Thursday Drops: What, There's Another Lamy Multi Pen? Plus Some Really Good Inexpensive Notebooks

Somehow I missed the memo that all of Lamy’s multi pens feature the same “gravity” switch mechanism as my beloved Lamy 2000 4-color ballpoint. Just this week I got my hands on the Logo Tri Pen, which at only $40 is a very nice multi pen that also accepts D1 refills. I think I need to build out the rest of the Lamy multi pen lineup…. In addition to the Logo Tri Pen, we have additional Lamy 2000 multi pens back in stock, along with the Uni Jetstream “Pure Malt” 4+1, and the Lamy 2000 Blackwood and Taxus pens.

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I’m somewhat irrationally excited about the Maruman Spiral Note Basic Notebooks. I’ve been looking for a relatively inexpensive fountain pen friendly “working” notebook to stock as a shop standard, and I may settle on these. Available in B5 and A5, they come in a wide range of different rulings. Finally, don’t forget that this month is Pencil Month at T.G.S., with 10% off all pencils and pencil-related items (excluding TWSBI and Blackwing) through the end of May. Just use the coupon code “PENCIL10” at checkout to claim your discount.

We’re open this weekend! Come see us in person at our Nashville location from 1pm-6pm Thursday and Friday, and Saturdays from 10am-6pm.

1. Lamy Logo Tri-Pen. The Lamy Tri Pen is one of those “back catalog” products that I missed, but it features the same turn-and-click gravity-driven mechanism as found in the Lamy 2000 multi pen, one of my all-time favorites.

2. Lamy Safari Dark Dusk and Sunset. This year’s Lamy Safari release returned to a monochromatic look, with dark glossy blue and a coral pink matte finishes to choose from. We have all formats (fountain pen, ballpoints, rollerballs, and mechanical pencils).

3. Lamy 2000 4-Color Ballpoint (Multi Pen). Yes, they are finally back in stock! One of the top sellers in our shop, across all categories, the Lamy 2000 multi pen has long been a personal favorite for everyday work due to it’s compatibility with a wide range of D1 refills. You can read more about this pen and why we like it here.

4. Lamy 2000 Blackwood and Taxus Ballpoint Pens. Yet another deep-cut from the Lamy catalog! These upscale wood ballpoints feature a polished finish and take the same Lamy M16 refill (or compatible substitute) as other Lamy ballpoints.

5. Uni “Pure Malt” Multi Pens and Ballpoints. Uni’s “Pure Malt” series, which features pens made from the woods used in Japanese whisky barrels, has been a cult favorite in Japan. We’re now happy to offer both the standard ballpoint and the Jetstream 4+1 Multi Pen in this finish.

6. Maruman Spiral Note Basic Notebooks. These simple spirals are perfect for work, school, and other everyday writing. We’re trying to add more relatively inexpensive fountain pen friendly paper where we can, given rising costs. These versatile notebooks are available in B5 and A5, currently.

7. Lochby 68gsm Tomoe River Notebooks. We are fully restocked on Lochby notebooks in nearly all sizes and rulings. (If it was available, we ordered it.) This includes A5, Pocket, B5 and A5 Slim.

8. New Tom’s Studio Fountain Pen Ink: Peaches & Cream (No. 20) and Ivy (No. 21). Tom’s Studio has released two new fountain pen inks, both of which feature some nice shading. Customers have responded well to the Tom’s Studio line of bottled inks, and I’m glad they continue to expand the offerings.

9. Tom’s Studio Lumos 11-Tip Set. You can once again separately purchase the full 11-tip set, which is the same set of 11-tips that is included with the original purchase of a Lumos Refillable Fineliner pen.

10. Tom’s Studio Lumos Grip and Rollstop. These are back in stock in black and natural leather, as well as a stitched cork version. If you find the Lumos a touch narrow for your comfort, these sleeves may help, and they also function as a rollstop to help prevent your pen from rolling off the desk.

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Ink Review: Taccia Utamaro Aomurasaki Is The Deepest of Purple-Blacks

It’s no secret that I enjoy darker, black-infused inks, ranging from my signature red-blacks to more conservative green-black and blue-black shades. If you’re looking for something a bit more adventurous than standard business-friendly blue-black, but which still won’t look out of place in everyday school or office use, why not consider a purple-black? The ink I’m reviewing today, Taccia Utamaro Aomurasaki from Taccia’s Ukiyo-e line, has been on the market for a while but is a relatively recent new discovery for me personally.

What Are the Taccia Ukiyo-e Inks?

