Majohn A1 Review - One click to fall in love

Want to try out a capless fountain pen but don’t have big money for one? The Majohn A1 may be your best bet to try one out.

I was intrigued when I first came across capless fountain pens that had a clicker mechanism like ballpoint pens. My first exposure to them was the Pilot Vanishing point and the Platinum Curidas. The Curidas seems to have mixed reviews, but isn’t terribly expensive. Everyone seems to love the Pilot VP, however. So when I came across the Majohn A1, it seemed like the perfect way to get an idea of how they feel. Let’s dive in.

The Good

Solid metal build, nice feel and weight
Smooth writing nib
Comes with a blank cartridge and a converter
Super affordable

The less good

Straight up copy of a Pilot VP
Clip on my copy wants to frequently de-center itself
Assembling the pen can be a little fiddly

Majohn A1 — In the hand

A photo of a Majohn A1 black and gold fountain pen sitting on a notebook with writing samples under it. — The Majohn A1 in black and gold is quite the handsome pen.

The Majohn A1 is a comfortable pen to hold. Its mostly metal construction gives it a nice heft. This lends it a nice, quality feel in the hand. At the same time, it isn’t overly heavy. Writing with it feels quite ergonomic to me. However, some may find the clip an annoyance, depending on grip styles. Another possible gripe is that the pen barrel is quite glossy. It can be a little slick, but it hasn’t been bad enough to really bother me yet.

Also, the clicker mechanism (for lack of me knowing a better term) feels quality as well. It delivers a solid and satisfying click when engaged. It feels like the spring tension is exactly what it should be and works perfectly. On the flip side, when assembling the pen after filling it up, it can be a bit fiddly. The working bits of the pen are keyed to the barrel, but the spring tension holds the pen above the key-ways. This means you have to keep it aligned as you push the barrel halves together to start the threads. (DoodleBud explains this quite well in this video, at about 5:40)

This photo shows how the barrel halves sit on the Majohn A1 without any pressure to close them together. It takes some care to be sure the keyed bits align properly.

Aesthetic

It’s also worth noting that the A1 is quite the good looking fountain pen. Mine is obviously in the gold and black colorway, which I find to look quite classy. The banding around the joint in the pen looks quite nice under normal viewing and matches the clip, clicker button, and nose cone perfectly. One weird thing with Majohn, however, is that many of their pens still have the Moon Man branding on them. See the photo below for how mine looks.

Still says Moon Man, but at least it looks nice.

Writing with the Majohn A1

A photo of the close-up details of a Majohn A1 from the nib side. It shows the nib, clip, and nose cone in sharp detail. — The Majohn A1 with a fine nib.

The Majohn A1 delivers a surprisingly nice writing experience. Mine has a fine nib on it and it writes about like a Western fine. The line width is quite similar to my Platinum Preppy. However, I think this nib is even smoother than the one on the Preppy, which has a bit of that signature Platinum pencil-like feedback. The nib is also pretty stiff. You aren’t going to get much bounce or any flex out of this one.

Also, I’ve found the feed to have no issues keeping up. My Lamy Al-Star really doesn’t like my Noodler’s Air Corps ink, but the Majohn A1 writes like a champ with it. I can write quickly, scribble, etc. and it never misses a beat. I also find it to be a quite forgiving pen. It doesn’t get upset at me if my nib angle is a little off. I can grip it high or low and it just writes. I really don’t have anything bad to say about writing with it!

The Majohn A1 — A capless fountain pen for the masses

It’s kind of crazy that Majohn has been able to make such a faithful clone of a popular pen for such an affordable price. I purchased mine from the store DoodleBud mentioned in his video for $14 shipped to my door. For under $20, you get a lot of fountain pen with the Majohn A1. It’s got a smooth nib, an included converter, a metal build, and a great (albeit copied) design. If you’ve been curious about the Pilot Vanishing Point, but aren’t ready to dole out the money, it’s worth picking up the Majohn to get a rough idea of what to expect.

What are your thoughts on these duplicates of well known pens? It seems to be a bit of a touchy subject in some of the fountain pen community. Me? I can’t afford the real deal, so they wouldn’t be getting my business anyway. Shoot, in most cases I can’t even afford them used. I think it’s a cool way to penable people like me and I’m glad they exist. It’s especially cool to see some of the new, unique designs coming from the companies. More on that soon!

Supplies used in this review

A photo of a Majohn A1 on a notebook with a writing sample. The fountain pen has it's nib in the writing position. — The Majohn A1 with it’s retractable nib, un-retracted.

Pen: Majohn A1, fine nib

Ink: Noodler’s Air Corps Blue-Black

Paper: Kokuyo Biz notebook

Majohn A1 Review — One click to fall in love