I'm a major PenBBS fanboy. For me as an artist, their dryer ef nibs are incredible for the extra fine detail i use in my drawing. I love all their calligraphy nibs as well. The variety of models, acrylics, nibs and affordability just make PenBBS irresistable to me. Some of my fave models aside from the wonderful 355 are the 500, the 487 and the lovely 267. Great video as always, Doodle Meister!👑🔥❤️🔥
Penbbs are super underrated cheaper pens. I got one years ago it was a 480 in Cedar. Loved it, has a fine nib that almost looks like a small fude. I don't use it all that much anymore, but it got used A LOT for a good while.
I have two of this model and some other models from PenBBS. - The nibs can be swapped between most PenBBS models. - PenBBS sells nibs separately if you want options. I think the nibs are model 353 and called "nib charm". They come in an resin unit that is basically a cap over the nib assembly that protects the nib - PenBBS also makes 14k gold nibs. They look very nicely decorated on photos, but I did not get one for the called price. - The spare parts kits are really nice as well, they contain feeds and nib units and O-rings and converters and sometimes also other body parts and parts of the filling system. - Standard No 6 sized nibs fit. For example from Bock or Jowo or Kaigelu long knife nibs. I think the PenBBS nibs are on average better than other Chinese made nibs, but I believe flexibility is very important. - I personally think the glitter version is one of the most ugly versions of this pen. Luckily PenBBS makes many different colors and a clear demonstrator version (no glitter) of each model is usually always available. - PenBBS seems to have played with many different filling systems over the years, and only the magnetic filler (model 487) seems to really not work very well. - The 456 vacuum filler works very well and is one of my favorites. - The 500 is a piston filler, but the piston is spring loaded instead of moved by turning. To use the piston you would extent a rod in the back of the pen and use this to kind of pump ink in. I think this works very well and the pump rod extension makes it compact enough to have a decent ink capacity. - The 469 has nibs on both ends with separate ink chambers. So you can two colors of inks and/or two different nibs on the same pen. I was hesitant at first and got one because I really liked the resin. I love that pen now. However, I have replaced the original nibs with two differently sized Jowo nibs. However, for some reason I think PenBBS has slowed down recently. The only new models I have seen for a while are the annual pen of the year, that are themed according to he Chinese year. Other than that there was nothing really new or exiting for a long time. Now it seems they only release resin color variations of existing models and most of the time all really nice resins are sold out. Also the price went up considerably since a while. I got some of my pens for more than 20USD less than what is asked for now.
My 456 with their signature fine is my best steel nib by a *good* amount. Sometimes I like it more than my fantastic 3776 Fine. I can't wait to afford more when i can
This is my favorite pen by far. Always the demonstrator. The nib is designed for Chinese writing so it's a little dry out of the box... but a little tweak and it's magic!
Very interesting! Definitely worth trying one. Extremely helpful to see such clear details. This is one of the main reasons I am such a fan of your channel…and the excellent writing samples!
I essentially review it how I would want someone else to review it if that makes sense. These are the things I want to know before I buy a pen. I will no doubt talk about things others don't care about and miss things others wish to hear. But my brain just wants to know how it was made and if there are any issues. It drives me nuts when I see an amazing looking pen but turns out it has an obvious design flaw which should have been caught the moment the drawings were done.
What a nice pen. I have to get one. That you can simply unscrew the piston assembly for maintenance is wonderful. No special wrench is necessary, unlike Leonardo Momento Zero Grande which requires a $30 wrench! I like eyedropper filled pens. This is a viable alternative. It takes almost the same amount of ink as my Opos 88 Demonstrator for a lot less money. Great review.
Thanks. I picked up one of these a few years ago as a "poor man's Conid Bulkfiller" -- in part because it's much more affordable and in part to explore that filling mechanism. Glad I did 'cause I discovered that the mechanism is just too fiddly for my taste -- nothing wrong, just too persnickety for me. Glad I gave it a try -- saved me a long wait and big $$$s for the Conid. (P.s., I know the Conid likely has better tolerances, better materials etc).
I've taken this pen on long airplane flight with no issues. For bulk filler type filling systems, there is also the Kyuseido from CY in Tokyo, and the gravitas collaboration with CY. These are very find pens.