Taccia is a brand that was created in the U.S. and sources its inks from Japan. It’s been all but confirmed that Taccia inks are made by Teranishi, which alongside Taccia is a member of the Nakabayashi group of companies. In recent years, Taccia has expanded their ink offerings from their original standard line to include the “Ukiyo-e” inks, the “Jeans” series, and the new “Roughna Sketch” series. The Ukiyo-e has probably received the most attention, due to both the intricate box artwork and the fact that this line includes some amazing and unusual colors. The inks are inspired by artwork from four different artists from Japan’s Edo period (17th Century), reflected on the packaging. “Aomurasaki”, shown here, is from the collection of four inks inspired by the work of Kitagawa Utamaro.

Aomurasaki is a deep purple-black. The purple will come out with broader, wetter nibs, while the ink will appear more black in finer nibs. (Fine nib writing sample shown here alongside a swatch.)

Aomurasaki: One of Three Takes on Dark Purple

Within the Ukiyo-e line, Taccia has included multiple takes on one color. For example, there are three different shades of purple (Nakamurasaki, Aomurasaki, and Umemurasaki), with the Aomurasaki shown here being the darkest. I was looking for the darkest of purple inks to pair with my Hinze Taschenstift in the “Violet Tendencies CrazyFibre, as I wanted the darker ink to offset the lighter barrel and lilac nib. I rarely find permanent pairings, but this might be one, and if I had enough ink to sell with the pen, I’d even consider packaging them together. Anyone have any other candidates for me to try?

The tone is EXACTLY what I was looking for.

Like their sibling brand Teranishi Guitar, Taccia inks offer solid performance across the entire line. They flow well while still drying in a reasonable amount of time, with Aomurasaki perfectly balanced in this regard - it’s a great ink to use for everyday writing and it’s worked quite well on multiple types of paper. The Itoya Profolio Oasis paper used here handled it without issue, of course, but I’ve also had great luck on ordinary office paper. The pen shown here has been inked with Aomurasaki for several weeks, without any clogging, skipping, or drying.

By the way, Itoya’s Profolio paper handles ink incredibly well. It dries relatively quickly, even with a q-tip swab like this one, and there was absolutely zero bleed-through.

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Taccia Aomurasaki

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Taccia Nakamurasaki

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Taccia Umemurasaki

Takeaways and Where to Buy

Taccia inks, in my opinion, have been unfairly overlooked, mainly because Taccia doesn’t do as much marketing as other major ink-focused Japanese brands like Sailor. I personally think these Taccia inks perform just as well as, if not better than, any other Japanese brand. While the standard Taccia lineup is excellent, I tend to lean towards the Ukiyo-e inks simply because the colors have so much depth. Other favorites of mine include Hokusai Sabimidori, as well as most of the other deep green, blue, and purple shades.

All of the Taccia Ukiyo-e inks are currently available in our shop, and if you enjoy the Taccia inks, you will also want to check out the Teranishi Guitar inks since they behave similarly, but the colors are distinct with very little overlap.

New Arrivals: Tombow Mono 4B and 6B Pencils, a May Pencil Promotion, and Lochby Tomoe 68gsm!

In case you missed it from this weekend, we’ve declared May “Pencil Month” here at T.G.S., and are offering 10% off all pencil and pencil accessory orders through 5/31, using the coupon code “PENCIL10” at checkout. We have all sorts of new pencils from brands including Appointed, Tombow (including the 4B and 6B Mono pencils pictured here and discussed in our latest “Currently Inked” video), Musgrave, and Viarco, as well as a wide range of sharpeners, extenders, erasers, and more. Sale applies to both wood and mechanical pencils, but please note that Blackwing and TWBSI are excluded due to manufacturers’ restrictions.

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Lochby A5 Slim, B5, and Pocket “Planner” (a new layout).

New Formats of Lochby Paper (Tomoe River 68gsm)

I have a soft spot for Lochby because they use 68gsm Tomoe River Paper, one of my favorite fountain pen friendly papers available. Not only have we restocked on all ruling in the standard A5 and “pocket” size formats, but Lochby has recently added two new sizes: a larger format B5 notebook, and a more compact A5 Slim format. These versatile notebooks can be used in Lochby covers as well as a wide range of other compatible notebook systems, as long as the size matches.

Everything shown here is also available in our brick and mortar shop, which will be open regular hours this week (Thursday-Friday 1-6pm, and Saturday 10am-6pm). Come take a tour of our new look shop, which we’ve recently been updating.

Sunday Reading for May 11, 2025

1. Stationery Feed Episode 7 with Lisa of Olive Octopus Ink (via DWRDNET). Derek continues his series of epic interviews, with Lisa from Olive Octopus.

