Review: Gama Jumbo Fountain Pen @FPRevolution

ABOUT

Body Material: Acrylic
Trim: Metal
Length (capped): 161.3 mm/6.35''
Length (uncapped nib-end): 147.1 mm/7.19''
Length (posted): 182.6 mm/7.19''
Barrel Diameter: 12.6 - 15.3 mm/0.49'' - 0.60''
Section Diameter: 12.5 - 14.0 mm/0.49'' - 0.55''
Nib material: Steel
Weight (all): 34 g
Weight (cap): 10 g
Weight (body): 24 g
Fill type: Eyedropper
Price: $44.00USD
Where to buy: FPRevolution

 

PACKAGING

No packaging, just the way I like it.

APPEARANCE

Wow. This pen is simple in its design, but its appearance is really cool. It's like a small blimp. The pen is cigar shaped - beefy and thick, with rounded off ends. The cap is wider than the barrel, but the barrel is longer than the cap.

The finial is a clear acrylic button top of the cap ring. It looks a little funny, like a clear gumdrop. The metal clip is simple and plain, and I think it looks a little small compared to the giant size of the pen itself. The barrel has Gama engraved on it. You can see where the inside of the barrel ends because there's a clear acrylic butt at the end of the pen. This looks really neat, if you like clear pens.

The section is quite wide, but compared to the barrel, it fits well. It tapers slightly towards the nib and it ends in a very pronounced lip before the nib. The section is clear as well, so the nib and feed are completely visible.

NIB & PERFORMANCE

The large nib is a fine, two-tone #6 steel nib. It has a single slit and a breather hole. It's engraved with Iridium Point and some flourishes. Pretty simple, and it's a good size for the pen. Anything smaller would probably look funny.

The nib gave some feedback while writing, getting close to feeling scratchy, but not actually scratchy. It was certainly not a smooth writer though. if you like smooth writers, this is not the nib for you. It could use a touch of smoothing, or you could opt for a broader nib, or put in a different #6 nib entirely.

For such a fine nib, it was pretty wet. Drying times were around 30 seconds, and I did not find the feed running dry during longer writer sessions. it also did not hard start or skip while writing. With some pressure, there was some line variation possible.

Even with the feedback, the nib was well-tuned. It wrote consistently and reliably, and overall, I enjoyed its performance. What made this pen a million times more fun was putting a #6 Knox nib on it - a 1.5 mm stub.

Ink: Diamine Autumn Oak - review here

IN HAND

The clip is pretty much impossible for me to use. It's so tight, I just could not move it.

There's no doubt this is a ridiculous, girthy, huge pen. I found the section fairly uncomfortable because it's so wide, and the lip at the end is really hard and dug into my fingertips.

Unposted, the pen was just huge. It wasn't uncomfortable heavy, but because of the length and size, I found it slightly off balance. The cap did post, although not very deeply. Posted, the pen was almost comical - top heavy, way too long, and completely unusable for me.

The huge ink capacity is great, unless you like to change inks often. It's a great way to use up those ink samples though,as it holds 6 ml. Just pour that entire vial of ink right into the barrel!

PROS & CONS

OVERALL

At $44, this is not the most expensive pen. However, it's not all that inexpensive either. It's really neat, I love that it's a huge, clear eyedropper that takes #6 nibs. It's a lot of fun, but not for everyone given the size! I can't wait to put a juicy stub nib on this.

I received this pen free of charge, but was not asked to review it. I was not compensated monetarily for my review. Everything you've read here is my own opinion. There are no affiliate links in this review.