Here's the real headline:

Moonman has released their own No. 6 nib - and it's a winner!

It comes in the new Moonman M6, a medium-sized, cigar-shaped wooden pen. If you want, you can stop now and go get one. Otherwise, read on...

The Moonman M6 comes in 4 finishes. I'm a fan of ebony, so that's what I picked.

While not oversized, the pen is solid, girthy and feels substantial. It's unlike any other Moonman pen in my collection. My mind goes to Japanese cigar pens but I don't have any clear comparisons to hand.

Nib Center Stage

The Moonman #6 nib is standard size, i.e. a little larger than nibs from PenBBS and Natami.

From it's shape and the spiffy two-toned design (including a nice downturned crescent breather hole), it looks like Moonman has commissioned their own nib. Happy days for pen lovers!

From what I can tell, the nib is not part of a screw-in nib unit but is pressed with the feed into a sleeve in the section. I have not yet attempted to remove the nib and feed to figure things out exactly.

All the pens come with gold trim and a dark brown plastic section. The section tapers toward the nib but is otherwise flat.

The cap comes off in a scant 3/4 turn, with metal threads on the barrel and threads machined into the wood of the cap. The threads on the M6 are a bit more coarse then those on the Moonman N3.

The cap is relatively thick without overly disturbing the profile of the pen. I imagine to avoid potential cracking.

The cap has a plastic liner which has, so far, kept the pen from drying out. MOONMAN is engraved along the base of the cap. centered under the clip. The clip itself quite stiff and looks to be made of a solid piece of metal. It is anchored with a screw under the liner. The bottom of the clip curves out to fit over pockets.

The section and barrel both have metal threads, giving the pen a bit more weight and durability. The supplied converter is functional if non-descript. I did not confirm whether it is international standard.

Dimensions

Inked, the pen is just over 30 grams capped

Uncapped, it's close to 19 grams, near my favorite weight for larger pens.

Capped, the pen is 140mm so roughly the same as a PenBBS 308, Natami Inception or Lamy 2000.

Uncapped, the pen is 125mm, so smaller than the PenBBS but larger than both the Natami and Lamy.

In a pinch, it is possible to post the pen. In fact, it posts pretty well. But I've never been a fan of wood on wood posting so don't plan to write that way. Leave a comment if you really want the posted length.

Putting Pen to Paper

Unlike the Fuliwen 016 and Round F nib on my PenBBS 471, the nib on the Moonman M6 didn't require any tuning to get it writing well. Nice.

The nib is listed as 0.6mm and marked as a fine on the nib (the F in the circle at the base of the nib).

Normally Chinese F nibs are given as 0.5mm and M nibs as 0.7mm. So this is a medium-fine. And it writes like it. A generous F. Not as broad a line as a PenBBS Round M.

This pen is a fine writer, no doubt about it. It's balanced and comfortable. Easy to hold in a range of positions up and down the section. I like the texture of the wood.

At just over US$22 plus shipping on taobao, the Moonman M6 is about US$5 more than the Moonman N3. It's also wood so perhaps not to everyone's taste. Perhaps also the relatively girthy diameter.

But the nib is the difference-maker. The Moonman M600 with a Schmidt #6 nib at US$44 is twice the price. The Moonman M600 Checkerboard, also with a Schmidt #6, is almost US$60.

The Moonman M6 is a quality pen in its own right. I can recommend it full stop. But as a harbinger of more good things to come from Moonman based on this new nib, it deserves special attention.