Doug, you reminded me why I should avoid taking things apart. When someone much more organized and technically inclined makes a mistake, a person like me (scored highest possible on 3 entry exams in one organization; scored only 84 percentile in mechanics (probably because I was good at math but never, never mechanics or physics). I even screwed up taking a platinum converter apart! Only as a last resort, with a pen that is not valuable, will I disassemble!
Great Review! Already had the Wing Sung 699 Blue Vacuum Pen. (Bought it after your earlier review.). Just Ordered a Wing Sung 699 Blue Piston Pen. Price difference was 48 cents less on Amazon for the Piston than the Vacuum. Now waiting for the Twin to arrive! I’ve always been a Geek most of my life and Proud of it!
I purchased mine after watching his video as well. Be advised though, I got mine off of Amazon for $30.00 and that is $12.00 more than off of EBay. Mentioning that here for anyone else that doesn’t want to over pay for an otherwise really fun pen
This is true, but they are not similar pens. The 3776 is a C/C pen and is much lighter and smaller than the WS699. The colour Chartres Blue is to DIE FOR though! And there is no comparison between the Platinum 14k nib and the WS steel. The Platinum is head and shoulders over the WS.
Great video. I just got into fountain pens with a tight budget, and I was looking for reviews that explained the differences. Thank you very much for sharing your experience with these pens.
Thanks for the comparison. I have both versions and I prefer the piston filler as it is about 8 g lighter than the vac filler's 30 g which is just above my comfort weight limit. Both have the F nib and they are decent writers with a bit of feedback which I like. I have no problems with skipping while writing but both nibs tend to dry out rather quickly when left uncapped for a minute or so. About the sticky piston on the PenBBS 309: I put a tiny drop of superglue between the rubber piston and the piston rod and the problem was gone.
I just received the "tool" to take apart the 699 Vac & Piston. Piston top same size as T1 & many others. Also tool can be used to remove vac blind cap. I believe with a slight modification would also fit 456. Order some spare M Wing Sung No 6 nibs. You need more nibs to swap in when you want. I have a few M nibs. On price, you got a great deal on your 699 vac. Currently on eBay vac = piston in price. I enjoy the piston over the vac for the same reasons but for me, the weight of the piston feels better in my hand.
1. Given the number of pens that have passed through your hands, I would imagine that you have come to an unshakeable conclusion as to which filling system you prefer. Is this not the case? I like refilling cartridges. 2. I find that the more pens I own, the more similar newcomers are. I seem to be zeroing in on my perfect pen. I need variety in nibs, but my hand and I guess brain prefer a very specific body shape. I've aided this process by trying to ignore aesthetic considerations. So far.
Yes, I have a pretty good idea what I like. But, I'm constantly being surprised. Like the Wing Sung 601 Flighter really surprised me as I dislike slim pens, metal pens and hooded nibs! LOL The Momento Zero does it for me. I can't divorce my feelings on a pen's looks. The look and feel are all part of the experience.
@@InkquiringMinds I love the shape of the 699, and I like all four of mine, clear, amber, smoke, and blue, although they are all of the vac filler variety.
I re-watched this today. I got a Wing Sung 699 vac filler a couple of months ago (but haven't inked it up yet), and just put a bid on a 699 piston filler. Sorry, but I got my preferred EF nib on the one I have and picked it on the one I put an offer on. I just wanted to comment here again because I don't know if you want to blame inflation, oil prices, or general tomfoolery, but the US Price on eBay is now up to $29.97 on both models! Approximately 18 months after your video, and 30 months after you got your vac filler for about $10 less!
It is part and parcel of all of the issues in the intervening 30 months; inflation, supply chain, pandemic, labor shortages etc. All prices everywhere are going up.
Right off the bat...thank you for the pen bag crinkle sounds...ahhhhhhh. Isn't great to resurrect something you put away and thought you wouldn't use only to see it with a new light...or nib! I have always admired the look of the vacuum filler in cobalt blue and now a piston filler! I like piston fillers. I agree though that the finals on the cap and barrel look odd. The color is mismatched compared to the translucent blue body. That's the one thing that has gotten under my craw about this pen. With the addition of a medium nib option, it makes the pen a bit more attractive to me. I hope the medium nib gets to you soon and you aren't waiting forever for it. Happy New Year, Doug! Thank you! Stay safe and healthy.
Happy New Year, Doug! Thanks for another great review and comparison. Speaking as someone who has both a WS699 and a PC823, I can tell you that the Pilot is not 10 times the pen just because it is ten times the money. I know that you often remark that you don't think the Chinese homage pens cost the OEMs sales, but I will tell you truthfully that if I had not received my 823 as a gift, I would not have spent the money on it after using my 699.
Happy new year, F! Then Pilot has not lost any market share because you would not have bought one anyway. Actually, they would have picked up one sale because someone knew what pen you wanted and bought it as a gift for you. If not for the 699, that might not have happened! Devious huh? :) Cheers my friend.
@@InkquiringMinds yes, it worked out as I had asked for an 823 (and intended to get one if one wasn’t gifted) before my 699 arrived. If the order of events had been just a bit different .......
Happy new year! The ama iro is gorgeous ink! The Wing Sung in the blue is a sweet looker plus being able to take them apart & raid parts if needed! I tried doing some swapping around on a few very different pens - wasted hours last night - but finally gave up since I have only 4 options of bits and pieces from bad or broken pens! Now I have a dip pen (broke the barrel screw section of one), a #5 nib with no plastic bit (oops think it was perhaps maybe glued into nib section), 2 size 6 nibs still in their nib sections but I got ‘em out & cleaned (pressure fit) but they’re lacking pen bodies.... learned lots and now can use the #6’s in a couple m600s but know why they won’t work in the pen with a crappy 5 nib section despite the cap having the clearance to hold a 6! Now I’m on the hunt for cheap, really cheap I can mess with, Frankenpen ‘em! Doug-see what you’ve started! Yea to interesting times and spare parts in 2021!
@@InkquiringMinds last night for some minutes (ok longer ...) I contemplated getting my dremel and lots of fun tools out just to see if I could ream out the miserable plastic nib section keeping me from installing my #6 nib into that darn old pen! I’m still considering ..... you know that inquiring minds thing ....
