My 2018 Atlanta Pen Show haul. You'll notice that not everything from my "favorite things" list made it into my bag, which is definitely good (at least for my wallet).

Five Things I'm Excited About (or, Favorite Things from Atlanta)

April 18, 2018

As I've fallen deeper into this hobby/obsession, and after five years of writing this blog, pen shows have become more about visiting with friends and hearing about the newest releases/industry developments rather than accumulating more pens. Though the latter still happens, these days I usually come home with one or two. I have to get pretty excited about something before I make a purchase. So what new product releases am I most excited about, that will likely end up on a shopping list sometime this year?

New Releases from Aurora and Montegrappa

From left, the Blue Sigaro, the 88 Urano, and the 88 Satin Black.

The Kenro table was full of all sorts of exciting new things, but three of them caught my eye. The first (of course) is something that's going to be essentially impossible to get: the Aurora 88 Urano in a turquoise celluloid derivative. Apparently only a small number pens have been allocated for the entire United States. The others hopefully will be more widely available: a blue lacquer version of the Aurora Sigaro, the Aurora Talentum Full Black, and Montegrappa's new Monte Grappa vintage-inspired piston filler. The Blue Sigaro is simply gorgeous to look at, and the Monte Grappa features new JoWo steel nibs, which I understand have far fewer issues than the Bock nibs the company previously used. The blacked out Talentum has been repeatedly delayed but I understand it's on the way.

Montegrappa Monte-Grappa (three pens in the center)

Red Kaweco AL Sport U.S. Exclusive

Next up is my sole Saturday purchase: the red Kaweco AL Sport, which apparently is a U.S. exclusive for this year. Vanness Pens currently has them in stock, so if you're looking for one, I'm not sure how long they will last. Curiously, I didn't see these pens on any other tables at the show. The color looks great and really pops. As you all know, I don't pass up red pens.

Faggionato Pens

My Faggionato PKS, next to the AL Sport for scale

I've had the pleasure of visiting with Papier Plume twice this year, once at their New Orleans store and once at the Atlanta Pen Show. Both times, I've walked away with a Faggionato pen. Handmade in France by Fred Faggionato, the pens combine a streamlined, highly functional design with some unique materials, including acrylics and cellulose acetates in some nice color combinations. My two pens (pictured here) are a Petrarque in translucent blue tortoise cellulose acetate, and a larger PKS in Conway Stewart's vintage "Dartmoor" material. The Petrarque is a smaller pen that posts, while the larger PKS feels similar to an unfaceted Newton Shinobi (with a clip), and is meant to be used unposted.

Krishna Inks

Krishna Inks are the latest in a series of international brands that have arrived in the United States, courtesy of retailers such as Vanness Pens. While I didn't purchase any Krishna Inks this show (or even manage to get any decent pictures), I did spend a fair bit of time looking at swabs of all the various colors. These inks have crazy sheen - just look at Jungle Volcano and Myrtle. The greens are also exceptionally vibrant.

The Milano from Osprey Pens

Osprey Pens launched with several models priced well under $100 (and some sub-$20), though availability has been sporadic at best. Their largest and most expensive pen, the Milano, was originally available only in ebonite, though Osprey recently announced acrylic versions priced at $70. These materials look very nice, and the pens themselves are a good size. I especially like the "Mud Pie" and "Chiaroscuro" pens. Osprey makes a variety of nib units, ranging from standard stainless steel or gold to a Zebra G "flex" nib unit, which allows you to use Zebra G calligraphy nibs in the fountain pen.

I hope this little Atlanta follow-up has been helpful in providing an idea of what kind of stuff you get to see by attending pen shows. Of all the things I saw, the new Auroras were probably my favorite. I'm hoping to make the Chicago show in a few weeks, but as of right now it seems unlikely and my next pen show trip won't be until DC in August. Until then!

Disclaimer: This post contains links to paid sponsors and affiliates.

