Ink Review: Lamy Petrol and "Pacific Blue" Limited Editions (Plus a Giveaway!)

I missed out on grabbing a bottle of this year's coveted Lamy limited edition ink, Petrol, but fortunately Appelboom came to the rescue and sent me a bottle for review - AND to give away to my readers! I won't pretend to understand Lamy's strategy (or lack thereof) behind its recent limited releases, but for whatever reason they didn't make near enough Petrol, and this ink is sold out at nearly all major retailers. Other than blog giveaways, Lamy enthusiasts looking for a bottle of Petrol will probably be limited to whatever they can score on the secondary market. 

Lamy probably would have sold a ton of this ink had they manufactured it in greater quantities. Petrol is a very dark teal-black ink, making it suitable for professional use. I certainly would have purchased a bottle, maybe two.  Here's to hoping that Lamy will someday expand its standard lineup to include some of the unique colors it's tested out in the past: Dark Lilac, Copper Orange, and Petrol. (Though I'll pass on the Charged Green and its neon brethren.) IMHO, it seems like they're missing a great opportunity to revitalize the ink side of their business.

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Lamy Petrol would make a great everyday writer.  

I plan on eventually picking up one of the matching Petrol Safari's, though I suspect they will remain in stock for some time, since you can still find some "Dark Lilac" pens from last year if you look hard enough.  

Don't Forget "Pacific Blue," the Other "Limited Edition"

The other oddity with respect to this year's Lamy releases is that they initially advertised a "Pacific Blue" ink to accompany their "Pacific Blue" AL-Star, only to admit later that it was simply a repackaged version of standard Lamy Turquoise.  Lamy Turquoise is an excellent ink in its own right, but why Lamy would go through the trouble of repackaging and marketing it as a Limited Edition and - at least initially - not voluntarily reveal this fact to retailers and customers is beyond me. (Well, not necessarily beyond me, but I prefer to not think that an established and well-regarded company in this industry would intentionally try to dupe its retailers and customers into purchasing something they may already own.) I've been spending some time with Lamy Turquoise, and it's a vibrant, well-behaved ink with decent shading. It's also a fair substitute for this year's limited edition Montblanc UNICEF Blue, and costs a fraction of the price.  

A comparison shot of Lamy Turquoise against the new Montblanc UNICEF Blue. They look very similar, though the Montblanc looks slightly richer and a bit more saturated in person. 

Where to Buy, and Giveaway Rules

Appelboom stocks the full range of Lamy Ink and other products, and many thanks to them for donating these bottles for testing and a giveaway. I enjoy Lamy inks, even though their standard color lineup tends to be a bit staid. They're widely regarded as "safe" for use in most pens, including vintage. Their black is a favorite of mine, because it has dusty purple/green undertones to it that make it a bit more interesting than your typical black ink. Unfortunately, as I noted above the limited edition Petrol ink is sold out almost everywhere, and retailers currently do not expect Lamy to make additional ink available for sale. However, there's plenty of Turquoise/"Pacific Blue" in stock, as well as the other colors in the Lamy lineup. 

Giveaway Rules and Conditions are as follows: 

1. In order to enter the giveaway, leave a comment on this blog post indicating which bottle of ink you want. While you don't need to provide your full name, be sure to leave at least some identifying information. (A first or last name plus an initial is generally sufficient.) Lamy ink retails for approximately $12 per bottle, depending on country and retailer.
2. The giveaway will end at 11:59pm Central Time on Sunday, June 10, 2017. 
3. At the close of the giveaway, I will assign each entry a number and pick two winners using a random number generator. I will announce the winners on the blog the following Monday or Tuesday and give each winner exactly one week to contact me to provide a shipping address. Information submitted by entrants and/or winners will be used by me solely to ship your item and will not be sold or otherwise provided to Appelboom or any other sponsor. In the event more than one person indicates a preference for the same ink - which I imagine might be the case with the Petrol - the person who reaches out to me first to claim their prize will have first refusal. 
4. You must leave a comment to enter. Limit one entry and one prize per person. Your odds of winning are directly proportionate to how many people enter. This giveaway is open to everyone, non-U.S. residents included, though I will have to use the cheapest shipping option available, which may not include tracking. 

