The pens are shipping! I received mine two days ago. I’d like to start a thread here where we can discuss these pens and share pictures. I recall that initial pre-Kickstarter reviews were mixed so I am hopeful that Wancher applied all feedback in a positive manner. Personally, I think the pen is absolutely beautiful. The feel of Bakelite is unlike any of my other pens. I did not upgrade to the gold nib option. Here are photos of my order: Fire Bakelite with Verdant shippoyaki, gold plated broad nib and plastic feed. This pen is a piston filler. I will post a writing sample in this thread eventually and I hope some of you do, too 
#pens
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Looks beautiful What is the feel of bakelite like compared to ebonite, acrylic or celluloid?
I’m glad you asked! Although I have not inked the new pen yet I took out a Montblanc 149, a Platinum 3776 celluloid, a Ranga ebonite, a Lamy AlStar, a Leonardo Momento Grande Cairibi Blue (acrylic, I believe), and an Aurora Talentum Resin to compare the feel to the Bakelite. The Bakelite has no match in one particular area-it warms in your hand very quickly. It feels like a part of your hand in some ways. Very natural. The celluloid pen is “grippier” than the Bakelite and almost soft to the touch. It also warms up but not as quickly nor as noticeably as the Bakelite. The ebonite feels natural against the skin but is not comparable to the Bakelite’s tactile warmth or texture. Of course the Lamy was like a shock to the system with it’s cool aluminum, but I threw it in as a sort of palate-cleanser in between holding the pens 
Montblanc precious resin is pleasing, very similar to the Aurora resin body yet they strayed from the Bakelite in tactile pleasure quite a bit. I really like the beauty of the Leonardo, however it just felt cold and polished in my hand compared to Bakelite. This entire exercise will serve me well in making a few pen decisions. Oh- even the metal bands of the Bakelite feel seamless in their warmth so when I picked up the Leonardo I immediately felt the coolness of the metal parts. That was fun 
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@Sk8rcruz Lisa thank you so much for your methodical thorough testing. I see it’s hard to do a comparison but you description does manage to get info on the tactile feel through 
Based on this experiment what is your favourite pen material?
One thing I failed to mention about the Bakelite is the odor. It is only detectable if you put your nose close to the pen, but it is slightly off-putting. Nowhere near the smell radius or pungency of a Noodler’s pen, but it does exist. I’ve never used a fountain pen made of wood or antler ala Ryan Krusak for comparison but of the pens I compared in the above experiment I’d say the celluloid is most pleasant to hold. I inked the Bakelite pen. The filling system is not a regular piston. It turns and clicks like the Montegrappa Monte Grappa-I don’t recall the filling system name. Here is a short writing sample with my ink choice, Sunda, or Beyond the Horizon, by Tono & Lims.