@@InkquiringMinds ADHD has helped me be successful in all kinds of pursuits! My parents trained my curiosity early & often so it’s a fine quality allowing me to pursue and complete many interesting things! I love carving wood - have some great chunks of wood curing here in my high desert giant yard but also make tools for weaving & spinning fibers, while rummaging in my backyard I’ve now started an archeology project because I’m finding all sorts of painted & carved rock tools which I’m studying to learn as much as I can then I’m going to the Big Bend museum/Sul Ross University to find a mentor but will ultimately donate everything interesting to them, now the pen things- I seem to like parts of one thing and parts of another so I say “how hard can this be ...” Frankenpen here I come! Probably need a calliper, been trying to think about obtaining one for years but after eyeballing fir so long it’ll either be the devil or a godsend! Hahaha! My goal is to make a few good Frankens for people with arthritic thumbs (I do need to get back to fly fishing despite the thumb issue cuz it combines technical expertise & nature=perfect!) back to arthritis-many people give up writing and art because it becomes too painful & hard to find the right tools so that’s enough reason for me! Do you have some suggestions for cheap pens & other nibs fir purchase on eBay (thanks already) that might be likely suspects for my parts box? I love my new penbbs 308! I wonder if there are pen bodies I can alter by heat or carving to make a better, bigger grip (not a t-grip as in Lamy or Twisbi eco? I’m not starting a company just want to offer people a way to accomplish something with a little help! If that makes sense? I don’t even want a utube channel just a way to inform about helpful ideas! Any help/suggestions are great!
I totally agree, that blue color of the 699 is very nice. I have 2 699"s one in blue and one in the dark smoke color. Interestingly I have both a medium and a fine in the two pens. I don't mind using the fine nib as I seem to gravitate to fine nibs more than medium ones, but who knows how that may change as I continue my journey with fountain pens. That said I have to admit that the medium one is more consistent and smoother to write with. Thanks for a great comparison and review and the new ama-iro ink is a great choice for the pen. Happy New Years!!
I bought both versions as well (though in reverse order). Completely agree with you. I prefer the vac filler for it’s heft and shut-off valve. The piston filler (while very functional) feels a bit cheap in the hand. Also I think the quality of the turned acrylic PenBBS uses is head & shoulders above this injection molded plastic. For me this is a nice pen to take to meetings to not draw too much attention
Another great video. I'm glad to see you write with a crummy nib so I don't feel alone :). Funny that buying another pen makes one appreciate the previous one!
You people are all sadists! You want me to freeze my bum off going to the mailbox and then chuckle when I get a lousy nib or ink squirts all over me! LMAO Thank you, Lazy Dog Typewriters!
Could you imagine being a worker in the Wing-Sung factory and it is your first day there and your coworkers keep switching the top and bottom rings just to screw with you. Hehehej
Oh, I forgot my questions: the capacity issue really surprised me. I much prefer the piston mechanism generally, but I thought the vac filler would consistently have a greater capacity. (1) Is the capacity reduction in the vac filler all due to the rod? (2) Is the real reason that many prefer the vac filler the fact that you have a shut-off valve? Retired, I seldom experience altitude changes either flying or driving through the coastal mountains, so I am not as concerned about burping.
The other thing about the shut off valve is that I have a very hot (halogen) lamp on my desk and if my pen sits close to that light for any length of time, it will spit into the cap. The shut off valve saves that.
at 19:52 I have basically the same problem with my Pilot Custom 823 Fine. The problem can be seen with the V in the Vac word you wrote. When you push the pen away from you the tines on the fine nib close up and give virtually no ink flow at all. My temporary fix is to insert a small corner of paper at the end of the nib to try and keep the tines open just a little bit and it solved the problem. If the tines are opened up too much then the nib will nose dive into the paper. But if you disassembled the fine nib you might be able to open the tines up a just bit to prevent this no ink flow in one direction?
Spot on with the video Doug i have 3 699's,brown in fine,blue in medium & just arrived a demonstrator in medium.First 2 are vacuum fillers the demonstrator is a piston fill, imho the medium nibs are far better out of the box.Nice juggling with the pen parts Doug i had to pause it to get my head round it 😃.You have another 12mnths video's to look foward to & edit.👍
Your past video on the Wing Sung 699 gave me a lot of excitement to own it! Now here I am again questioning myself over if I should go for the piston filler or not.....
Happy New Year, Doug! I won't risk commenting on your giveaway video, because I don't want to burden you with insane shipping costs to the Netherlands ^^ The original medium nib that came with my 699 suffered from extreme baby's bottom, which I was unable to fix back then. Meanwhile I've gotten some micro mesh pads, but have no inclination to do it anymore. It wrote really well on none-coated / slightly more absorbent paper such as Leuchtturm 1917, but didn't want to behave on Rhodia or Clairefontaine. While I love the look of these Wing Sungs, I've decided that they're not for me. The weird indentation at the back of the nib prevents swapping out the nibs with other #6 nibs. I've cut a bit out of the feed to still try this, but with mixed results. Now that I've irreversibly modified the feed, maybe I will eventually put a PenBBS fine in it to see if that does anything. For roughly the same money, I'd recommend a Moonman T1 over the 699 piston filler. Even if the nib on that is sub-par (as they seem to have a lot of sample variation - mine was perfect), at least it replaces more easily with other #6 nibs such as Jowo or Bock.
If I lived anywhere as near as you are to Appelboom, I'd be poor, poor, poor! Yes, I agree about the WS nibs and swapping. I want to swap another nib into my 626, but no dice. :( The T1 is too slick and heavy for me.
@@InkquiringMinds We're blessed with stores in the Netherlands. La Couronne du Comte is a 10 minute drive away, and both Appelboom and Akkerman are at like 90 minutes. Will be good for another trip once this pandemic passes.
I got a Wing Sung 699 vac filler awhile ago and it has a very smooth, very consistent fine nib. I absolutely love it. I am considering getting a piston filler option in medium to use with shimmering inks. What do you think?
I obviously missed the chance to win the 997, but my New Year's resolution is to acquire my first fountain pen since I was in high school in the 60s. It's funny, because I don't even write. I guess I'll have to start.
