I newish to fountain pens but have always kept a good EDC pen on hand. I couldn't resist picking up a few inexpensive Chinese pens just for fun.
I have a Jinhao 599 and a 159. I have to say both are really amazing especially for the price I paid for them. Both have amazing smooth nib's. The 599 had a slight amount of scratch but after I wrote a letter, it was smooth. I have written with a Lamy Safari which the 599 copies but the 599 feels and writes much better. I like how the the 159 writes, its like it's riding on a cushion of ink. For a pen that I paid 59 cents for on ebay, it blows my mind. And Zero feed issues and both ignite on first stroke.
The Jinhao's feel more like $50-$60 pens. My guess is they will build in popularity and the price will no doubt go up.
I got a Hero 360 just because I found it unique. The build quality is good but the cross cut nib is scratchy and pretty well puts the FU in Fun. Don't think I can tweek the nib to improve it. $2.50 well spent but not a favorite.
A non fountain pen I got is the Picasso 903 rollerball. Very pretty orange, looks cool and it has a nice rollerball refill in it. I was turned on to the overall quality of the pen with one glaring issue. The cap snaps into place but does not fit near the collar. In other words when it is capped, it rattles. Being a metal pen, the rattle is really annoying. There is a plastic sleeve in the cap that doesn't go all the way down to the cap opening. If it did, the gap between the cap and the body wouldn't be there and the cap would fit snug.
I put some scotch tape inside the cap to take up the slop and it is fine now. Still it is disappointing to have such a well made pen with this glaring flaw. I have heard other people comment on the caps on Picasso pens having oddities like this.
Well overall, I would have to say its hard to beat most of these pens for the money. Pens like this definitely take away market share from mid range pens like what Pilot and Cross make but they are no elitest pen.
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