Pilot Custom Urushi Maruzen | How much is too much?
Limited edition fountain pens are always hot items to look at in the community, and even more so for the more plain looking ones. Pilot Custom Urushis have been one of the more niche pens in the pen world, and only a handful of folks know about the existence of its limited releases - one of which we have on the desk today - Pilot Custom Urushi Maruzen Nihombashi, and this one is the Beni Urushi.
From 2014 to 2017, Pilot had been releasing small runs of Custom Urushi (the bigger one with the no.30 nib instead of your usual 845 with the no.15 nib) - quoting [Midshipmanship19]
2014 - Ao Urushi (blue), limited 30 pcs
2015 - Midori Urushi (green), limited 50 pcs
2017 - Beni Urushi (orangey brown), limited 100pcs
It came with a similar looking box as the usual 845, but popping that box open we have a Parker Duofold vibe going on with the color, of course I didn’t have the chance to place both of them side by side but you get the idea. Flat black finials, gold metal details, and glossy lacquered cap and barrel - nothing much there, however, because of the lines on the back of the cap written “Maruzen Nihombashi Urushi” in all caps made it into something of a sought after unicorn in the collectors community. The true value of this sort of limited editions is something to be discussed, but I do find that owning unicorns like these does give you that bit of pride over the completion of the journey of finding them - the pen is not really giving you that much better writing experience, but the journey and all the troubles that it gave you for chasing after it is a worthy story to talk about with your fountain pen collector friends.
The no.30 size nib is also a notable point - it is not so much larger than the no.15, but handling it for the first time I’d have to say that the comparable nemesis of the german giant is actually the Custom Urushi line of pens instead of the usual 823 or 845 comparisons out there on the internet. These nibs aren’t really accessible as they are not in abundant everywhere, but not to the point of you scouring all the ecom sites and forums and socials for a listing like the Maruzen collab ones. I do find it strange and intriguing at the same time, but that’s just me.
What do you guys think of a collaborative product such as this? Is it too much, or is it just right?
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