Makershead to head

Narrow catalogue, one clear idea: put grown-up filling systems — vacuum/plunger and geared piston — into $25-$80 pens, with standard #6 (and on the big ones #8) nib units that owners can swap for JoWo or Bock.

The broadest catalogue of any Chinese boutique brand: pocket eyedroppers under $10, capless/retractable pens, oversize #8 piston flagships, wood and titanium bodies. Volume over focus.

The titan and volume king of Chinese fountain pens: celebrated for precision homages of iconic luxury pens (Sailor Pro Gear, Montblanc 149, Pilot Vanishing Point, Lamy 2000, Parker 51/Duofold) alongside massive #8 nibs, 1.7ml giant converters, and indestructible brass workhorses from $2 to $25.

A pen forum that started making pens. Unusual filling systems — vacuum, bulk/syringe, piston — in loud acrylics, mostly $20-60, in numbered runs rather than a standing range.

An old Shanghai maker, revived as the budget filling-system specialist: the 3008 piston at a couple of dollars, the 618 and 698 pistons, and the 699 vacuum filler that did the Custom 823 trick years before Asvine.

Metal-bodied pens at $10-25, built around the Forest series (1850/1851/1861) — matte black or patterned barrels, a metal case in the box, and a bent-nib option that made the range popular for sketching.

The demonstrator benchmark: piston and vacuum fillers at $40-70 that ship with a wrench and silicone grease because you are expected to take them apart. The Eco is the default first 'real' fountain pen recommendation.

Eyedropper specialists. Nearly the whole range uses a Japanese-style shut-off valve, so a barrel full of ink can be carried and flown without burping — the grown-up version of what Majohn's pocket eyedroppers do cheaply.

A Western brand with Chinese manufacturing, around $50-80: piston and unusual 'shell' filling systems, sea-creature naming, and finishes aimed squarely at the demonstrator crowd.

Small range of pocket and metal pens, sold alongside Moonman stock at the same shops.

The oldest name here — a state-era Shanghai manufacturer whose 616 was, for decades, the Chinese fountain pen. Now a wide, cheap and inconsistently distributed range.

Chinese maker known for oversize #8-nib pens and the 699-style vacuum fillers.

Small Chinese maker of inexpensive resin and metal pens.

Budget Chinese metal pens, mostly Parker-style homages.

Chinese maker of metal presentation pens, often with decorative nibs.

Very cheap Chinese pens; the 3059 piston is its best-known model.

Chinese maker best known for the 316, an Omas-style celluloid-look pen.

Small Chinese brand of inexpensive resin pens.

Sold under Lingmo and Lorelei names; inexpensive Chinese resin pens.

Budget Chinese pens, widely sold under several store brands.

Budget Chinese pens aimed at students.

These makers are not really competitors across the board. Majohn sells breadth — seventy shapes from $8 pocket eyedroppers to titanium flagships — and accepts inconsistent nib QC as the cost. Asvine sells one idea done well: grown-up filling systems with standard nib units you can swap yourself. Jinhao competes purely on price and volume, PenBBS on mechanisms and acrylics in short runs, Hongdian on being the one that reliably writes out of the box, and Wing Sung on having done the cheap vacuum filler first. TWSBI and Opus 88 sit a tier above in price and are the benchmarks the rest are measured against.