2. Ouch - Discovering a Damaged Pen (via Line Variation). Not fun, but this happens from time to time. I’ve not seen a barrel break in that exact pattern, though I’ve seen plenty of weird stuff over the years.

3. M815 Metal Striped Blue Special Edition Fountain Pen (via Pelikan’s Perch). Wow, this one’s a stunner. I’ve not paid much attention to Pelikan in recent years but they have my attention.

4. More Notebook Systems? (via Stationery Pizza). There’s an infinite number of notebook systems if you disregard the “proprietary” nature and mix/combine them. :) Tip: you can punch “William Hannah” or “Circa” holes over a six-ring binder refill and it will usually work.

5. The Paper Mind Tranext Notebook Review (via Blake’s Broadcast). Tranext Paper is another proposed Cosmo Air Light replacement, which I have yet to get my hands on. Paper Mind is releasing another new notebook in their series.

6. A New Ink Database Column Has Joined the Game (via mnmlscholar). “Last Inked” is a useful metric, especially if you’re looking to ensure that nothing sits “lost” in your pen case. I regularly run into this problem.

7. Gravitas Piston Carbon Fountain Pen Review (via SBRE Brown). Hopefully Gravitas will be in D.C. or SF this year and I can get my hands on one of these.

8. Writech 2-in-1 Retractable Gel Pens (via Well-Appointed Desk). Someone had a handful of these in the shop this weekend and I was very impressed with the quality for the price point.

9. 2025 Little Craft Fest (via Feed Your Creativity). The first thing I noticed was how nice the space was! I’ve heard this was an incredibly well-organized and well-run stationery event.

In Case You Missed It….

This week on the blog, I worked my way through the “Gray Paper, Volume 4” Yamamoto Paper Tasting Set, which honestly far exceeded my expectations. There are so many papers out there which we likely never will get to see in the larger formats such as A4 and A5, because it’s not cost-effective to print, much less import, pads and notebooks, but these Paper Tasting Samplers offer small notepads at a reasonable cost. I also discussed this particular set in the latest episode of “Currently Inked” on YouTube, and did a YouTube Plotter Walkthrough where I discuss how I organize my Plotter binders, discuss my notetaking and “Planner Strategy”, and more. (This is along the same lines as my prior Roterfaden Walkthrough, which has ended up being so popular that I thought I would do some similar discussions.)

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We’ve added (and restocked) on a bunch of goods from The Well-Appointed Desk.

This Week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop - New Lamy Safaris, PAPER, Pencils, and a May “Pencil month” Promo!

New Lamy Safaris landed this week, in two new colors “Dark Dusk” and “Sunset”, in addition to the full range of current Yamamoto Paper “Paper Tasting” Samplers, A4 Paper Packs, and more Select Writing Pads. We also added Appointed as a brand, with both “The Notebook” and pencils available in the shop. Finally, we have new paper formats from Lochby, including the new A5 Slim format for narrower notebooks, a larger B5 size, and a planner version of the pocket notebook, all with the 68gsm Tomoe River Paper. Check out this week’s Thursday Drops for the full list of new arrivals.

Because we’ve brought in so many pencils this month (mainly woodcase, but some mechanical and leadholders as well), we’re declaring May “Pencil Month” here at T.G.S. and offering 10% off all Pencil and Pencil-related orders (excluding TWSBI and Blackwing, which can’t be discounted). The promotion will run through the end of May. Use “PENCIL10” at checkout to claim the promotion.

Sunderland Machine Works

Caran d'Ache

TWSBI

Yamamoto Paper

NEW T.G.S. Patreon Features - We’ve started a discord community!

If you enjoy our content (whether here on the main website, Instagram, YouTube Channel or elsewhere), and would like early/extra access to shop releases and gently used stationery opportunities, consider supporting us via Patreon. We do our best to remain 100% self-supported without having to rely on third-party advertisers or affiliates. Of course, the number one way to help is to visit our curated retail shop either online (or in person, if you’re in the Nashville area)! If you enjoy in-person and virtual meetups and having access to more personal content, the T.G.S. Patreon includes these as well as access to early shop releases (including the Taschenstift “Violet Tendencies”), the quarterly gently used sales, a monthly updates newsletter, and of course our monthly meetups. Patreon support starts as low as $3 per month, and if you pay annually there is a further discount. As noted above, we’ve recently started a Discord community for all paid Patreon supporters.

