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As people have already said, yes that is a Metro. The converter is supposed to be opaque, and you will need to guestimate. It’s not just guesstimating how much ink you have left, it’s also guesstimating if you have filled the pen to the maximum possible. The ink does not get sucked up into the pen as quickly as a piston mechanism, and it’s impossible to see if you have a max fill. A couple of tips since this is your first squeeze converter. I usually squeeze the air completely out before I dunk it into the ink to remove the potential of a few drops of ink popping out of the bottle (especially for Noodler’s and the bottles filled to the absolute max policy). I also leave it in an extra second or two after it seems fully puffed up just to make sure the maximum amount of ink is sucked up. Luckily, this is all much easier with the Metropolitan’s cheaper squeeze filler design. The “premium” one that came with my Cavalier was encased in a metal tube. The squeeze bar was manipulated using a “button” located near the top which made it very difficult to fully compress the sac and see if the sac was completely puffed up. Terrible design.
I tend to gravitate to cheaper pens including a lot of Chinese-manufactured versions of more famous pens (clones / knockoffs), and thought it might be interesting to post some of them?...
I give this pen a hearty +1. I have owned, sold, and given away a lot of 30$USD and below pens in the last decade. The 601 and Lamy Safari (and technically a brass Kaweco Sport if that counts) are the only pens in this budget I have kept. The 601 is my off the beaten path recommendation beside the usual suspects of beginner pens. The pen’s capacity in a very pleasant body is the big selling point for me. The filling system is neat, and the use of a O-ring type piston (is that the technical term?) like the one found in a piston filler over the latex used in the original 601 model is an excellent upgrade in my opinion. For people who throw around their pens, the plastic isn’t the toughest thing in the world, but I think your metal version solves that problem.
The hooded nib is great for slowing dry out too!
My question to you is how the balance on the metal version, especially when posted? The plastic grip worries me a little.
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We have four possibilities for a new community banner image thanks to @Valdair. Please vote by commenting on which image you would prefer. One comment will be one vote. Voting closes on Friday 4 August....
NPD Questions (i.imgur.com)
I was recently gifted what I believe to be a Pilot Metropolitan Taupe Lizard (see photo)...
Wing Sung 601 "Flighter" (lemmy.world)
I tend to gravitate to cheaper pens including a lot of Chinese-manufactured versions of more famous pens (clones / knockoffs), and thought it might be interesting to post some of them?...