Disclaimer: I was sent the products featured in this post free of charge by Appelboom for review purposes. I was not otherwise compensated for this review. This post may contain affiliate links.   

Ink Review: Robert Oster Midnight Sapphire and Astorquiza Rot

Robert Oster Signature Inks from Australia is one of the most prolific ink brands on the market right now, seemingly introducing new colors on an almost weekly basis. I recently reviewed their acclaimed "Fire and Ice" ink, and ended up enjoying it despite the fact that I typically avoid highly saturated inks with a lot of sheen. Every Robert Oster color that I've tried has behaved so well - both in pens and on paper - that I'm making an effort to try as many of the inks as I can. A huge thank you to Vanness Pens for providing me with the two ink samples featured in this review.

Robert Oster Midnight Sapphire

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The Midnight Sapphire struck me as a touch flat. Maybe it's a bit too gray for my taste? 

While Robert Oster Midnight Sapphire is an excellent ink that can serve as your everyday "blue-black," this color left me wanting something more. I guess the "sapphire" reference led me to expect a bit more blue "pop" than this ink delivers. Once it dries, it actually turns out to be a fairly standard dark blue-black ink with grayish undertones, though it does exhibit some nice shading, especially in a wet nib on Tomoe River paper. 

Robert Oster Astorquiza Rot

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Astorquiza Rot is a gorgeous red ink, just not what I expected, and not a color I currently need in my collection. I didn't find quite as much shading as with the Midnight Sapphire.

I would characterize Astorquiza Rot as a darker red with hints of brown, orange, and/or copper. I originally picked this sample because I hoped it could serve as a replacement for my rapidly dwindling supply of Montblanc Alfred Hitchcock Red. As it turns out, the Hitchcock doesn't have nearly as much orange and might have a touch more black. A better comparison to the Astorquiza Rot would be Montblanc's latest William Shakespeare Limited Edition. The search for a Hitchcock replacement continues! 

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Robert Oster Astorquiza Rot (top) compared against three other red inks: Montblanc Alfred Hitchcock 2012 L.E., William Shakespeare Velvet Red (current L.E.), and the Diamine/Cult Pens collaboration Deep Dark Red. 

Takeaways and Where to Buy

While neither of these inks blew me away from a color perspective, that's more of a function of my ridiculous ink collection/hoard than anything else. I simply have too many other inks that are too close to these. That said, if you're looking for a nice standard blue-black ink with a fair amount of shading, Midnight Sapphire would be a solid choice. Similarly, if you're looking for a brick/blood red, Astorquiza Rot is a perfectly serviceable red ink that seems to be fairly low-maintenance, which can be rare with colors like red and orange. Both inks flow well, dry quickly, and didn't crust up or demonstrate any other "behavioral problems."  

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Robert Oster's Signature Ink Bottle

You can purchase both Midnight Sapphire and Astorquiza Rot, as well as all the other Robert Oster inks, from Vanness Pens. I'm a big fan of Robert Oster's bottles: their tall-and-slim design makes them easy to store, and at $16 for a 50ml bottle, the price is right. 

Further Reading

I've previously reviewed several other inks from Robert Oster. Check out these reviews here:  

• Brand profile plus a review of Robert Oster Direct Sun, Tranquility, Khaki, Lime Green, and Claret
• Review of Robert Oster Fire and Ice and Melon Tea

Disclaimer: I was provided with the ink samples in this post free of charge, for review purposes. I was not otherwise compensated for this review.   

Ink Review: Robert Oster Melon Tea and Fire and Ice

Many thanks to Lisa and Mike at Vanness Pens for providing me with some more samples of excellent Robert Oster Inks to test out! The two I'm reviewing today are Melon Tea, a brownish green (or greenish brown, depending on how you look at it), and this year's new hotness, Fire and Ice, which as you might expect from the name is a teal blue with a red sheen. I thoroughly enjoyed both of these inks, and look forward to picking up a bottle of Fire and Ice soon. (I already bought a full bottle of Melon Tea at the Baltimore Pen Show.)

