New Arrivals: Pilot S20 Ballpoints, Uni Jetstream Prime and Edge, and More Giftable Ballpoints

Ahead of the holidays, one of my top priorities was to restock our supply of higher-end ballpoint, rollerball, and gel pens, especially Japanese imports, but we also made room to bring in some new finds. Last week, we received our first shipment of the excellent Pilot S20 ballpoint, which uses Pilot’s hybrid “Acro-ink” and performs similarly to the Uniball Jetstream. A friend from our local pen club gifted me a S20 last year, and I couldn’t get over how comfortable this pen was to use: it sports an hourglass silhouette and soft, polished wood finish in two striated wood grains: red/black and brown/black. We also have a healthy supply of the Dr. Grip “Cocoon” refills, which is that cartridge that fits the S20.

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Other new arrivals include the Pilot Birdie/Birdie Switch: a small format writing instrument from Pilot that comes as either a mechanical pencil or “reversible multi-pen”; as well as additional stock of the Uni Jetstream Prime, the Uni Jetstream Edge, and the Zebra Sarasa Grande Vintage. All colors and tip sizes should be restocked and showing as available.

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The hourglass shape of the S20 ballpoint simply fits very well in your hand!

Store Holiday Hours and T.G.S. Holiday Gift Guide

I’ve updated the shop hours for Thanksgiving week. While we will be closed Thursday, we plan to open Friday (10am-7pm); Saturday (10am-7pm), and Sunday (12-5pm) to kick off the holiday shopping season. Remember that you can always shop by appointment outside of our public hours.

Also, don’t miss our 2024 Holiday Gift Guide, which walks through stationery gift options and recommendations that include pens, pencils, paper, and other desk and reading accessories for those who appreciate analog things! If you have gift-related questions, always feel free to reach out.

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If you come see us in-store, you’ll be able to peruse our growing selection of inks, including the entire range of Teranishi Guitar Inks in over a dozen colors!

Thursday Drops: Kaweco Sports, Including a New Piston Filler, and a Restock from Japan!

What better way to usher in the holiday season than to welcome a giant Kaweco restock, which includes a handful of hotly anticipated new releases. First up is the 2024 Kaweco Collection AL Sport in “Olivine”, a gorgeous gold-tinged green color. Second, what we all suspected was coming, but is now a reality: a piston version of the Classic Sport. This latest release dispenses with the integrated clip and uses the lightweight plastic body of the Kaweco Classic Sport as opposed to the AL Sport (which will continue to have its own piston-fill version). Last but not least from Kaweco, we’ve brought the Perkeo into the shop, in all available standard colors as well as the 2024 Kaweco Collection special release, Infrared.

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Did I mention we received a huge shipment direct from Japan yesterday? New additions include the super smooth (and ergonomic) Pilot S20 ballpoints, as well as additional stock of the Uni Jetstream Prime, Uni Jetstream Edge, and the Zebra Sarasa Grande Vintage. All color options should be in stock once again!

1. Kaweco Collection AL Sport in Olivine. The AL Sport is the aluminum version of the iconic Kaweco Sport fountain pen, which offers a bit more heft and durability than the plastic version. This 2024 special release features a soft golden green color.

2. Kaweco Classic Sport Piston Filler Fountain Pen. Everyone expected Kaweco to do this at some point, and it’s a pleasant surprise to see this release emerge just before the holidays! The Classic Sport receives a piston upgrade, currently available in standard black without a clip included.

3. Kaweco AL Sport Piston Filler Fountain Pen. The initial Kaweco Sport Piston filler is still available, and will now apparently be known as the “AL Sport” Piston. Personally, I prefer this version with the integrated clip and more heft.

4. Kaweco Perkeo Fountain Pens. Priced at just $18, the Kaweco Perkeo was Kaweco’s answer to consumer demand for a full-size, low-cost fountain pen. Available in multiple colors, the Perkeo is lightweight and takes standard international cartridges and converters. The 2024 Kaweco Collection version, “Infrared”, is also available.

5. Diamine 160th Anniversary Inks. Diamine recently celebrated their 160th anniversary as a company, and in connection with that milestone released a series of inks inspired by the landmarks and locations around their factory.