Thanks for the review! These PenBBS nibs tend to be on the dry side out of the box, that's obviously the case according to Dough from Inkquiring Minds. Very intriguing filling system nonetheless. These PenBBS pens can at times be tricky to obtain, as their volumes are low and their stocks seem to fly on the more popular models like the 456. Kudos as always and please keep them coming!
They had this system on the 535 Year of the Ox pen back in '21, although the piston at the top gets stuck a lot on that model. Still, I adore that weird pen 😂 Can't wait for the nib tool video! It looks like it'll make life a lot easier when making adjustments.
Still playing with the design and bit and I want to send one to a nibmeister to try out to get their feedback (accidental pun). Any info they could provide would be extremely valuable!
The bulk filling mechanism on the Year of the Ox was their 1.0 version. They acknowledged the flaws and completely redesigned the mechanism in the 2.0 version that is on the current 355 just reviewed by Doodlebud. Amazing that it’s the only really affordable bulk filler on the market as the Conid and the Gravitas Kyoseidos are in the mid to high hundreds! Also, penBBS is known for their colorful acrylics and this 355 literally came in 25 plus different colors and patterns although most sold out upon release. Great review!
Ya know, pink pens arent typically my thing, but with the gold shimmer I kinda dig it. I might have to see what other pen models PENBBS offers in that acrylic 😊 I had a 355 a few years back, and ended up preferring a piston filler or a regular vacuum filler.
I hope you do make your nib adjustment block available. I’ve never been successful when I try to use a brass shim. I just can’t get it between the tines.
@@catherinehubbard1167 That's the plan and it's one of the reasons I'm working on it. I wanted soemthing simple, anyone can do it, and no risk to messing up a nib. Hopefully the testing goes well and I'll have something affordable people can pick up
If it felt in the hand like the Narwhal I showed I would love it more. Something about the acrylic they are using. Doesn't feel as dense or solid for some reason. Its very well made though.
That's an awesome tool. I got a 3D printer but I haven't been able to use it yet. (I wiped out the night before it arrived. I think my shoulder is dislocated) Anyhow, if you decide not to make and sell these, would you consider selling the plans on one of the sites? I'd love to have plans that you made while I'm learning how to use this thing. You pay attention to details. The troubleshooting would be figuring out what I did wrong because I would know that what I started with was good. If not, yes, I would love to buy a pre- made Doodlebud tool because I know that it's good. By the way, what software are you using for design? I'm going to try to at least set up something and play with it until I can move again.
I happen to have one of these guys inked up right now. I think it is a decent pen, although I swapped out the nib because PenBBS nibs are inconsistent and the one that came with this pen was a little too toothy for my tastes. Another thing that bugs me is that the threads on the cap tend to snag when I try to screw it back onto the pen. It's as though it is wanting to cross thread, which means I have to be cautious about capping the pen. Otherwise, it's an attractive pen and it feels good in the hand, but I wouldn't recommend it.
I've got a 355 marbled brown, it's not bad, no really, I've got nothing to say about it, but clearly, I don't have an incredible feeling with it either. This probably has a lot to do with the ink I put in it (Noodler's Walnut). I much prefer the Narwhal Original (which, for that matter, has an exceptional feel).
Yeah its odd, but you know exactly what Im talking about. Its like an amazing looking dish with all sorts of what should be flavorful ingredients, but then you take a bit and its "meh..."
I appreciate the engineering that goes into the mechanism but for me I'd rather just use vac fillers which afford almost the same quantity of ink. Thanks for sharing.
How does it compare to the Asvine P20 and V200? To me the filling system doesn’t matter much because I almost always unscrew my pens and use a syringe to clean and fill it up. Unless I want to top up the same ink. I want a good demonstrator, but I have trouble finding a good one because I like to post my pens because my hands are quite large.
The V200 might be the ticket. The cap does post, but I don't like how it does. But it is a fairly large pen so I don't find the need to post it. I have large hands (XXL gloves) and have no issue with the V200 unposted. Check out the Wingsung 699. Looks like the Pilot 823 and it posts
@@Doodlebud I was thinking of getting the Asvine P20 or P30, and V200. From your reviews, and others, it seems like the P20 has more favorable reviews than the P30, though.
