A $45 Conid Clone? The Asvine P36

[@davidm8657]

I’m glad to see reviews of pens in a more affordable price range. After getting a few near grail pens, I’m just looking to have some fun pens and inks to play with. Thank you David

[@Supra_Mare_Cultro_Bloke]

try the guitar man 😊

[@13noman1]

I find the quality of various Chinese pens has stepped up a few notches, especially Asvine, HongDian/Moonman and JinHao. I've had a lot of fun with them in the past two years all at budget friendly prices. I realized tonight that I've had my P36 continuously inked since May of '23!

[@larsgottlieb]

Yup, same. I Love my Hongdian pens, and my Asvine P30 has been fitted with a Lemon Long Knife nib and writes like a dream.

[@doc8125]

Are hongdian and moonman the same company? I though I it was moonman and majohn that was the same

[@louishalleux]

​@@doc8125moonman and majohn

[@larsgottlieb]

@@doc8125 I think the only reasonable answer right now is 'We don't know'. Moonman and Majohn are indeed the same company, but the Chinese fountain pen manufacturers is .. a bit of an opaque machine from the outside. I'm fairly sure that some of them are brands coming from the same factory - Asvine and Nahwalur, for instance - but it's hard to prove.

[@13noman1]

@@doc8125 I think you're correct. I get confused by the name changes!

[@BossBakerChris]

I have two of these pens. Both with Bock nibs, fine and broad. I really like the quality for the money. It’s a solid edc pen. Writes well with no issues.

[@normanhaase9400]

I enjoyed your video -- as I often do! As you mentioned the confusion about how to pronounce 'Asvine', I thought I'd share a video I did some time ago on that subject. The original Asvine logo was in script, and had the 'e' tailing off into a vine -- so I fear I've given it away. 🙂 However, in the video, I asked the horse's mouth -- Britumn Li -- to share his pronunciation. Britumn is the principle of the company, and someone I've dealt with for about 20 years -- as I've been importing and selling Chinese pens for about a quarter of a century -- and he was one of my primary suppliers. I'm glad that you recognized the vast improvement in Chinese pens these last several years, including from Asvine, Hongdian, PenBBS, to name only a few, as well as Jinhao that has made some very interesting innovations and improvements recently, after I've been badgering them for a couple of decades! 🙂 Anyway, here's the aforementioned video, if you're interested: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bminfpihi7qXn5I Regards, Norman aka His Nibs.

[@HisNibs1]

I just noticed that my pronunciation video actually shows the older Asvine box, with the script logo ending in a vine, at about the 5:30 time mark.

[@Chuloon]

I chose this as my first fountain pen, waiting for it to arrive. Yours was the absolute most informative video I've seen thus far, really appreciate how in depth you got. I am allergic to nickel so titanium is a life saver for me

[@FigbootonPens]

I'm glad you found the review helpful. Have fun with your new pen.

[@mike.antkowiak]

It’s a good pen. Tried one a few months ago. Regarding your comment about the nib not lining up when capped. I’ve noticed that on some pens, the nib may not align with the clip or anything obvious on the cap. But, when the pen is placed on a table it sometimes face up, parallel with the table. The clip acts as a roll-stop and to get the nib to be face up to the table, the clip has to be at an odd rotational angle to the nib. So that tells me that on some pens, perhaps it’s intentional that the nib doesn’t align with anything on the cap.

[@ichirofakename]

Pretty pen. And that piston sure works well. Thanks for the show.

[@carloswilson977]

Finally a pen that doesn’t require one to mortgage their house to actually afford and is easy to get your hands on…

[@JannyHaak]

I love demonstrators! And this one looks very interesting for the price 😍 Thanks for sharing, David!

[@kato2395]

Sad that conid no longer make pens, one of their kingsize bulkfiller with sailor king of pens nib would be my absolute dream pen!

[@donkeystonky5362]

They’ve begun production again as of a few months ago, if you search online you can find confirmation of this

[@kato2395]

@@donkeystonky5362 heard they are not making custom pens anymore though? I've been asking in forums and people say they only sell ready made pens through resellers.

[@insertclevername4123]

I like your approach to the inspired by/ripping off question (I tend to be on the lenient side of the debate, although I've seen some that are pretty disgraceful...), and as someone who almost certainly wouldn't by the Conid at that price, I appreciate the attention given to a similar/inspired by pen that's much more affordable.

[@David.Buckheister]

Early on in my fountain pen days, I tried a couple of Jinhao pens. The bodies felt cheap, and the nibs always left a lot to be desired. Sometime last year I picked up an Asvine V126 to play around with the vacuum filler, I enjoyed it quite a bit. Had a nice medium nib and the vacuum filler worked great, I especially liked that it had a removable section to allow easier cleaning. The main thing that turns me off of these cheaper brands is the nibs, many of them only offer a fine option, and cheap Chinese steel fine nibs just don't do it for me at all. If they offered more nib options, a few of their models would look much more appealing to me.

[@tayterlik]

Moonman M800 (a pen *ahem* inspired by the Momento Zero) originally comes with quite dry Medium nib, I have replaced the nib with a Kaigelu Medium and it writes a wider line than the Leonardo Broad does. Nice, wide, wet line. Highly recommended for anyone wanting a wider line in a Chinese pen.

