Thursday Drops: Blackwing Jerry Garcia Pencils, Pencil Extenders, Eraser, and the Pentel Kerry!

I don’t know about you, but I personally think Blackwing has absolutely nailed the past handful of releases. Volume 2 featured a “cracked” glow in the dark finish, with an extra-firm graphite that I personally really enjoyed. That said, this latest Jerry Garcia-themed release features a matte finish with Blackwing’s softest core, which is my personal favorite of all the various Blackwing graphites out there so I’m loving this one as well.

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All of the Blackwing accessories look great in the new white finish!

It doesn’t stop there: We now have the Blackwing Handheld Erasers (really big and soft and erase quite nicely!) and Blackwing Pencil Extenders, as well as more of the one-step long-point sharpeners. Both the Handheld Erasers and Long-Point Sharpeners all come in three different colors (black, white, and grey) so you can make yourself a matching set. Finally, if you’re looking to try out Blackwing for the first time, or searching for a gift for a Mom, Dad, or upcoming graduate, the Blackwing Pencil Essentials Set is back in stock. It has one of each pencil from the standard line, along with a one-step sharpener and a pencil cap.

The Gentleman Stationer is an authorized retailer of all Blackwing products.

1. Blackwing Volume 710 Jerry Garcia Pencils. It took me a while to get some of these in, but I wasn’t going to pass them up given that they feature the soft graphite, which is my favorite of the Blackwing cores.

2. Blackwing Volume 2 Limited Edition Pencils. The Jerry Garcia pencil above followed Volume 2, which not only has the awesome cracked glow-in-the-dark design but also features a specially formulated extra-firm graphite, for those who love an HB or F grade pencil.

3. Blackwing One-Step Long Point Pencil Sharpeners. Blackwing’s excellent long point sharpener, which only requires one step to achieve a nice, slightly curved point, is now available in three colors: black, grey, and white.

4. Blackwing Pencil Extender. Blackwing has been on a tear with their accessories lately, and this pencil extender attaches to the ferrule of your Blackwing Pencil, giving you a nice way to use up that jar of 1” Blackwing stubs!

5. Blackwing Handheld Eraser. Not a fan of the integrated Blackwing eraser? Or most integrated pencil erasers, for that matter? I love this new soft handheld eraser by Blackwing, in three different cases. It’s giant and refillable.

6. Blackwing “Illegal Pads”. One of my favorite legal pad products is Blackwing’s take on the classic legal pad. Available in traditional ruled (complete with the line down the middle!), graph, and dot, this paper even handles fountain pen ink well.

7. Pentel Sharp Kerry Mechanical Pencil. Currently only available in grey, though more colors are in the works! This .5mm mechanical pencil features a capped design that protects the tip while the pencil is in your pocket, yet still allows you to click to advance the lead when posted.

8. Pilot Explorer Fountain Pens in New Colors! The Pilot Explorer is easily one of our best selling fountain pens under $30, and we’ve added additional colors: Turquoise, Lime Green, and Silver! These all come with matte black trim and look sharp. (Full matte black pens are back in stock as well.)

9. Pilot Iroshizuku Ink Cartridges. In addition to the full line of excellent Pilot Iroshizuku bottled inks, we now have the full line of available cartridges (which are most of the popular colors).

10. Tom’s Studio Fountain Pen Inks. The Tom’s Studio line of Lumos pens has sold extremely well, as have the fountain pens and specialty nibs. But what about the inks? Tom’s Studio has nearly two dozen inks available, including a pigmented black for those who desire a micron-like experience for their Lumos.

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Be sure to keep checking our Pilot range, as we’re constantly restocking on some colors that were sold out. I believe we have all of the Iroshizuku inks in cartridge and bottle form.

Pen Review: Uni Jetstream 4&1 Multi Pen

Today's post is somewhat of a hybrid between an entry in the "Review Revisited" and "Mini Collection" series. Since I've somehow managed to collect 5 or 6 of the Uni Jetstream 4&1 Multi Pens over the years, I figured I should revisit my last review and comment some on why I enjoy this pen so much. While I consider myself a multi pen enthusiast, I really use two on a daily basis: (1) the Lamy 2000 Multi Pen, and (2) one of these various Uni Jetstream models.

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All of the various renditions of the Uni Jetstream multi pens use different materials in the body and grip section.

