Sunday Reading for April 5, 2026 (Pen and Stationery Show Haul Edition)

1. 2026 Arkansas Pen Show (via Olive Octopus). Many thanks to Lisa for all her help at the table this year in Arkansas! This was a great regional show and a model for how fun and well-run smaller pen shows can be.

2. I Got Out of Hand at the Atlanta Pen Show (via dwrdnet). Derek shows off his Atlanta Pen Show haul, heavy on the custom makers.

3. Atlanta Pen Show Report and Haul (via Inkdependence). Mike breaks down the Atlanta show and all he brought home, after an epic show livestream which you should watch if you get the chance.

4. Thank You Atlanta! (via Pen Addict). By all accounts, the Atlanta Pen Show recovered after an off year last year. I’m glad to see this because I’ve enjoyed attending in the past.

5. Crazy Baltimore Pen Show Haul (via Inky.Rocks). Some really unusual finds here! Always love to see the Schon Monoc EVOs.

6. Journaling Under Stress (via Writing at Large). When journaling isn’t easy is likely when we need it the most.

7. Mechanical Pencil Roundup: March 2026 (via Urban Adventure League). There are some unusual/less common pencils in here! A great collection.

We recorded our first live episode! Watch in YouTube or on your favorite podcast app! You can also catch up on all the past episodes at the current landing page.

In Case You Missed It….

The big news from this week was the release of Episode 6 of the On The Paper Trail Podcast, which we recorded live at the San Francisco Stationery Fest. I published a separate blog post with my own impressions of the show and what I was able to take home with me, as well as an announcement about a new event we will be holding for On The Paper Trail in October. Stay tuned for more specific details in the coming weeks!

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In addition to a restock of the Taccia Ukiyo-e Fountain Pen Inks, we have this four-bottle set containing some favorites!

This Week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop - A Restock of Favorites and Some New Arrivals!

We finally received the first of several shipments that have been en route from Japan, including a full restock of Kuru Toga Alpha Gel Switch Pencils (a personal favorite), more Tombow 2558 office pencils, and Uni Pure Malt multi pens in the large “Oakwood” 4+1 format. On the ink side, we have restocks of Taccia (including the new Ukiyo-e Kinoyoshi inks), Teranishi (including more Gentle Green and Lady Emerald, two favorites), and Herbin Couleurs de Paris! We’re excited to expand our ink offerings and many of you already took advantage in our Nashville shop this weekend!

Midori 5-Year Diaries

Herbin Inks

Taccia Inks

MD Paper

We will have normal hours this week in the Nashville Store, and will be open Thursday and Friday from 1-6pm and from 10am-6pm on Saturday. If you’d like to shop by appointment, that option is available Mondays and Tuesdays using our online appointment system.

How YOu Can Support us further: AND SAVE THE DATE FOR OCTOBER 16-18, 2026 for On The paper Trail Live in Nashville!

If you enjoy our content (whether here on the main website, Instagram, YouTube Channel or elsewhere), and would like early/extra access to shop releases and special promotions, consider supporting us via Patreon. In addition to exclusive content, Discord access, and online meetups, Patreon supporters have access to one or more initial “practice” episodes of “On the Paper Trail” which have not been publicly released. Also, as we noted in yesterday’s post, we are planning an On The Paper Trail Weekend Event in Nashville the weekend of October 16-18, 2026! Stay tuned as we plan to release additional details in the coming weeks.

Unpacking the Inaugural San Francisco Stationery Fest (Literally and Figuratively), Plus Save the Date for On The Paper Trail Live in Nashville!

To be honest, I didn’t get to shop much at the 2026 San Francisco Stationery Fest that we attended last week. The show was MUCH busier than I anticipated, with crowds that approached the San Francisco Pen Show. I did get to roam a bit on Sunday and managed to collect some stamps, and I had a steady stream of attendees bringing me stickers throughout the weekend once they realized we were unable to break away. (Thank you all!) In this week’s episode of On the Paper Trail, we had an in-depth discussion of our reactions to the show and how we felt that it differed from a traditional pen show. I won’t go into all those topics again here, but the two main takeaways that stuck with me were:

• Stationery and analog tools are growing in popularity and showing no sign of slowing down. Best of all, people aren’t just collecting - they are using their stationery to plan, journal, and simply to make everyday life more enjoyable.

• The growing interest in stationery extends well beyond pens. While pens were certainly popular this weekend, the focus fell on things like washi tape, paper, rubber stamps (including free stamps that attendees could collect at tables), and stickers. It was refreshing to meet other customers and vendors who haven’t previously attended traditional pen shows.

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A couple shots of the T.G.S. and Vanness tables during setup on Friday

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We brought TGS, Vanness, and On The Paper Trail rubber stamps and well, people tested them.

