State of the Blog, a New Year's Giveaway, and the Top 5 Posts of 2015!

I'm a big believer in taking a day or two at the end of the year to take stock of where things are: what went right, what didn't go so hot, and most importantly, where you want to take things in the future.  This blog is no exception.  Overall, I'm very happy with how things are going.  I feel blessed to have an absolutely amazing group of readers that grows every week, which is really all any writer can ask for.  Even though it often takes me longer than I'd like to respond to your comments and e-mails, I read every one of them, and am honored that you take time out of your busy days to read what I've written.  This blog also has become more or less self-sustaining, meaning that I can pay my hosting fees while still generating some meager affiliate/ad revenue to keep products coming in the door for review.  For 2016, I want to keep things going in the right direction. 

So what does this mean for you?  One of my biggest fears is that I'll produce boring content and/or simply re-review products that too many people already have reviewed to death, without offering any sort of unique perspective.  That's where you all come in. This year, in exchange for leaving a comment on this post containing a suggestion for a new article or review, you'll be entered into a giveaway for a special secret "grab bag" of products.  Most of these are products that I've been sent or that I've purchased throughout the year for review, and just don't have the room to keep.  I'm not going to tell you what's in the box, but trust me, it will be good.   As always, subscribers to my e-mail list will automatically be entered into the giveaway.  

And now, I give you the five most popular Gentleman Stationer posts of 2015:  

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1.  My Review of the Conid Bulkfiller Minimalistica.  Following this year's Atlanta Pen Show, I made a conscious decision to streamline my pen collecting and focus on custom-made pieces.  Conid's new lower-priced entry, featuring its proprietary "bulkfiller" filling system, is perhaps my favorite (and apparently you all like it too). 

2.  Franklin-Christoph Eyedropper Mania. Another post-Atlanta Pen Show piece. (I guess I should go to this show every year!)  I have both of these pens inked and sitting right here in front of me, filled with Sailor Apricot (the Model 65) and Iroshizuku Tsuki-Yo (the Pocket 66).  I really don't ever get tired of looking at these pens, and the Masuyama nibs are fantastic.   

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3.  Bung Box Blue-Black.  2015 was certainly the year of limited-edition ink craziness, and Bung Box led the way.  The 4B is a gorgeous color. 

4.  My "Tier One" pens. Episode 164 of the Pen Addict prompted more than one of us bloggers to draw up our own "Tier One" and "Tier Two" Pen lists.  I'm a list junkie writing for other list junkies, so it didn't really surprise me that this post was in the top 5. 

5.  Top Five Fountain Pens for Less Than $75.  We'll see whether TWSBI's new Vac Mini eventually cracks this Top 5, but the availability of a solid pen in the $25-75 price range continues to pose a challenge, and the pickings are slim.  

I also didn't want to close out the year without sharing some personal favorites with you.  I definitely had the most fun testing and writing about mechanical keyboards--which is perhaps my nerdiest obsession ever--and I think I've finally found the keyboard that makes writing on a computer fun again.  (Review forthcoming, I won't spoil the surprise.)  I also really enjoyed visiting and recapping both the Atlanta and Washington, D.C. Pen Shows, where I got to hang out with fellow bloggers and enthusiasts for several days.  Both are definitely on the list this year.

Thanks again, and best wishes for 2016!

Joe

Done.

It ended up being just over 53,000 words, once I ran the NaNoWriMo word count verification widget:  about 43,000 typed, plus another 10,000 handwritten.  That was quite an adventure, and fittingly, I closed out the month by handwriting my final 1,000 words.  While the book is far from finished (as in, not even halfway there), this was a great way to get started, and I'd definitely consider participating again next year.  Now, to get back to some pen-and-ink blogging, here's a shot of my last set of tools.   

Staples sugarcane paper composition book and a Franklin-Christoph Pocket 66 eyedroppered with Iroshizuku Tsuki-Yo.

I really enjoyed taking a break from the blog to write some fiction, but now I'll probably take a short break from further work on the book to let the ideas percolate for a while and get caught up on other projects.  This was definitely one of the harder things I've ever done, in terms of daily commitment and discipline.  I'm not sure 1500-2000 words of anything on a daily basis is sustainable for me, especially if I want to maintain the standard of quality I shoot for in my writing.  While NaNoWriMo is a great vehicle for getting as much down on paper as you possibly can, I often felt that I was pushing quantity over quality, and that I had to keep going past the point where "the well was dry" for the day.  

Anyway, thanks to all of you who reached out with words of encouragement.  It made a real difference.  I thought about hanging up on this challenge at least twice, but always managed to wake up the next day and get back on the horse. 

Happy writing, and to those of you still finishing up NaNoWriMo today, write on!   