My Use Case For Multi Pens

Long-time readers of the blog know that I'm a fairly prolific reader and serial annotator, both in my day job and my personal life. For me, multi pens are one of the ultimate annotation tools because they allow you to mark up documents in multiple colors (different colors for different types of notes), and an added mechanical pencil option is a great bonus because it allows you to erase as necessary. The multi pen is a lifesaver when I'm traveling - particularly when I'm working on a airplane - as it eliminates the need to have multiple writing instruments available and minimizes the risk of something getting lost or falling under the seat. Multi pens are also great for when you want to read out on the patio, work on the couch, or another similar context in which you're not necessarily seated and/or writing on a flat surface.

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If I had to pick a favorite to use daily, it would probably be the versions with the bamboo grip. It’s quite tactile and I imagine they will age/patina with time. The Karimoku edition is not bamboo, but rather reclaimed wood from furniture manufacturing, if I’m not mistaken. It also features a ceramic-like coating (possibly Cerakote or something similar).

What Makes a Good Multi Pen?

For me, because I’m not necessarily using this particular pen to write a novel, it all comes down to the refill and how reliable it is. While the Lamy 2000 Multi Pen (ok, "4-Color Ballpoint") might be one of the most versatile multi pens because it accepts universal D1 refills, I find myself using Uni Jetstream refills nearly exclusively in all of my ballpoints, so I've also managed to accumulate a significant collection of the Uni Jetstream 4&1 and 3&1 multi pens. These take a proprietary cartridge, but because I’m pretty much all-in on the Jetstream at this point, I don’t care as much. The "&1" refers to the added mechanical pencil - something the Lamy 2000 doesn't have.

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The 4&1 contains four different Jetstream refills: black, blue, red, and green. All of them write smoothly. It can be extremely difficult to find decent ballpoints in colors other than black and blue, but the red and green refills here write a legible line and have been reliable over time. Jetstream refills tend to last forever without drying up, something that's especially important with a multi pen where you might not use a specific color on a daily basis.

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While some might find the Jetstream 4&1 too large for their hand, I personally find it fairly comfortable due to its light weight. Uni makes this pen with multiple grip styles, however, so be sure to choose the one most comfortable for you. For example, those who tend to grip their pen hard might want to avoid the metal section models in favor of the gel grip, while the plastic and bamboo options present more of a middle ground.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

And this brings us to the "mini collection" portion of this post. At last count, I have in my personal collection six of these Uni Jetstream Multi Pens in various finishes: two of the standard Bamboo models, one model in the limited edition Karimoku finish, one metal-grip "Tokyo Bike" special release, one Tokyo Bike 3-color (no mechanical pencil), and a standard black gel grip 4&1. Five of the six pens are the 4&1 model, so I'm pretty much sold on that version. And yes, I know there are countless more editions and releases out there, but I can only use so many multi pens, and I plan to just pick them up as I come across them "in the wild" as opposed to tracking them down via eBay, etc.

If you’re interested in hearing more about why I like this pen, and multi pens in general, check out this YouTube video that I recently released that discusses how the Uni Jetstream 4&1 compares to other favorites, including the Lamy 2000.

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From left: Sage, Mimosa Yellow, Oregano, Blue-Grey, and Gerbera Pink.

In the meantime, in the interest of making this long-time personal favorite more accessible, I did order an assortment of the Bamboo-grip 4&1 Multi Pens for the shop. I currently have them in five muted pastel shades, including Mimosa Yellow, Oregano Green, Blue Grey, Gerbera Pink, and Sage. If you've never tried a good multi pen, this is an excellent place to start, given the combination of quality and price point ($25). The four included starter refills will last you a very long time, but if you think you might want more, or need to replace refills in an existing Jetstream Multi Pen, we sell all colors, as well as .5mm Uni mechanical pencil leads.

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program.

New Releases: Tom's Studio Fountain Pen Inks and More!

Last week we received a large shipment of additional Lumos fineliner pens from Tom’s Studio, including the Lumos Mini! But what I’m most excited about is the arrival of the entire line of Tom’s Studio fountain pen inks, including 18 different colors of water-based inks and one black pigmented ink, which I’d describe as the “Micron-like ink” many of you have been asking about. (The black ink that ships with the Lumos pens is the standard water-based black ink, and is not permanent.) I have my Lumos Mini currently inked up with “Marianas” (No. 14), a deep blue that’s a great color in a fineliner. There are some really nice colors in this line, particularly the blues and blue-greens. All inks come in 50ml bottles.

