Zebra Pen Nib Stein Pen No. 88 Super Hard Hard Chrome ◆ 10 pieces Engraved on the pen nib: No. 88 JIS T. ISHIKAWA ZEBRA STEIN SUPER HARD. ◆ 10 pieces ◆ Unused and free shipping. ◆ What is a Stein Pen ◆ This is a Zebra product that was discontinued in 2008 and is no longer available. It is even harder than a regular Tama pen (spoon pen), and the tip has been specially processed, giving it twice the durability of conventional pen nibs. If you are practicing penmanship, you can get fine, strong lines, and it has twice the durability. It is also recommended for those who apply a lot of pressure and wear down pen nibs quickly. It's a pen nib with a good writing feel. For penmanship, it can be considered that Zebra's pen nibs, which were highly ranked in the past in the recommended pen rankings, are more durable and easier to write with than Tama pens. In penmanship, it is difficult to create variations in line thickness, and you don't get lines with the same variation as with a brush. However, spoon pens (kabura pens) have smooth opening and closing of the pen nibs, making it relatively easy to create variations in line thickness. Also, depending on the angle of the pen, you can create more variations in line thickness. This pen nib is recommended for both beginners and veterans. Among the hard-tipped pens like Zebra pens and Japanese character pens, it is a popular pen nib for penmanship and manga with sharp lines. About the pen nib manufacturer: Lion, famous for office equipment, used to manufacture them, but they are no longer in production. Currently, there are three Japanese pen nib brands on the market: Tachikawa, Nikko, and Zebra. Since the Nikko brand was taken over by Tachikawa, there are only two manufacturers: Tachikawa and Zebra. Since the Nikko brand was taken over by Tachikawa, there are only two manufacturers: Tachikawa and Zebra. Zebra pen nibs are a popular brand, supported by teachers of the Japan Penmanship Study Group. There are also stories that the older ones are better in performance. I heard that the current pen nibs are manufactured using old equipment that has been maintained. It seems that the manufacturing workers used to be skilled craftsmen, and I have heard that some users say that the older ones write more smoothly without catching, but I will treat this as a reference. Also, chrome-colored pen nibs are less prone to deterioration and still have the same performance as they did back then.