This Pretty Much Sums It Up

Sorry, folks.  I know it's been sparse around here lately.   I've turned the corner on NaNoWriMo, crossing the 35000 word threshold today. Unfortunately, some family health issues and work travel conspired to steal three or four of my writing days, so I've had to play catch up. While I'm going to do my best to finish this thing, priorities do exist. 

Since I had to spend a bit of time in a place where it wasn't easy to write on the computer, I switched over to handwriting my novel. I discovered that I'm not that much slower writing by hand than I am typing. Bonus: I was able to empty half-a-dozen fountain pens in three days. Some of those had been filled since the DC Pen Show (yikes). Now I actually have the capacity to load up some new inks, and review some pens I've had in the queue. PenBoutique was kind enough to send me a bottle of Emerald of Chivor to review, so at least a portion of my remaining NaNoWriMo challenge will be spent with that ink loaded into my Newton Shinobi.  Thomas Hall was also kind enough to loan me his Zebra Sharbo X multi pen to try out, and I've got a review in progress there. Lots of good stuff to come (including woodcase pencil goodness). But for tonight, I'm inclined to enjoy this beer and wait for my hand to stop cramping. (Seriously people, this brings me back to college finals...)

Anyone else making the final NaNoWriMo push?  Anyone else finding that they are having to take an "internet holiday" to get the writing in?  

The Perception of Scarcity: Is it Worth Chasing “Limited Edition Inks” anymore?

This question rears its head now and then, in some version or another.  Dr. Deans’ recent posts over at Fountain Pen Economics on the perceived bubble in the market for Field Notes Colors editions, and the difficulties faced by boutique Japanese retailer Bung Box in satisfying demand for their Special Edition Sailor Inks, got me thinking.  (From a consumer’s perspective, of course, not an economist’s.)  

Why do we continue to chase these “limited edition” lines of ink?  Montblanc started the trend of regularly issuing "limited" or "special" editions several years ago.  In late 2011-early 2012, Alfred Hitchcock Red came onto my radar, and I was smitten.  This particular color—a dusky, “blood” red that didn’t feather and bleed all over everything—was exactly what I’d been looking for in a red ink but had been unable to find elsewhere.  I purchased three bottles.  Over three years later, I’ve not yet finished one.   I fell hard for the “buy-as-much-as-you-can-afford-of-this-ink-now-because-you’ll-never-see-it-again” marketing strategy, and ironically, even though I had a healthy supply of Hitchcock, I reluctantly used it because, in the back of my mind, I felt that I should save "rare" ink for something special rather than the mundane everyday writing tasks for which I use most of my pens.   

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Montblanc has continued to issue “limited edition” inks in its “Writers,” “Great Characters,” and “Meisterstuck” series.  Among the most popular have been the Hitchcock Red, Dandy Turquoise (Honore de Balzac), Winter Glow (a seasonal red ink), and, more recently, the JFK Navy Blue and “Blue Hour” inks.  Pelikan entered the game, with its Edelstein “Ink of the Year” series. Anecdotes of “ink hoarding” now litter the pen blogs and forums, with readers talking of purchasing as many as seven or eight bottles of a special or limited edition ink, terrified that they will run out (at some point in their life).  Users and collectors pay as much as $100 per (30ml!?!) bottle on the secondhand market for discontinued editions.  It begs the question: is this rational behavior?  

At some point, it probably was, but now, I’m not so sure, and suspect that it's now based on a false perception of scarcity.  I periodically search the internet for comparisons of Hitchcock ink to the other red inks on the market, dreading the day when my supply dries up.  At the time I bought my Hitchcock, there wasn’t much in the way of alternatives (or, I didn’t know of much). But the market has changed.  More companies have begun making and selling ink.  Some stick around; some don't.  Just five or six years ago, when I re-entered this hobby, Iroshizuku and Edelstein weren’t around, and Diamine wasn't readily available in the U.S.  If you wanted a wide range of colors, Noodler's and Private Reserve were the main options.  Far fewer online shopping options existed, much less tools such as the Goulet Swab Shop where you could pull up ink samples and easily compare colors.  (Goulet Pens launched a month or two after I picked up my pens following a long hiatus.)  In short, alternatives to these limited editions exist, and they’re easier to find than ever.  Today, if my Hitchcock ran out, Diamine Oxblood could probably serve as a "close enough" substitute, and there are enough inks out there to make the hunt for a new favorite enjoyable.   

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A bottle of Bung Box 4B in the coveted tall bottle, which is now being discontinued in favor of the "Regular" Sailor bottle.  Presumably, this will allow Sailor to produce more inks for Bung Box, but will it cause the brand to lose it's cachet? 