While T.G.S. started as a website focused on pens and pen reviews, over the years the scope of the site (and later, the shop) expanded to cover both the traditional fountain pen community as well as other segments of the stationery world. Especially as we’ve built out core shop categories such as Roterfaden and other Notebook Systems, I’ve personally become more interested in the goings-on in the planner and general stationery community, so this particular show resonated with me in a way recent pen shows haven’t, especially the focus on using products over pure collecting and the large number of seminars, workshops, and meetups available to attendees. The organizers did a great job curating vendors and classes.

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Vendor Tokyo Seihan offered three different giant Godzilla stamps throughout the weekend, free to anyone who came by the table. Unfortunately I was only able to get one on Sunday!

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You could also buy a set of your own Godzilla stamps at their booth.

The Sleeper Hit of the Show: Multi Pens!

People always ask me: What sold well at the show? This time around, the answer was multi pens. The stationery crowd loves color, and multi pens offer the ability to quickly switch between inks and line size in a way that can be difficult with fountain pens. I brought several different multi pen “systems” with me, and based on the conversations I had with attendees and questions they asked, it might be helpful to offer a few points of clarification for those who bought a pen in San Francisco or who might otherwise be interested in further exploring this category of writing instruments:

1. Most multi pen systems use proprietary refills. The two most popular gel multi pens are the Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto system (famous for it’s needle-tip), and the Uni Style-Fit. While both offer a wide array of colors and tip sizes, you cannot use the refills interchangeably.

2. Ballpoint and hybrid ballpoints (i.e. Jetstream/Acroball) have limited color options. These are almost always black, blue, green, and red. The one exception is the Pilot 4+1 multi pen, which uses a Pilot multi pen refill that happens to be the same diameter as the Uni Style-Fit refill, so this excellent multi pen can use both ballpoint and gel ink! (Once I was able to demonstrate this we sold a lot of these Pilot 4+1 pens last weekend.)

3. D1 multi pens allow you to mix and match refills from different brands, though you will be limited in terms of color options. Some multi pens (namely the Lamy 2000, Pilot Legno, most Tombows, and Penco pens) use a universal D1 size, which will let you mix ballpoint and gel inks, as well as use refills from different brands. That said, D1 refills don’t usually come in the wide range of colors and tip sizes that the Uni and Pilot gel ranges offer.

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The two stars of my San Francisco Stationery Show Table, at least pen-wise.

Last But NOT LEAST: SAVE THE DATE For On The Paper Trail Live in Nashville October 16-18!

Today’s post seems as good a time as any for a fun announcement: Lisa Vanness and I will be hosting our own event in Nashville the weekend of October 16-18! While we are still finalizing details with the venue (including the final number of attendees we can accommodate and details on hotels, etc.), it’s time to go ahead and announce On the Paper Trail: Live in Nashville! We’re planning a smaller event that will focus on a select number of vendors - while still representing most major categories of stationery - along with a heavy focus on classes, seminars, and opportunities for attendees to socialize during the event and after-hours. We’ve spent a lot of time visualizing what we’d consider to be our “ideal” stationery event, and think that we’ve come up with something unique that will be enjoyable for all. We can’t wait to share the details with you - stay tuned for a follow-up announcement. In the meantime, get caught up on all SIX episodes of On the Paper Trail, our joint podcast, and we’ll probably have more to share next week when we record Episode 7!

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The Gentleman Stationer is supported by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. You can also come visit us at our physical stationery store in Nashville, Tennessee.

Thursday Drops: New Taccia Ukiyo-e Kuniyoshi Inks, Plus Midori and MD Products Restocks

They’re finally here! The latest releases in the Taccia Ukiyo-e line include eight new ink colors, many of which are darker shades infused with black. The Utagawa Kuniyoshi series features gorgeous box and bottle artwork, in addition to Taccia’s beautifully flowing ink. As noted on Tuesday, we also received a shipment of the rebranded Midori MD line notebooks (now “MD Product”), which includes new dot grid A6, B6 slim, and A7 notebooks. Finally, all Roterfaden from the SF Stationery Fest is back in inventory, and don’t forget that you can listen to the live recording of the event we co-hosted there in Episode 6 of On the Paper Trail!

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Taccia’s Kuromidori Kuniyoshi is going to be a favorite - all those multishading and color-shifting greens with sheen tend to do well. (Unfortunately Sabimidori is still backordered).

The Nashville shop will be open normal hours this week, from 1-6pm on Thursday and Friday, and from 10am-6pm on Saturday. Please come by and see all of these and more in person!

