Shouldn't a very good pen get a very good clone?

[Skip]

OK just remember that this is all subjective stuff and if my comments here do not please you, well they really don't have to, do they?
I have read many times in many places that Pilot's Custom 823 vacuum filler is one of the best pens around and has some of the best gold nibs to be had. And I have no quibble with this... But IMO it's usual $336 price is a bit steep for a non-vintage FP.

So the Chinese Asvine FP company, noticing this, decided to 'clone' the Pilot 823 (with a steel nib), call it the V126 and sell it for around $30 instead of $336.
Only thing is, this V126 is very very good!! (IME anyway?). It's an attractive, very sturdy, large transparent pen with a well working vacuum filling mechanism, and it's M nib (on mine anyway?) is one of the smoothest I've ever used to date, gold or otherwise!

So really, if this $30 Asvine V126 is as good (or perhaps even better?) (uh oh...) than the $336 Pilot 823, why would I ever want the Pilot?
Now, not owning an 823 I really cannot offer a valid opinion as to which pen might be as good or better. And as I don't intend to spend $336 just to find out I think it would be really interesting if someone who does own an 823 would spring for a V126 and offer an honest opinion as to the flaws and blessings of both?

~Anyone? ~??

[Jon Szanto]

This kind of stuff is getting really boring, partly because it is a topic that has been discussed to death for years and anyone in the pen game for a while has seen a million threads on pen design rip-offs. If playing around with cheap copies of pens makes you happy, then by all means do so, just remember that this is all subjective stuff and if my comments here do not please you, well they really don't have to, do they?

[Dougc]

Most women would prefer a real Louis Vuitton instead of a knockoff.
Whatever makes you happy..

Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk

[Ron Z]

I've had to fix too many 823 barrels for the pen to tempt me.

[catbert]

[Cyril]

Pilot 823 is in my list and it is on the bottom. It is because I have already many Pilots pens and many more other pens in my collection.
BUT IT WILL BE ON MY COLLECTION ONE DAY AND IT IS A PEN THAT I SHOULD HAVE ON MY PEN LOT.

If I get a ASVINE CHINESE... It will be another laid-off pen in my Chinese box.

[~JJ]

I've had to fix too many 823 barrels for the pen to temp me.

What's the problem(s) with the 823 barrels, Ron??
~_/.

[Ron Z]

They tend to split at the seams on either end if you open them, more so if you do it with any regularity. Likely because the 0-ring is dry and bunches up, pressing out as you screw the section or back end into the pen. The problem is that the plastic doesn't respond well to any of the solvents that we use to fuse plastics. When solvent welded they tend to crack again, so the safest thing to do is remove the 0-ring, solvent weld, and then reassemble using thread sealant on the threads. ...or don't take the pen apart.

I will admit that having been in the business full time for 18 years now, I have a jaded view of modern pens. Lots of money does not always mean a really good pen.

[~JJ]

".... The problem is that the plastic doesn't respond well to any of the solvents that we use to fuse plastics."
Do you use any of the Weld-On cements? They're supposed to be about the best for acrylics, but I don't know if it comes in a suitable-viscosity liquid form for narrow cracks. I've also read the UV-curing adhesives are good on zcrylics - I've used that but not on acrylic so can't speak for its efficacy there.
~_/. .
.

[FredRydr]

I've had to fix too many 823 barrels for the pen to tempt me.

You should have warned me! The one modern plunger-filler I get.... <sigh!>

I'll keep it lubed, but what's the life expectancy?

[Jon Szanto]

I've had to fix too many 823 barrels for the pen to tempt me.

You should have warned me!

But he did give a potential catastrophe avoidance technique, which I plan to follow with the used one that is on it's way to me.

I like a person who gives away CATs.

[FredRydr]

They tend to split at the seams on either end if you open them, more so if you do it with any regularity. Likely because the 0-ring is dry and bunches up, pressing out as you screw the section or back end into the pen. The problem is that the plastic doesn't respond well to any of the solvents that we use to fuse plastics. When solvent welded they tend to crack again, so the safest thing to do is remove the 0-ring, solvent weld, and then reassemble using thread sealant on the threads. ...or don't take the pen apart.

I will admit that having been in the business full time for 18 years now, I have a jaded view of modern pens. Lots of money does not always mean a really good pen.

On re-reading this a few times, the remedy appears to be ensuring the o-ring is lubed so it will not "bunch-up." When you repaired 823s, did you routinely find o-rings torn? I didn't expect to baby this new-to-me 823, and I'll just have to see how it survives with no special handling.

