tankerjohn
A little poofier than I prefer
That's right, Han!
Not a bad likeness.
Ah, Star Wars logo. Just in case I didn't know what the heck this pen is.
Is it a rollerball or a fountain pen? You might say its a cross between the two. Oh, I'm so punny!
Yes, this is the Cross Townsend Han Solo Star Wars Edition Rollerball with a Cross Townsend steel fountain pen section, medium nib (purchased separately).
I've only had this pen for a few weeks, but long enough to put out a few initial impressions. Let's start with the negatives, just to get them out of the way. I don't love the Townsend's style. The clip is too low on the cap. The cap has a weird bulbous shape. The whole thing is too long and skinny and makes the nib look small. I would not be drawn to this pen without the Star Wars artwork. There, I said it.
Now for the good bits. I LOVE the Han Solo theme. The "frozen in carbonite" shtick is genius. Probably the most low key Star Wars thing ever. From a few feet away, the pen is just a nice, classy gray pen. But up close, the fun starts. It's great. Secondly, I love the interchangeable rollerball and fountain pen sections. More pen models should have that. It really does make this like two pens in one! The rollerball writes great, like a rollerball should. The fountain pen nib writes great too. Nothing special - just a stiff, round-tipped nib that makes a clean, meaty line. It feels very similar to a Jowo steel nib, although I believe Cross makes their own nibs in China. The medium looks more like a broad on the page. So three cheers to Cross for selling the nib section separately. It was also nice to convert the Han Solo rollerball pen into a fountain pen for significantly less than the actual Han Solo fountain pen sells for. Grant it, that pen has a gold nib. But I have a hard time believing that the gold nib is worth the three-figure premium over the steel nib. I'm sure the gold nib feels nicer on page, but it would really be splitting hairs since the steel nib is so good.
This will be a fun pen to take to work and switch between the rollerball and fp nib depending on the writing task at hand. If you like Star Wars and you like pens, then this is your chocolate and peanut butter right here. There's still a few Cross Star Wars pens out there, so grab one while you can get them at a reasonable price. If you don't care so much for Star Wars merch, but like the idea of pen that can take either a rollerball or fp section, than the regular Townsend is for you (if you like the styling). Its a cool pen and I'm glad I had the opportunity to pick one up.
