Opus 88 Demonstrator Fountain Pen Review - what could go wrong...?
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- Опубліковано 10 лип 2024
- It's clear, it's shiny, it writes...watch my perilous adventures in another new pen I probably shouldn't have bought, but I did anyway. Because I'm weeeeak.
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All products used were purchased by me. 🤓
✒️: Opus 88 Demonstrator in medium
🐙: Diamine Soft Mint
📓: @nebulanote 52 gsm Tomoe River paper
Timestamps:
0:00 - Well hello there!
1:26 - Unboxing & First Inking
4:34 - The Real Tea
7:40 - Writing Sample
14:34 - Wrap up
17:15 - Bloopers...because it wouldn't be one of my videos if I left out the bloopers. 😭
#fountainpenink #fpgeeks #fountainpen #fountainpenreview #fountainpennetwork #fountainpenink #ferociousnprettypens #penandink #opus88
Just checked this out and you’ve convinced me to buy one! I haven’t got an eye dropper and I think this will be the perfect first one! (and I’m just getting back into fountain pens after decades, we still use them for school here in the uk)
Just a heads up Tomoe is a name, not just of a river, but used for women in Japan. It’s pronounced Tom-oh-eh (last syllable as in hey)
Thanks again, I’m going to have to check out your other reviews!
I just received my Opus 88 colorful demonstrator. I’m trying to find an ink that isn’t known for staining that I will be able to wash out.
opus 88 makes beautiful pens but i just cannot get used to 4 turns to unscrew the cap. utter madness.
I own the same opus 88 pen (the purple/red) and I love it! Also, my nib was perfect, so I think I would have sent that one back, quality control issue? I was, however, confused about the purpose of unscrewing the end of the pen for ink flow. I guess I didn't read the insert, went straight to filling it with ink! Thank you for your review. I found it very helpful!
Glad I could be of help. ;)
Thank you for linking me to your site! Enjoy the SSS pen!! For that type of scratchyness, I use a loupe and check for tine alignment, then use a super fine micro mesh and GENTLY move the nib around until it smoothes out.
I love the pen. Thanks so much for the advice...I'm terrible with loupes and realigning tines. My inner millennial shows because I want it to be fixed ASAP...even though I know it's a process to realign. Hope you're doing well!
I purchased this same pen and love the styling, but sadly agree with all your negative findings. It took *forever* for the initial ink flow to begin. My nib was also misaligned in the same exact way as yours, so maybe this is not an uncommon issue. I plan to hunt for a replacement nib.. The ink capacity and look of this pen are just too much for me to pass up.
I knew about the super squeaky screw back, since my Opus Jazz has same issue. But thankfully that can be fixed with a little silicone.
That stinks…but I’m glad I wasn’t the only one. Nothing that can’t be fixed, but for a $100ish pen, that shouldn’t be the case. Ya know? ❤️
I think you got a lemon. Mine didn't squeak, or I just didn't notice it because such things don't bother me at all unless the writing itself is causing the sound, and the nib cut was perfect. Same with others in my fountain pen group.
That said, I decided to sell mine. All three Opus 88s, in fact. I liked them, but I bought way, way too many steel nib pens during the Covid lockdown just out of sheer boredom. I also bought one hundred and twenty-six bottles of ink. I already had two hundred bottles. At my age, I'll be lucky to last long enough to use more than thirty or forty bottles. Ah, well, my wife knows what to do with them should I outlive her.
I also decided to sell three Narwhal pens, eleven TWSBI, and miscellaneous other pens with steel nibs. I love TWSBI pens, but twenty-eight of them was just too many. Well, not really too many, but I had too many ECO and only oone of some other models.
Anyway, I liked my Opus 88 pens, and had no trouble at all with them, even though I've never been a fan of eyedropper fillers.