Melon Tea

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A writing sample on Tomoe River paper from my Hobonichi Planner. The pen used here was my Kanilea Pen Co. Mauna Kea with a medium nib. 

I'm a big fan of green ink, especially darker shades of green-black or "racing green" inks. Robert Oster Melon Tea undergoes a bit of a color shift as it dries. When I was writing with this ink, I found that it appeared more green when wet, but as it dried the ink darkened and the brown shades became much more apparent. This ink was well-behaved and gave me no trouble whatsoever. It flowed well in the pen, dried quickly, and I didn't experience any smearing or bleed-through on any paper, other than the cheapest of recycled office garbage. 

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Fire and Ice 

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A shot of Robert Oster Fire and Ice "straight on" without the sheen showing. Note the dark areas of shading in this picture. 

One thing that I love about Robert Oster inks is the fact that the company has been able to achieve such vibrant colors without oversaturating the inks with dye, which typically leads to problems with smearing, slow dry times, bleedthrough, etc. I'd ordinarily be hesitant to try a "crazy" color like Fire and Ice, but this ink received such rave reviews that I had to go ahead and try it for myself.

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Another writing sample, this time photographed in the light and from the side. Check out the sheen! 

Fire and Ice is usually described as a dark teal or turquoise that is famous for its red "sheen," which in fountain pen ink terms refers to a layer of color (usually red) that appears on top of an ink as it dries. Other famously "sheen-y" inks include the legendary Parker Penman Sapphire, J. Herbin Emerald of Chivor, and Diamine Majestic Blue (at least in the old formulation). Robert Oster Fire and Ice doesn't disappoint, and is one of those rare hyped inks that functions perfectly well as a daily writer, in addition to having a little something extra to keep things interesting. Like Melon Tea, this ink dries very quickly and doesn't smear at all. I was somewhat shocked at how low-maintenance this ink was. 

Where to Buy

You can purchase both Melon Tea and Fire and Ice, along with many other colors of Robert Oster inks, from Vanness Pens. Robert Oster Inks are reasonably priced at $16 for 50ml, which is a bargain for ink of this quality. As I mentioned earlier, I love the form factor of the Robert Oster bottles, which are tall and skinny and make for easy storage in a drawer. They even include a label and color swatch on top of the cap!

If you missed my previous review of some other Robert Oster colors, check them out here! 

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Disclaimer: Thanks to Vanness Pens for providing me with the inks featured in this review. I was not otherwise compensated for this post in any way. 

Sailor Kobe Inks: Completionists Need Not Apply

My obsession with Sailor ink knows no bounds. If I had to choose a favorite brand of fountain pen ink, it wouldn’t even be close: Sailor would win easily. I probably have nearly two dozen bottles of current and discontinued Sailor inks, including doubles stashed away "for posterity" as well as some exclusive inks manufactured for Japanese retailers. (For more on why I like Sailor ink in general, check out this post that I did last year.)

What I wanted to write about today are the “Kobe Inks” - the line of ink that Sailor manufactures and bottles for the Kobe-Nagasawa Department Store in Kobe, Japan. While the inks that Sailor makes for Bungubox (or “Bung Box”) - another Japanese retailer located in Hamamatsu - have received most of the attention and acclaim in the pen community (probably due to the tulip-shaped ink bottle that they unfortunately no longer use), Kobe inks tended to get overlooked. Last I checked, there were nearly 60 different colors of ink in the Kobe line, a few of which are similar to colors Sailor has issued elsewhere, but many of which are unique. 

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I have four Kobe Inks in my collection: No. 4 (Foreigners’ Residence Red); No. 6 (Kobe Bordeaux); No. 9 (Suma Purple); and No. 37 (Harbour Island Blue). The inks are numbered for ease of reference, though they’ve also been given names that correspond to various places in Kobe and other themes of the city. I ordered No. 4 and No. 37 from Vanness  Pens, who stocks most of the ink, and I picked up bottles of No. 6 and No. 9 from Kobe-Nagasawa directly at the 2016 D.C. Pen Show, where they had a table. It was something else to see that many bottles of Sailor ink - and so many different colors - stacked up in one place.

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I like all four of the Kobe Inks that I currently have, but I need to add some of the greens, golds and oranges that can be found in unique shades that many ink manufacturers don't attempt. 