I will be doing testing and getting feedback on from some folks first to see how it works for others. I may have to make some design changes etc. Once I'm happy with it I'll be doing a video on how to use it and have some people can order of the file people can download
I think it's a good pen, but the filling mechanism is so finicky in my opinion that I am happy it is a demonstrator - I'm not sure I could remember the turn left, engage, push, turn right, disengage, ... dance without seeing it in action.
No-one is ripping off a patent from 1898. Patents run for 20 years in most countries, after that it's fair game. That's the price you pay for having it to yourself for 20 years.
Bunch of extra information you may find interesting and also correcting some false "information": -PenBBS actually first made a version of the 355 that did not use a reverse bayonet closure like the current 355 does; that first iteration relied on a snapping mechanism similar to metal snaps on for example a briefcase or a jacket. However, the parts were made of plastic and you can guess what happened... the plastic would stretch and very quickly the snap became too loose to grab the piston tightly enough to stop it from spinning around while you unscrewed it. Incidentally, Conid never commented on this version of the 355. -Later PenBBS made the current version which does use a reverse bayonet closure like the Bulkfiller does(albeit a different design), which is when Conid claimed it infringed on their patent. That's when suddenly the 1898 patent popped up and people started claiming Conid just copied that patent. Seems a bit of an oddly coincidental timing to me. However... -If you actually go and read both the 1898 patent and the Bulkfiller patent, which clearly none of those people did, you will quickly see it is irrelevant, because the 1898 patent only mentions the detachable piston head, which is not what the bulkfiller is patenting. That old patent never went into production, and it's glaringly obvious why: it makes no mention of how the piston head is stopped from endlessly spinning around inside the barrel when you go to unscrew the piston rod from it. That is exactly what the Bulkfiller is patenting: the reverse bayonet closure that resists your twisting force while you are unscrewing the piston rod from the piston head. I'm sure you as an engineer can appreciate why I find it kind of annoying that people claim Conid(more specifically Francis Goossens) just copied the 1898 patent. He took a functionally useless but interesting idea with some promise that had been lying dormant for over a century and came up with a solution to make it functional. It's rare that someone comes up with an entirely new filling system these days, and then people pretend it's just a copy; that just rubs me entirely the wrong way. As is so often the case, people will blindly believe anything if they have a desire to believe it to be true. In this case, people wanted to believe the Bulkfiller was just a copy of an old patent because Conids were already hard to come by at that time, and people wanted another manufacturer to copy the filling mechanism on a cheaper and more widely available pen. I just wish people would give credit where credit is due instead of making false claims about someone who actually contributed a useful invention to the pen world. Just to be clear, I'm not pointing the finger at you, I understand you're just repeating a story that has commonly been held as true throughout the entire fountain pen community for years now.
I don't know what I am missing but I have had 4 PenBBS pens and they are/were....... fine. The nibs are boring. They are pretty well made but no better than Hongdian or Asvine but the styles are much less interesting. The only thing unique about them is some of their filling systems and most of those are pretty gimmicky. I haven't figured out what advantage the bulkfilling system has over a vac filling system at the cost of being more complicated with more moving parts that could be points of failure. I have kept the 456 and the 323 but I never reach for my 355 so it just sits unused.
I do like the bulkfiller when it comes to cleaning and I don't really see any failure points in the design. But the pen does just lack something. Style, feel, something.... When I grab the Narwhal it feels so much better in the hand. Like when you put on a certain t-shirt that doesn't look special, but you just love how it feels. This pen just misses that feel, at least for me
One thing special for PenBBS is that they sell a very nice Waverly nib. I have a pretty blue 308 that I bought specifically for that nib. I can't tell you what filling mechanism it uses off the top of my head because who cares?
I'll give an update if I see any issues, but so far everything is pretty good. Threads are done well so I don't see any wear happening from regular use
@@EnCwoisant FWIW, I had a 355 for a good 4 years before selling it and never experienced any issues like cracking of the acrylic or failure of the filling mechanism.
There are many of us who have had various penBBS models for years with no issues of cracking or major problems. Plus, they sell a parts pack with feeds, gaskets, o-rings etc to fit most of their pen models.
I have a 355 v2 as well. It's a good pen that lets you experience the bulkfiller design for a modest cost. But the seals wear out relatively quickly, so the penbbs parts pack is a must if you have this pen. For the money, I would recommend the asvine v200 over the 355. The v200 feels like a more robust pen.
