Pilot Pokemon Charizard Fountain Pen Review: Sterling Silver Meets Nostalgia

Introduction

Most fountain pens stay inside the stationery world. This one does not. The Pilot Pokemon Charizard is a limited edition pen sold exclusively through the Pokemon Center website, and it is probably a pen you have never seen before. It takes Pilot’s long-running Silvern model as a base and layers an unmistakable Pokemon identity on top of it: sterling silver construction, embossed artwork, and a serial-numbered limited run of just 100 units per Pokemon, with Pikachu, Charizard, and Rayquaza each getting their own pen.

This review covers the packaging, build quality, artwork, nib, and writing performance, along with measurements and size comparisons, so you can decide whether a $599 crossover between Pokemon and fountain pens makes sense for you.

Unboxing and Presentation

The pen arrives in an outer box branded with the Pokemon Center, and the inner lid features a silhouette of the monster on that particular pen. Inside, Pilot includes a polishing cloth, a certificate of authenticity, and a use and care guide, all carrying Pokemon Center branding rather than generic Pilot documentation. The cloth has a white inner layer, which suggests it may be an anti-tarnishing cloth. Given that the pen is sterling silver, that would be a genuinely useful inclusion.

Three Pilot-branded ink cartridges are also included. The customized packaging is a nice touch: Pilot clearly treated this as a collector’s release, not a standard catalog pen with a sticker slapped on the box.

Design and Themed Artwork

The pen is based on the Pilot Silvern, a model that has been around for quite some time, and it is made from sterling silver. The cap top is rounded and transitions into a traditional Pilot clip with a ball on the end, stamped with the Pilot name and, at the very top, the pen’s serial number. It is a limited edition of 100 units per Pokemon, 300 in total. To the eye, the serial number appears stamped rather than engraved, which typically looks nicer and is a good indicator of the overall craftsmanship level Pilot brings to a pen like this.

Moving up the cap, there is a wide band stamped with “sterling silver” and “Japan.” There is no separate sterling hallmark, which is not unusual: hallmarks are required in many European countries but not in the US, and presumably not in Japan either, where this pen was manufactured. The barrel tapers down to a rounded end, with a small step down from the cap.

The themed artwork is the whole point of this pen. On the cap there is a Pokeball, the device used to capture Pokemon, and on the barrel there is Charizard himself. Charizard is one of the most popular Pokemon, partly because he is obtained early in the games, and partly because he looks like a cross between a dinosaur and a dragon, even though he is officially classified as a fire and flying type rather than a dragon. There is deep nostalgia attached to the character, and a Charizard trading card holds the record as the most valuable Pokemon card at auction, with one selling for $420,000 in 2022.

The selling site describes the pattern as hand etched, but that description seems questionable. The image is embossed rather than etched into the material, and the black outlines do not appear to be hand applied either. It is a mild marketing misrepresentation rather than a dealbreaker, because the artwork itself is done very well. The design wraps around the barrel, which makes it a little tricky to see all at once, but it rewards a close look.

Nib and Writing Performance

The cap snaps off to reveal an inlaid 18k gold nib with rhodium plating, and it looks genuinely sharp. One quirk of buying through the Pokemon Center site: there is no nib option at checkout, so what you receive is a bit of a mystery. It is unclear whether all units ship with medium nibs or whether other tipping sizes exist, and the packaging gives no clue. The reviewed pen came with a medium.

Pilot dates its nibs, which is a detail worth appreciating. The small markings at the base of this nib indicate it was manufactured in January 2021. The section underneath is plastic, angled upward, and forms one seamless piece with the feed. The angled section is comfortable in the hand, and the little notches on the sides of the nib happen to sit right where a natural grip falls, which helps.

Everyday Handling

The pen is plenty long enough to use unposted, and the cap posts very deeply and securely. Even though the cap is silver, it does not back-weight the pen or throw off the balance when posted. One caveat: because the cap posts so deep, you need to pay attention to its orientation. If the clip is not aligned with the nib, it will rub against your hand. It is smooth, so it is not uncomfortable, just a minor annoyance, and repeated posting may eventually cause micro scratches in the silver over time.

This is a cartridge converter pen, and Pilot uses a proprietary filling system, so you will need either Pilot cartridges or the included CON-40 converter. The CON-40 is not the most beloved converter: ink capacity is on the low side, and it uses three small metal balls to break up ink surface tension and aid flow. That works, but the rattling sound, especially when the pen is not fully inked, is hard to love.

Writing Sample and Measurements

Ink used for the writing sample was Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-Budo, a deep purple that looks excellent out of a wide range of pens and pairs beautifully with a Pilot nib. The medium 18k gold nib is outstanding. Ink flow is generous, and with a bit of pressure you can coax some line variation out of it. Reverse writing is a little scratchy but gets the job done.

The overall feel is what matters most: this is one of those nibs where the very first stroke tells you it is high quality. It is smooth, immediate, and satisfying. For faster writing, the feed keeps up with no issue at all.

In terms of size, the pen sits comfortably alongside other full-size offerings. Side-by-side comparisons with the Pilot Custom Heritage 92, Pilot 823, Pilot Vanishing Point, Pelikan M800 and M805, Sailor King of Pen, and Montblanc 146 show it holding its own as a full-sized pen, uncapped or otherwise.

Pricing and Buying Advice

The Pilot Pokemon Charizard is available only through the Pokemon Center website and retails for $599. For reference, a standard Pilot Silvern retails for $544, so the markup for the licensing and limited edition treatment is not unreasonable, though this is still a considerable amount of money.

Here is the honest tension: Pokemon is loved by people of all ages, but the franchise is primarily geared toward a younger audience, and $599 is not a realistic first pen for anyone. It would be nice to see Pilot apply this licensing to a more entry-level pen that a newcomer to the hobby could actually afford. If this crossover sits squarely in the middle of your interests, though, and you have the budget for a silver limited edition, it delivers on quality.

Conclusion

The Pilot Pokemon Charizard is a well-crafted sterling silver pen with excellent embossed artwork, a genuinely outstanding 18k gold medium nib, and collector-friendly packaging. Its weaknesses are modest: an unclear nib selection process at purchase, a mediocre CON-40 converter, and a price that limits it to dedicated collectors. If Pokemon and fountain pens both live in your world, this is one of the few pens that truly bridges them.