[@dhg5451]

I bought two of these pens and I have to say that when you insert the nib into the cap and line it up with the clip they both perfectly align, meaning that they both face up. I guess I lucked out on my purchases. What was not mentioned was that these are also available with Bock nibs. Additionally, I should mention that Asvine changed the cap band location and design on later pens, with the one that David shows in this review being the later of the two iterations. The previous version has a cap band higher up on the cap, with the cap ending with clear resin, much like the Conid. The placement of the band on the newer versions helps prevent breakage. So be aware when purchasing the P36 on Amazon that the new version has a wider metal cap band going down to the end of the cap.

[@varadharajannadarajah]

For $45, this is terrific ! Will definitely try.

[@ilikepens]

The clip can be swiveled to line up. I did so on mine.

[@jmm95076]

Thanks for pointing that out. I suppose the nib and feed could be pulled out and reinserted to align also.

[@jacobus57]

Given the nib and the fact it's not a bulk filter, it's just a pen that looks a little like a Conid.

[@user-br3sl9go3b]

Is the US$650 Conid Kingsize 14x better than the Asinve P36? I mean not only in the writing experience but also in the "retail therapy" psychological sense?

[@adityakripalani]

Beautiful review. I’m a fan of your work.

[@crouserm]

Nice ink match! I have an older version of this pen, the P30 Bronze , and consider it a keeper. Good looks, good writer, transparent barrel, large capacity . . . which, for one who loves swapping out pens frequently for the characteristics of the pens and the variety of inks, matters not so much. Although, I admire the large capacity.

[@YT-hv5ro]

I really like my Asvine skeleton vacuum pen, although I wish it wasn't so heavy.

[@bethg7026]

So, when I have my pen capped on my desk, the clip is never pointing up - it's sideways, stopping the pen from rolling off the desk. I wonder if asvine designed their threading so that when the clip is resting against the desk the nib is pointing up?

[@olivertull86]

I’ve always loved your videos and I’ve purchased several pens on your recommendation, so when I saw this pen mentioned I immediately jumped on Amazon and ordered one. The pen arrived in less than 24 hours, and I quickly noticed it looked similar to the Conid Bulkfiller as well. The clip feels secure and the pen looks great. The nib was begging for me to take a closer look, so I removed the cap… and the cap band fell off into my hand. That’s why I’m a bit cautious about certain types of writing instruments. Even though the quality has improved, the quality control is still lacking. Asvine is batting one for two so far with me.

[@XtianApi]

I think of the clip as in the way and so the nib is turned to the side so it can display

[@paulmchugh1430]

If it wasn't for the significant increase in quality of pens from China, I may never gotten into buying fountain pens. The P36 is such an example. Does it mimic another pen? Perhaps. Is it a good quality pen? I think it is. Is it on par with Western manufacturers? Perhaps not but it is competitive at a lower price point.

[@drnimish333]

Ink colour is beautiful.

[@blaberus1]

The cap finial unscrews so you can position the clip wherever you want! The piston knob will not scratch as the metal is titanium!!

[@kevinu.k.7042]

Well, a metric thread file would sort that pdq. Such a shame that shabby finishing on the threads spoil a good pen. Thanks for the excellent review.

[@SuryaFriends]

Its my daily edc pen and its built decently as i have dropped twice & it only has some minor dent thats it, one thing was cap top and clip came loose once but its an easy fix & you can take off the top and clip by unscrewing it and align the the clip with nib in just a minute........ Overall a great pen....... I wish they make a bigger size of this model as i have bigger hands and prefer 149 size pens

[@hw7504]

I think another huge feature is that there is a variant that accepts bock nibs, much like the conid.

[@spartan_6487]

Just a suggestion. You should try out the Asvine p80 it is a piston filler as well and it looks like the v169 except that its not a vacuum filler.

[@danielribeiro4618]

I was going order the V200 and then decided to go with the P36 (I have already a P20), best choice ever. I looks much more better then the V200.

[@PalashBackup]

After so many years, I can definitely say: There's no way you would hate writing with a fountain pen, unlike a ballpoint or gel pen (I say writing, not owning or maintaining). There's just too many options and combinations. One of them have got to hit the correct box.

[@normanhaase9400]

P. S. I'm not sure why your nib doesn't align with the clip. I just pulled the several I have at hand, and all of mine do -- regardless of how I begin the cap threading.

[@philnaunton7181]

Kala Neon Violet ink looks like paint. Probably because of the milkyness you mentioned.

[@konradyearwood5845]

That is what I thought.

[@osirisgolad]

Excellent choice of ink, the milky look of it reminds me of Noodler's Rachmaninoff, which is positively neon pink(if not radioactively so). As for the heavily CONID-inspired design language, I can forgive it because the pens are serving completely different markets as you said. I do wish they'd have been a bit less blatant about it. I mean, they even copied the antechamber that the shut-off rod presses onto in a bulkfiller, but it's completely pointless to have an antechamber on a piston filler.

