I'm pleased to announce that Karas Pen Company was kind enough to send me a review set of the "Galaxie" and "Starliner" pens from their new "Reaktor" series. These pens have been making the rounds lately, and while they're not yet available for purchase, I can see these becoming big hits that nicely complement their higher-priced Decograph (which I reviewed not too long ago).

The pens will be available in a smaller range of color options than the typical Karas pens. Options will include black, tumbled aluminum, polished aluminum, and polished aluminum with red or blue anodized sections.

Featuring midcentury modern designs inspired by the "Atomic Age" of the 1940s and 1950s, the Reaktor pens are more pocket-sized than Karas' typical offerings and designed to be manufactured for sale at a lower price point. All of them feel good in the hand and feature a slip/snap cap that works flawlessly. The cap closes and posts securely using an o-ring. The Reaktor lineup will include:

Galaxie. A clipless pocket ballpoint that ships with the Schmidt 950M pressurized refill, which is Schmidt's answer to the Fisher Space Pen. Of all the pens, this is probably my least favorite refill option, as "ballpoint gunk" tended to collect on the tip. That said, it's a Parker-style refill, so there are likely other options you can use.
Galaxie XL. A gel/rollerball pen with a clip that accepts the Pilot G2 refill, which is one of my personal favorites. Ana says the Galaxie XL also accepts the Schmidt P8126 rollerball, and since she's the refill guru I'll take her word for it!
Starliner. A clipless, pocket-sized fountain pen featuring a design that pays homage to the "flat-top" pens of the 1920s. It's short, so the pen accepts cartridges only.
Starliner XL. A more full-sized fountain pen with a clip, designed to use either cartridges or the Schmidt K5 converter.

The Starliner and Starliner XL fountain pens both use standard Bock nibs. A perfectly appropriate choice, especially at the price point.

Each of the Reaktor pens is designed around a specific refill and/or converter, and I've not had the opportunity to play around with them to see if anything else fits. Like the Decograph, these pens grew on me the more I used them. The ergonomics are very nice, especially on the "XL" series, and the pens feel much more expensive than their anticipated price point.

The Starliner XL, featuring a classic flat-top profile and engraved lines with a "3-2-1" countdown-themed pattern.

The "Galaxie" series has more of an automotive feel to it, especially on the cap.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

Following up on the Decograph, the team at Karas has created yet another new series of pens that has left me with very positive first impressions. The Galaxie and Galaxie XL rollerball/ballpoint pens will be priced at $40 and $45, respectively, with the Starliner and Starliner XL fountain pens priced at $50 and $55. The "XL" pens should be released sometime in late June, early July, with the others arriving later this year. Be sure to follow the Karas Kustoms/Karas Pen Company website for updates! As I've observed elsewhere, there's not much currently on the market other than TWSBI and Lamy in that $40-60 price segment, and if Karas can figure out a way to make these pens profitable, they could have a big hit.

Disclaimer: Karas Pen Company sent me the pens featured in this review free of charge, for review purposes. Information on pricing and availability was provided to me by Karas. I was not otherwise compensated for this review.

Most seasoned readers of this blog will be familiar with Karas Kustoms, the Arizona-based manufacturers of machined pens such as the excellent Render K and the Ink fountain pen, among others. Last year, Karas launched a new "Signature Line" of pens under the mark "Karas Pen Co.," the first of which is the vintage-inspired Decograph fountain pen. I purchased one around Christmas to check out, and have been putting it through the paces of my review process for the past several months.

The Decograph ships in an aluminum tube that pays tribute to Karas Kustoms' heritage as a machine shop. A very nice touch, though it likely adds to the cost of the pen.

Design and Build

As you would expect from a shop of experienced machinists, the Decograph is a very well built pen that doesn't skimp on the details. (I'd point you to the Karas logo on the end cap, the faceted clip, and the machined aluminum tube that serves as the packaging.) True to its name, this pen exudes an art-deco, vintage vibe that you don't see very often in modern fountain pens. Since it's made entirely from thermoplastic and grade 6061 aluminum, the Decograph is also incredibly light - the designer intended this pen to be used as a daily writer.