The Nock Co. table was busy all day, especially with the new Seed A5 case in stock.

Atlanta Pen Show 2018: Friday and Saturday Recap

April 15, 2018

So I'm reporting live from my fifth Atlanta Pen Show! Atlanta has become quite the stop on the pen show circuit, due both to timing (it's the first show in a warm location at the beginning of spring) and the fact that it's the venue for the annual live recording of the Pen Addict podcast. Did I mention it's also a great pen show? Despite it's relatively small size, Atlanta always draws a wide range of vendors, including Vanness Pens, Anderson Pens, and Papier Plume, as well as makers (Jonathan Brooks, Franklin-Christoph, Nock Co.) and nib grinders (Mike Masuyama and Mark Bacas). So you can pretty much find anything you can possibly think of.

Thursday/Friday Recap

I arrived Thursday night, and hung out at the hotel bar with a small group of early birds. We were all pretty tired, so it wasn't a super late night, but it was fun to catch up with people I hadn't seen in several months, and in a couple cases, even a few years.

Dromgoole's from Houston, Texas attended the Atlanta Pen Show for the first time, and brought a full line of TWSBI pens with them.

Friday morning was the first full "show day," and where I did most of my shopping. I always purchase the weekend pass, which gets you into the show an hour early and lets you make a run at the super-popular inks or the rare and hard to find pens. I immediately ran over to the Papier Plume table and picked up a new Faggionato PKS, since I've enjoyed the Petrarque I purchased in New Orleans. The rest of my Friday got a bit derailed by some conference calls I had to take for work, but I managed to pick up some limited edition Montblanc Inks, a Seed A5 case from Nock Co., and a Story Supply Co. Exposition Notebook in Burnt Orange.

Two new pens from Aurora that are sure to be successful: on the left, the Sigaro in blue, and in the middle, the 88 Urano, which I understand will be extremely limited and hard to get. If you're interested, place a pre-order now!

Saturday Recap

Saturday appeared to be crazy-busy at times. The crowds were lined-up three deep at most of the vendor tables during the 10-2 rush, which is fairly typical for Saturday at a pen show. I spent most of the morning taking pictures and chatting with vendors, and most people seemed to be having a very good show, though a few vendors observed that this year's crowd skewed younger and that the purchases being made tended to be at the entry-level end of the price spectrum. Personally, I think that's great for the long-term health of pen shows, and the pen industry in general. I met over a dozen people who were attending their first show, and a few who were purchasing their first pen.

I made one pen purchase: the 2018 U.S. limited edition Kaweco AL-Sport in red. I haven't had an AL-Sport or AC-Sport in quite some time, and I wasn't going to pass this one up when I saw it sitting on the Vanness table. Otherwise, I didn't purchase much else on Saturday. I had Mike Masuyama grind two nibs to .4mm cursive italics (what's become my preferred grind), and I had Mark Bacas grind another cursive italic and tune another pen that was writing dry.

Mike Masuyama was, as always, busy from open to close. I managed to get my name on his list three minutes after the show opened and I was already number 10!

Saturday night, of course, was the live recording of the Pen Addict podcast, featuring guest appearances by both Jim Rouse of Franklin-Christoph and Lisa Vanness of Vanness Pens. You can listen for yourself here, if you haven't downloaded already!

Brad looking serious and preparing to get down to business.

Other Cool Stuff I Saw at the Atlanta Pen Show

In addition to their ink selection, Papier Plume arrived with a large array of wax seals, pens, and pen boxes.

Papier Plume also launched a new ink in Atlanta: House of the Rising Sun, a reddish orange! If there's any left I'll pick up a bottle on Sunday morning.

Vanness Pens had the new Osprey Milanos in stock! The acrylics came out really well, especially the white flecked versions.

Jim Rouse was at the Franklin-Christoph table grinding away, right after the color prototypes were unveiled.

