$5 Moonman M2 Clonne | HYL M2 Fountain Pen 

The real question is when will a clone of the HYL come onto the market. If Pilot or Lamy come out with a M2 clone we will have gone full circle.

Studio shots should be back next week, the studio and is currently disassembled :)

i have the HYL pen and it's been great so far (for its price)! i haven't tried the "original" moonman tho lol.

Thanks. I have the HYL, $2+ US at the time I bought it. One small crack in the cap from pushing it to post, but it writes well enough. The F nib is really EF on mine.

great review. I actually prefer my HYL to my moonman for a couple reasons: more ink in the hollow end barrel than M2, less wet/more fine than M2, and because of the injection molding vs acrylic, easier to post without cracking cap (ALL my M2 caps cracked when I tried to post. every single one). plus they have gray, bronze, blue, and red colors, haha. the HYL clone of a clone is outstanding in my cheap and fun fp book.

Can you please tell us which company makes these nibs? You referred to them but i missed the name

I paid only about 2 Euros for my HYL and it was easily among my favorite purchases in 2019. I did not know about the nib origin. But it performs very well on different types of paper. Even glossy ones that some other pens struggle with. As for design, mine had quite prominent molding gate stubs. Nothing a bit of sandpaper can't fix. The metal band comes in variety of colors, not just blue. I chose copper. As for barrel/cap being hollow up to very tip, i actually like it more (sans offset mold). Solid ends on original Moonman actually look like foreign objects to me. I also prefer facets to the plain boring M2 tips. However, it comes with caveat. Due to surface tension, some ink gets stuck at the very tip of the barrel and it bothers me way more than it should :) Overall, i was pleased with HYL much more than many of the more expensive pens.

You seem to be less active on youtube -missed you..

I actually bought a set of the HYLs before getting the real deal, as I didn't know better, when first starting this hobby a year ago. I found it leaked and I put it back into storage. Now I know a little more, I may try again. I didn't use silicon grease or extra O rings, which I would do now. If it still leaks then I'll keep the nib units and bin the rest. EDs already make me feel leak-nervous and I can't be done with one that I know to be prone to it. Sadly this includes the preppy. Using official converters (not even eyedropping them) I have several preppies that drip ink into the cap when left inverted, and will drain the converter like this in a matter of minutes. The only true ED I keep inked up is a Wancai Mini which is rock solid.

I been looking for the HYL clone and have not found it, a search on eBay did not find it but I had bought some Wing Song 3008s so I looked at the seller's store and they had it for $2.99 US Dollars so I will try one out in the future.

I have a few fountains, and my favorite (as for now) was ~0.5$. Not joking. Not the prettiest one in the world, supermarket no-name, but works great, and its comfy. Nib with Iridium ball. Its my daily, i use it from 1.5 years. Zero problems. Other pens are waiting in my desk.

Tasting their own medicine! 😋🤭🖋️✒️

I have 2 of those clones in my pocket with my 4 moon and wancai pens.

I found it small in my hand... Plus, the one I tried leaked... Yes I know... silicone grease... Still... Also the nib wasn't totally stable... Never tested the original and probably never will...

Moonman actually comes up with not western design sometimes

I've had these pens from AliExpress. Threw them away. Hated them. If this is exactly like Moonman, I don't know if I would ever get that brand. Not mij pen.