I recently got the vac filler in brown. I have too many pens inked up at the moment to come to a verdict on this one yet as far as the writing experience goes. For looks I like the ... similarity... to the Pilot 823, but I'm not ready to plunk down the dough for one. As I need to switch between English, Chinese and Japanese in my daily life, EF and F are my go-to nibs, especially with the Asian scripts. For English I'm more adventurous and have M, B and 1.1 stub nibs. Great comparison video and the blue finish is very pretty.
Great finger dexterity, but that’s no surprise due to you proficiency with guitars. I am very surprised by the ink capacity of both pens being the same. That rod really takes up space! How does the volume compare between the 2 similar PenBBS models (456 & 309 I think)? When you get your new M nib, let us know how it compares with the one that you showed here from your 670.
Interesting about the weight difference! I love the weight of my vac filler 699s, so the lighter piston model mightn't work for me. Obviously still going to buy one though 😂
Vacuum fillers are interesting only bec ause of the novelty of the mechanism. From a practical view: 1. It is almost impossible to refill a partially empty pen without spewing ink back into the bottle. 2. It is almost impossible to prime the nib ( when you need to do so ) without making a mess.
Hi ! I need your advice. For two years I have had the WS 629 with a steel nib, which I love. Now I'm thinking about buying the WS 699 with a 14k nib for $112. Will the writing experience be better (is it worth the almost 4 times the price of a steel nib)?
I love the 699s. I like the wing sung nibs and I have EF and F and was able to make them consistent and wet. But they are fine points. I actually ordered more wing sung nibs. BTW, you did a great "Operator" opening keep it up!
Sheesh. You open with one of Croce's BEST songs ever. a real 2-hankie tearjerker that pulls at my heartstrings, and then you badmouth "thin" people. Some days... Gonna have to add that 699 to my (ever-growing too-long) want list! BTW.. I ordered a Jinhao 997. Not sure when it will get here.
If they ever change/update the blue version with a new end and tail cap color, I'd pick it up in a hear-beat, the rest of the pen is gorgeous, but something about that dull blue ruins it just a bit. I have the black and its a nice stately pen!
Happy New Year Doug and as we say here "Lang may yer lumb reek"... "May you have warmth and good health for the coming year" So back to the video sorry got distracted sitting at the back which blue pen sucked and which one blows? Does it matter? Which one was the Penbbs again was it the blue one? My head is beginning to hurt think I maybe sobering up as we are in lockdown again so need to top up the alcohol levels again. 😂😂😂 Seriously another excellent video I nodded off in the back row of class did I win the Jinhao? 😁😁😁
Thanks Doug! How do you think these compare to others that are silimiar to the platinum 3776 in appearance such as the Natami Inception or Lorelei 667? The 699 seems to have the same nib as the 626 - I will have to back and look, but did those write better?
They are bigger than both the 3776, Inception and Lorelei. The Lorelei is a Penbbs 308 clone and the Inception is almost identical to the 3776 excepted it is faceted. The Lorelei I got was a scatchy extra fine nib. The Natami arrived broken but I got a replacement section and now my wife has been using it for the last year and a half. I'm doing a review of a Platinum 3776 with a music nib this coming Wednesday!
@@InkquiringMinds My Lorelei 667 looks great, and writes better than expected. Also I was surprised at how light it was, as I expected it to be heavier due to all that shiny metal in the piston assembly.
Is it just me Doug, or do other people think of frying bacon when they hear cellophane being crinkled. Inquiring minds of the not quite right persuasion wish to know ! Peace and love, Rob.
An entertaining thorough review. I do like the pens classic look. However translucent and transparent material are not to my taste. I can't find one with an opaque finish. Recently I found on Ebay a Hero 5020. One reviewer noted that it looked exactly the same as her Parker Cisele. She was surprised to find both pen parts were interchangeable. My own research found some information that Parker left the machinery tools with Hero but no one could give any verification. Are you familiar with this pen?
I am not familiar with this model of Hero but Parker did commission Hero to make Parker pens back in 1979. They GAVE Hero the machinery, tooling and engineering plans after some initial negotiating and test through the summer of 1979. The deal fell through when the Chinese government refused to open the Chinese market to Chinese-made Parker pens. Interesting though, that in 2020/21, Parker is reissuing the Parker 51, made in China by Jinhao (see the Jinhao 85). That Hero 5020 is a Parker Sonnet clone. At least it is branded Hero, not like some of the $10 Parker branded copies that are all over eBay.
That's very interesting. Some years ago I acquired a Hero fountain pen probably produced in the 90s. The section and nib was interchangeable with my Parker 45. The barrel an cap was black with mother of pearl and abalone fragments embedded in them. I appreciated your reply. Thank you
@@colinbeadle7109 It was the Parker 45 that Parker was trying to get Hero to mass produce for them for the world market. The plans and engineering of that pen were given as a gift to Hero, which means it was given to the Chinese government to do with as they saw fit. The most recent Parker 45, parts interchangeable clone, is the Moonman 80. It swaps out perfectly with my gold nibbed Parker 45 from the 1970's.
Hey Doug, why’d you buy the pen through eBay (Seller:kakapenstoreo) instead of Etsy (seller: esybuy). Is the eBay seller the “official” one? Please do keep us posted (on the community tab, or in the comments) on how you like the medium 699 nib when it arrives. That is, if it’s any different from the 670 nib..
There is no official seller of Wing Sung. I like Sally's Etsy shop (esybuy) because she ships things quickly, but her prices are sometimes more than I'm willing to spend. There are some good eBay sellers (industrial tools, office_supplies_pen, chacewang) that are reputable, have free shipping and lower prices than esybuy. Even Sally's eBay shop (esybuy) sometimes is lower priced than her Etsy shop.
Happy new years Doug, great video, my favorite pen is the wingsung 666, all metal pen, on the 699 I was worried I might not like the plastic on that pen, is it durable, I would like to buy one. Thanks Doug.
@@Scott-wi7rm Yes I have seen this pen! It didn't sho up for me because it won't ship to Canada. But Hero has one like this as well and they are clones - more like similar - to the Parker 61.
@@InkquiringMinds I would love a turned acrylic vac filler in the 823/699 shape, so you get the perfect hand fitting shape, and durability. That said my 699 are all doing well, but I don't treat them harshly. (Also if they do crack replacement is cheap enough.)
Great video! I can't decide if I should buy WS 699 vac filler or the new 601 with regular nib! What do you think? Which one is more suitable for long writing sessions?