I would return a $3 pen to WalMart over such quality issues. The ink cutoff valve concept hails from vintage Japanese fountain pens. The cultural and historical explanation I've heard for such designs is that kimonos were so expensive that it was a major financial setback if a pen leaked ink onto one. I've owned several over the years but always used them as dip pens, mostly because of how messy they (or rather I, haha!) can be. I now regret selling them, as they were pretty neat even if I was a bit afraid to use them as intended. That they were usually urushi lacquer coated to keep the ebonite from oxidizing was particularly cool, what with urushi coated pens going for $400 - $2000 nowadays. I even had the first model of fountain pen ever made by Pilot, whose designers went so far as to cover the pocket clip with urushi lacquer to prevent rust. I thought I wanted an Opus 88 Omar until I found out that it has the same $120 pricetag as this demonstrator, which I erroneously assumed had to be an extra expensive limited edition when ferociousnpretty mentioned its price. Other reviewers have complained about threads that squeak and ink cutoff valves that bind and stick until lubricated. This is something that I half expect but rarely experience with $1 fountain pens ordered directly from India. Frankly, you can get a Platinum President with a solid gold nib or, if you like the ink cutoff feature, a Pilot Custom 823, also with a solid gold nib, for $10 to $30 more!
So I also have an issue with nibs and this actually really helped me. I had no idea that having the slit off center made it scratchy. I have a few nibs that are like that and I could not figure out why for the life of me no matter how much I “smoothed” the nib it still didn’t write smooth. I may need to get new nibs for some of pens (various brands unfortunately).
I’m glad it helped! This was my first off center slit nib. I actually didn’t swap this nib for another Jowo, I put a Pilot parallel nib modded by Toronto Pen Co…it’s fantastic for splatting and playing with ink. 😇
I walk away and let gravity do its thing for 15 minutes whenever filling a pen where the nib isn't involved. I hope you contacted the seller to replace the nib, that's unacceptable.
I just dip the nib and feed into the ink. Problem solved.
Loved this video! Thanks for your honesty and humor!!! Subscribed!!
ED pens have really great flow. There is a fun way to fill them and you won't have to struggle to get the ink into the feed. After filling the ink in the barrel, close the section to half. Open the valve and put the nib downwards on top of the ink bottle. Now tighten the section, the air pressure generated by this would push the ink into nib and feed and maintain a string flow hence giving a wet and smooth experience.
Thank you for your tip!
Just dip the nib and feed into the bottle of ink. Ink from the reservoir will flow down and connect with it in nothing flat. You don't even have to wait for it. What's in the feed will last a long time.
Yeah I find opus has some quality control issues with their nibs I got 3 of these and 1 wrote fine out the box 1 was misaligned and 1 was similar to yours. But a #6 nib swap can fix this and also flexible nib factory makes housing for platinum nibs that you can swap into the opus
You always make a good writing sample page regardless of your jinx with nibs. 😋 How are the Kittays?
Don’t feel bad about how to fill and get the pen ready to write. I have a degree in science from a big name university and it was too complex for me as well.
😂 so you’re saying I’m not alone. 🙌🏼😆
Silicone grease fixed the squeak on mine
That nib would be a deal breaker.
Well, in my experience a nib like that is extremely rare, and the pen should have been sent back immediately. But a bad nib can happen with any brand or model. I had one seven-hundred-dollar pen with a horrible, completely non-functional nib, but the company did back flips to make things right within a remarkably short time.
Awesome video! This is going to be my second Opus 88 pen, the first one being the Omar demo. I got them at an awesome discount from endless pens. I have my eye on the Koloro in tan and blue next
yikes...that wasn't a pleasant 1st writing.... sure hope that when I get mine it's faster and better and no issue with the nib. I NEED to find a purple that is safe for demonstrators! Because I just ADORE those inks 😜
I kept Cross violet in this same model for 3-4 months (that’s how long it took me to write it dry) and it left absolutely no trace.
I haven't has a problem with Cross Violet, either. But I have a Purple TWSBI, two, in fact, an ECO and a 580 ALR, and I don't care if they do stain because they ALWAYS have purple ink in them. Stained or not, they always look the same.
I own an Opus Jazz fine nib and it works well, i can't find flaws.
