Ink Review #1685: PenBBS 236 Mandarin Duck Male

PenBBS 236 Mandarin Duck Male is from season 15. You can find this ink for sale at Vanness Pens.

The color:

Mandarin Duck Male is a dark cobalt blue with pink shimmer.

*For my swab cards I use a Col-o-ring by Skylab Letterpress, a medium Pilot Ishime and a Mabie Todd Swan.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink has some red sheen and pink shimmer.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

*For my writing samples I use:

• EF Pilot Vanishing Point

• F, M, B Pilot Ishime

• Vintage Mabie Todd Swan (flex nib)

• Rhodia Goalbook

• Taroko Enigma notebooks (68gsm TR)

• Leuchtturm A5

• Pen & Gear Paper from Walmart

Dry time: 15 seconds

Water resistance: Medium

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: Low

Other properties: low shading, low red sheen, and pink shimmer.

On 20 lb copy paper there was lots of bleeding and feathering.

Comparison Swabs:

Mandarin Duck Male is closest to Diamine Starlit Sea. Click here to see the blue inks together.

Longer writing:

I used a TWSBI Eco Transparent Blue with a medium nib on a Taroko Enigma notebook. The ink had an average flow.

Overall, this ink is a lovely well-behaved blue ink. I didn’t have any issues with clogging.

Disclaimer: I purchased this ink myself. All photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links and this post is not sponsored.