Initial Thoughts · The Taylor Swift Fountain Pen - from someone who uses fountain pens everyday!

[@julia-here]

Thanks for watching! Let me know what you think of Taylor Swift’s fountain pen and it’s potential impact on the community down below! 💕 - I did forget to mention that this is from her official website and is official merch.

[@Gouletpens]

Thank you for the review! I just learned about this pen and have been getting a lot of questions about it from our viewers. The pens are all sold out (as one would expect with anything TS) so this was helpful for me to understand a little more what this is all about. I loved your analogy of it feeling like a cover song, that's a great way to describe it. This clearly won't be a pen that hardcore fountain pen fans will be wowed by, but it seems to be a very reasonable price for such a pen coming from her official merch and of decent enough quality to give a positive impression to a lot of people who surely will be using this as their first ever fountain pen. -Brian Goulet

[@julia-here]

Thanks Brian! I appreciate you checking this out - I will say that it’s holding up surprisingly well as far as the cap being well-sealed. No hard starts yet! So fingers crossed for new pen-curious folks- Love the pencast, the content, and of course the shop ☺️

[@garland3688]

I bought this pen and was wondering how it has been using a converter? I know some people had a bit of difficulty.

[@julia-here]

@garland3688 the initial fill took a few times (just not the greatest fit) but haven’t had any problems since- no leaking or anything; I’m traveling with it now and it’s been quite reliable.

[@garland3688]

@@julia-here thank you!

[@kellyandthehorses2877]

Your shop should reach out to her (ts) ppl and offer to collab on something us fp ts ppl would love. A Benu or something.

[@s.n.11]

I didn't know your channel but the guys at gouletpens mentioned your review of this pen, so I got curious. Thanks for the review! I will come again to your channel, I liked it!

[@julia-here]

Thanks so much!! 💕 I appreciate you stopping by and leaving kind words!

[@natashajohnson5776]

My first thought was that it looked like a lip gloss or small tube of mascara. 😂

[@julia-here]

😅 it totally does!

[@vermis8344]

Ditto! 😆

[@Bunnyisms]

Genius is a Taiwan brand that has been around for a really long time. They usually make products for other companies. The quality is usually pretty decent. I can't recall off the top of my head who they also made pens for. TWSBI and Opus 88 also did similar stuff before they made their own brands. I believe Genius does make their nibs inhouse. Minka is another Taiwan brand that does pens for other people. I have been curious about this pen because my family is from Taiwan, and I've used Genius products before. I love that you put a converter in. I was pretty convinced that it could hold a small converter. I have a box of different converters myself ❤

[@julia-here]

Thank you for the information!! 🙏🏽 I will definitely say after a bit more time that the quality is better than what I was expecting.

[@stevekail4543]

The only fountain pens I have that relate to a specific person are a couple of the "Peter Pens" that are a collaboration between the artist Peter Draws (Peter Deligisch), Narwhal/Nahvalur and Goldspot. The art he creates on his KZbin channel is so much fun that I had to make the purchase!

[@julia-here]

Oh that’s so fun! I had no idea about that one; I’m gonna have to go check that out now (plus, always love a good nahvalur 🤌🏽)

[@chocolatedoclet]

So, @KarynaLovesToPlan did a video on a Wordsworth & Black fountain pen she was sent for review and it has the same Genius nib. Hers was also a surprisingly pleasant writing experience. I suspect these are definitely Chinese or OEM or something fountain pens. I'm all for more people discovering the joys of fountain pens! I just wish that maybe more thought had gone into this specific pen (a better grip section, perhaps a slightly more girthy pen, better finishings, etc), considering the size of the TSwift fanbase.

[@HistoricGentleman]

definitely chinese made as so is the cartridge, these hero cartridges are actually refillable, if you remove the rear stopper, reseat the plastic ball into the throat, then fill cartridge and reinstall the stopper

[@julia-here]

Fabulous!

[@julia-here]

And a clip!! I thought I lost in yesterday 🫠

[@ILoveFountainPensCdn]

I’m curious if it’s sold/endorsed by Taylor Swift? It looks like a really poorly made Indian or Chinese pen. That’s a nice surprise that it writes so well, especially for a fine nib. When I’m watching reviews, I really want to hear how the nib sounds (scratchiness/feedback etc.). With the music that you were playing while you were writing, it wasn’t possible to hear how the nib was performing. Do you have an excerpt of that? Honestly, it was a Sheaffer Calligraphy set (three stub nibs with their own feed & grip section, barrel, cap and four ink cartridges) that first got me into fountain pens MANY years ago. I think that just as long as the pen seals correctly and doesn’t dry out, the ink doesn’t leak from the cartridge or converter due to what looks like a poor fit, and people are educated on where to buy replacement cartridges from, how to clean the pen and refill the converter if they choose to go that route, it has some potential.