Hey Newsha, for future ref, if working with a dried out pen and you have trouble getting it started, dip the nib. A bit of reverse capillary action can help get things primed from the main section.
What’s funny is that I was yelling that at myself while I was editing the video. haha
@@ferociousnprettypens nice, good job Future Newsha! I just pulled the trigger on the Omar demo. Big pens FTW!
Yes, that's the fasteest and best solution.
So next time you are waiting for the ink to flow, just dip the nib into the bottle.
Yea. I had a duh moment when I was editing the video. 😂 lesson learned.
Ahhhh yes...my favorite pen!
"What could go wrong?' Famous last words!
Please don't hate me for enjoying your struggles with trying to get the pen to write at the beginning. Well it was more of an entertaining enjoyment, like watching a puppy figure out just what is this round green thing that rolls when I pounce on it? Not a Buhahaha kind of enjoyment. Wait do dogs see color??
You have a Visconti Watermark right? It's the same concept -- release the valve... RELEASE the VALVE ......................
For a pen costing $10.20 an off center slit is not acceptable. I don't know whether to keep it as a rarity, or not. Either way I think Opus would send you a replacement, so you can have the rare nib and the regular one to actually use.
Ha! That's why I include the struggles. If it was just easy, 1) it wouldn't be real and 2) I wouldn't have something funny to edit. 😂
Nice pen, but how many are willing to pay $120?
🤷🏻♀️ that's up to each person. I'm just here to share my experience and have a little fun along the way. ☺️
So many are willing to pay much more than that
Since sales are very, very, very good, I'd say a lot of people. One hundred dollars is really not all that expensive, even for a pen with a steel nib. I have several steel nib pens that are in the one-thirty are, and one that cost an even one-fifty. My TWSBI ALRs cost seventy-five dollars, and one of my Vac700s cost a hundred and ten.
We each consider different levels of pen cheap or expensive. Look at it this way. My three daily carry, take anywhere and everywhere pens are the Kaweco Brass Sport with a gold nib at two hundred and forty dollars, a Visconti Homo Sapiens Bronze Age at six hundred dollars, and a Scribo Feel, also at six hundred dollars. I have several other gold nib pens that I rotate as my fourth or fifth carry pen. Three of these make the Bronze Age and the Feel look like they cost a dollar.
In fact, when I find a pen with a steel nib that I absolutely love, I'm very likely to put a gold nib on it.
I am not rich by any stretch of the imagination. I am very, very good at saving money for particular things, I'n good at trading, and I'm good at finding deals. I stopped drinking coffee, Capuchino, and soft drinks when away from home, and saved fifteen dollar per week. I put ten of this into a Christmas account, three into a jar at home, and two back into the family budget. At the end of two years, I bought a Visconti Homo Sapien Bronze Age, a Pilot Custom 823, and a Platinum 3776. I also had three hundred and twelve dollars in my jar, and had added two hundred and eight dollars to the family budget.
I've talked to or personally known several dozen people who say they can't afford a pen with a gold nib, but they own forty to fifty cheap Chinese pens that can have a value up to a thousand dollars. Just five of those pens would have bought a Pilot Elite 95s with a gold nib. I waited for a sale and bought a one hundred and seventy dollar Platinum 3776 for a hundred and twenty-five dollars, or seven of those cheap Chinese pens.
It's an individual thing, but I don't consider a hundred dollars very much money for a good pen. It's true you can get some good pens for less, like anything TWSBI, or a few Pilot pens, etc., but I think pens like the Opus 88s, or even the Narwhal that run up to one-forty, or the Benu, are more than worth the price. Apparently a lot of other people feel the same because these things really do sell very, very well.
Cats name is inky?… ah yes the fountain pen virus 🦠 thrives on in this one……
And you have a puppy named ‘nibs’? 🤪😂.
Inky got me floored when she responded ‘meoooow”? TRANSLATION: Are you finished meow? Its my time for attention….. 🤣 i want some attention right meow
Hah! Yes. That's the WHY AREN'T YOU TALKING TO ME? YOU ALWAYS TALK TO ME...meow. And I got into fountain pens years after I got Inky. So...it was destined.🔮
@@ferociousnprettypens really!? I wonder what gave you the inspiration to name him or her that.