6. Diamine Inkvent Calendars. Inkvent is about to begin! These inky takes on the traditional Advent calendar offers 24 12ml bottles of ink, followed by a 30ml bottle for the 25th day. Each day is supposed to be a surprise, so no posting spoilers!

7. Teranishi Guitar Fountain Pen Inks. These cult favorite inks from Japan are now available in the shop and online. The Teranishi inks feature offbeat colors unique to this particular line.

8. Platinum Classic Inks. The Platinum Classic series features five different inks with iron gall content, meaning that the inks appear lighter shades when wet but darken to a black-infused color as they dry. These inks are all safe for fountain pens. We’ve also recently added Pilot Chou Kuro Black and Carbon Black to our bottled ink options. Both are very dark pigmented black inks that show extremely good water resistance.

9. Pilot S20 Ballpoint Pens. A friend gifted me one of these pens earlier this year, and I immediately knew that I had to have these for the shop. With a smooth wood finish, the S20 accepts the Dr. Grip “Cocoon” hybrid ballpoint refill, and comes in two colors: red or brown.

10. Nakabayashi Paper. Customer favorite Nakabayashi Logical Prime, Logical Air, and Yu-Sari paper is restocked in nearly all formats.

Are you shopping for a gift this holiday season? Check out the T.G.S. Holiday Gift Guide, which we update each year! If you’d like to come shop in person, our brick-and-mortar shop is open this week on Thursday (1-6pm); Friday (1-7pm); and Saturday (10-7pm).

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The latest AL Sport release from Kaweco features this beautiful golden green “Olivine” finish.

New Arrivals: Get Ready for Inkvent/Colorvent with Col-o-ring Books and Swatching Supplies!

Confession: I opened my Colorverse Colorvent Calendar yesterday. Starting December 1, I plan to post each day’s ink from both the Colorvent and the Diamine Inkvent Calendars, just as I did last year. Most of these mini-reviews will probably go to Instagram and to YouTube (you can check out my recap of last year’s Inkvent here), but I’ll definitely do summaries as well. Typically, what I’ve done in the past is swatch each ink on a standard Col-or-ring card (which shows off ink properties like sheen and shading), and then also compare the inks side-by-side on Midori MD Cotton paper, which to me offers excellent color reproduction and is also one of my favorite papers for my personal writing, so I get a sense of how the inks will work in the real world.

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While Colorvent Calendars are sold out, we still have a few Diamine Inkvent Calendars available, in addition to all the gear you can use for working your way through “Inkvent,” such as Col-o-ring Ink Testing Books and dip nibs from Kakimori and Tom’s Studio. Stay tuned as the holiday season kicks off in about two weeks!

This week our brick-and-mortar shop returns to regular hours: Thursday 1-6pm; Friday 1-7pm; and Saturday 10-7pm. We are considering adding additional hours for the holiday shopping season after Thanksgiving. Stay tuned!

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Thursday Drops: TWSBI 580 ALR Caribbean Blue with Onyx, ECO Sky Blue and more!

It’s a double TWSBI day here at T.G.S.! The Caribbean + Onyx 580 ALR fountain pens are in-stock and ready to ship tomorrow, along with a shipment of the Sky Blue ECO fountain pens that arrived a tad late but which surprised me with how good they looked! We also have a full Lamy restock, including most Lamy 2000 pens, AL-Stars in Sage Green and the four Harry Potter-themed finishes, as well as fresh arrivals from Midori that include more Midori Cotton paper and three and five-year journals!

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On the ink front, we have the full contingent of 16 Teranishi Guitar inks from Japan. Made by the Teranishi Chemical Co. in Osaka, Japan, these inks have garnered a bit of a cult following. They flow well in nearly all fountain pens and many of them sheen. We have a bunch of new inks on the way, so keep checking our ink section for new arrivals. (These include Diamine 160th Anniversary inks, Platinum Chou Kuro and Carbon Black, Col-o-ring Ink Testing Books, and a restock of Laban Aphrodite Pink and Athena Grey.)

Our brick and mortar hours this week are Thursday from 1-6pm, Friday from 1-7pm, and Saturday from 12-7pm! Come see us in person!

