Jinhao 599 for Less Than $2!
by Tony Thomas Believe it or not, I scored a Jinhao 599 on eBay for less than $2.00 with shipping and handling from China! I have reviewed this pen before and gave it high marks for the price. Now, it is an even better value. Is this an anomaly? Actually, no. The solid color versions are pretty easy to find at that price as this goes to press (The transparent versions sell for a bit more). This has got to be the best fountain pen deal out there right now! They look and feel very similar to the popular Lamy Safari and the nib is a smooth (if boring) Jinhao medium. I decided to break out a four way nail buffer and do some surgery on the nib to turn it into a stub. I am not the best nib grinder in the world, but I was able to end up with a nice smooth nib in about 15 or 20 minutes. You can clearly see the line variation between horizontal and vertical lines in the picture to the left. If you are looking for a really cheap pen (or 10) that you can c...