I’m the same way with not changing or dumping ink…….. I’m officially dedicated to using the entire bottle…. I confess… I’ve dumped about 4+ bottles due to dummy cross-contamination. Dont ask why….. I’m sooo ashamed……
🥺😭 oh no. I have been really fortunate in not having contamination issues. There's a bottle or two I've thought about knocking over...into the sink. 😈😂 But I haven't. I'm stubborn. Must finish.
I have three hundred and twenty-six LARGE bottles of ink, a hundred or more samples, and a shoebox full of ink cartridges. I use a lot more ink that the average fountain pen owner, but it seems silly to worry about getting every drop out of a bottle. Cross contamination can be a problem, and it's so so easy to do. Many of us are guilty of cross contamination, so you are not alone.
@@jamesaritchie1 whoa wait a minute! XD we’re not gonna just dash by you saying you have 326 bottles of ink……. I have twenty and am having a hard time using them up…… (all because i want the precise color of the primary’s )……. You must be doing water color and what not to get the most use out of them cause …… you’ll be passing them all down to your little ones when are of age or now what ever the case may be….. sharing gifting and so forth…….
As time passed by, i ended up doing so to pass them off to who ever I knew that uses a fountain pen. Im no longer concerned of getting every drop neither (finally) even though its a celebratory feat amongst us.
😢its not singing, it’s screaming 😱
That breaks the heart…. A misaligned nib at least your Twsbi didn’t crack….. if so … i think we should hold off on “demies” (demonstrator) untill the perfect them. Still waiting on mines to arrive along with som parallels
I've had a few Ecos that have cracked at the grip sectio, but they're still functional...so I've just left it alone. I use them so frequently...Meh. 🤷🏻♀️
Oh, I'd definitely get the company to replace that nib unit it's CLEARLY not right - even I can see that and my eye sight is not that hot. LOL That's too bad to get an ikky nib. It happened to me once with a TWSBI nib and they sent me a new one. I just started writing with my Open 88 Koloro Demonstrator and I love it -- I got a Broad nib on it. I think at this point I like the Opus 88 Omar better but I really like them both. The nib experience is the same the look of the pens is different but each great in it's own way. LOL
When I ink pens that are eye-droppered or cartridge converter I always find a way to dip the nib to cheat and get the pen writing immediately. Even if I have to harvest a cartridge to do it. :) Because I have NO patience for waiting for ink to start flowing. :) Wow, I'm going to have to find Azizah's video on how to put a Parallel nib in one of these. The ink tank on this pen is perfect for that!!!! I enjoyed this video! :)
That's a good idea to dip it. This pen has such a crazy feed with so many nooks and cranies, that would have helped get it going faster. 🧠
Wow, that’s a lot of issues for one pen! Can you get the nib replaced from where you bought it? I’ve returned several bad nibs and got replacements that were excellent. I have three Opus 88 pens and have never had these problems. I just keep the same ink in my demo - Pelikan Edelstein Jade. I love it!
You are really not having much luck with nibs lately, and while on the Kokuno it is understandable, I do not feel the same about it happening on a $100 pen. But such is life.
Regarding the "squeak" when undoing the rod cap, I had the same issue on my Koloro, a drop of silicone grease (the one that comes with the TWSBI) put an end to that, like you it drove me crazy.
Loved the review, thanks for doing it
I completely love your personality 😁😂
Ok, this is one of my favourite pens. Even though I’m a serial ink changer, I just don’t put a lot in! Because you have full control of the amount of ink , this pen is perfect! Safe to say, I have *several* of these pens because I have several pilot parallels. I also don’t mind the multiple turns to get the cap off, because it means the pen always stays nice and wet. This tends to be the only pen I use shimmer inks in for that reason because the nibs won’t dry out. AND, I don’t love clips, and you can easily take off the clip on this one. I love this model so much that I have a couple of the store limited edition ones (from Inkhouse Hong Kong and stilo & stile) and on those I use two of my favourite sailor nibs that need eyedropper pens because these eyedropper pens don’t leak!!! Anyway, BIG fan. Thanks for doing the review!