[@gihanzohdy3284]

I clearly remember as a school pupil we used cheap Chinese fountain pens that lasted for a year or two, perhaps even more. For rational reasons Parkers and Sheaffers were forbidden, we never had problems of skipping or hard starts with these so affordable pens.

[@HisNibs1]

Jumping on from my other account (I posted as normanhaase9400 earlier). Just wanted to reiterate about the earlier Asvine logo, written in script and ending in a vine, but also to confirm a commentator below who mentioned that David has the 2nd version of the P36 -- where the cap band was move to align with the end of the cap: kzbin.info/www/bejne/laCQfWWil993mq8si=ZnaHW2fTa55kCHeT

[@ThomasGarnett-oo8xi]

What to you makes this a cheap Chinese fountain Pen? To me $45 isn't cheap. Is it the that it is "inspired by" aspect? Or is it something else. Was just wondering. A pilot metropolitan or a Lamy Safari are less expensive. Thanks for the videos. I really appreciate your insight.

[@michaelbeer1522]

The Chinese have upped their game significantly in the past two years. You can see a significant improvement in several brands especially when it comes to nibs. There is still a vast chasm between Jowo nibs and those from China. At this time, I still prefer the writing experience with Italian and Japanese pens. As with all other manufactured commodities, some of the Chinese brands will improve and become quite competitive in this domain. Once they stop using “inspired” designs (knockoffs) they will start earning the respect they have attained in other industries.

[@user-br3sl9go3b]

But what if you have a Jowo or Bock nib on a pen from China? Or buy to put into the Chinese pen, still for less than 1/4th the price?

[@leod5609]

I really love the nibs on the hongdian n12. It is a phenomenal nib, and in my opinion, as good as any Pilot gold nib and can stand on par with any world class nibs. Hongdian has seriously upped their game, the quality of their nibs is ridiculously good! I have 823 f, 912 po, 912 fa, elite f, custom urushi fm, falcon sef, justus 95 fm, silvern tsumugi M, sailor 21k ef, sailor 21k f, Lamy 2k ef, f, M. (have used pelikan m800 ef and f too) And yet I can't help but ink the n12. The firm hongdian a6 nibs are more like firm German nibs. No give, but wet writers. N12 has beautiful bounce and an exquisite feedback (more pilot than sailor).

[@michaelbeer1522]

I put a Jowo nib on a Moonman800 and the result was an almost Leonardo MZ for $38 @@user-br3sl9go3b

[@Ali4451_]

The conid is not available for purchase / very hard to get so I bought this one instead! It’s a nice pen

[@Glenn-j2e]

Thank you David for a great review, I really like that neon violet ink where can I find it? 🇦🇺

[@FigbootonPens]

Not sure where the brand is sold at the present time, but the company name is Kala.

[@teresaharris-travelbybooks5564]

You have to admit that P36 is easier to say than Leonardo Officina Italiana Momento Zero Grande 2.0 . No offense to Leonardo. I love their pens.

[@misswoodhouse5720]

Pens can only be a few different shapes but mostly long and tubular in dimension. There is only so many designs pen makers can come out with, excluding different materials and filling systems. Given this one is bound to find similar pens in the market place. For example, MB149 looks like the Platinum President, or what about the Sailor 1911, that Sailor in black and gold looks a lot like a Mount Blanc. Sooooooo how comes the Japaneses companies can copy Euro companies or maybe the other way round, but when the Chinese do it people scream 'blue-Murder'?

[@FigbootonPens]

I have an entire video dedicated to this topic. I believe it is called something like "Inspired by...or rip off?"

[@marct-y5q]

Is this better than a twsbi? 🖖

[@roboconman123]

I have this pens and it's pretty good

[@totallylegit2068]

i wouldn't call it a conid clone but it looks pretty cool and could be anodized

[@testinguk_Admin]

Great looking pen and glad you included. I particularly like it in the comparisons … somewhat distinctive even considering the Conid inspiration. Especially since they are no longer.

[@qwerftseattle]

Where did you purchase the Kala neon violet ink?

[@FigbootonPens]

I am uncertain where they can currently be purchased. Kala had sent me a few bottles to review. I have a review, posted on my channel of their Neon line.

[@bunyan6101]

Haha. He said assvine. I’m going with that one

[@vitthorn5395]

Far East is probably too broad to describe the location of pen makers. Taiwanese pen makers had created very high quality pens such as Cypress, PenLux, Laban etc. There are excelllent pen makers in Japan and upcoming pen makers in South Korea. Chinese pens is making very rapid progress - Narwhal??

[@dennett316]

Got to say, when you had it next to that Conid pen, I'd be hard pressed to tell you which of the two was $45 and which was $1000. I'm sure the quality difference shows in the feel of it, but looks wise, there's very little difference.

[@Supra_Mare_Cultro_Bloke]

$1000 vs $45, with such similarity. That brings the question: is it worthy🎉 I bet people in upper market share, if not more, but at least on par IQ as the average bloke buying a $45 pen.

[@kb62147]

Nice Conid clone.

[@bobirkhonismailov8904]

Don't buy this pen with a Bock nib. Get an Asvine own nib.