The Pay-it-Forward Table was in full swing with starter packs and the Give a Pen/Take a Pen box.

Luxury Brands USA was in attendance with a full display of Noodler's Pens and Inks, as well as Stifflexible notebooks, newly updated with more fountain-pen-friendly paper.

Brian Anderson of Anderson Pens was hard at work selling pens on Saturday morning!

Barring something unexpected that happens Sunday morning, that's likely it for Atlanta this year! Since this was a show weekend, I'm posting my recap on Sunday and will move links to Monday morning. This week's schedule should otherwise be normal.

Disclaimer: This post contains links to affiliates and paid sponsors.

Ink Review: Papier Plume Chicago Special Editions

April 11, 2018

When I visited New Orleans a few weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to leave with two bottles of still-secret special edition inks that Papier Plume was working on for the 2018 Chicago Pen Show. Now that the embargo has been lifted, I can give you a sneak peek at "Da Blue" - a Chicago Bears-themed ink that I'd characterize as a steel blue; and "Bootlegger's Sacrament," a dark red/burgundy wine color that's easily my favorite of the two. Don't get me wrong, both are excellent, but my love of dark burgundy inks wins the day here.

These photographs make the inks look slightly darker than in real life, but the colors are fairly accurately reproduced, at least on my monitor.

Papier Plume inks are starting to receive more attention lately. One thing I learned during my recent visit is that the shop makes all of its inks in-house, and over the year's they've accumulated quite an array of colors. Da Blue and Bootlegger's Sacrament are special "pen show" inks, and while there will likely be stock left over after the Chicago Pen Show, these won't be added to the regular lineup (even though they'd be great additions).

Some color comparisons: Bootlegger's Sacrament is pretty close to Franklin-Christoph Black Cherry, though the Papier Plume ink has more purple. When I first saw "Da Blue," Montblanc JFK Navy Blue came to mind, though the Papier Plume ink has a lot m… — Some color comparisons: Bootlegger's Sacrament is pretty close to Franklin-Christoph Black Cherry, though the Papier Plume ink has more purple. When I first saw "Da Blue," Montblanc JFK Navy Blue came to mind, though the Papier Plume ink has a lot more green and grey.

The lineup of Papier Plume inks that I have in my personal "ink library." I'm looking forward to visiting with them at this coming weekend's Atlanta Pen Show.

What I like most about Papier Plume inks is that they are straight-up, water-based, vintage-style fountain pen inks. There are no special properties or fancy gimmicks. The inks dry quickly, despite being moderately wet writers, and are usable on nearly all paper, even cheap copy stock. Where Papier Plume does get "fancy" is with their bottles - their show special editions and "New Orleans" series inks are all dipped in wax and embossed with a fleur-de-lis. A nice reminder that they're from New Orleans.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

The Chicago Pen Show has really taken off, and is moving up the ranks into one of the top pen events of the year. If you're in the area, or willing to travel, it represents your best chance to snag one of these two inks, though I expect some stock may be available on the Papier Plume website after the show. Anyway, even if you don't manage to obtain bottles of these specific inks, I highly recommend Papier Plume inks in general. While the bottles are on the smaller side, they're also extremely reasonably priced (starting at $8 for 30ml).

Disclaimer: Papier Plume provided me with the inks featured in this review free of charge, for review purposes. I was not otherwise compensated for this review.

The Sailor Pro Gear Imperial Black Edition is still one of the best-looking AND best-writing pens on the market.

Flashback Saturday: Posts from "Year One" of Gentleman Stationer

April 7, 2018

Since I'm off today on a fun "field trip" of sorts - more details later - rather than a full post or review, I thought I'd do a quick recap of five of my favorite posts from Year One of TGS (2014). Yes, it's hard to believe it's been this long. It's also fun to see how much my review style has changed and the different things that caught my eye back then. I honestly forgot that I had reviewed some of these!

