

Is there any long-short pocket pen that is currently in production in Japan besides this Kaimei and the Pilot E95S?

[christof]

cool! I specially like the box.

...this reminds me of my pocket brush pen of unknown origin:



It takes Platinum cartridges and is one of the best brush pens I ever had!

I have drawn the complete inktober 2021 with this pen and royal blue ink:

[PithyProlix]

@christof

It looks to be the same pen, most tellingly it has the same section - note the part of the section closest to the brush/fude. (The section/brush can be replaced, by the way.)

I am having trouble identifying the Kanji character. I will ask a Japanese friend and report back.

[iosepus]

Let's add another unusual Platinum nib in a pocket pen:

IMG_0050-blog-5-2-WM.jpg

It is an obvious copy of the Sheaffer Stylist (1966), also copied by Parker in 1977.

On the following picture, the Platinum and the Parker side by side:

IMG_5056-blog-WM.jpg

Cheers,

BT