Two Pilot Pens: Metropolitan and Cocoon
I adore my Pilot Metropolitan, but was dissatisfied in the color options for a second one. I saw that JetPens carried a strikingly similar pen called the "Cocoon" for twice as much money, and I loved the color of the pink one so much that I went ahead and bought it.
I assumed that the Metropolitan & Cocoon were the same pen for two different markets, but wanted to compare them to be certain. Indeed, the two pens are virtually identical. Any differences appear to be normal variation and are not due to anything with the pens themselves. Amongst the superficial variations are the design on the nib and the packaging - you get one of the CON-20 converters with the Metropolitan (not shown), but only a cartridge with the Cocoon.
I have noticed that my Cocoon tends to dry up a little more quickly than the Metropolitan when it is capped, and the nib isn't quite as springy - you can see that they both can force a thicker line, but there's more variation in regular writing with the Metropolitan than the Cocoon. Not only could that simply be ordinary variation, but it might be because I've had the Metropolitan longer and just gave it a very thorough cleaning with a pen flush, whereas the Cocoon has been inked up with Lamy Turquoise exclusively for a couple months and hasn't had more than a water rinse.
These are great pens for a low price, but unless you absolutely must have the color variations of the Cocoon from JetPens, go ahead and stick with the Metropolitan, since it doesn't need to be specially imported and will be a lower price - and you get a converter, too! (Though I'm using the CON-50 for both now.)