In addition to the Tom’s Studio Fountain Pen Inks, we now have a restock of the Laban Greek Mythology Inks in all colors, as well as new Pilot Iroshizuku cartridges! The Gentleman Stationer is an authorized retailer of all inks sold.

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Sunday Reading for May 5, 2024

1. Papier Plume: The Faceless Lady (via Figboot on Pens). Since it’s Chicago Pen Show weekend, we might as well link to a review of Papier Plume’s annual Chicago Pen Show exclusive ink!

2. January - April 2024: Four Months in Stationery (via A Gathering of Curiosities). R.B. summarizes pen purchases for the year so far, with an impressive #ifyoucouldonlykeepone set!

3. TWSBI Diamond 580 ALR Sunset Yellow (via Stationery Pizza). If you’re a fan of orange/gold pens, I feel like I have to give a plug to the Sunset Yellow 580 and remind people to grab one before TWSBI cycles out the colors again.

4. The Taming of the Scribo, Write Here Africa Fountain Pen (via Fountain Pen Blog). Scribo does make a shop-exclusive model for Write Here in the U.K., if I ever make it over! Also, the note about heat setting is important to take into account if you find you need to tweak your ebonite feeds.

5. Stipula Etruria Fountain Pen (via Blake’s Broadcast). The Etruria was one of the first expensive Italian pens I purchased. I’ve noticed that it’s mainly produced with steel nibs these days, though celluloid editions still exist.

6. Posh Pens in a Supermarket (via Bleistift). Multi-thousand dollar pens in a grocery store? I like it.

7. Uni-ball One F Gel Pen 0.5mm Earth Texture Color Series Review (via Pen Addict - Sarah). I picked up a few of these from Kinokuniya when I was in NYC, and liked them so much I decided I’d try to stock them in the Curated Shop. There is no real added “texture” - just speckled resin - but it’s a cool visual effect.

8. Ink 100: Part 4 Hitting My Goal (via Well-Appointed Desk). Congratulations to Ana on finishing her Ink 100 challenge!

9. On Devaluing Inexpensive Pens (via SBRE Brown). As you “grow” in the hobby and expand into more expensive pens, do you appreciate your inexpensive pens less? Personally, not if the pen is well-made and writes well. I still use plenty of inexpensive pens but I have become more picky about quality.

10. It’s the Dawning of the Age of … BRONZE! New Ink from Franklin-Christoph (via Inkdependence). I picked up one of these at the Chicago Pen Show. Look for my own thoughts soon!

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Always wild finds in the bar after-hours at any pen show! More on these pens and what they are in this week’s Chicago Pen Show Recap.

In Case You Missed It…

This week on the blog I offered my own take on the “If I Could Only Keep One” challenge/thought experiment, with my “must-have” items from various stationery categories. I also took a short two-day adventure to the 2024 Chicago Pen Show, and recapped my Friday visit (and shopping spree) here.

New Tom’s Studio Arrivals: Lumos Mini Pens and Inks!

New Arrivals in the T.G.S. Curated Shop: TWSBI ECO Caffé Bronze and Tom’s Studio Lumos Fineliners

The big news this week was the arrival of TWSBI’s latest special edition release, as well as a full restock on the Tom’s Studio Lumos series of refillable fineliners, including the pocket-sized Lumos Mini! We also have some remaining limited edition “Tokyo” Traveler’s Company accessories (including the pencil), as well as an entire new range of Tomoe River Paper products and Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter leather covers!

For a full list of all new arrivals this week, check out our New Arrivals and Thursday Drops Posts.

Pilot Pens

Tom's Studio Inks

Iroshizuku Cartridges

Tomoe River

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Pen Show Adventures: 2024 Chicago Pen Show Friday Recap!

As one of the older pen shows on the circuit, the Chicago Pen Show has a rich history. Over the years it’s been considered one of the “big” shows at times, but for now I would place Chicago in the category of mid-size shows that draw an extremely diverse group of vendors. And as a show that’s very easy for me to attend logistically, it’s not uncommon for me to jump on a cheap flight and go last-minute, which is what happened this weekend!

