Pelikan Pelikano Magic Ocean Fountain Pen Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Bluesky. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)

Pelikan is a brand that does a good job meeting the needs of pen addicts at every experience level. The Pelikano has a reliable reputation as Pelikan's student pen--perfect for schoolkids, beginners, or gifts for the fountain pen curious. And now, perfect for mermaids.

The Pelikano Magic Ocean Fountain Pen is made from molded resin. The body is in a pearlescent blue with a fish-scale texture all over. The body tapers toward the end and has an open ink window in the side. The cap snaps to close, though it's a tough snap. Very secure. The cap is silvery metal with a unique clip design that hugs the lower cap and wraps over the top. The clip is functional, but it's extremely tight against the cap and isn't very flexible. It serves more as a roll-stop than a clip. The top finial does have the classic Pelikan logo.

Under the cap, there is a pink rubberized grip section. The grip section is molded to direct your hands to a "proper" grip of the pen (since this is intended for student use,) and the pen is available in both right-handed and left-handed variations. There is a textured target pattern that sits against your finger when you're holding it as intended. It is comfortable for me to hold and write with, as I use a traditional grip, but if you have a more individual way of holding your pen, this might be very annoying.

The nib is a plain stainless steel medium nib, though it writes a very bold line that I would consider more of a broad writer. But it is very smooth and has the perfect balance of wetness in its flow. Because of the light plastic construction, the guided grip, and the smooth writing, I can see why this pen is perfect for those learning handwriting. It's a very comfortable writing experience.

The pen takes standard international cartridges or converters, and it comes with one cartridge of blue ink.

This special edition Pelikano is currently available from Goldspot Pens for $25.60. That's a great deal for a very decent writer with a bit of fantasy flair. I like it now, but if twelve-year-old Sarah received this pen, she'd have absolutely lost her mind. It would have been precious. So I know exactly who I am gifting this to. As soon as I write a scary mermaid story with it.

(Goldspot provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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BENU Daily Mate Creative Thursday Fountain Pen Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

As if any of us needed more of an excuse to have a specific fountain pen for every day of the week, BENU has taken it upon themselves to make that personal decision an even more difficult one. And we love them for it.

The BENU Daily Mate is a collection of fountain pens that share the same physical design, but with a range of seven colorways — one for each day of the week — and they're all spectacular. Each of the colorway options is vibrant and energetic in their own way, and they're all paired with a great fountain pen shape.

After SO MUCH deliberation on which single pen to choose, I landed on Creative Thursday. This was a really difficult choice because I genuinely liked each of the seven options, and you never really know how a pen will look in person once you receive it. Luckily for me, BENU's photography did a great job of representing the true colors of the Creative Thursday pen. The mixture of vibrant purple and a swirl of dusty amber look great together, and then the glitter particles just accentuate the colors and bring it all together. It's such a pretty pen and I enjoy looking at it as much as I enjoy using it.

All of the color options use the same silver clip and nib, and they all have the same physical design. The pen is what I'd call "full size," though I can't point to a specification for that label. It's slightly longer and wider than a Lamy Safari, but very similar to the Opus 88 Demo and Nahvalur Nautilus pens. More specifically, the pen is 5.5 inches (14 cm) long and 0.70 inches (18 mm) in diameter at it's widest point. The grip is a nice size — just 10-11 mm in width — and has a gentle taper toward the nib with a nice lip at the end of the grip to keep your fingers from slipping onto the nib while writing.

Writing with the pen is effortless. It's balanced really well when unposted, and I can write with it for long periods without discomfort. The overall weight is low given the materials used (acrylic) and the modest #6 nib. After using the pen for a short while, it's easy to tell that BENU designed this pen to be a work horse. It excels at its job.

The nib on the pen is a #6 stainless steel Schmidt, and mine worked flawlessly out of the box. The fine tip on mine is true to size for a western nib, and it makes crisp lines while feeling smooth on the page. Since this is a ubiquitous nib, it would be trivial to swap it out for something else if you already have a favorite customized nib that you'd like to swap in for the fine, medium, or broad nib options that BENU provide.

The design of the pen uses a classic shape with almost squared off ends. Both ends of the pen have a slight convex shape that give the pen a softer look and provide plenty of space to showcase the gorgeous material. The cap of the pen is a simple shape with only the clip and the BENU logo on it. The body, though, has ten grooves that extend along the length of the pen body and add a nice, soft textured feel and provide plenty of additional surfaces for light to reflect from. When unposted, the grooves also serve to keep the pen from rolling away.

The grip section of the pen is the only deviation in terms of materials. It's a single color, and it's fantastic. In the Creative Thursday colorway, the grip is a vibrant purple color that is slightly translucent and also has some reflective particles suspended in the material to add depth. It's a lovely pairing with the richer colors of the pen body and cap.

My only complaint with this pen is that there are so many threads for the cap to screw onto the body. It requires 5-6 full rotations to uncap or cap the pen! That's a lot, and it's certainly a bit unusual. Most pens only need 1.5 to 3 turns to work the cap. 5-6 just feels tedious.

