Sailor Clear Candy Fountain Pen - Fine Nib - Metallic Green Body

According the Sailor website, this pen is made in Japan. The body is made of light plastic so I'm a bit worried about how long it's going to last knowing how often I drop things. With the ink cartridge inside, the pen feels marginally more substantial, but not by much. Although this is a “cheap” fountain pen, I appreciate the fact that the cap is screw-on - it only takes two flicks of the wrist to secure the cap in place. This means I can take it with me when I travel and not worry about ink leaking everywhere. In comparison to the LAMY Safari, the Sailor definitely feels inferior - perhaps this has something to do with the weight.

The nib (Fine) is definitely wet. If you look closely at the writing sample you’ll see that the nib creates a gradient of ink depending on how long you’ve been pressing it. Also, after only a day of use, there are ink spots or droplets on the nib. The only other complaint I have is that the pen tends to skip at the beginning of capital letters like “I” or “H”, most likely because I’m pressing too hard or because the nib is at a right angle (?). The upside to the nib being wet is, of course, I can leave the pen uncapped for a minute or so without any effect on the flow.

If you have $20 to spend on a fun, cheerful pen, just get it. It will brighten up your pen collection. Since it's that time of year, I also suggest giving this as a stocking-stuffer - your writing aficionado recipient will be quite pleased. After using the pen for a few days, I can tell I'm definitely going to be reaching for it quite often.

What a impressive pen. When I first received it I was a little concerned because it felt a little cheap. That is, comparing it to the feel of a Safari it didn't feel as well constructed. But then again there is $8-$10 difference. Then I put the blue/black cartridge in and took it for a test drive. All of my concern was ripped away. This fountain pen is awesome. I guess I forgot that sailor (the king of fountain pen nibs) was behind the product. I think it is every bit as good of a writer as any one of the 8 safari's I own. I keep comparing those two pens because I think they fit the same market. I usually don't like to write with the cap posted but I found that fro me was the better way to go with this pen. It is a little light without it. But posted the pen is very well balanced. If you are looking for a fountain pen that won't break your heart if you loose it, have kids you want to introduce the fountain pen world to, are an adult and want to get into writing with fountain pens, or just looking to add another unique pen to your collection this is a wonderful choice. I haven't tried to fill the barrel with bottle ink yet but I believe that is the only solution unless you want to use the cartridges they designed for this pen. I am not anticipating it will cause a problem. Even sticking with the cartridges wouldn't be a deal breaker. They have a few fun colors and the blue/black the pen comes with is great and I also used the reddish/brown (purchased separately) and really enjoy both of the colors.

Wow - hard to believe this inexpensive pen writes almost identically to my $200+ Sailor Pro Gear. Great value - I may have to collect the entire set!

When I got this pen, I thought "fine," meant it would write like the HighAce Neo. I was wrong.

Here is a list of nibs Sailor puts in their pens:
Sailor Clear Candy: F-2
Sailor HighAce Neo: F-4
Sailor Desk Pen (extra fine): F-9 (EF) [You could probably ink a love-letter on a single piece of oatmeal with this.]

While I was surprised by the thicker nib, it is still what I would consider a "fine," point and it writes quite nicely. If you have a Lamy Safari, as I do, it would sit at about F-1 in the Sailor scale (you definitely get a slightly thicker and wetter line with the Safari). For me, the finer is the better - so the Clear Candy is now my carry-everywhere general pen; something I have been hesitant about using the Sailor HighAce Neo for due to its smaller size and thinner plastic shell.

Some other pluses:
*The fat body makes for comfortable long-term writing and note-taking and the non-notched barrel is nice.
*Clear! The HighAce Neo could have always used a window... but forget the puny little window, now you can get an entirely clear pen! It would be nice, however, if they started making these pens with the F-4 nib or even the F-9; if they did, I'd never write with anything else ever again.

The pen lays down a fine, consistent line. The line width is comparable to an EF-nib Lamy and with the included Sailor black cartridge shows little shading.

If you've ever used the Sailor Ink-Bar, you'll enjoy this pen. The same smoothness and no-frills design, but larger and stiffer in the hand than the diminutive, flexible Ink-Bar.

The cap is screw-on, which is satisfying and helps the pen seem more expensive than it is, but lessens its convenience as a carry-around pen. Another strike against it, as least in terms of portability, is that a bit stray ink finds its way onto the inside of the cap - more so than most fountain pens I've used. This ink is visible through the clear cap, slightly lessening the pen's attractiveness

This pen is best for long sessions of writing, as it is comfortable and consistent. Look elsewhere for a carry-around pen.