@@InkquiringMinds I believe you can credit one of his coworkers (? Is that the right term?) for that. Maury Muehleisen had a lot to do with Croce's musical style and taught him a lot about his fingerpicking technique. An unsung and unrecognized artist who also died in the crash that killed Croce.
@@TheNightowl001 You are absolutely correct. Maury Muehleisen was an absolutely phenomenal guitarist and Jim Croce's acoustic and singing partner. When they started together, it was even a question as to which of them would be the "front man" as Maury's voice and songwriting were equal to Jimmy's. Maury created all the intricate layering of the acoustic pieces which still dazzle today including "Time in a Bottle", "I Have to Say I Love You in a Song" and "Operator". It was a double tragedy that killed both Croce and Muehleisen.
You can disassemble the WS699 piston filler with a wrench you can purchase on Aliexpress. I don't have the 699 piston filler, mine is a vacuum filler so I can't tell you which direction the threads are turned. I'm assuming they are reverse threads like TWSBI, Pelikan and Narwhal. tinyurl.com/cxep363j
@@InkquiringMinds in your video I see you disassembled the vacuum filler at 6:52. How did you do that? There’s no place to put a wrench on the end piece
@@racerx1326 Sorry. I was answering about the piston. The vacuum filler assembly unscrews counterclockwise. Use a thick elastic or a piece of rubber to inner tube to grip the threads and turn it.
"... thin and unpleasant, you know, just like some people we know". That's a discriminatory commentary Doug, there's also some fat unpleasant people too 😂. Thank you for the video.
I tried my best but was never able to swap the nib on mine(nib writes VERY WELL, but the color has worn off). I tried a jowo, a fuliwen, a moonman, even a jinhao... Couldnt get any standard #6 nibs to fit.. I've read elsewhere this isnt possible(there is a notch on the feed that prevents standard nibs from fitting). Did you shave that off? Has anyone else been able to fit a standard #6 nib on their 699?
@@InkquiringMinds oh! you mentioned in the video that the nibs were easily swap-able with any #6 nib, I had hopped you had found some sort of hack for that :(
I haven’t done it myself other than swapping Wing Sung for Wing Sung. But there are lots of examples of people swapping Jowo #6 with no issues. Like this: www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/d04gcx/comment/ez6a14j?
Hello there! Happy new year Doug! Have you seen the New "Natami flight of time pen" that is all around the Internet (off course for the ones lurking in the dark alleys of pen enthusiasm).
![[UA] NAVI проти G2 Esports | Blast Premier Fall Final](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/QWlIm4FGESQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Happy new year and thanks for the video, I was confused on ebay by the description 699 and piston filler, Your video cleared it out, nice.
Glad it helped!
Doug, that blue shirt might be your official pen attire. What a great color!
Thank you, LethargicOrganelle! I will tell my tailor!
Agreed. It matches his Kon-Peki ink and favorite resin colors!
@@RBartsy True!
Thank you Doug for everything that you share with us…guitar is great too,keep on picking 😊
Thanks, will do!
Doug, you reminded me why I should avoid taking things apart. When someone much more organized and technically inclined makes a mistake, a person like me (scored highest possible on 3 entry exams in one organization; scored only 84 percentile in mechanics (probably because I was good at math but never, never mechanics or physics). I even screwed up taking a platinum converter apart! Only as a last resort, with a pen that is not valuable, will I disassemble!
I've always been able to take things apart. I'm not not so great at putting them back together again. LOL
"It doesn't matter. You can't tell"
I laughed embarrassingly loudly at this
LOL! Oh, YOU'RE the one who laughed at that! I wondered.
Great Review! Already had the Wing Sung 699 Blue Vacuum Pen. (Bought it after your earlier review.). Just Ordered a Wing Sung 699 Blue Piston Pen. Price difference was 48 cents less on Amazon for the Piston than the Vacuum. Now waiting for the Twin to arrive! I’ve always been a Geek most of my life and Proud of it!
Hope you enjoy it!
I purchased mine after watching his video as well. Be advised though, I got mine off of Amazon for $30.00 and that is $12.00 more than off of EBay.
Mentioning that here for anyone else that doesn’t want to over pay for an otherwise really fun pen
@@AdamGoodson Thanks, Adam!
@@AdamGoodson I don’t purchase on eBay. I’ve had problems in the past involving Identity Theft and eBay’s PayPal.
For less than $70 more than two of these Wing Sungs, you can nab a gorgeous, Platinum 3775 Chartres Blue with a great 14K gold nib.
This is true, but they are not similar pens. The 3776 is a C/C pen and is much lighter and smaller than the WS699. The colour Chartres Blue is to DIE FOR though! And there is no comparison between the Platinum 14k nib and the WS steel. The Platinum is head and shoulders over the WS.
Great video. I just got into fountain pens with a tight budget, and I was looking for reviews that explained the differences. Thank you very much for sharing your experience with these pens.
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for the comparison. I have both versions and I prefer the piston filler as it is about 8 g lighter than the vac filler's 30 g which is just above my comfort weight limit. Both have the F nib and they are decent writers with a bit of feedback which I like. I have no problems with skipping while writing but both nibs tend to dry out rather quickly when left uncapped for a minute or so.
About the sticky piston on the PenBBS 309: I put a tiny drop of superglue between the rubber piston and the piston rod and the problem was gone.
Nice tip! Thanks!
Love the articulated shots. Thanks for the detailed review.
Thanks, Wendy! :)
I just received the "tool" to take apart the 699 Vac & Piston. Piston top same size as T1 & many others. Also tool can be used to remove vac blind cap. I believe with a slight modification would also fit 456. Order some spare M Wing Sung No 6 nibs. You need more nibs to swap in when you want. I have a few M nibs. On price, you got a great deal on your 699 vac. Currently on eBay vac = piston in price. I enjoy the piston over the vac for the same reasons but for me, the weight of the piston feels better in my hand.
The tool is on EBay?
@@InkquiringMinds Yes 2 months for delivery - www.ebay.com/itm/Metal-tool-to-disassemble-wing-sung-699-Vaccum-Filling-Fountain-Pen/333716026438?hash=item4db3067446:g:w~YAAOSwY8td4L56
1. Given the number of pens that have passed through your hands, I would imagine that you have come to an unshakeable conclusion as to which filling system you prefer. Is this not the case? I like refilling cartridges.
