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Rant about "copycat" pens
One thing I genuinely cannot stand about the fountain pen community is their snobbery. The thing that set me off this time? People bitching about Moonman's "copycat" designs of their fountain pens for copying American makers like Shawn Newton and Franklin-Christoph.
These American makers charge from $135 up to over $200 for pens that are effectively plastic barrels with a JoWo #6 stuck inside. Now, don't get me wrong, I have bought from these makers before and the hand tuning of the nibs to make sure they write better than factory default production is what makes the pens worth the money (plus custom grind for $25-$30 processing fee, when a custom grind would usually cost at minimum $70).
TL;DR - I'm paying for the human labor of grinding the nib and quality checking/tuning before receiving the pen. I would never buy the pen if not for those services, as a plastic, albeit pretty plastic, tube is not worth $100.
Moonman C1 and C2 look similar to the Shawn Newton Shinobi and Franklin-Christoph p66, respectively. They cost a tenth of the price, because they don't put in the human labor of hand tuning the nib and including a custom grind, y'know, the part where it costs the most. As such, people can now obtain a pen with those aesthetics without paying the exorbitant cost of the human labor if they're happy with a default experience rather than a personalized one.
Is there something wrong with that? NO. And those who make a huge deal about it make me want to commit acts of violence.
These American makers charge from $135 up to over $200 for pens that are effectively plastic barrels with a JoWo #6 stuck inside. Now, don't get me wrong, I have bought from these makers before and the hand tuning of the nibs to make sure they write better than factory default production is what makes the pens worth the money (plus custom grind for $25-$30 processing fee, when a custom grind would usually cost at minimum $70).
TL;DR - I'm paying for the human labor of grinding the nib and quality checking/tuning before receiving the pen. I would never buy the pen if not for those services, as a plastic, albeit pretty plastic, tube is not worth $100.
Moonman C1 and C2 look similar to the Shawn Newton Shinobi and Franklin-Christoph p66, respectively. They cost a tenth of the price, because they don't put in the human labor of hand tuning the nib and including a custom grind, y'know, the part where it costs the most. As such, people can now obtain a pen with those aesthetics without paying the exorbitant cost of the human labor if they're happy with a default experience rather than a personalized one.
Is there something wrong with that? NO. And those who make a huge deal about it make me want to commit acts of violence.