I’ve been a fan of most of Sakura’s craft_lab releases since they launched with the 001 and 002 in 2017.
001 - Steampunk executive styling with knobby brass accents and a frosted plastic body that played nicely with metallic colors underneath. Bought a brass / green model that has aged beautifully. Also managed to get a limited run in black and gloss aluminum.
002 - basic gel pen with a design inspired by Sakura’s Coupy crayon. Liked its simplicity and got a green and an orange one that I still enjoy.
003 - stubby all aluminum or brass ‘scribble’ gel pen with a weighted interior to resist rolling. Admired its purity but didn’t want one.
004 - 2+1 multi-pen. My first ‘no’. Top heavy design felt tiring. Still the only model with a ‘pencil’ in it.
005 - All plastic extruded sakura blossom profile pen. Love it! Got an orange, green and blue. For some reason, online listings today approach scalper levels. These nominally 5,000 yen models can sometimes be priced at 9,000+
006 - The current ‘Unobtainium’ model. For this release Sakura made the design modular, which meant that you had to go to a specialty dealer in Japan (like Itoya), and pick out your preferred combination of metal and wood finished parts. There are supposedly 288 combinations and prices range from 28,050 to 39,600 yen.
007 - Back to sanity with a simple twist grip design. Still quite elegant, and the milled band in the middle feels like a callback to the 001’s brass knob.
008 - sigh. What do we get in 2023? A clicker design where the clip probably scrapes the body as you put it to work? Sad.
Anyone else collect these? I think Ray has the limited all metal 001S….
Great run-down on the Sakura Craft Lab series, Kelvin!
I’ve long admired these designs. I’ve been meaning to get the Lab 001 in all brass. I once won a great deal on it, but the proxy had to reject my win because of the brass cleaner tube included. It was utter nonsense (not volatile!). Anyway, I eventually picked up the 007 and I find it well made, nice to write with.
I had thought about the 004… 2+1 multipen. But it sounds like you’d discourage getting it. Zebra Sharbo is superior?
The 004 is both visually and physically top heavy. The upper portion is wider than the grip section. I have found such arrangements uncomfortable in general - e.g. I really don’t enjoy using the Graphgear 1000.
Sometimes I live with it because the physical design scores enough points on the vanity scale. e.g. Trystrams ‘Smoothstyle’ 2+1 hid everything in a one-piece metal body, using the clip-end as a selector. Definitely top heavy but it looked really cool to me.
I’m not really a pen dude, but I’m a huge fan of this design language and I will likely end up getting some of these at one point. I had no idea there were so many - thanks for the rundown, Kelvin!
008 clearly has the least interesting design and lacks craft lab coolness. Also I really don’t know why they don’t want to make mp versions of any of these.
Well, I have to eat crow. I ended up getting a used 008 after all! Why? Because it IS the only knock-type Craft Lab so far, and that makes it possible to modify into a proper mechanical pencil. Checking my little box of parts and spacers now.
Initial fears of the clip scraping the body are unfounded. The clip very nearly but doesn’t ever touch the anodized shaft.
Yes, the fit is still very good. I think (for me) it’s more about getting used to the change from an established ‘machined’ design aesthetic with the milled knobs and engine turned grip zones – to a smoother, no-texture flowing look, especially around the clip. The Sakura logo is marked on the top of button but appears more like a shallow laser-polish than the deep embossing on 001. The tolerances for the knock are pretty tight; I didn’t feel any wiggle room for the brass button to rattle at all. The gap between the golden brass section and anodized upper feels almost seamless.
Sounds terrific! Interesting changes on the aesthetics as you noted. That’s one thing I do like about the 001–the milled knob and machined design. Very nice to hear that the knock tolerances are tight and there’s no wiggle of the brass button. It appears that the 008 takes the same refill as the 001.
While there is no way on this earth I can compete with Kelvin’s photography skills, as promised here are some pics of my new Sakura craft-lab 009
And how apropos since just two nights ago was 97th Academy Awards (Oscars)!
It has a very nice feel, well-balanced and the machining of the threads at the tip are extremely precise and tight. Turning the back is smooth as glass. And the clip? Look at that tolerance! Twisting to extend the point rotates the clip but it never touches the body! What more can I say?