Pilot Razor Point II (Ultra Fine Tip). These are still excellent pens. I have a stash of them and need to break them out again.
Noodler's Air Corps Blue Black. An ink that I bought, then sold, then recently purchased again. I've been working on a Noodler's piece - I've sort of come full circle on these inks and I'm starting to use them again.
Omas 360 (Old Piston Version). "Pens I wish I hadn't sold." Enough said.
Pilot G2 Limited. Yep, I still use the G2. And for a "high-end" G2 Barrel at reasonable cost, you can do much worse than Pilot's standard G2 limited.
Sailor Pro Gear Imperial Black Edition. Still one of my favorite pens of all time, and, IMHO, one of the best high-end fountain pens out there.

In celebration of the TGS four-year anniversary, I'll be doing some giveaways and other stuff later this month. Stay tuned! I hope to see as many of you as possible in Atlanta next weekend!

Ink Review: Colorverse Black Hole and Dark Energy

April 4, 2018

I've got two more Colorverse inks for you this week! I'm loving this brand so far, and these two are among my favorites: Dark Energy, a deep burgundy, and Black Hole, which is what I would call an "off black." So far, nothing has changed from my initial impressions of Colorverse Quasar, which I reviewed a couple weeks ago. All of the Colorverse inks I have tried exhibit reasonable dry times, especially for inks with sheen, and while they aren't the absolute best inks I've ever used on cheap paper, they're more than serviceable. Performance-wise, I'd compare them to Pilot Iroshizuku, though the colors are more saturated.

Two swabs of Colorverse ink on Col-O-Ring paper.

These two inks are from the "Astrophysics" Series. Colorverse manufactures their inks in "Seasons," each of which has a different theme. Season 1, titled "Spaceward," has - you guessed it - a space/space exploration theme, with inks such as "Einstein Ring," "Hubble Zoom," and "Saturn V." The "Astrophysics" inks are from Season 2, which in addition to the two inks reviewed here include "Andromeda," "Gravity Wave," "Quasar" (which I've already reviewed), and "Supernova." Season 3, titled "Multiverse," takes a different approach by offering different inks in pairs, some of which obviously complement each other, but others are more subtle. The three seasons all emphasize unique properties: Season 1 inks tend to shade nicely; Season 2 inks have nice sheen; and the smaller bottles in the Season 3 sets "glisten" (i.e., shimmer ink). So far I have most of the Season 3 inks, which I'm still working through for review purposes.

The burgundy tone on the Dark Energy comes through much more than in a swab.

Since both of these inks are part of "Season 2," they have a lot of sheen. Dark Energy might turn into one of my favorite inks overall. I originally thought the color would contain too much brown for my taste, but that's not the case. While there are hints of brown, the end result is still a rich burgundy red with a dark sheen that I haven't seen before in any other ink.

Colorverse-Ink-Writing-Sample-Montblanc-Lamy

Black Hole is another winner. I love "off-black" colors, where black ink has a hint of something else like green, blue, or purple. I'm not sure how best to describe "Black Hole" - it has an a purple/red sheen to it when it dries, though I've also seen pictures where the sheen looks almost blue. A very cool ink, overall, and a perfect pairing for my Montblanc 146 Ultra Black.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

Colorverse continues to impress, and I honestly don't remember the last time I had this much fun with a new line of ink. I can't wait to see what they have in store for Season 4.

You can purchase the full line of Colorverse ink from our sponsor Pen Chalet. Pricing starts at $36 per ink, though this snags you two bottles for a total of 60ml, which on a price-per-ml basis is comparable to Pilot Iroshizuku and Sailor Jentle (after the latest price increase). The two-bottle packaging creates a great opportunity to go in on these inks with friends, and trade the smaller bottles so that you have samples of all the colors.

Disclaimer: I purchased this ink from Pen Chalet using affiliate credit. I was not compensated monetarily for this review, though this post does contain affiliate links.