[Jon Szanto]

On re-reading this a few times, the remedy appears to be ensuring the o-ring is lubed so it will not "bunch-up." When you repaired 823s, did you routinely find o-rings torn? I didn't expect to baby this new-to-me 823, and I'll just have to see how it survives with no special handling.

I think it is important to keep in mind that people aren't sending Ron the pens that haven't cracked. You and I could very well be in that large "silent majority". No matter what, I'm not giving up my Sheaffer Vac-fil pens!

[Ron Z]

It's just the 823, not Sheaffers. I'm not saying that all do, but I've seen enough to go "hmmm."

[Skip]

Interesting review.... However this is an older review using an earlier version of the V126. So if the esthetics here would be a principal reason for not liking the V126, be aware that the newer version I have is in an attractive transparent jade color and also now has a gold clip and gold trim on it's body. So if the functionality of both pens is fairly equal (as this appears to be saying?) then for me the V126 would have to be the better buy...

Also interesting how this topic can stir up emotional responses... It would seem that sometimes brand loyalty, or country of origin, along with how much someone spends for a pen (or a car, or a women's handbag?!) has more to do with the value one holds for a thing than logic might dictate?

The V126 shown here is of course the jade green one...

Open pens.jpeg

~Also please remember that just because a curmudgeon like myself prefers one pen over another means that the lesser preferred one is in any way inferior, okay?
The orange pen here is a very cheap TWSBI Swipe; I like that one too... ~Not as much as I like the V126, but it is never-the-less an interesting pen and has it's own good niche AFAIC.

[catbert]

Interesting review.... However this is an older review using an earlier version of the V126. ...

It's a relatively recent review (posted about two weeks ago) despite the reviewer having a previous version of the Asvine.

Like Jon, I shall stick to my Sheaffer vacs.

[FredRydr]

When it comes to 823 barrels cracking, Goulet has had the same experience as Ron:

Start at 29:40 - https://youtu.be/jRH3CdzAjeY?si=I3jvWJGi-AsADch-

Too late to follow their advice. The first thing I did when the second-hand pen arrived is unthread the section. Goulet says it is glued, but mine certainly wasn't. I checked just now to make sure it's not too tight and let the o-ring do its job.

So...where can I buy spare clear barrels? (Yeah, riight!)

[Skip]

"Like Jon, I shall stick to my Sheaffer vacs."

Don't know anything about them. ~Now I'll hafta check them out...
That's what I like about post exchanges like this; -there's almost always something new for me to learn!

However learning about 823 barrels cracking is something I'd rather not have had to learn! ~Sheeeesh!
But now that knowledge will be meaningful for making future decisions... But of course the same thing could happen with the V126 after it's been around and used for a while; one always hopes this kind of thing will not occur with any pen, cheap or expensive!

[Jon Szanto]

It's just the 823, not Sheaffers. I'm not saying that all do, but I've seen enough to go "hmmm."

Oh, Ron, that was just ham-handed wording on my part! I didn't mean the Sheaffers were suspect, I just meant that whether the 823 is good or not, I'm not going to give up my Sheaffer vacs (in favor of he 823). Sorry for being unclear.

[Jon Szanto]

However this is an older review using an earlier version of the V126. So if the esthetics here would be a principal reason for not liking the V126, be aware that the newer version I have is in an attractive transparent jade color and also now has a gold clip and gold trim on it's body.

It isn't a different or older model, precisely, but a different colorway. As you well know, many pens are made in multiple iterations with different color bodies, different hardware combinations, etc. There are a ton of Leonardo Momento Zero pens by now, dozens and dozens of different colors/materials and trim, but really only two actual models in their history, with a revamping of design and parts. I'm not saying that stealth version in the video is not different in some way (such as the plunger) but I think it is actually the same pen in different plastic and anodized trim. So... an aesthetic difference. I have the pen in both a matte clear and jade transparent. The former is my preference.

Also interesting how this topic can stir up emotional responses... It would seem that sometimes brand loyalty, or country of origin, along with how much someone spends for a pen (or a car, or a women's handbag?!) has more to do with the value one holds for a thing than logic might dictate?

I don't know that it is the topic stirring up an "emotional" response (whatever that is), but simply bringing a response at all. Aesthetics are very personal on the granular level; we are all individuals and our tastes are as varied as our skin tones, voice patterns, etc. What I happen to like in a pen is an amalgam of many, many pens I have enjoyed over the years, and I have neither an idea nor a care whether they specifically match up with anyone else's - why would I? No different from art on the wall. It also explains why I spend very little time listening to the current era of "pen pundits" making videos about their personal choices, as all I really need are the specs of a pen and I'll make an informed decision.