Most I've talked to in my fountain pen group like the Opus 88 pens. I did, too, but sold mine. I am not a fan of eyedropper pens. You get full control of ink amount with a regular piston filler, or a regular converter, and without the mess, so I see no advantage with eyedropper fillers, and several disadvantages. And these pens absolutely can burp ink. Any pen with a large reservoir can. Even regular ink cartridges can burp on occasion.
One of my Opus 88 pens burped out enough ink to completely cover my hand, and the paper I was writing on. Such burps seem rare, but they do happen.
Nor do eyedropper pens flow better than other fill systems. Flow is determined by the ink channel, the feed, and the nib, not by the fill system. All piston fillers have the same type of reservoir as an eyedroppers, more so than the Opus 88. Ink leaves the reservoir the same way, and at the same rate. Even pens with converters can flow just as well and just as fast as an eyedropper fill because flow isn't determined by the fill system. The wettest pens I own are cartridge/converter pens. Several of them flow faster and smoother than any of my reservoir pens, including the Opus 88s.
More than anything the ink channel and nib says how good flow will be. This is why feeds cut specifically for flex nibs flow so well. They often have two, or even three, ink channels.
Ink flow from reservoir to nib is not very good with the Opus ** pens. This is clearly demonstrated by how long it takes the pen to start writing after you fill it the first time. This is intentional, and it's an effort to prevent leaking and burping. Good flow only happens after the ink channel and feed are full.
And the nibs will dry out, just as with any other pen, but it really doesn't matter. Leaving ink in a pen too long is a very, very bad idea, even if the pen stays wet.
This is especially true with eyedropper fillers. Many inks have biocides in them, but this doesn't always protect the ink and pen from mold, and some inks have no biocides at all. I've seen some very scary things grow in pens that had ink in them for too long, and I've seen the feed and nib clogged because of such things.
Eyedropper fillers are exposed to more air, much, much more air, than other fill systems, and all it takes is one mold spore floating along at the right time to contaminate the pen. Pilot says you should clean their pens at two months, no matter what, and one month is much, much better. Some experts say two weeks.
I know Platinum pens are supposed to stay wet for up to two years, and TWSBI pens can stay wet for several months, but those numbers are marketing numbers aimed at people who just don't know any better. It helps them sell pens. Anyway, of all the fill systems out there, eyedropper pens should be cleaned the most often simply because they are exposed to so much more air.
Several turns to get a cap off doesn't bother me. No one is in that much of a hurry, and you shouldn't keep putting any cap on, taking it off, putting it on, during a meeting or lecture. You should be holding the cap on your left hand, and resting the pen in the cap while waiting to write again. You hold it in place with finger and thumb, and the pen will stay wet for an hour or more.
But multiple turns does little to keep a pen wet. The pens that stay wet the longest often don't even take a full turn to remove the cap, and many pens with multiple turn caps dry out in minutes. Cap seals are what keeps pens wet, not more threads on the cap. My Platinum pens stay wet, supposedly, for two years, but it takes less than two turns to remove the cap.
My Visconti Homo Sapiens Bronze Age seems to stay wet forever, but it takes about a quarter of a turn to remove the cap. Maybe not even that.
Doesn't matter. All of them, including the Platinum pens, get cleaned thoroughly ever month. It isn't just the trouble mold and other nasties can cause, it's the fact that the water in ink itself evaporates, even inside a reservoir, or in a feed. This can cause changes in the ink flow, changes in the color, the ink gets darker, and it can take remarkably little evaporation to cause changes in ink color. Evaporation can also cause changes in pressure that can cause burping. Evaporation can also cause dried out ink to slowly form inside the feed. Water can actually evaporate right through most ink cartridges and dry them out over time. Even plastic caps on ink bottles can let evaporation through. And so can the plastic on many fountain pens. This is one disadvantage of water-based inks.
