Just got my Pilot Elite Mini (70s) with 18K Soft Fine (Compared to Speerbob's Elite)

[KBeezie]

The Pilot Elite Mini (1970s) with an 18K Soft Fine arrived today from Japan.

Was about close to the same price (not counting the $10 shipping) as the Pilot Elite "Big Cap" (made in Korea, same era) with a Steel Extra-Fine nib that I got from SpeerBob on ebay. (Korean Elite from SpeerBob - $22 with free shipping, Elite Mini 18K from Japan $26 + $10 shipping)

The Elite Mini didn't come with a converter, but the seller did provide a black cartridge. (it's used, so guess the original owner used cartridges for the most part). But that's fine, I got a few spares already, though I'll most likely just be refilling a pilot cartridge (which I also have an empty one of spare).

Some pictures of the top and side, I noticed the feed doesn't seem to be exposed, the section covers the feed, where as on the Korean Elite the feed is exposed (but just like the Elite Mini it has a take-up/breather hole on the bottom, just no breather hole on top).





Some comparison pictures between the Japanese made 18K Mini and the Korean Made Steel one.









I haven't inked the Elite Mini yet (did give it a good flushing though), still trying to decide on what color/type of ink to put into it. The Korean one currently has Akkerman #9 Laan van Nieuw Oost-Indigo in it. I'm thinking bout perhaps one of my permanent (ie: waterproof) inks, might go with Noodler's Black Eel, but being a soft fine I might like some shading.

[Tony Rex]

Those are nice. I love Pilot Elites. Mine has been on rotation for quite sometime now.

[KBeezie]

Those are nice. I love Pilot Elites. Mine has been on rotation for quite sometime now.

Thanks, I don't have a write sample yet (just inked it with Noodler's Blue-Black since I haven't tried that yet), but the nib is so freaking smooth.

Edit: Write Sample of Noodler's Blue-Black on Rhodia 80g

[VertOlive]

Very nice!

[discopig]

Where did you manage to find the Elite Mini for so cheap? I've been trying to hunt down one but they are all priced pretty high when I see them.

[KBeezie]

Where did you manage to find the Elite Mini for so cheap? I've been trying to hunt down one but they are all priced pretty high when I see them.

Ebay Auction. I noticed that the Elite Mini sells for $25 to $40 when listed in an auction format, but always over $100 when listed as buy-it-now. But history wise I only seen the Soft Fine one show up once the rest were either fine, medium, posting, script, manifold.

[Sailor Kenshin]

That is one cooooool-looking pen!

[mrcharlie]

I have the same Korean market purchased from Speerbob pen, and didn't know a thing about it when I bought it. I decided that I would put getting a "real" one on my "someday" wish list, and wow! that one you bought is nice looking. And a "soft fine" seems like a great size nib to find. And $36 dollars seems like a dream price also.

FWIW, I really like the EF nib on my cheapy Korean version; very springy and writes nicely. Speerbob also had F nib versions for a while, and I kind of wish I'd spent the $20-25 to get one now.

[KBeezie]

I have the same Korean market purchased from Speerbob pen, and didn't know a thing about it when I bought it. I decided that I would put getting a "real" one on my "someday" wish list, and wow! that one you bought is nice looking. And a "soft fine" seems like a great size nib to find. And $36 dollars seems like a dream price also.

FWIW, I really like the EF nib on my cheapy Korean version; very springy and writes nicely. Speerbob also had F nib versions for a while, and I kind of wish I'd spent the $20-25 to get one now.

I almost got the Platinum large cap pen he also has (PG-250 I think), but I didn't like how the clip looked on it. I like both versions, but the elite mini with the 18K soft fine is super smooth (The steel nib though can't hurt with some micro-mesh if you got it aligned and it's still scratchy). They both seem to be pretty comfortable 'pocket' pens, while not as short as say a Kaweco.