It amazes me that Sailor can manufacture such a wide range of ink colors without running into manufacturing problems with certain batches and/or specific colors. Other ink brands like Diamine generally have a good reputation in terms of ink quality and behavior but occasionally people will experience issues with super-saturated colors (especially reds and oranges) clogging nibs, staining, or feathering on cheaper paper. Not so with Sailor. Out of all the colors of Sailor ink that I’ve tried, I have yet to find one that doesn’t function reasonably well on cheap recycled office paper. I’d also add that some of the shades of green, gold, and orange they offer can’t be found elsewhere, with the possible exception of KWZ.     

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Part of the Kobe-Nagasawa table display at the 2016 D.C. Pen Show. Vanness Pens picked up whatever stock they had left at the end of the weekend (which wasn't much!). 

Where to Buy

There’s no longer any need to navigate the world of overseas eBay sellers or third-party shipping agents if you want to get your hands on some Kobe inks.  Vanness Pens carries most of the line (54 colors, last I checked), and currently have most colors in stock. The ink is priced at $30 for a bottle or $4 for a 4ml sample, which is a premium over standard Sailor inks but hey, you won’t find these colors anywhere else. Just be warned - hunting for that "perfect" color can get addictive. (Not to mention expensive!) 

Disclaimer: I purchased the ink featured in this review with my own funds for my own collection, and was not compensated for this post. 

Ink Brand Profile: Blackstone Inks

This week I take a look at yet another Australian ink brand and come away impressed. While Robert Oster has received a lot of attention for its seemingly endless array of colors, and Bookbinders for its quirky branding and packaging, Blackstone takes a more understated approach. Of the eight inks in the Blackstone line, I've had the opportunity to try six, and can say that they definitely merit further consideration as everyday writers.

While at first glance the colors may appear to be your standard black, blue, blue-black, green, red, brown, etc., there are aspects to these inks that make them interesting. For example, "Black Stump" is a black ink with deep undertones of brown and purple, (somewhat similar to Rohrer & Klingner's Leipziger Schwartz). "Uluru Red" can alternately appear to be a bright, fire-engine red color, but in the right light (and with a wet nib) can show off some depth of color. Blackstone even has two permanent inks: Barrister's Blue and Barrister's Black. The Barrister's Blue saw a lot of use at work in my Lamy 2000 over the past couple of weeks. 

Note: Many people rave over Sydney Harbour Blue and Barrier Reef Blue, which I've not had an opportunity to try since they were sold out. As of the time of publication of this post, both colors were back in stock at Anderson Pens. 

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Blackstone Ink Samples, from the top: Barrister's Blue, Black Stump, Barrister's Black, Daintree Green, Uluru Red, and Yellow Wattle. In case you didn't notice, all of the inks have an Australian theme. ;)

Blackstone sells their inks in convenient 30ml Nalgene bottles, which many people use to repackage ink into smaller containers for travel. While some people dislike storing ink in plastic bottles due to the threat of evaporation, I've never had problems with Nalgene, and its an interesting packaging choice by Blackstone. (I imagine it significantly cuts down on the cost of shipping overseas, as opposed to shipping heavy glass.)  

Takeaways and Where to Buy

These Blackstone inks were very well-behaved and I didn't have any serious issues with any of them. Of these six, the ones that impressed me the most were Barrister's Blue, Uluru Red, and Black Stump. Daintree Green and Barrister's Black were nice colors but didn't really distinguish themselves for me one way or another, and I found Yellow Wattle to be too light to be useful for everyday writing (though it might make a very nice highlighting ink). I liked Barrister's Blue so much that I am considering purchasing an entire bottle once the sample runs out - it's a great permanent blue-black that I've had loaded into my Lamy 2000 for the past two weeks, but be aware that like many permanent inks, it tends to feather on very cheap paper.  

Many thanks to the folks at Anderson Pens for sending me these ink samples for review. Blackstone Ink comes in 30 oz. bottles and is priced at $12 for the "Barrister's" inks and $8.50 for standard colors.

Disclaimer: I was provided samples of the inks reviewed here free of charge, for review purposes.