The Chicago Pen Show is actually located in Hoffman Estates, a suburb. The hotel is fairly large and part of the show takes place in this well-lit atrium.

The trend at pen shows has been to make Friday a hybrid weekend trader/public day, meaning that weekend pass purchasers get a few hours in the morning to shop the show exclusively before it opens to the public on Friday at around noon. This is the best of both worlds, in my opinion: The weekend pass is still worth the money for attendees because they get early access, but vendors also get the benefit of additional public foot traffic in the afternoon (especially around 2-3pm when people skip out of work early to hit the show). I made sure to pick up most of the pens I was looking for in the morning, before the show got crowded.

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Clockwise from the top: Waterman Exception Night and Day, Skogsy Low-Volume Eyedropper, Good Made Better Ebonite Pocket Pen, Edison Jameson Scheherazade, Newton Prospector in Arkansas Abalone, and Edison Collier in Dragon’s Night.

This particular pen show trip ended up being a mix of business and personal, meaning that I didn’t take a table and set up as a vendor, but I did meet with a couple of different makers and manufacturers on T.G.S.-related projects. Once those were taken care of, I was free to roam a bit, visit with friends, and pick up six pretty significant pens, including two customs I had been looking to add to my collection, two new releases to evaluate, and two pens (one semi-vintage) that I’ve long coveted but had never found “the right opportunity.” Sometimes those opportunities hit you all at once. :) Here we go:

• Custom Pen No. 1: Newton Prospector in “Arkansas Abalone”, which I couldn’t pass up. I’ve been looking to add a second Newton Prospector (Shawn Newton’s triangular pen) in a fun material, and this turned out to be the one. Featuring shades of iridescent pink, silver, mother of pearl, and some dark green, it’s a stunner. The resin is by D Squared, also from Arkansas. I believe Shawn has a few more pens in this material.

• Custom Pen No. 2: Skogsy Low Volume Eyedropper in Beige Sand Acrylic. Designed to moderate the ink flow by limiting both the amount of ink in the barrel and the volume that can travel through the ebonite feed at any given time, Skogsy’s “Low Volume” eyedropper aims to avoid flooding the feed with ink, which leads to ink leaking into the cap and sometimes onto the page as you write. Did I mention this one has a No. 8 Magna Carta nib and ebonite feed? Expect to see more of this pen.

• New Release No. 1: Good Made Better Ebonite Pocket Pen. Dan had been teasing these pens all week on Instagram, and I already had planned to take one of these home with me. I chose this mottled black, beige, pink, and orange ebonite pen with a matte finish. As always, Good Made Better’s workmanship is excellent. I understand that these pens are show-only for the time being, so if you’d like to pick one up, get one at the Chicago Show or else you’ll need to wait for the official launch.

• New Release No. 2: Edison Jameson 2024 Chicago Pen Show Limited Edition. My pen is No. 7 of a (very) limited run of 15, made from older Bexley Scheherazade resin, which is a black translucent acrylic resin featuring streaks of silver foil. And, yes, it has a No. 8 nib. (You’re noticing a trend here.)

• Personal Acquisition No. 1: Edison Collier in Brooks “Dragon’s Night” Resin. Does anyone else remember when the Edison Collier was first released and everyone thought the pen was oversized? I never added one to my collection, which I’ve come to regret, and I couldn’t leave this one on the table. Translucent black acrylic with dark blue/teal shimmer. I considered the Collier Grande but found it slightly too oversized, despite the No. 8 nib which was tempting.

• Personal Acquisition No. 2: Waterman Exception “Night and Day”. I’ve been looking to add one of the oversized Waterman Exceptions to my collection, preferably in the black with silver trim and matte pinstripes on the side. Guess what? I ran into someone looking to unload one in excellent condition! Instant buy, and I’m thrilled to come closer to completing my “vintage” Waterman collection of most models spanning the late 1980s through early 2000s.

For Saturday, while I may pick up some smaller items and shop samples, and get a couple of nibs looked at, major shopping is over for this weekend. I expect the show to be much more crowded today. See below for some bonus pics of the new Good Made Better pens, as well as some vintage after-hours finds. (Yes, those are miniature keychain whiskey bottles that turn into fountain pens!)

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A close-up of the Good Made Better Pocket Pen I picked up.

In addition to a pocket ebonite fountain pen, Good Made Better also has these full-sized models.