2. I find that the more pens I own, the more similar newcomers are. I seem to be zeroing in on my perfect pen. I need variety in nibs, but my hand and I guess brain prefer a very specific body shape. I've aided this process by trying to ignore aesthetic considerations. So far.
Yes, I have a pretty good idea what I like. But, I'm constantly being surprised. Like the Wing Sung 601 Flighter really surprised me as I dislike slim pens, metal pens and hooded nibs! LOL The Momento Zero does it for me. I can't divorce my feelings on a pen's looks. The look and feel are all part of the experience.
@@InkquiringMinds I love the shape of the 699, and I like all four of mine, clear, amber, smoke, and blue, although they are all of the vac filler variety.
I re-watched this today. I got a Wing Sung 699 vac filler a couple of months ago (but haven't inked it up yet), and just put a bid on a 699 piston filler. Sorry, but I got my preferred EF nib on the one I have and picked it on the one I put an offer on. I just wanted to comment here again because I don't know if you want to blame inflation, oil prices, or general tomfoolery, but the US Price on eBay is now up to $29.97 on both models! Approximately 18 months after your video, and 30 months after you got your vac filler for about $10 less!
It is part and parcel of all of the issues in the intervening 30 months; inflation, supply chain, pandemic, labor shortages etc. All prices everywhere are going up.
Right off the bat...thank you for the pen bag crinkle sounds...ahhhhhhh. Isn't great to resurrect something you put away and thought you wouldn't use only to see it with a new light...or nib! I have always admired the look of the vacuum filler in cobalt blue and now a piston filler! I like piston fillers. I agree though that the finals on the cap and barrel look odd. The color is mismatched compared to the translucent blue body. That's the one thing that has gotten under my craw about this pen. With the addition of a medium nib option, it makes the pen a bit more attractive to me. I hope the medium nib gets to you soon and you aren't waiting forever for it. Happy New Year, Doug! Thank you! Stay safe and healthy.
Thanks, Annie! I'll remember to crinkle the ASMR for ya!
My dog gets her hopes up every time you crinkle a wrapper! She thinks that crinkle=treats! 🤣 🤣 🤣
LOL!
Happy New Year, Doug! Thanks for another great review and comparison. Speaking as someone who has both a WS699 and a PC823, I can tell you that the Pilot is not 10 times the pen just because it is ten times the money. I know that you often remark that you don't think the Chinese homage pens cost the OEMs sales, but I will tell you truthfully that if I had not received my 823 as a gift, I would not have spent the money on it after using my 699.
Happy new year, F! Then Pilot has not lost any market share because you would not have bought one anyway. Actually, they would have picked up one sale because someone knew what pen you wanted and bought it as a gift for you. If not for the 699, that might not have happened! Devious huh? :) Cheers my friend.
@@InkquiringMinds yes, it worked out as I had asked for an 823 (and intended to get one if one wasn’t gifted) before my 699 arrived. If the order of events had been just a bit different .......
Happy new year! The ama iro is gorgeous ink! The Wing Sung in the blue is a sweet looker plus being able to take them apart & raid parts if needed! I tried doing some swapping around on a few very different pens - wasted hours last night - but finally gave up since I have only 4 options of bits and pieces from bad or broken pens! Now I have a dip pen (broke the barrel screw section of one), a #5 nib with no plastic bit (oops think it was perhaps maybe glued into nib section), 2 size 6 nibs still in their nib sections but I got ‘em out & cleaned (pressure fit) but they’re lacking pen bodies.... learned lots and now can use the #6’s in a couple m600s but know why they won’t work in the pen with a crappy 5 nib section despite the cap having the clearance to hold a 6! Now I’m on the hunt for cheap, really cheap I can mess with, Frankenpen ‘em! Doug-see what you’ve started! Yea to interesting times and spare parts in 2021!
That's the cool thing about these inexpensive pens, you can muck around with then and if they break, oh well, its only $20 not $200!
@@InkquiringMinds last night for some minutes (ok longer ...) I contemplated getting my dremel and lots of fun tools out just to see if I could ream out the miserable plastic nib section keeping me from installing my #6 nib into that darn old pen! I’m still considering ..... you know that inquiring minds thing ....
@@RBartsy Woah! That's intense!
@@InkquiringMinds ADHD has helped me be successful in all kinds of pursuits! My parents trained my curiosity early & often so it’s a fine quality allowing me to pursue and complete many interesting things! I love carving wood - have some great chunks of wood curing here in my high desert giant yard but also make tools for weaving & spinning fibers, while rummaging in my backyard I’ve now started an archeology project because I’m finding all sorts of painted & carved rock tools which I’m studying to learn as much as I can then I’m going to the Big Bend museum/Sul Ross University to find a mentor but will ultimately donate everything interesting to them, now the pen things- I seem to like parts of one thing and parts of another so I say “how hard can this be ...” Frankenpen here I come! Probably need a calliper, been trying to think about obtaining one for years but after eyeballing fir so long it’ll either be the devil or a godsend! Hahaha! My goal is to make a few good Frankens for people with arthritic thumbs (I do need to get back to fly fishing despite the thumb issue cuz it combines technical expertise & nature=perfect!) back to arthritis-many people give up writing and art because it becomes too painful & hard to find the right tools so that’s enough reason for me! Do you have some suggestions for cheap pens & other nibs fir purchase on eBay (thanks already) that might be likely suspects for my parts box? I love my new penbbs 308! I wonder if there are pen bodies I can alter by heat or carving to make a better, bigger grip (not a t-grip as in Lamy or Twisbi eco? I’m not starting a company just want to offer people a way to accomplish something with a little help! If that makes sense? I don’t even want a utube channel just a way to inform about helpful ideas! Any help/suggestions are great!
@@InkquiringMinds : thank you!
I was considering this pen. However your comment that you enjoyed the penBBS 456 leads me to keep the pen. Thank you for an informative review.
Good choice!
They really are good looking pens. Might have to put one on my wish list. Thanks for the review and re-review.
You bet! Thank you, John!
I totally agree, that blue color of the 699 is very nice. I have 2 699"s one in blue and one in the dark smoke color. Interestingly I have both a medium and a fine in the two pens. I don't mind using the fine nib as I seem to gravitate to fine nibs more than medium ones, but who knows how that may change as I continue my journey with fountain pens. That said I have to admit that the medium one is more consistent and smoother to write with.