1. TWSBI 580 ALR Caribbean with Onyx Fountain Pen. TWSBI brings the Onyx-plated trim to the Diamond 580 series, after the rousing success of the Irish Green + Onyx ECO. Honestly, I think I prefer this colorway to the Irish Green. Pens start shipping tomorrow.

2. TWSBI ECO Sky Blue Fountain Pen. I was thinking of taking a pass on the latest ECO release, but after seeing the Sky Blue color in person, it’s actually quite distinct from the other colors currently on offer. We had a shipment arrive along with our Caribbean Blue/Onyx Pens.

3. Teranishi Guitar Fountain Pen Inks. We have all 16 colors of the Teranishi inks in stock! You can read about my five favorites here.

4. Ohto CR02 Ceramic Ballpoint. Of all the new pens I’ve brought into the shop, I’m perhaps most excited about these Ohto rollerballs, which feature a relatively uncommon .5mm refill (available for purchase separately).

5. Lamy AL-Star Sage Green Restock! We have additional Sage Green AL-Star Fountain Pens, which was by far the most popular color of this year’s AL-Star releases.

6. Tom’s Studio One-Dip Metal Nibs. The “One-Dip Nibs” (which include a feed on the interior) are back in stock after the first batch sold out quickly. Brass and Stainless Steel available.

7. Kakimori Metal Dip Nibs and Nib Holders. When people ask how I sample and swatch inks, it’s almost always with one of these Kakimori conical nibs and dip nib holders.

8. Diamine Inkvent Calendar, Black Edition. The 2024 Inkvent Calendar is available, with just over two weeks to go until the start (assuming you wait until December 1). Each calendar includes 24 12ml bottles and 1 30ml bottle to close out “Inkvent”.

9. Blackwing Pencil Pouch. This black canvas pencil pouch from Blackwing is sturdy and long enough to fit unsharpened Blackwing Pencils!

10. T.G.S. x Sunderland mk1 Machined Pen. We are down to the last four T.G.S. x Sunderland pens from this run. If you’re thinking of picking one of these up, act now because additional pens will not be available until after the first of the year, in all likelihood.

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We have the Lamy AL-Star Fountain Pens in Fiery, Aquatic, Autumn Pink, and Sage finishes!

Pen Drop! New Harry Potter x Lamy Al-Stars and Ohto CR2 Ceramic Rollerballs

Yesterday the Harry Potter x Lamy AL-Star fountain pens arrived! What stands out in-person that may not necessarily pop in pictures? The clips, for one thing, which have a matte metallic finish, and the engravings are understated for a themed offering. There are four pens, one for each House at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: Gryffindor (Red), Slytherin (Green), Hufflepuff (Yellow/Gold), and Ravenclaw (Blue). Personally, I think the Hufflepuff pen might be one of the best looking AL-Stars Lamy has released in years, with the gold finish, transparent matching section, and the matte gold clip. (Surprisingly, it’s the one I chose for myself, even over the Gryffindor red.) The Harry Potter x Lamy AL-Star Fountain Pens are available in fine and medium nib options and are shipping immediately, priced at $51.30.

Ohto CR02 Ceramic Rollerballs

As you all know, I’ve long sought a fine-tipped rollerball with minimal bleedthrough, which at times has been difficult to the point where I’ve written off the category altogether. In response to my latest post, many of you kind readers suggested that I try Ohto’s ceramic rollerballs, which ship with a somewhat uncommon .5mm refill that almost feels like a gel pen. It’s an excellent option, and I’ve been using the refill not only in these matte-finish Ohto “CR02” pens that recently arrived from Japan, but in my Lamy 2000 Rollerball. These pens are relatively inexpensive at $18 and have a very nice feel in the hand. They’re also on the slimmer side and will make a great planner/pen loop option. Refills are available separately.

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The Ohto CR02 Rollerball comes in four different finishes, including Matte Blue, Matte Black, Wine Red, and Matte Silver.

This week our brick-and-mortar store is open Thursday from 1-6pm, Friday from 1-7pm, and Saturday from 12-7pm. Keep up to date on store hours here, and contact us to shop by appointment if you can’t make it during regular store hours.