I’ve gotten a couple emails asking me what a Wing Sung 3009 pen was. I’ve referred to several times in my posts. This isn’t a real review of the pen so consider this post to be just an answer to that question.
As far as I can tell, if you’re in North America, the only place you can buy a Wing Sung pen is through eBay with the product being shipped from China. There are positives and negatives to this. The positive is that the price of most of the pens is less than a latte at Starbucks and shipping is typically free. I paid $3-4USD for my Wing Sung 3009s. The downside is that instant gratification isn’t served well, because if you order a pen it’ll take several weeks for it to arrive. I’ve had good luck ordering this way but I have to order and forget about it cuz standing by the mailbox will wear you out.
Ok…so what’s a Wing Sung 3009 and why do I use one given that I own Namiki Falcons, and lots of Pilot and Platinum pens? As I’ve said, it’s a $4 pen made in China. It comes with a fine nib that’s similar to a Lamy nib (they’re interchangeable) but finer. It has a clip that’s similar to a Lamy Safari but that’s where the similarity ends.
The Wing Sung 3009 is a transparent pen so it’s easy to see how much ink you’re carrying. It is piston-filled and holds a lot of ink. These two things combine to make it an ideal pen to carry on location. And did I mention that it only costs $4? No big deal if I lose it. I now own three of them, just in case (grin).
There’s another thing that’s invaluable beyond description, but if you’ve drawn with fountain pens for a while you’ll understand. This pen has a rubber casket that’s similar to the Lamy Safari, but unlike the Lamy Safari, the cap screws onto the body of the pen and thus, it seals VERY WELL and there is no ink evaporation which is a big problem with Lamy pens. This is particularly important if you’re using pigmented inks like many sketchers, including me, use because they’re no concentration of ink over time.
So, that’s the reason I’ve been using this pen. It’s wonderful. The only drawback is that I have to explain why my $250 pens are sitting on a shelf while I draw with my $4 pen (grin)
Are all 3 consistently good? I’ve gotten some super-inexpensive Chinese pens too, but one will be great and another a piece of junk, yet they are supposed to be identical. But I guess if one out of three is good, that’s not bad for a $12 pen! Still cheaper than a Lamy! 😉
Excellent question. To the direct answer first: yes…I think. I’m using two of them and they perform identically. The third one is still in its plastic bag 🙂
As more indirect response. Like you, I’ve had some hit-n-miss success with cheap Chinese pens, particularly Hero pens. While not the same, I truly hate the Wing Sung knockoffs of the Lamy pen for their consistency. They consistently evaporate ink and dry their nibs just like the Lamy 🙂
An even more indirect response. Sometimes I think our view of inconsistency of cheap eBay pens comes more from the fact that we often buy them in multiples (cuz they’re so cheap) and rarely do the same for pens we buy from elsewhere. I’ve got three Pilot Preras, though, and each one writes different. I don’t own multiples of my Platinum 3776 or Namiki Falcon, though, and so those pens seem “very consistent” 🙂