Thanks for a great comparison and review and the new ama-iro ink is a great choice for the pen.
Happy New Years!!
Thanks, Richard! Happy New Year!
I bought both versions as well (though in reverse order). Completely agree with you. I prefer the vac filler for it’s heft and shut-off valve. The piston filler (while very functional) feels a bit cheap in the hand. Also I think the quality of the turned acrylic PenBBS uses is head & shoulders above this injection molded plastic. For me this is a nice pen to take to meetings to not draw too much attention
Totally agree! There is no comparison between Penbbs's turned acrylic and injection molded plastic even on pens that are hundreds of dollars.
Another great video. I'm glad to see you write with a crummy nib so I don't feel alone :). Funny that buying another pen makes one appreciate the previous one!
You people are all sadists! You want me to freeze my bum off going to the mailbox and then chuckle when I get a lousy nib or ink squirts all over me! LMAO Thank you, Lazy Dog Typewriters!
Could you imagine being a worker in the Wing-Sung factory and it is your first day there and your coworkers keep switching the top and bottom rings just to screw with you.
Hehehej
You just want to cause me sleepless nights now don't you Adam?? LOL
Oh, I forgot my questions: the capacity issue really surprised me. I much prefer the piston mechanism generally, but I thought the vac filler would consistently have a greater capacity. (1) Is the capacity reduction in the vac filler all due to the rod? (2) Is the real reason that many prefer the vac filler the fact that you have a shut-off valve? Retired, I seldom experience altitude changes either flying or driving through the coastal mountains, so I am not as concerned about burping.
The other thing about the shut off valve is that I have a very hot (halogen) lamp on my desk and if my pen sits close to that light for any length of time, it will spit into the cap. The shut off valve saves that.
@@InkquiringMinds The shut off valve is one of the reasons I prefer vac fillers.
@@martinlebl631 Me too.
at 19:52 I have basically the same problem with my Pilot Custom 823 Fine. The problem can be seen with the V in the Vac word you wrote. When you push the pen away from you the tines on the fine nib close up and give virtually no ink flow at all. My temporary fix is to insert a small corner of paper at the end of the nib to try and keep the tines open just a little bit and it solved the problem. If the tines are opened up too much then the nib will nose dive into the paper. But if you disassembled the fine nib you might be able to open the tines up a just bit to prevent this no ink flow in one direction?
nice complete comparaison, thank you
My pleasure! Thanks, Luc!
Spot on with the video Doug i have 3 699's,brown in fine,blue in medium & just arrived a demonstrator in medium.First 2 are vacuum fillers the demonstrator is a piston fill, imho the medium nibs are far better out of the box.Nice juggling with the pen parts Doug i had to pause it to get my head round it 😃.You have another 12mnths video's to look foward to & edit.👍
It confused me while I was doing it! LOL
Your past video on the Wing Sung 699 gave me a lot of excitement to own it! Now here I am again questioning myself over if I should go for the piston filler or not.....
You should! But get one of each so you two don't fight over them. :)
Happy New Year, Doug! I won't risk commenting on your giveaway video, because I don't want to burden you with insane shipping costs to the Netherlands ^^
The original medium nib that came with my 699 suffered from extreme baby's bottom, which I was unable to fix back then. Meanwhile I've gotten some micro mesh pads, but have no inclination to do it anymore. It wrote really well on none-coated / slightly more absorbent paper such as Leuchtturm 1917, but didn't want to behave on Rhodia or Clairefontaine.
While I love the look of these Wing Sungs, I've decided that they're not for me. The weird indentation at the back of the nib prevents swapping out the nibs with other #6 nibs. I've cut a bit out of the feed to still try this, but with mixed results.
Now that I've irreversibly modified the feed, maybe I will eventually put a PenBBS fine in it to see if that does anything.
For roughly the same money, I'd recommend a Moonman T1 over the 699 piston filler. Even if the nib on that is sub-par (as they seem to have a lot of sample variation - mine was perfect), at least it replaces more easily with other #6 nibs such as Jowo or Bock.
If I lived anywhere as near as you are to Appelboom, I'd be poor, poor, poor! Yes, I agree about the WS nibs and swapping. I want to swap another nib into my 626, but no dice. :( The T1 is too slick and heavy for me.
@@InkquiringMinds We're blessed with stores in the Netherlands. La Couronne du Comte is a 10 minute drive away, and both Appelboom and Akkerman are at like 90 minutes. Will be good for another trip once this pandemic passes.
@@TweakMDS I'd be there every weekend. La Couronne du Comte has a great selection, but Appelboom beats them on price to Canada. Cheers!
I had this exact question. Thanks.
Glad it was helpful!
I thought I could tell the difference between the two, but I realized that's just the difference in reflected light 😁
Up close you can tell because of the rod in the vac-filler.
I got a Wing Sung 699 vac filler awhile ago and it has a very smooth, very consistent fine nib. I absolutely love it. I am considering getting a piston filler option in medium to use with shimmering inks. What do you think?
If you can find a Wing Sung 699 Piston with a medium nib, go for it! The thicker line will help with the shimmering ink.
@@InkquiringMinds Thanks!
I obviously missed the chance to win the 997, but my New Year's resolution is to acquire my first fountain pen since I was in high school in the 60s. It's funny, because I don't even write. I guess I'll have to start.
Good for you, Hardy!
I recently got the vac filler in brown. I have too many pens inked up at the moment to come to a verdict on this one yet as far as the writing experience goes. For looks I like the ... similarity... to the Pilot 823, but I'm not ready to plunk down the dough for one. As I need to switch between English, Chinese and Japanese in my daily life, EF and F are my go-to nibs, especially with the Asian scripts. For English I'm more adventurous and have M, B and 1.1 stub nibs. Great comparison video and the blue finish is very pretty.
Eventually I might be able to afford a Pilot 823 and really do a good comparison with the WS 699 pretender.
@@InkquiringMinds And it'll be a fun video to watch.
@@InkquiringMinds The US importer only supplies it in fine and medium, so to get an interesting nib on an 823 it must be purchased elsewhere.
Great finger dexterity, but that’s no surprise due to you proficiency with guitars. I am very surprised by the ink capacity of both pens being the same. That rod really takes up space! How does the volume compare between the 2 similar PenBBS models (456 & 309 I think)? When you get your new M nib, let us know how it compares with the one that you showed here from your 670.