1. Taccia Ukiyo-e Kuniyoshi Inks. The third series of Taccia Ukiyo-e inks are now available, with some gorgeous dark black-infused colors added to the line. A few are sheeners for lovers of sheen and multi-shading, and as always, the Taccia artwork is beautifully incorporated into the packaging. We’ve also received a restock of the first two series of Ukiyo-e inks, with favorites such as Ainezu, Ruri, and Nakamurasaki returning.

2. Taccia Standard Line Restock. We’ve restocked on many of the standard Taccia ink colors as well, including Tsuchi (“Wheat”), Midori (Dark Green), and Uguisu (Lighter Green).

3. MD Product Dot Grid Notebooks. MD Product has rebranded and released more sizes of notebooks in dot grid layout as well as the standard lined, blank, and graph. Now you can enjoy B6 Slim, A6, and A7 in dot ruling as well as the A5!

4. MD Product A5 Codex Restock. The day-to-a-page MD Notebooks (the Codex series) are back, with both dot grid and plain papers. Intended for use as an undated daily planner or journal, the Codex can also serve as a thick notebook with excellent MD Paper.

5. TRAVELER’S Company Notebooks and Refills. The Standard notebooks sold out again quickly, but we have Passport-size TRAVELER’S Notebooks, as well as the full range of refills and accessories in all size.

6. Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter A4. All Roterfaden products that made it back from San Francisco and Arkansas are now listed on the site, including the large A4 Roterfadens that can hold most A4 notebooks and A4 pads.

7. Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter B5. The B5 Taschenbegleiter features a red leather that ages beautifully, and is large enough to hold both B5 notebooks and standard composition books. The clips slide up and down slightly to accommodate minor variations in sizing.

8. TRAVELER’S Company Brass Ballpoint and Rollerball Pens. The two most popular pens in the TRAVELER’S “Brass” series have been the ballpoint and the Rollerball (which takes fountain pen ink cartridges). We have both back in stock at the moment.

9. Yamamoto Ro-Biki Canvas Covers. Ro-Biki notebook covers are Yamamoto’s unique take on an A5 slim system, crafted from soft cotton canvas with an integrated zipper pouch. Ro-biki refills are a popular option to use with our TGS_25 Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter.

10. Yamamoto Ro-Biki Refills. We’re fully stocked on Ro-Biki refills, which feature lined, grid, and reticle rulings on Yamamoto’s Soliste Paper, as well as several unique cover designs. The new waxed paper “Texture” series has also arrived, in both grey and orange covers.

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Yes, another dark green, this one a darker take on Uguisu.

On The Paper Trail Episode 6: Live at the Inaugural Francisco Stationery Fest!

What's the difference between a "Stationery Fest" and a traditional pen show? Tune in this week and find out, because last Friday we had the opportunity to record Episode 6 of On The Paper Trail in front of a live audience at the inaugural San Francisco Stationery Fest! Topics include our impressions of the show, how we got into stationery in the first place, plus a Q&A with audience members in which they had the opportunity to pick our brains about pens, inks, paper, and more. Note that in the video we were in the room with audience members and interacting with people off camera, so we have had to adjust the audio and repeat questions at times.

Show Notes and Links

1. San Francisco Stationery Fest

2. Arkansas Pen Show

3. Bonecrusher Studios

4. Pens by Pasquale

5. Nagasawa at Vanness

6. Wearingeul Testing Cards

7. Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter

8. Olive Octopus Ink

On The Paper Trail: Where You Can Download the Podcast

As noted above, if you want to follow along and watch the video, On The Paper Trail has its own YouTube Channel. We have also uploaded the podcast to most popular podcast networks and apps, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and Overcast.

The Gentleman Stationer is supported by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. You can also come visit us at our physical stationery store in Nashville, Tennessee.

New Arrivals: MD Product Dot Grid Notebooks! B6 Slim, A6, and A7 Sizes Now Available!

While it would have been fun to have had these in time for the two pen shows we attended over the past two weeks, it was still nice to arrive in town to three huge boxes from MD Products, containing a restock of many different items as well as an expanded lineup of notebooks featuring their popular dot grid layout! MD Paper is one of my favorite fountain pen friendly paper options, and the dot grid paper has always been among the most popular. It’s now available in B6, A7, and A6 sizes, in addition to the standard A5.

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Three new sizes of dot grid notebooks, from left: B6 Slim, A6, and A7.

We’ve also received a fresh restock of MD Cotton A5 Notebooks, MD Codex Day-to-a-Page Notebooks, and Clear Plastic Covers. Please note that the branding on the front of the MD notebooks will now read “MD Product” instead of “Midori MD”, though the paper remains the same.

You can come see these and more in-store this week during normal hours, from 1-6pm Thursday and Friday and from 10am-6pm on Saturday. Please be sure to check the shop page for any updates.