Think this actually might be my first Initial Impressions post, but as this is a brand new pen I received through backing the KickStarter campaign and it will soon be available to buy outside of that, then this is appropriate to post. Note I have had the pen for four days.

You may remember from my review of the Endless Stationary Creator that I was not impressed with it and may have regretted backing this KickStarter campaign. Looking at the comments from early recipients of the Phantom did not help, however on arrival I was actually pleasantly surprised. The gloss plastic (I have the ‘stealth’ version) actually feels better than I would have expected and both looks and feels a big improvement on the material used for the Creator. Shake the pen and there is a rattle from the internal mechanism, but then I just tested this on a Pilot Vanishing Point with the same result.

In the hand it is comfortable, nicely shaped, and dare I say it – more comfortable to hold than a Pilot VP. The material feels strong and there is no flex.

The nib is the same as before but the hosting unit is different. Gone is the metal cage, now we just have a plastic mount, but it works and works well, with two pegs meaning there is only one way to insert this unit into the section.

I do not know whose converter is being used or where to get replacements. A Standard International is too long and despite a reply I received on the Comments Page, one will not fit over the peg. Hopefully this slide converter will prove reliable. The actual reply did say I can use short Standard International cartridges and one does fit, however to do so you need to use a small adapter at the back so the mechanism will work. This is truly a jerry rig solution and not one I would want to use. The adapter will be lost very quickly on replacing a cartridge. There are reasons Pilot, Lamy, etc include a cage based adapter for use with cartridges with their retractables.

The nib itself is the same as before and one I am not a fan of. However this one is truly bad as it has been smoothed at an angle so writes more like an oblique nib. I say more like as it is really scratchy regardless. I mentioned this on my comment on the KickStarter page and Creative Stationary have asked me to email them with my details for a replacement. I have done so, so fingers crossed though it could be a fair while before I receive the new onw. This will delay any full review.

So far the open/closing mechanism works better than on the one in the Creator but sometimes on closing the nib still drags across the rubber seal. Almost certainly in time there will be potential ink drops else dried ink forming on the inside. I am not a fan of this mechanism and yes I know it is not just Endless Stationary who use this.

On the issue you commonly see with retractable fountain pens, especially those using a rubber seal mechanism. Ink evaporation. I purposely left the pen for 2.5-3 days without use and it wrote first time. Also if I leave the nib out it there are no problems over a short period and I just accidentally left it open for 15 minutes and it only took a second for the ink to start to flow again. Hopefully it will be the same with my replacement nib.

So overall, aside from the nib and concerns over the converter and the adapter for cartridges I am more impressed that I expected. This is really the pen Endless Stationary should have released first. However I am still to see what it is like with a ‘decent’ nib and how the seal works over time, both of which I am presently sceptical over based on previous experience.

The standard KickStarter price is $49 which includes a 10% discount, so the actual price will be just shy of $55.