Thanks, Toby! The 456 has a 1.8ml capacity, the 699 is 1.6ml and the 309 is 1.5ml. My 699 medium nib is on the slow boat right now.
Thanks for the quick response. May your nib arrive so quickly
Interesting about the weight difference! I love the weight of my vac filler 699s, so the lighter piston model mightn't work for me. Obviously still going to buy one though 😂
Right on! Thank you, Harry!
I probably won't, but might get another 699 in addition to the ones I already own.
Vacuum fillers are interesting only bec ause of the novelty of the mechanism.
From a practical view:
1. It is almost impossible to refill a partially empty pen without spewing ink back into the bottle.
2. It is almost impossible to prime the nib ( when you need to do so ) without making a mess.
Those might be challenging technique to master, but once you get the hang of it, it is fairly easy.
Hi ! I need your advice. For two years I have had the WS 629 with a steel nib, which I love. Now I'm thinking about buying the WS 699 with a 14k nib for $112. Will the writing experience be better (is it worth the almost 4 times the price of a steel nib)?
The Wing Sung 14k nib are quite lovely with a good amount of bounce. And $112 is very inexpensive for a well-built, vac-filler, with a gold nib.
I love the 699s. I like the wing sung nibs and I have EF and F and was able to make them consistent and wet. But they are fine points. I actually ordered more wing sung nibs. BTW, you did a great "Operator" opening keep it up!
Thank you, tom! :)
@@InkquiringMinds I would like to hear the whole "Operator" song. Love the song and your version was very good
@@tomshult3044 Thank you Tom! Here it is complete on my SoundClick site: soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=13645055
@@InkquiringMinds fantastic!
Sheesh. You open with one of Croce's BEST songs ever. a real 2-hankie tearjerker that pulls at my heartstrings, and then you badmouth "thin" people. Some days...
Gonna have to add that 699 to my (ever-growing too-long) want list! BTW.. I ordered a Jinhao 997. Not sure when it will get here.
No! That's not fair! I bad mouth everyone equally! ;)
If they ever change/update the blue version with a new end and tail cap color, I'd pick it up in a hear-beat, the rest of the pen is gorgeous, but something about that dull blue ruins it just a bit. I have the black and its a nice stately pen!
I know right? Once you see it, you can't unsee it!
Happy New Year Doug and as we say here "Lang may yer lumb reek"... "May you have warmth and good health for the coming year"
So back to the video sorry got distracted sitting at the back which blue pen sucked and which one blows? Does it matter? Which one was the Penbbs again was it the blue one? My head is beginning to hurt think I maybe sobering up as we are in lockdown again so need to top up the alcohol levels again. 😂😂😂 Seriously another excellent video I nodded off in the back row of class did I win the Jinhao? 😁😁😁
Only a Scot would think "may yer bum reek!" is a compliment! LOL Happy New Year my friend! And as to the giveaway... wait for it!
@@InkquiringMinds not quite Doug but close enough for a Canook
@@ericrollo615 LOL
24:58 Perhaps the scene of Tuco at the gun shop in the movie The Good, the Ugly and the Bad has been better.
LOL
Link to the giveaway video? I'll find it. I definitely won't win, but I'll try lol.
Thank you, Josh Lawson!
Now I see the pickin'! That you singin' too?
Yep! C'est moi.
Thanks Doug! How do you think these compare to others that are silimiar to the platinum 3776 in appearance such as the Natami Inception or Lorelei 667? The 699 seems to have the same nib as the 626 - I will have to back and look, but did those write better?
They are bigger than both the 3776, Inception and Lorelei. The Lorelei is a Penbbs 308 clone and the Inception is almost identical to the 3776 excepted it is faceted. The Lorelei I got was a scatchy extra fine nib. The Natami arrived broken but I got a replacement section and now my wife has been using it for the last year and a half. I'm doing a review of a Platinum 3776 with a music nib this coming Wednesday!
@@InkquiringMinds Thanks Doug! Looking forward to your review!
@@InkquiringMinds My Lorelei 667 looks great, and writes better than expected. Also I was surprised at how light it was, as I expected it to be heavier due to all that shiny metal in the piston assembly.
Is it just me Doug, or do other people think of frying bacon when they hear cellophane being crinkled. Inquiring minds of the not quite right persuasion wish to know ! Peace and love, Rob.
Are you hungry, Robert?
Robert: No one else thinks that! You're the only one. Which makes you fit in here perfectly - weirdo! ;)
Now I want a bacon buttie!
An entertaining thorough review. I do like the pens classic look. However translucent and transparent material are not to my taste. I can't find one with an opaque finish. Recently I found on Ebay a Hero 5020. One reviewer noted that it looked exactly the same as her Parker Cisele. She was surprised to find both pen parts were interchangeable. My own research found some information that Parker left the machinery tools with Hero but no one could give any verification. Are you familiar with this pen?
I am not familiar with this model of Hero but Parker did commission Hero to make Parker pens back in 1979. They GAVE Hero the machinery, tooling and engineering plans after some initial negotiating and test through the summer of 1979. The deal fell through when the Chinese government refused to open the Chinese market to Chinese-made Parker pens. Interesting though, that in 2020/21, Parker is reissuing the Parker 51, made in China by Jinhao (see the Jinhao 85). That Hero 5020 is a Parker Sonnet clone. At least it is branded Hero, not like some of the $10 Parker branded copies that are all over eBay.
That's very interesting. Some years ago I acquired a Hero fountain pen probably produced in the 90s. The section and nib was interchangeable with my Parker 45. The barrel an cap was black with mother of pearl and abalone fragments embedded in them. I appreciated your reply. Thank you
@@colinbeadle7109 It was the Parker 45 that Parker was trying to get Hero to mass produce for them for the world market. The plans and engineering of that pen were given as a gift to Hero, which means it was given to the Chinese government to do with as they saw fit. The most recent Parker 45, parts interchangeable clone, is the Moonman 80. It swaps out perfectly with my gold nibbed Parker 45 from the 1970's.
Jim Croce is always a great choice.
Always!
Hey Doug, why’d you buy the pen through eBay (Seller:kakapenstoreo) instead of Etsy (seller: esybuy). Is the eBay seller the “official” one?
