Classic Pens Sailor King of Pen LB5 - Amethyst (TAIRIKU)

This is a pen that is appearing everywhere at the moment; and there have already been some great reviews: 

• penhabit (Matt Armstrong) does a great one (which "enabled" my purchase); as does 
• Dan Smith (Nibsmith) - who's passion for the pen first drew it to my attention.
• SBRE Brown - (a recent update; a common love theme)

So why review it again? Because it's that sort of pen. It just makes you want to share the love! 

When you listen/see Matt, Dan and Mr B, you'll see the passion in their eyes and hear it in their voices. In Matt's case, the passion is bordering on obsession as I believe that to date he has three of these in his possession! (and it's not a cheap pen).

I will leave most of the specific details to Matt, Dan and Steven; but a few of my personal observations will appear here.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

OMG - this is a BIG pen! 

And that colour!! Together with the gold accessories: Hooley-Dooley!!! 

Now the nib - egad!! Enormous!!

So far, Matt is still on my Christmas card list.

10/10

APPEARANCE AND DESIGN

The Classic Pens LB5 is an extraordinary pen.

It's design is based on the Sailor King Profit pen. As you have probably gathered, it's a big pen. Put in context, by comparison this pen makes the Montblanc 149 Meisterstuck almost look like a Kaweco Liliput! 

From top: Montblanc 149, Jinhao 159, the LB5 and a Nakaya Long writer (the only longer pen here - and that one is 165mm long!)

There are six pens in this limited edition series; 50 in each colour that represent a different aspect of nature: Tensui (raindrops), Midorgi (new green trees), Kouseki (metal ore), Kaen (violent flames) and two with one name: Tariku (continent) my amethyst and a marbled white version. I don't know what lead to the particular choice of natural phenomena, but these pens are phenomena unto themselves!

Here is the full 25th anniversary Shizen (Nature) set on the cover of the Andy Lambrou book. From Left: Tensui (raindrops) in space blue 2013, Midorigi (new green trees) in forest green 2014, Kaen (violent flames) in flame red 2013, Kouseki (metal ore) in diamond brown 2014, Tairiku (continent) in Amethyst Mauve 2014, and then the real thing, MY real thing) on the end. There is another LB5. This one is also called the Tairuki, but is in Marble White (also 2014)  - see below -

If it wasn't already clear from my earlier comments, the LB5 is a pen designed to be noticed; and it fulfils its brief!  

Of course it starts with the size; but size isn't everything (in most cases). The Amethyst/mauve of my pen, has a wonderful depth to it that just makes you want to gaze endlessly into the pen (great for those meetings where you need to look mesmerised but struggle to see why). Matched with the yellow gold clip, band, nib and converter, you are presented with a ridgy-didge (Australian for legitimate) "Meisterstuck"! 

Is it a touch gaudy? Well it IS a bright and in-your-face colour and size. But, that, and the emotional responses it has elicited from others, is what attracted me to the pen in the first place.

9/10 (one mark off for making me acknowledge I get attracted by shiny things!)

WEIGHT AND DIMENSIONS

The section diameter is a whopping 13mm. The length of the pen capped is around 158 mm and uncapped, from the tip of the nib it comes in at 136 mm. Posted to measures at a highly respectable 173 mm!

This means that the LB5 is probably not a pen for someone with small hands. Luckily, that's not me.

I don't weigh my pens; but some readers appear to need some sort of weight scale in my reviews so I have invented one that works for me: the Feather Scale. 

My feather scale has 5 levels.

THE FEATHER SCALE:

1. (surprise, surprise) feather light; 

   2. pretty light

   3. Lightish but with a bit more heft

   4. Quite a bit of heft; would get tiring after a while; and 

   5. Equivalent to writing with a sledge hammer.

                                                                                    

So for me, on the Eclectidbits Feather scale, the LB5 falls nicely as a category 3. This is a very comfortably weighted pen. The LB5 feels good to hold, not too light, not too heavy. It can sit happily in the hand for long sessions (even posted), but feels substantial enough to let you know it's there doing its thing. For comparison, holding the LB5 in one hand and a MB 149 in the other, there is very little weight difference.

10/10

NIB AND PERFORMANCE

If I seem somewhat obsessed by size in this review, I apologise. Again, this is one monster size nib! 

I have two Sailor King of Pen (no 's')  fountain pens: one in black and chrome and the other in ebonite; and they both have the same humungous nibs. Those pens have medium nibs; this time I chose a broad nib. As you may have heard elsewhere, Japanese nib sizes tend to run finer than their european counterparts; so the broad is more like a european medium and the medium like a european fine. In any case, these three 21 k gold nibs are extraordinary writers. The broad nib has quickly become my favourite of the three. Whatever the size however, these nibs are smooth straight out of the box, daring their users to write the great *(insert nationality here) novel/poem/treatise immediately these nibs are filled with ink and start to mark their owner's paper of choice ! 

If flex nibs are your thing however, Sailor nibs, and the nib on these pens particularly, are not the place to be. There is a little bounce (adding to the comfort and a little variation) but no flex to speak of; just a well suspended ride along a paper highway.

A Quick writing sample

9.5/10 (only because I DO like a little flex)

FILLING SYSTEM

Piston fillers are my preference, and at this price level, it is a little disappointing that a piston didn't find its way into this pen. 

The Sailor converter is certainly a nice looking alternative converter to the majority (less plastic); but this is the one area in this review where I think the pen was let down.

I have already filled this pen 3 times; and I would have to say that while the ride is sublime, its miles per gallon (litres per 100 kilometres) is not extraordinary. This is not the pen for a long session without access to an ink station. Given the size of the pen, this is somewhat disappointing.

7.5/10

COST AND VALUE

Six colours. Only 50 per colour. 300 pens available world-wide (yes I can add). Not cheap. 

Mine (#34) came with a copy of Andy Lambrou's book (Fountain Pens of Japan) with a cover photo of these 5 LB5s (and signed and numbered by him) - nice touch.

Unfortunately, the cost places this pen beyond the reach of many; but is it worth it?

Absolutely!!

9/10

CONCLUSION

There is good reason why the Classic Pens LB5 has elicited such devotion and emotion from its owners. This is a lifetime pen that begs to be used, admired, and enjoyed.  

92/100

0-50 = to be avoided at all costs

51-60        = if it’s cheap and you don’t really care….

61-70        = a nice pen with the makings of something better (just don’t spend too much)

71-80        = A better than average pen with just a few flaws that stop it from being really good

81-90        = A good pen, a keeper only a few minor places off being great

91-95        = Now THIS is a pen! If you can get it: keep it, love it, cherish it, and keep it away from the dog

96-100       = Grail

RIP Prince.