Discovering Unusual Paper: "Paper Tasting" Sets from Yamamoto Paper

It’s easy sometimes to get stuck in a rut with hobbies and interests, and many times over the years I’ve found myself bored with my stationery routine, using the same pens, pencils, and especially paper without much variation. The good thing about paper is that if you write enough you will use it up and need more, which offers you endless opportunities for experimentation (as long as you keep writing). Japanese distributor Yamamoto Paper offers a seemingly endless array of unique and uncommon Japanese papers, and sells them in convenient sample packs of pads and loose sheets.

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Each Yamamoto Paper Tasting Sampler includes a cover sheet with a short description on the manufacture, history, and usage of each of the three papers. It will also indicate Yamamoto’s opinion on how each paper reacts to different types of ink.These sorts of opinions are incredibly subjective, and as I’ll discuss more below, your own opinion may differ wildly (which is part of why these sorts of samplers are so much fun). Photos of additional information included with each Paper Tasting Sampler are included in the gallery below.

I’ve purchased many different paper sampling or “Paper Tasting” products from Yamamoto Paper over the years, starting back in 2022 at the San Francisco Pen Show where they had a setup at their table that allowed you to assemble a small box of samples of different papers in square sheets. I bought two full boxes, and I’m now well into my last one which I’m working through sparingly. I use them for small notes, and have found that they fit well inside a six-ring plotter binder if I punch them with three holes. What I plan to write about today, though, is Yamamoto’s “Paper Tasting” series. These relatively inexpensive sets of three bound notepads are organized by paper texture, color, and/or other properties such as translucency, and are released in different “volumes” as Yamamoto acquires new papers, and other papers are discontinued.

Among the most recent set of releases is this new set of “Gray” papers (Volume 4). I’m a fan of unusual paper colors such as gray and blue, as these tones add some visual depth to written correspondence and often showcase different undertones in fountain pen ink than standard white or ivory. The current Yamamoto “Gray” paper sampler comes with three different paper options: First Vintage Ash (B7 pad), Half Tone Color Abyss (A6 pad), and Kona Wrap Sky (B6). The latter two papers are blue-grey, so directly fall within my own personal preferences.

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When I test papers, I often choose fountain pens that will “challenge” the paper. Shown here is a Pilot Custom 823 ground to an architect nib, a very wet Parker 61 with a medium 14k nib, and a relatively wet Aurora 88 Sigaro Blu with an ebonite feed that delivers a lot of ink to the page.

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My two favorites from this sampler pack are the Half-tone Color Abyss (Top) and Kona Wrap Sky. I would probably flip Yamamoto’s descriptions in terms of fountain pen friendliness. All of these papers are indicated as working well with fountain pens, but I wouldn’t consider the First Vintage Ash (below) to be the best of the bunch. Again, there’s no substitute for your own experimentation.

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First Vintage Ash didn’t bleed through, but there was some feathering with the architect nib on this fibrous paper. I assume that Yamamoto values dry time over the lack of feathering, thus explaining why this particular paper received the highest marks of the three for fountain pens? This strikes me as a better pencil paper than anything, given the texture.

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The largest pad in this assortment (Kona Wrap Sky, in B6) will probably get the most use, as I will use it to write letters and for general notetaking. This paper showed zero feathering or bleedthrough, and it has a wonderful cool blue-gray tone.

So are these papers purely “samples”, or are they usable? It depends on how you use your paper. I’ve personally always found great practical usage for my Yamamoto Paper, and these particular papers are bound into pads so they are incredibly useful for things like short notes and even written correspondence, if you like the A6 and B6 sizing. I’ve also turned the smaller pads sideways and hole-punched them to add notes to my binder systems.

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Takeaways and Where to Buy

For me, trying out different papers, even one-offs or papers so rare that I likely won’t be able to find them again, is one of the most enjoyable parts of the stationery hobby. These Yamamoto Paper samplers are an easy way to do that. I appreciate that these aren’t just loose sheets of paper, and the fact that they’re bound into small pads makes them much more usable as notepads, writing tablets for letters, or even small sheets that you can hole-punch and add to your binder system.

As I noted above, we currently have seven different Yamamoto “Paper Tasting” Samplers available in the shop, alongside the packs of larger A4 looseleaf papers (which of course can be cut down to different sizes using a paper cutter). Patreon members should check this week’s Patreon feed or the “Announcements” section of the Discord for a special Yamamoto Paper Sampler offer.

If you’re ever in the Nashville, Tennessee area, please stop in and see us! We’d love to welcome you in store and answer any questions you may have. The Gentleman Stationer is open this week Thursday (1-4) and Friday (1-6) and Saturday from 10-4. Our site is entirely self-supported through the shop and the T.G.S. Patreon Program.