Anyway, it's fine to love eyedropper fil;ers, as long as you understand that the only difference between them and other pens is how they fill. Nib and feed go unchanged, and eyedroppers do not have better flow. Unless they leak or burp because of pressure buildup in the reservoir, just as can happen with any type of piston filler. Though it is a bit easier to control if you have a piston, which is one reason the piston is in the Opus 88.
the ability to remove the clip definitely interests me
9:33, Tomato River paper... 🍅🍅🍅😅🤣
You make the third person to refer Tomoe River” as “Tomatoe River” aside from me and the original dubbed owner (Eric; friend of SBRE BROWN and Gourmet pens ) of the affectionately named paper.
Whew .... so I didn't hear wrong. lol
Hot damn, you do have bad luck with nibs. Also, your nails are pretty 🙃
Yes. Yes I do. And breaking pens. I'm an accident waiting to happen. 😂😂😂
0:28 and already the awesomeness comes out ! I have an Opus 88 Picnic and oh man, that B nib is all kinds of juicy and yummy, I love it. Not as much as I loved watching this video, but close LOL
Mmm picnic...food...now I'm hungry. Thanks a lot, Sue. 😂😂😂❤️
@@ferociousnprettypens you know, if I liked the sun, and people, and sitting in the ground, a picnic sounds amazing 😂
Oh, cool plan! Would you give an update on how it goes with the Pilot Parallel nib?
Sure. As soon as I write then pen dry, I'll swap it and update. 🤗
Soon to get mine in a couple of days and will do the same.
I have several opus 88s and love them all. I haven’t experienced any nib issues. It has taken me some time to know how to best operate the pen. I leave the end cap unscrewed even when I’m not writing with it and they seem to perform better. The Bela is my favorite model. I don’t understand why the seller would not send you a new correctly divided nib. Can you contact the company itself? You never hear of a problem with Twsbi’s customer service. Love your ridiculousness.
Thanks, Toby. I find I don't screw the cap on all the way. Have you ever had issues with leaving it uncapped? I don't think it's a problem for now since I'm working from home...but I'm curious.
Bummer about the nib. I know you're planning to put Pilot Parallel nibs on it, but you could probably get the company to replace it. I have six Opus 88 pens and I love them all, although I do sometimes move nibs around. I'm guessing you could probably get silicone grease on the blind cap threads without taking the pen apart--could you just open it as usual and apply a tiny bit of grease to the exposed threads with a toothpick? Also, the top finial unscrews if you want to remove the clip. And finally, this is called a Japanese style eyedropper due to the shut-off valve. Sorry to comment on so many aspects, but it makes me sad to see such a lukewarm response to a pen I truly love! I hope you enjoy it more as a calligraphy pen.
It's okay to love something and be passionate enough to speak up about it. That's never something you have to apologize for here. And thank you for educating me on the Japanese style eyedropper. ❤️
I recently got the “colorful” model in this and my nib has the same issue! 😫 depending how I hold and write it can be so darn scratchy. I agree for the cost of this pen it shouldn’t have these issues. I contacted the place I bought it from and they suggested I buy a new nib and swap it out. I’m like I shouldn’t have to do that! I’ve already spent over $100 on the pen. 😒 I will eventually probably swap it out but for now I’ve put it to the side sadly.
Honestly, you shouldn't have to spend extra money, as long as you have a warranty on it and it's obviously a subpar nib. If the retailer won't make it right, reach out to Opus 88.
I just got mine last week and I have the same thoughts about the nib. But I got it because I knew I could swap it out. This will be the pen I use when I practice handwriting since it has the large ink capacity. Speaking of...where do you find the various script styles for handwriting practice?
Awe man! I was hoping mine was a fluke. I'm glad you have a nib to swap it with as well. It's such a cool looking pen!
The script style is my handwriting. I don't think it's a font. For the caps, it's dropping the midline on the letters. For the cursive...it's just trying not to mess it up because of how I have to sit with a tripod resting against my chair. 😂 I filmed a penmanship video this week, but the sound didn't record....so I'll take another go next week. #technologychallenged 😅