The pen comes in a standard BENU cardboard box along with a cartridge converter already installed. Two thumbs up for that decision, as I don't need any more generic black or blue ink cartridges! The cartridge converter appears to be a standard Schmidt converter and works well.

The BENU Daily Mate is $120 for any of the fine colorways. Seriously, the most dangerous part of this pen is that it's really difficult to only pick one. I'm really happy with the Creative Thursday option I got, and I'll practice some self control and avoid buying any more (for now). But if any of these colors speak to you, you can be sure that the pen won't disappoint once you get it in hand. For the price, it's difficult to find other fountain pens that offer this level of vibrant, unique material options.

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Wancher PuChiCo - A Pen for Ants?

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

We all have our reasons for picking the pens we buy. Often, there is something about its look, design, shape, or color. Maybe it has a really cool nib - Monoc, stacked nibs, and flex nibs are some that come to mind. Maybe there is some personal history like a Pilot Myu that was manufactured and stamped with your birth month and year. Other times, something is so ridiculous, you can’t help but get it. That’s what happened to me at last year’s SF Pen Show.

I was at Kirk Speer’s table getting a nib grind when I saw one of the most adorably cute pens I had ever seen and I had to have it.

Wancher PuChiCo, Black Chocolate Orange, though it’s hard to tell how ridiculous it is on its own.

The PuChiCo is part of Wancher’s sub-brand 1xOnexWan, which focuses on more affordable offerings. The PuChiCo is one of three models in that lineup (the other being PoChaCo and Mofu) and costs around $25-30.

The PuChiCo is only available as an eyedropper, and it can hold ~0.5 ml of ink, which is a wee bit more than a Kaweco mini converter (a standard international cartridge can hold about 0.8 ml). I inked mine up with Diamine Orange and quickly realized that I had to leave room for the nib unit, so don’t fill it all the way!

Looking down into the barrel of the PuChiCo, you can see that there is a black o-ring - this is where the nib unit sits against once it’s screwed back in, aka this is your fill line.

I put some dark ink in it so you could see roughly how much ink it holds. The dark part near my fingers is from the black nib unit, and the bottom ⅓-½ is the ink.

You can get the PuChiCo in Extra Fine or Fine - I chose Fine. It wrote right away with no issues. I used it 26 times since I first inked it on Sept. 1 and finally wrote it dry a couple weeks ago, each time with zero issues despite how long it was since I last used it. There is also an o-ring on the nib unit to prevent leaks and having been on a dozen airplanes since I got it, there have been no burps either. I was pleasantly surprised at how nice and smooth the Fine nib felt. The nib and feed are similar in size and shape to a Kaweco Sport, but they aren’t exactly the same.

PuChiCo, Fine, with Diamine Orange.

Writing samples of the PuChiCo Fine (top), Kaweco Sport Fine (middle) and Pilot VP Fine (bottom). It’s pretty close, but the Pilot Fine is finer than the other two.

Similar size/shape nib as the Kaweco Sport (ignore the not-yet-cleaned PuChiCo.)

PuChiCo’s feed (left) has more fins and a slightly different shape.

I usually don’t post my pocket pens, not even my Schon Pocket 6 or Kaweco Sport, but I have to post the PuChiCo. It is less than 2.5” long (60mm) un posted and only 3.5” (90mm) long when posted. Even though I love how cute this PuChiCo is, as well as how nicely it writes, I wish that it posted more securely. You really have to push the cap onto the barrel, otherwise the cap pops off easily. Despite my firm posting, I haven’t seen any marks or scratches on the barrel, so that’s a plus.

PuChiCo (left) next to a Kaweco Sport.

Uncapped - I did mention how small this thing is, right?

Posted PuChiCo next to an unposted Sport. It’s still not as long as the Sport, but it’s getting there and is usable for me. Probably still unusable for folks with larger hands or who like gripping their pens further back.

This is ridiculously small unposted. It’s like I have giant hands, lol.

So much better when posted.

Comparison with other pocket pens: Left to Right: PuChiCo, Schon Dsgn Pocket 6, Ensso XS, Kaweco Liliput, Kaweco Sport, Sailor Pro Gear Mini, TWSBI Mini.

Even posted, the PuChiCo is nowhere close to the other posted pocket pens in length.

This article wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t show the PuChiCo with my other stationery for ants, the Kokuyo Campus notebook keychain (approximately A9 in size,) and a normal-sized Aurora Optima and A5 sized Kokuyo Campus notebook, both of which look enormous by comparison, lol.

I love showing it off at meetups and shows because it always elicits plenty of “Omg, what is that little thing? Does it write?” reactions. I’m hoping to get its sibling, PoChaCo, which is the larger version, and also comes in eyedropper or cartridge. The Wancher PuChiCo is available from Kirk Speer of Pen Realm in other colors, including Hawaiian Blue, Peony Pink, and others. Now to re-ink it in time for the St. Louis Pen Show next weekend!

(Disclaimer: I paid full price for the PuChiCo from Kirk Speer at the 2024 SF Pen Show. All other pens/products shown are mine.)

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Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!