Newton Shinobi in Copper Acrylic
Not really a review, because how do you review custom pens? There's nothing objective here. This is a short write-up of a pen I love.
Legend has it the Newton Shinobi was designed by one of Shawn's customers. The design is wonderfully documented by that very customer here, for those wanting more in-depth information.
I thought the design was interesting, but felt no compulsion to have one.
The Shinobi has a single flat side, flat ends, is cylinder shaped, and the cap and barrel are fitted flush with each other. No posting of the cap for this pen.
Until a friend came to visit and showed me his Shinobi in transparent acrylic colors.
For me, the transparent material highlighted the cool design of the pen. Someone else may have designed it, but Shawn's engineering/crafting of the pen is, to me, stunning.
My friend's Shinobi did not sport the usual, albeit very nice, #6 JoWo steel nib Newton pens commonly come with. He managed to get Shawn to install one of his favorite Japanese nibs. With the nib's original feed. This is very important to those of us who like to throw nibs around. A nib functions best with the feed it was intended for. Generally speaking, in case you're a quibbler.
My friend's Shinobi could only be used as an eyedropper because of the way Shawn fit the nib and feed into the section. They are friction fit into the section without a collar to contain them.
So the nib, too, may have had something to do with my fascination with this pen.
I liked his Shinobi so much, my friend almost didn't get out of my house alive with it.
Eventually, he made it out with his pen, and Shawn and I worked out an order for my own Shinobi. I had a beloved, orphaned Japanese nib that longed for a pen body, and the Shinobi seemed like an ideal solution. Shawn said he'd work the nib into the design. So, I sent him the nib unit and went into wait mode for three months.
The resulting pen that came back is one of my very favorite pens ever. How can it not be? But even without the favored Japanese nib, the pen itself is extremely comfortable, and fun to write with.
The transparent colors I choose from were limited in colors, and there was nothing really in my brownish pen palette. It would be easy to pick blue, green, violet as they are such pretty colors. I chose copper hoping for something kinda in my color range for pens.
The pen's eyedropper fill only, and is about 5 1/4" long capped. Uncapped, it's 5 1/8" nib to barrel end.
There's nothing brown, really, about copper. We've tried calling it amber, and the pen's kinda amber-ish, but, honestly, it is indeed copper. And IMHO very handsome. The acrylic is orange with a bit of a rose tint to it. Can you see it? Especially in the cap.
Shawn's original photos, show the pen as very orange. It is not as deep orange as his photos show. Orange, yes, but with that funny rose flavor that copper has. But do take the time to look at Shawn's photos because they show off his design quite well.
When filled with ink, the copper pen takes on a different character. It might be hard to see in the photo below, but even inked, you can see the nib glistening through the section.
A good pen for the Fall, I think:
The Shinobi arrived in early-September, and so I've not had it long, but it's been in use ever since I got it. I've no desire to put it out of rotation.
Funny because I'm not a "demonstrator" pen person, and now I've two transparent pens I love a lot (the other is an Edison). These pens are not for those of you who can't handle a little ink dotting in the cap, from time to time. I haven't cleaned out this pen yet. (The nib and feed can be removed, FYI.)
This is my second Newton Pen. Neither of these pens were planned, like the bulk of my pens are, but I can't imagine not having them now that I do.
Plus Shawn is so much fun to work with. And frankly, it wasn't too costly at the time, $225, a lot of money for sure, and I don't spend that kind of cash lightly. But hey, the end result is a pen I love using. He's charging more now ($275 for single color).
Cheers, my dears,
Julie
Any questions?
My other Newton pen is a Gibby. I call it the Banana Slug:
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