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New pen day! Taccia Spectrum, Opus Koloro 88, Wing Sung 601

Oh most blessed of days — the New Pen Day — thrice visited me today! Rejoice!

Today I took delivery of three pens, all of which I immediately inked and had a good play with. Look out for reviews to come, but here are my first thoughts…

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You wait ages for a pen, then three come along at once…

Opus 88 Koloro

I was intrigued by this pen when it was first announced. First by the fact that it has a really novel design, mixing ebonite with translucent plastic in a rather unusual way.

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It’s a bit of a Marmite design, but kudos for doing something different.

Second by the rare filling type: Japanese eyedropper. You fill it with the included bulb syringe straight into the barrel, and the section threads feature an o-ring to seal.

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Yep, it’s an eyedropper.

But there’s also a metal rod down the centre of the barrel with a rubber plug on it, much like the rods on a TWSBI Vac or Pilot 823, but this exists purely to seal off the ink in the barrel away from the feed — handy for travelling or preventing eyedropper-burp.

First impressions are that I like the design and the construction (the logo is engraved, fit and finish is good).

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Engraving. No expense spared. Clip is meh though.

But the #5 F steel nib lacks personality and runs a bit dry. It reminds me of the #5 nibs that Franklin-Christoph uses — same feed.

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Oh well.

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Definitely a true fine!

Taccia Spectrum

Yep, it’s the budget Sailor with a tiny steel nib. Standard cartridge-converter mechanism. I really wanted to like this pen, but a few things immediately put me off. The logo is screen-printed.

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Skimped on the engraving, then…

The chrome cap threads look cheap, and I don’t much like the clip either.

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There’s something really 80s Italian restaurant about the Taccia. It’s lacking class.

Also, the section is small — this is a much smaller pen than the Opus.

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The chrome threads don’t just look naff, they feel sloppy.

 

Thankfully, all is redeemed by the nib, in this case a B, which is juicy and expressive and despite being steel, feels indeed much like the 21k nib on my Pro Gear, complete with just an ounce of feedback.

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The nib is tiny but packs a punch.

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Really fun B nib.

Wing Sung 601

How could I say no? A beautiful Parker knock-off, with vacumatic filling mechanism, ink windows, retro colours and a cute hooded nib — all for about £12.

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A VACUMATIC REBORN!

It’s just beautiful, although the fit and finish is decidedly budget.

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You can definitely see the join in the blind cap…

Oh, and it leaked until I reassembled the section.

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Cute little nib.

But OH! It writes AMAZINGLY. Super fine line, but really really smooth, wet, and with no hesitation, even without flushing. Considering I just received a much more expensive Namisu Ixion with both a Bock steel nib and a Bock Ti nib, and NEITHER wrote out of the box, I am impressed at what Wing Sung can do.

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This is literally my perfect line. Bravo Wing Sung.

Note: I bought the Wing Sung with my own money; the Taccia and Opus are on loan from Pen Chalet as part of a United Inkdom group test and will be returned. See my ethics page.

2 Comments

  1. priyasharmafiction

    Where is the Wing Sung 601 from? I can only see one seller on Ebay who carries this and it’s about £25. Speak to me, wise one.

    • Anthony

      I ordered it several weeks back, quite possible the price has gone up since 🙁

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