The translucent "Deco Green" thermoplastic is some of the prettiest pen material I've seen in a while. In certain light, it appears almost black, but can otherwise appear almost a bright "beetle green," as I've heard this color described elsewhere. … — The translucent "Deco Green" thermoplastic is some of the prettiest pen material I've seen in a while. In certain light, it appears almost black, but can otherwise appear almost a bright "beetle green," as I've heard this color described elsewhere. I also love the faceting on the clip.

All that said, there are a few design elements of the pen that prevent this from being an ideal "workhorse" fountain pen for me. First is the girth - the barrel of the Decograph is slightly too skinny for my personal preference, especially given it's length. I like to post my caps, and posting the fairly substantial Decograph cap onto the relatively slender barrel leaves the pen feeling a touch lopsided. Because the thermoplastic is so light, Karas could probably get away with a slightly bigger pen and a wider section. Recognizing that everyone's preferences are different, and many people find the Decograph perfectly balanced, perhaps we'll see this in another model added to the Signature Line in the future?

The small design details matter, and I think Karas nailed them here.

Nib and Writing Experience

Out of the box, the writing experience was a mixed bag. The Karas Decograph uses Bock nibs. As I've previously discussed here on the blog, most smaller pen manufacturers (and even some larger manufacturers) source their nibs from a third-party company, typically JoWo, Schmidt, or Bock. Of these three options, Bock nibs are my least favorite. In recent years, I've found the quality control to be spotty: the nibs write dry, the slits are cut unevenly, and the feeds are often misaligned. If you luck into a good Bock nib, or you purchase from a retailer who adjusts or resets the nib and feed themselves, you will get a perfectly serviceable pen, but I do wish Bock would get their act together as it causes problems for smaller companies who don't have in-house nib expertise.

My experience with the Decograph was no different. The original steel nib that shipped with the pen had the nib slit cut off center, so it skipped and wrote dry. I considered asking Karas for a replacement, but since I don't use steel Bock nibs in general, I swapped in an extra fine titanium nib from another pen and put the steel nib into the "teaching myself nibwork" bin. If you're interested in a Decograph, I would highly recommend paying the upgrade charge and going with a titanium or gold nib, especially since Karas's nib pricing is very reasonable. I've had better luck with Bock's higher-end offerings.

Once I got the nib issue sorted out, the Decograph is an exceptionally nice writer. I wasn't prepared to like this pen nearly as much as I do. The light weight makes this a pen you can easily use for hours, and it almost grows on you subconsciously - I find myself reaching for this pen all the time on my desk, even if I did wish the barrel was just a touch more substantial. I expected to purchase this pen for review and then sell it off, but this one will probably end up a keeper. If you're on the fence, I'd encourage you to borrow a Decograph from a friend or test one out at a pen show - this is definitely a pen that you have to see in person to fully appreciate.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

The Decograph represents a welcome step for Karas outside the machined metal pen market, and I look forward to seeing what they do with the line in the future. In addition to the standard colors ("Deco Black" and the "Deco Green" featured here), Karas periodically releases special edition colors such as the Decograph 1801 "Sleeping Beauty" edition. The pens can be purchased directly from the Karas Kustoms website under the "Signature Pens" category.

Price-wise, the Decograph starts at $140 for a steel nib, and you can add $25 to upgrade to titanium and $75 to upgrade to gold. While some have commented that these prices seem expensive, these are "small batch" pens made by an independently owned family company. Viewed in that light, and the higher per-pen cost of manufacture, the prices are reasonable and consistent with brands like Franklin-Christoph and the Edison Production Line.

Disclaimer: I purchased the pen featured in this review with my own funds, for my own collection. I was not compensated in any way for this review.