V126 Matte Blue

I’ve been looking for a better way to do the lettering on my cartoon work. Though dip pens produce reasonable lettering quality, they are a bit slow and result in varying letter thickness, as ink typically runs faster immediately after dipping the pen. I hoped that a fountain pen could be the solution to these difficulties, so that’s why I bought this particular pen. Sadly, you can’t run India ink through fountain pens, something I didn’t know prior to buying this pen; however, I discovered a reasonable substitute involving the use of Platinum Carbon Ink (black). Though this ink doesn’t stand up to erasing the way a good India ink would, if you are careful in your application of pencil that needs to be erased, the lettering ink work does not get significantly compromised. Finally, about this pen in particular, it puts down the ink in a wonderfully consistent manner. The ink flow is smooth and reliable. Its medium nib provides an excellent line weight, something that I especially need since my cartooning ends up getting photo-reduced prior to printing. What I truly appreciate about writing with this fountain pen is how it allows me to use my natural handwriting style, something that the nib pen simply can’t match because of the angle that you need to maintain in relationship to the paper surface. Several concluding remarks: it is nice to be able to fill the pen from a 60 mL bottle of ink rather than having to constantly purchase and dispose of cartridges, the pen body is solid and fits my hand well, and the weight of the pen is perfect for natural writing motions – not too heavy…not too light…just right (or should I say “just write”? Ha!).

I liked this pen so much I bought 2. The frosted black arrived first and as soon as I opened the box I was in love. Even if it doesn’t work, which it works very well, but even if it didn’t I was happy with the look. I also saw a resemblance to Boba Fett then when the blue iroshizuku shin-Kai blue in was in the belly of the pen, I named it Bluebafet. As I began to write with it, I ordered the frosted blue, which is a stunning pen as well. I filled the frosted blue with iroshisuku take-sumi and I haven’t named that one yet. I have the medium nib in both and I find myself looking at the pen instead of the paper I’m writing on. They are very easy to fill. They’ve been filled with the ink since I unpackaged them. I even had a busy spell and didn’t write with them for a few days and they fired right up the moment I began writing with them. I can’t tell you the technical differences between this pen, the competitor pens, higher class, lower class, but what I can tell you is this, I love them. And, in my world sitting at my desk, writing my thoughts, that’s what counts. I can tell you also what I notice. I’ve written with a lot of pens. From elementary school to my 1st career, o wrote and used a pen everyday. The acrylic feels different. They feel as though they were carefully made. No doubt the machine that makes these churns out gobs of them, but they really took the time to dial in that machine, these feel and look terrific. Smooth writing. I liked the brand and pen so much not only did I buy a second v126 but I bought a p80 too. Just awesome.

Just to start off... I own a Pilot 823. I know this is a copy of the 823; and no, it's not as good as an 823. Not even close. Now that that's out of the way, this is an awesome pen. The flow is good, and the medium steel nib is extremely pleasant. NO scratchiness, NO baby's bottom, NO skipping, NO hard starts. It is smooth with just the right amount of (good) feedback. The tines were perfectly aligned. There is even a little bit of flex -- well, more flex than I would expect from a Chinese steel nib. If you're looking for a relatively inexpensive pen that is a pleasure to use and you don't mind buying from a company that pilfered the design from another company, this should be on your short list. I have no idea if it will hold up in the long term... looking at it, I can tell that it won't be as durable as a Pilot. But there is nothing about it that leads me to believe it will self-destruct in the short term. I'd definitely take this pen over anything from Jinhao. Keep in mind that this is a vac-filler. It takes some effort to use. You need to unscrew the knob if you're going to write any decent amount or you'll cut off the ink flow to the feed. Maybe just leave it unscrewed unless you're going to be traveling around with the pen a lot. Additionally, it takes some practice and a trick to get a full fill, as well... could be messy until you get the hang of it. They are a little more work to clean out so I would advise that you pick an ink and stick with it to avoid the hassle. If you have the money and want something in this form factor, get the Pilot 823 instead. If, however, you can't or don't want to spend that kind of cash on a pen, this is 80% of the pen for 10% of the price.

LOVE THIS PEN! I watched a review of fountain pens and decided to give this one a try. AWESOME! Easy to fill. Medium nib give thick results. Unscrew the back and the ink flows effortlessly to the nib for constant writing. Screw it back in and it travels well, no ink spilling issues.

The thing about fountain pens is that it’s impossible to make every pen perfect. Some manufacturers are better at it than others. I have some more expensive pens like a Montblanc that I have never been able to get to write well. Even had the nib worked on twice by nib meisters. Needless to say it’s sitting in my drawer. There are usually some bad reviews of a pen like this and sure the quality control probably isn’t perfect. But the pen I received is amazing. The nib is very nice and writes smoothly. It wrote perfect out of the box and didn’t need any tweaking or tuning (both of which I am somewhat capable of doing as needed). The pen is not too dry and the ink flow is very good. I’ve tried a number of pens of different makes and ended up giving most of them away. I am down to four pens these days. A vintage Parker 51 and a Parker 45, a Kaweco Sport for every day at work, and now this pen. I was very surprised at how much I liked it because of how picky I seem to be. The medium nib is just right. I sort of wish it came in broad but I guess I can’t have everything, at least not for $30. The vacuum fill is pretty neat. I journal a lot so the ink capacity is nice. The size, weight, and balance is great. I really don’t have anything to complain about. Overall I’d say this pen is definitely worth a shot. Purchasing any fountain pen is a bit of a risk because you can never be absolutely certain of what you’ll get. For $30 this writes as well as pens that cost $100-200, at least for me. I don’t think there is such a thing as a perfect fountain pen. There are pens that sit in your drawer because you just don’t love them. And there are pens that you write with every day because all in all they feel just right to you. For me this pen falls into the latter category. I don’t think it will find its way into my drawer anytime soon.

It’s a great writing and looking pen. From the day I received it and loaded it with ink, I have had nothing but leak problems. I hope I just got a bad one, but I don’t even fill it anymore. It is my first vacuum fill so I was excited for that. Mine leaks from both ends. I know if I grab this pen, I’ll have ink on my hands. Mine is far outside the return window, so nothing I can do. There are no sharp edges and it is a very comfortable pen.

Asvine is doing what others only aspire to. their Fountain pens seen to me to be a great value for the quality. Pens under 50usd are just as good as some Fountain pens in the 100 dollar range. The writing, the balance, the feel is incredible for this price point Enjoy

It’s an attractive pen, especially in the frosted black, and it’s very comfortable in the hand. Well-balanced weight distribution, capable of longer writing sessions, were it not for the nib — mine is a medium. I get annoying hard starts too frequently. Construction quality is just okay. The piston and finial are a bit wobbly and don’t instill confidence for durability. I’ll have to put some effort into nib tuning and see if I can make this a writer.