Others have commented that the recent trend/fad has shifted from pursuing “Limited Edition” inks to seeking out hard to find, rare lines of ink exclusive to small boutique shops.  First it was Akkerman in the Hague, Netherlands; the latest darling is Bung Box in Hamamatsu, Japan.  Both inks carry a steep $35 per bottle price tag.  While this pricing likely reflects the cost born by these smaller retailers in having the ink made as opposed to the effect of supply and demand for the product, it remains to be seen whether these inks can remain as popular as they are in light of an increasing number of competitors offering cheaper and near-equivalent alternatives. For example, at last month's D.C. Pen Show, I considered purchasing three bottles of ink directly from Bung Box (who was at the show), but ended up with a few bottles of Kobe-Nagasawa Ink from Vanness instead after realizing that the price for 3 bottles from Bung Box would be $100.  Both inks are made by Sailor exclusively for these retailers, but the price difference is fairly stark:  ($35 per bottle for Bung Box vs. $19--regular Sailor pricing--for the Kobe).  Kobe is a larger operation that has 50 colors available, either from Vanness or via eBay.  Since Sailor makes both lines of ink, what's the chance that you can't find that Bung Box color you've been coveting (or a close equivalent) somewhere in the Kobe line, and have money left over to buy something else?  I finally got to the point where I personally couldn't justify the extra expense, no matter how cool the old Bung Box bottle is.             
  
Anyway, these are just my observations.  There's no "problem" in need of a solution here, but I do wonder where the market for "limited edition" or "rare" inks is going in the near future.  Now, excuse me while I go pick up that second bottle of JFK Blue.   

**You’ll note that I have “limited edition” in quotation marks at various points in this post.  Recently, it seems that these “limited” inks have been sticking around longer.  For example, JFK Navy Blue has been out for a while now, and it’s still relatively easy to find.  I personally would be interested to know whether this is a function of declining consumer demand for limited edition product, or whether it’s the result of Montblanc making more ink.**

Blue Inks for the Office

While not the most exciting topic, I get a lot of questions about the inks I use at work.  I generally take the position that any ink is “work appropriate” as long as you have the confidence to pull it off (hello, Yama-Budo), but understandably, some work environments—and the paper they stock in the supply cabinet—are more tolerant of our craziness than others.  

If I know that I will not have access to a stock of decent paper, and I’m in a situation where I don’t want to rock the boat color-wise, my go-to ink option is either Sailor Kiwa-Guro nano-black (a pigmented writing ink), or one of the various bottles of basic royal blue inks that I have lying around.  Some might consider the Kiwa-Guro too pricey for a bottle of black ink, but if feathering and bleeding on cheap paper really bothers you, this is by far the best option.  Noodler’s X-feather also probably won’t bleed or feather on cheapo paper, but from what I’ve heard, it takes forever to dry so I don’t consider this a viable option for work if you need to take multiple pages of notes in a short time-frame (i.e., you're flipping pages of your notebook or legal pad before they dry).  Noodler’s inks and pigmented inks like Kiwa-Guro also require more maintenance, and you should pay attention to how often you flush out your pens or else you may get a clog.

I have four options for basic blue inks, which is ridiculous, but hey, this is my “job".  They are, in no particular order of preference: 

Waterman Serenity Blue (formerly “Florida Blue”).  This ink is more or less the gold standard for “safe” blue inks, and has an almost cult-like following among vintage pen collectors because apparently no one has ever seen this ink stain a pen.  The first bottled fountain pen ink that I ever purchased, Waterman blue holds a special place in my stockpile and I use it regularly.  It works well on most papers, even in a wet stub nib. 

Rohrer & Klingner Koenigsblau:  I would call Koenigsblau a slightly brighter version of Waterman blue.  It’s equally well-behaved on most papers, but probably a touch more likely to feather and bleed.  Rohrer & Klingner inks work well in most of the pens in which I’ve used them, and are generally regarded as safe.  I’m also liking Leipziger Schwartz (a greenish-black).  

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Writing sample of Koenigsblau and Waterman Serenity/Florida Blue.  Note that each of these inks appears fairly washed-out when dry, at least on less absorbent paper like Clairefontaine or these Nock Co. dot-dash cards.  

Iroshizuku Asa-Gao:  Perhaps the ink I’ve recently enjoyed the most.  The Asa-Gao dries with a dark sapphire-like tinge to it, not quite as nice as Bung-box Sapphire but close.  I have only a 15ml “mini-Iroshizuku” bottle and will be picking up a full bottle as soon as that one runs out.  Compare how bright the Asa-Gao remains when it dries, as opposed to the much more washed out Waterman and R&K.  

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Probably the most accurate comparison.  The Asa-Gao is the brightest, the Koenigsblau second, and the Waterman third.  The Koenigsblau shows better in this picture because I used a pen with a wetter nib. 

Other blue inks that I’ll throw out there as good everyday options include:  Aurora Blue (slightly more purple-violet); Sailor Nioi-Sumire (same); Bung-box Sapphire; and Sailor Souten (a sky blue).  Your mileage may vary in terms of what's "acceptable" in your place of work (or you may just not care), but using one of these blues probably won't cause others to look twice (unless it's to ask where you bought the bottle).