If a fountain pen could be the mysterious, attractive stranger in the spring…

Or how I tried to fit too many puns in one title when I wanted to say it’s PENBBS 487 called Spring. And… it’s attractive :winks with both eyes:

I’m sure I’m not the only person who accidentally started collecting themed pens. I have several pens with cats (as well as nibs with cat faces, although I have no idea what to do with them), quite a few demonstrators, I have all matte black pens, heck, I even have a cosmos themed pen or two. Or three. Of course I’ll have seasonal pens. And a spring themed one, duh.

I’m about 99% sure that the pen in question is called Spring — or at least the finish is called spring, since, you know, you have to name the material/finish of your pen after something cool since you decided to name your pens after numbers. This pen’s nib has flowers etched on its nib, and if you ask me, spring means flowers¹! Let’s dive into it, shall we?

I present to you today a very cool pen I scored sometime in 2020; and I know it was 2020 as I distinctly remember refreshing the PENBBS official store’s page on Etsy while sitting in the car and not paying attention to my sister-in-law who was driving and actually taking care of all the logistics and navigation I was supposed to be doing. It was a limited edition — the pen, I mean — and as of writing of this review, I haven’t seen it pop up again². I believe that was the year PENBBS released a series of pens with one of the coolest and weirdest pen filling mechanisms: the magnet filler. Yes, there’s indeed a magnet somewhere on this pen, and there’s indeed another piece of something that gets attracted — and repulsed — by said magnet.

Behold, 487 in all its glory.

Now, I’ll just come out and say it: it’s super cool… and functionally not that viable. Will it work? Sure. Until it doesn’t. Then you get to stress, disassemble the pen, add silicone grease, have it back in working order — just to have it happen again later on. It holds a stupid amount of ink as well; not as much as an eye dropper, but more than a piston filler. Do you really need that much ink? Very unlikely, unless you’re dead set on writing a book you wanted to write when you were younger but couldn’t because of school and now you kinda can.

And you get to do this silly thing too.

Here’s how it works. The cap has a magnet; there’s another one somewhere in the barrel (depending on where you left it), and if you adjust the cap against the barrel, you can move said magnet up and down. With the nib in the bottle of ink, you would slowly drag the cap against the barrel and scratch the barrel draw the ink. Would recommend putting a paper towel or anything thin and not scratchy in between the two, just to, you know, avoid damaging the pen. As I said, though, it’s more gimmicky than actually working.

However, if I’m anything, I’m a sucker for gimmicky. I actually love the idea of this filling method. It’s fun. It’s not like something you’ll find just anywhere. Step aside, piston and vacuum fillers, we got a new system that will definitely not overthrow you, but it will absolutely try in the least capable way.

Do you want your pen stuck to your computer? It will be there. Your fridge? You bet. Your tumbler? Heck yes. As I said, it is… super clingy. Geddit? Magnet?

As mentioned, it holds a stupid amount of ink. So stupid, in fact, that I didn’t care to measure, as it becomes a moot point when you can put an entire sample vial in it, right? So that’s the filling system, but what about other features?

The nib writes well; it was a bit dry when it first arrived, but with some goading, I managed to adjust it to write satisfactorily. And, you know, PENBBS nibs are quite good, if not way better than what a $20 nib³ should be. The slight upturn makes up for the lack of tipping material on their “fude” nibs. It glides on the page. They do offer other sizes; REF, RF, and RM, if I am not sorely mistaken, which are “round extra fine”, “round fine”, and “really, just guess medium”. The RM is quite a chonker. Their most common offering, the “fine” which, again, looks like an idea of a fude, is very likely my favorite. I don’t think I’ve had a really bad PENBBS nib ever; at worst, I have had average nibs.

What drew me to this pen, I’ll admit, wasn’t the filling mechanism; it was the nib, or rather, the stamping on it.

Cute flowers. Also the year PENBBS platform was established and nib size (their upturned F).

The flowers are super cool. I absolutely love cherry blossoms, and I’m sure this is not supposed to be a cherry blossom, but I will pretend it is, and I will enjoy it.

I’m also a fan of the finish; that, my friends, reminds me of a pink cow. Or a pink cobblestone road. Regardless, it looks elegant and sturdy and lovely. And will have some people smile and others exclaim from happiness.

To accommodate the filling system, the pen is, naturally, reminiscent of a very straight cylinder; otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to operate the magnet. Flat ends, blind cap, a sword-like clip that most of later PENBBS models have (so anything after the 308 and 309), and the grip section will have a slight taper which will be most comfortable for the majority of writers.

The size? I am a fan. It’s of average size, if not on a slightly larger side, and it fits the hand perfectly. It’s bigger than the piston filler 309, for example, and a bit smaller than the vac filler 456.

Left to right: vac filler 456 in Niangao, 487 in Spring, piston 309 in Hawaii, and Pilot Cocoon for size reference if you for some reason don’t have any Penbbs pens.

I’m glad I have this pen for multiple reasons. It fits all of my criteria for obtaining new pens: a different filling system, a nib stamp I don’t have, and a finish I haven’t seen in any other pens. What’s not to like?

Of course, as my collection expanded and my tastes changed, I don’t reach for it too much, as I don’t really care for a huge ink capacity; I love changing inks and refilling pens. I think that might be my biggest qualm with this pen; with such a cool filling mechanism, why have so much room for ink that the pen needs regreasing just for it to work?

To sum it up: this pen is a great option if you wanna tell people you have a magnet filler, but if you’re a C/C lover as I am, it will serve mostly as a conversation starter. And that’s a shame. The pen is too beautiful to just sit on a shelf and be talked about.

What do you think? And yes, you can definitely attach the pen to your keys but it will probably not survive your dangling them on your way to the car. And it for sure will not survive your running it over with said car.

Please don’t drive cars over magnetic pens.

Like and subscribe and leave a comment if you like cool filling mechanisms. If not you’re weird.

1. Plus I got to get out of my slightly winter-friendly jacket and my wife turns off the heating so I get to freeze in my home again.

2. I mean, I’m sure it has been popping up her and there, but it sounds cooler if I say it this way.

3. I think it used to be $5-6. Now I’m not sure. Currently, it’s $20, and it’s uncool that the price went that much up BUT it’s still a good one for the price for a replacement one. And it comes in a super cool little cocoon.