[@julia-here]

It is from her official merch store/website so there is some 'endorsement' in that sense. The feedback is verrryyyy minimal - and using it just for a couple of days now, it is quite smooth and the nib/ink flow situation is quite good (nothing is drying out, no hard starts, or leaking so far! actually verrrryyy surprised with that). But yes, the converter was indeed a poor fit - haven't ran across that anywhere else either. I will go ahead and say that I like this better than the Ferris Wheel Press Carousel _and_ Archer and Olive's attempt at a fountain pen.

[@ILoveFountainPensCdn]

Good to know! I won’t be buying it but it’s good to know how it performs. When the FWP pen came out, I thought it was a dip pen. At the time, I was looking to buy the J. Herbin glass dip pen and thought that the FWP one would be better, since there would be less of a chance of breakage. FORTUNATELY I did more research first and realized that it’s not a dip pen and I saved my money. I did end up buying the J. Herbin but have fortunately replaced that with the kakimori (sakura & brass) which I LOVE!!! While I don’t post my own videos on YT & just have photos on IG, I really enjoy and appreciate watching other people’s videos and seeing their experiences and insights. …It’s too bad that Taylor Swift didn’t do a collab with Sailor or another reputable entry level pen like the Pilot Varsity or Kaküno. I think that would be a much better fit.

[@smack2760]

That is def not the same pen I received. Mine came with ink but the ink piece wont work.

[@julia-here]

@smack2760 oh no! Sorry to hear! You may need to squeeze the cartridge a little bit so the ink can flow; I didn’t use the cartridge in this video. I put in a converter so I can use whatever ink I want.

[@sbornot2b]

OK, the case with all the converters, etc... Super. Simply super.

[@julia-here]

Haha! It took me awhile to figure out how to not have those in chaos but yes! I love the case of converters 😊

[@lenorebreen3394]

I am 73 years old and I remember using this, mostly as tracing paper with pencils. It has a wonderfully unique vibration in your fingers when using a pencil. 😊

[@Fiddler4mySavior]

Thank you for posting this review; I was so curious! Really sad I was too late to snatch one up

[@julia-here]

No problem! ✨I wasn’t even aware it was going to be a hot item when I got mine so I now feel really lucky to have it. It’s crazy that apparently people are reselling them for like $150- a crime I say!

[@Fiddler4mySavior]

@@julia-here Agreed! One of the few merch items she offers that is affordable at such a high markup. I love that she is unique and creative in what she offers, though.

[@julia-here]

@Fiddler4mySavior absolutely! Love when a theme is committed to! Haha.

[@HistoricGentleman]

@@Fiddler4mySavior considering the chinese version of this pen without her name sells for $1 including shipping from aliexpress I would say a 1500% markup is pretty good

[@DKW-f7z]

You didn’t miss anything. It is a truly awful pen that just has TS name slapped on it. Slimy money grab! If any research had been done at all, a much better pen for same price could have been brought to market. Amazing how many people will waste money or garbage just because it has a certain celebrities name on it. The tragedy in this is how many first time fountain pen buyers will be completely turned off to fountain pens after they experience this pen.

[@sathishrao7926]

On one hand it’s disappointing that it’s most likely a rebranded Chinese pen with no distinctive qualities,on the other hand it’s good that this celebrity endorsed pen is accessible to everyone (by not costing $500 !) and it probably increases fountain pen awareness amongst the masses !

[@julia-here]

yep! that's exactly my takeaway here. ☺️

[@karmesindryade]

Yes, it is TS merch and yes it is not the best pen in the world. But the price is fair, it seems to be of decent quality and if it helps to bring more people to handwriting with a fountain pen instead of just using their smartphones, I am 100% happy with it.

[@julia-here]

I hear ya! 💕 - right there with ya on all fronts, there.

[@sistergoldenhair0727]

just a ridiculous piece of crap pen. Looks cheap and I bet Taylor Swift would never use anything like this. Such a waste of branding--a total money grab for Swifties who don't know anything about fountain pens. The nib is what is put on all kit pens so not even a Jowo or Schmidt or Bock nib. Very disappointed.

[@julia-here]

Definitely wish it was more of a solid entry point. Hoping curiosity wins here 🤞🏽🤞🏽