Please do keep us posted (on the community tab, or in the comments) on how you like the medium 699 nib when it arrives. That is, if it’s any different from the 670 nib..
There is no official seller of Wing Sung. I like Sally's Etsy shop (esybuy) because she ships things quickly, but her prices are sometimes more than I'm willing to spend. There are some good eBay sellers (industrial tools, office_supplies_pen, chacewang) that are reputable, have free shipping and lower prices than esybuy. Even Sally's eBay shop (esybuy) sometimes is lower priced than her Etsy shop.
Happy new years Doug, great video, my favorite pen is the wingsung 666, all metal pen, on the 699 I was worried I might not like the plastic on that pen, is it durable, I would like to buy one. Thanks Doug.
Wing Sung 699? I’m not familiar with that model. The plastic on the 699 picks up micro scratches more than turned acrylic, but it is durable.
@@InkquiringMinds ebay.com/usr/business-industrial, it's got a great mini fude nib, I love this pen.
@@Scott-wi7rm Yes I have seen this pen! It didn't sho up for me because it won't ship to Canada. But Hero has one like this as well and they are clones - more like similar - to the Parker 61.
@@InkquiringMinds I would love a turned acrylic vac filler in the 823/699 shape, so you get the perfect hand fitting shape, and durability. That said my 699 are all doing well, but I don't treat them harshly. (Also if they do crack replacement is cheap enough.)
Great video! I can't decide if I should buy WS 699 vac filler or the new 601 with regular nib! What do you think? Which one is more suitable for long writing sessions?
The 699 Vac is definitely a bigger pen with a larger ink capacity. Plus it has a #6 size nib where the 601 with a regular nib is a #5.
@@InkquiringMinds Thanks alot, I'll go with the 699 then.
Does this pen have a regularly sized #6 nib? Or it has #5.5 nib like the 629 does?
It is a #6
@@InkquiringMinds thanks
Ah ... I love Jim Croce! Was so sad when he died :(
Very intricate fingerstyle guitar work like in "Time in a Bottle"
@@InkquiringMinds I believe you can credit one of his coworkers (? Is that the right term?) for that. Maury Muehleisen had a lot to do with Croce's musical style and taught him a lot about his fingerpicking technique. An unsung and unrecognized artist who also died in the crash that killed Croce.
@@TheNightowl001 You are absolutely correct. Maury Muehleisen was an absolutely phenomenal guitarist and Jim Croce's acoustic and singing partner. When they started together, it was even a question as to which of them would be the "front man" as Maury's voice and songwriting were equal to Jimmy's. Maury created all the intricate layering of the acoustic pieces which still dazzle today including "Time in a Bottle", "I Have to Say I Love You in a Song" and "Operator". It was a double tragedy that killed both Croce and Muehleisen.
If you’re holding the pen vertically with the nib pointing down, which way do you turn the wrench to open mechanism for 699 looking down?
Actually how do you even disassemble the piston? There’s no place to put a wrench. The end cap is just rounded.
You can disassemble the WS699 piston filler with a wrench you can purchase on Aliexpress. I don't have the 699 piston filler, mine is a vacuum filler so I can't tell you which direction the threads are turned. I'm assuming they are reverse threads like TWSBI, Pelikan and Narwhal. tinyurl.com/cxep363j
@@InkquiringMinds in your video I see you disassembled the vacuum filler at 6:52. How did you do that? There’s no place to put a wrench on the end piece
@@racerx1326 Sorry. I was answering about the piston. The vacuum filler assembly unscrews counterclockwise. Use a thick elastic or a piece of rubber to inner tube to grip the threads and turn it.
Does it have the same piston sticking problem of penbbs 309 ?
It does not. And I show a 309 in the video and discuss a trick that I learned from ChrisRap on how to keep the 309 from sticking. :)
I just bought a 3776 that looks exactly like this for like 170 bucks 😂
I just bought a 3776 Bourgogne for $118US! :)
@@InkquiringMinds Which nib did you go for Doug? I've got a SF on the way. 😁
@@LSWUK It WAS a coarse nib. But the pen was damaged in shipping and my order cancelled.
@@InkquiringMinds Was that from Ali Doug? My shipping status is stuck on problem at warehouse at country of origin. 😕
@@LSWUK No. It was from a Japanese seller on Amazon.
"... thin and unpleasant, you know, just like some people we know". That's a discriminatory commentary Doug, there's also some fat unpleasant people too 😂.
Thank you for the video.
Yes, but he’ll be gone in 20 days.
Isn’t “unpleasant” the key word? As in “fxxxing miserable no good not for nothing not one jot of decency hot mess” of a person?
I tried my best but was never able to swap the nib on mine(nib writes VERY WELL, but the color has worn off). I tried a jowo, a fuliwen, a moonman, even a jinhao... Couldnt get any standard #6 nibs to fit.. I've read elsewhere this isnt possible(there is a notch on the feed that prevents standard nibs from fitting). Did you shave that off?
Has anyone else been able to fit a standard #6 nib on their 699?
I haven’t tried. But you could notch the nib with a dremel.
@@InkquiringMinds oh! you mentioned in the video that the nibs were easily swap-able with any #6 nib, I had hopped you had found some sort of hack for that :(
I haven’t done it myself other than swapping Wing Sung for Wing Sung. But there are lots of examples of people swapping Jowo #6 with no issues. Like this: www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/d04gcx/comment/ez6a14j?
OK. I confess. I asked my questions before I watched the whole video. Strike those ridiculous questions! :) Sorry.
No worries!
Yes.. That extra fine nib needs some tuning works.
It is hard to tune a non-tipped, sharp tined, flexible nib.
@@InkquiringMinds Aha..
I have an idea.. 💡💡
For one of these pens.. One Jowo nib.
Have to find where to get one so it isn't more than the entire pen when you include shipping.
@@InkquiringMinds Aha.. 🇪🇸👍
Happy new 2021.. 🎉🎊
Happy new year!
@@InkquiringMinds 🎉🎉🎊🎊
Hello there! Happy new year Doug! Have you seen the New "Natami flight of time pen" that is all around the Internet (off course for the ones lurking in the dark alleys of pen enthusiasm).
Yes! I reviewed it more than a year ago.
ua-cam.com/video/1SMMnsaz0sM/v-deo.html