Majohn A1 Retractable Fountain Pen Extra Fine Nib with Box, Silver Stripe Metal Ink Pen with Converter Writing Set (With Clip Version)

I purchased the matte black clipless Moon Man/Majohn A1 at the same time as a Decimo (the pilot VP’s slimmer, lighter, younger sibling) and prefer the A1.**see photo for both pens and essentially a handwritten version of this review**While the A1 may technically be a “knock-off” of the VP, it’s gotten a reputation for being a very good fountain pen in its own right. The biggest difference between this and the others is the nib — choosing the “best” is just personal preference.The A1’s nib offers a touch of pleasant pencil-like feedback, and paired with the feed is an extraordinarily consistent writer with no skipping or flow issues. It’s almost like writing with a brand new extra-fine hard felt-tip?? It is a “nail,” so there’s zero flex to it.The Decimo & VP, on the other hand, have 18kt gold nibs, which are very very soft and glassy-smooth on paper. The Decimo’s nib was so soft that I could see the tines separating while I was writing, which caused some inconsistent flow and isn’t ideal in general, and there was no line variation unless I used more pressure than I was comfortable with.Remember: Gold nib ≠ flex nib, and not every steel nib is unyielding!The A1 does not feel “cheap” in any way — it’s extremely sturdy, weighty, and dependable. I usually prefer slimmer pens as I have small hands & an unconventional grasp, but the girth of this one doesn’t bother me (the grip section is roughly the same diameter as the barrel of a capped Metropolitan, for example).The clicker is very satisfying and convenient, too. The trap door closes all the way, keeping the nib from drying out.*Just make sure the nib is put in the barrel correctly to begin with, by lining up the little bump on the feed & slotting it into the corresponding notch in the barrel. As far as I know, this is the case with any capless FP.It’s a huge bonus that Moon Man/Majohn offers a version without a clip. The clip is polarizing for sure — for some, it may help align the nib correctly, and for others it may just get in the way, depending on how you grip your pen (I’m in the second group). I only wish they offered this option in more than just black!The entire inside (nib/feed/cartridge) is the same size & shape as the Decimo & VP, so you could put a Decimo’s nib in an A1, for example (I tried it, there were no issues), and the body is very close to a VP in terms of size, weight, and appearance.Overall, if you have some experience with more traditional fountain pens and are thinking about getting a clicky FP, I absolutely recommend getting this one first to see if capless is for you. New FP users will get a better sense of preferences by trying out some capped one first :)

Reasonably priced, near perfect imitation of the Capless Pilot. It has a slight weightiness to it (not cheap and flimsy feeling) so comfortable to hold but not heavy. The clip doesn’t get in the way. Although, that depends on your personal writing grip. I purchased the Fine Point nib and it writes beautifully. Extremely smooth with no skipping. The retractable aspect is very convenient, especially because many of us forget to put caps back onto pens or lose them entirely. This helps with that, but you still need to remember to retract it so it doesn’t dry out. Along with the pen, you get 2 empty ink cartridges, eye dropper and an ink converter. They come in a simple but sturdy box and is available in different colors, so makes a nice gift. Overall, if you’re looking to buy a nice looking, retractable fountain pen that writes well and costs under $50 this is a great choice.

As the owner of several Pilot Vanishing Point/Decimo fountain pens, I was very curious about this pen. So, for the price, I figured it was worth a shot. After reading reviews, it sounded pretty good! The pen arrived, and I opened it, and took a good look. The build quality of this pen is very good, especially considering the price. It's not quite up to Pilot's standards, but pretty darn good. I like the extra weight, I think it's slightly heavier than an actual VP. The finish on my orange one is excellent, looks fantastic! So, after inspection, I inked it up (Sailor Kiwaguro Black) and started writing, the nib is excellent on mine, makes a very nice, fairly thin line, the flow is good, really nice. In fact, I like it better than the very flexy 18K nib on the Vanishing Point, as I found it hard to be consistent with the line thickness and it was very sensitive to pressure/flex on the nib. This nib is NOT flexy at all, in fact, some would call it a "nail", but I like it that way better...to each his own. Everything seemed to click...until it started skipping and no-starting. At first, I thought this was the pen itself, the nib or feed, or ink, etc. But on closer inspection it has to do with (in my case) the nib angle to the paper...what some call the "sweet spot"...in other words, if your grip makes the nib end up at a certain angle that is not ideal for that nib, you might experience some skipping and/or hard starts. I think that in my case, the way I hold the pen with my fingers around the clip, may very well be the problem. If I force myself to keep the nib in the sweet spot, it writes VERY well. It's just that is not a comfortable way to write, FOR ME. Your mileage may vary! Overall, this pen is absolutely an amazing value, compared to roughly 3x the $$$ for an actual VP. I see that they do offer the pen without a clip...which would probably resolve my issue totally, but I need a clip for using it at work, and am not a huge fan of black pens, which is the only non-clip version. If you are comfortable with the clip where it is, you can't go wrong otherwise with this pen!

I really like the feel of this pen. Obviously it's nothing like a Vanishing Point, given the steel nib, but the mechanism works well and it writes smooth. I was hoping for a slightly finer line- this is closer to a western fine nib than an EF. You do have to use it regularly- at least every other day while inked up- if you don't want it to become a mess of skipping and hard starts until you clean it, but that's to be expected. If you're looking for a retractable at a lower price point, I'd highly recommend this.

Tenía un poco de dudas acerca de esta pluma, había leído comentarios sobre problemas con la plumilla, el sellado de la tapa, problemas de escurrimiento, etc así que compré la pluma con un poco de dudas pero la verdad me ha dejado muy satisfecho y contento. La escritura es suuuuper suave, llevo 3 semanas con la pluma y definitivamente no he tenido problemas de tinta seca, después de dejar de usarla algunos días ha vuelto a escribir a la primera, no he tenido problemas de escurrimiento incluso des pues de traerla en la maleta de arriba a abajo.Una pluma genial a un precio bastante equilibrado, estoy tan complacido que pienso adquirir algún otro color!.La pluma viene en su estuche y el paquete contiene un par de cartuchos vacíos para rellenar, un gotero y un convertidor así que solo necesitas tener tinta en botella para poder usarla, pero, seamos honestos, si llegaste a esta pluma seguro tienes ya varias botellas de tintas en tu colección.

Por el precio que tiene... buenas apariencia y escribe muy bien.

I'm someone who eyed the vanishing point pens for ages but balked at the cost of the vanishing points. This pen was at the right price point for me to try it out as a daily driver for my note taking at work.The pen writes fine with my usual parker quink washable blue ink it's a bit faint and scratchy compared to my other parker pen that was my daily driver but I think that's down to the nib being slightly finer.It's a fairly well made pen in my opinion with metal body pieces and some inside plastic for the click mechanism. I had initial doubts about the metal clip looking flimsy at first but after a while of using it it's not as bad as I first thought.The pen finish on the body and clip seems to be fairly good quality but time will tell, that said the black trim at the seam between the halves seems to be flaking off a bit earlier than I expected.Admittedly this isn't a cheap cheap pen (which are fun and nice for other reasons), but if you have been on the fence about a vanishing point and want to see if you'd like the style I would consider this pen over something else comparably priced without a click.I think this pen will remain my daily driver for quite some time.

The only thing I don't like about it is that it's a bit heavy and thick. But you get used to it after an hour. The nib is very smooth right from the start, and the ink flow is amazing. The material is sturdy and beautiful.