State of the Shop Update, Part III: Almost There and Questions Answered!

I’ve spent most of the past two weeks finishing up the new dedicated shop space that will open tomorrow, Thursday October 16th! I’ve had several questions about how things will work and exactly how the setup will be different from the old T.G.S. location. Here goes:

1. Why Are You Moving the Shop? First, we’re not technically “moving” - we are taking over an adjacent suite that opened up when the former occupants retired. (Suite 107, which formerly housed the natural pet supply store.) I was offered the space, and having a door on the front of the building will make it easier for first-time customers to locate us. Second, since we have a large online business that continues to grow rapidly, we require additional warehouse and work space, and we can’t have customers in the warehouse and shipping area while we’re working on fulfillment.

2. Will Hours Change? Not at this time. The showroom/shop will be open from 1pm-6pm Thursdays and Fridays, and from 10am-6pm on Saturdays. We may consider additional hours in the event we are able to hire additional staff, but that will depend on many different factors.

3. Is Everything Available in Store that is Available Online? Yes. The one caveat is that if you are looking to buy more than 2 or 3 of bulkier items in-person (i.e., notebooks or legal pads), please confirm availability or place the order online for local in-store pickup so that we have time to collect large orders from the warehouse. We get very busy on Fridays and Saturdays, and we may not have sufficient staffing to leave the store area depending on how crowded the shop is.

4. What Will Happen to the “Old Store” Area? Most of the fixtures other than displays, etc. will remain in place. As mentioned above, we need additional warehouse space to hold inventory and fulfill online orders. We also plan to convert a portion of our existing suite into a meeting/gathering area that we can use to host meetups and additional special events, like this coming weekend’s in-store event with Vanness Pens and Newton Pens.

5. What Are You Most Excited About with the New Space? Having better “flow” through the store area, and not having to worry about keeping people out of the warehouse, shipping station, and my office. Everything is also more organized, with some sections built around product categories but also with a selection of items mixed throughout to keep browsing fun. Best of all, we will have a multi-pen station on the back wall with pen bodies such as Hi-Tec-C Coletos, Jetstreams, Uni Style Fit, and all the refills so that it’s easier to assemble your pens in person!

View fullsize

For those of you who have written in via e-mail and sent messages, I apologize if I’ve been slow to respond this week. I will try to get them in a timely fashion, but for now I’ve been prioritizing those that have to do with orders and scheduling store visits. Our online store remains up and running during our “move,” and there have been no fulfillment delays. And, I’m happy to announce that at long last, the Traveler’s Notebook 2026 dated refills have arrived. You can purchase online or they will be available in-store starting tomorrow. Hope to see you at launch day!

View fullsize

The multi pen wall is coming together. Probably one more late night but we’re ready to go tomorrow!

New Arrivals: Hightide / Penco Restock, Plus Don't Miss a Special In-Store Event This Week!

At long last, we’ve received a major restock of Hightide and Penco products, including all sizes of the Hightide Hourglasses in 30, 15, 5, and 3-minute intervals! One of my personal favorite desk accessories, my main use is for timing writing/work intervals but you can use them anytime you don’t want the jarring buzz of an electronic timer or a phone on your desk distracting you when you’re trying to concentrate on something that requires true focus. We also have additional stock of the Penco Perfection pocket pens and the Perfection Light, as well as additional Penco Pocket Drafting Pens, Pocket Drafting Pencils, and new Multi-Pens!

View fullsize

These slim D1 Multipens are portable and functional, containing two ballpoint pen options and a .5mm mechanical pencil.

Don’t Miss Our Special In-Store Event This Coming Weekend in Nashville!

If you’re in the area, we will be having an in-store event on Friday, October 17th and Saturday, October 18th, with pen maker Shawn Newton and Lisa Vanness of Vanness Pens, who will be in-store with many different items we don’t regularly stock! Be sure to stop by if you are in the area as this will be sure to be a fun weekend. We’ll also have some in-store specials such as stamps and stickers so bring your notebooks. If everything goes to plan we will also open up the new TGS retail space, which will be on the front of the building in Suite 107.

View fullsize

Many thanks to Lisa at Olive Octopus for the graphic!

Sunday Reading for October 12, 2025

1. 2025 Commonwealth Pen Show Notes (via Line Variation). A nice writeup on one of the many regional pen shows around the country. While a smaller show, Commonwealth had three nib workers and a mix of Modern and vintage.

2. Two Day London Pen Show This Weekend (via Dapprman). The London Autumn Pen Show moved to two days this fall! While it may be over by the time you get this due to time change, if you’re in the area remember to stop by to support your local shows, especially if they are trying to expand.

3. A Visit to Retro 51 (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). What’s the Dallas Pen Show without a post-show visit to Retro 51 HQ?

4. Papa J Studio (via Figboot on Pens). A fun video about a relatively new (to me) maker with some unique resins, including floral-infused patterns.

5. Little Rock Hotel Stream: Looking at My Latest Vanness Order and Some New To Me Typewriters (via dwrdnet). Now that’s a road trip!

6. Most Boring Pen I’ve Used - NEW Muji Pocket Fountain Pen (via Doodlebud). But isn’t boring good sometimes? It is to me.

7. Ink Review: Callifolio Orange Inks (via Mountain of Ink). Another excellent ink brand that tends to get lost among the dozens out there these days. Callifolio inks shade very nicely and work well in most pens.

8. Wonderland 222 Tomoe River Tomoegawa B6 (& Giveaway). Apparently some of their planners still use “old school” Tomoe River Paper, if you’ve been looking….

View fullsize

In Case You Missed It….

This week on the blog I previewed our new shop/showroom build-out, which is located at the front of our current location and should streamline things for in-person visitors, including making the entrance easier to find. I am moving over inventory this week and should be on track to open in the new location this coming weekend! I also did an especially relevant “Ask TGS” post concerning the Pilot “Soft” nibs featured in the new Custom 74 Lavender Fog, after I received a couple of concerning customer question and online inquiries about whether these should be considered flex nibs. (They’re not.)

View fullsize

We’ve restocked on Penco Pens and Hightide Desk Accessories, including these slim D1 Multi-Pens here.

New Arrivals in the T.G.S. Curated Shop

This was a busy week, as the pre-holiday shipments started rolling in! We have very few remaining Colorverse Colorvent Calendars, and only a handful of Custom 74 Lavender Fog pens from our initial shipment, so if you’ve had your eye on one of these please don't wait. We also have the new Pilot Prera fountain pens, and we’ve further expanded our written correspondence shop with the addition of Original Crown Mill stationery from Belgium. This excellent laid writing paper can be used for standard writing as well, but it rose to fame as a fountain pen-friendly correspondence paper that’s still relatively reasonable price-wise. Be sure to check out each week’s Thursday Drops post for a full list of new arrivals!

Original Crown Mill

Pilot Iroshizuku

Penco

Pilot Pens

Nashville Event on October 17-18: T.G.S. Event with Vanness Pens and Newton Pens!

The big news is that we will be having an in-store event on Friday and Saturday, October 17th and 18th, with pen maker Shawn Newton and Lisa Vanness of Vanness Pens, who will be bringing many different items we don’t regularly stock! Be sure to stop by if you are in the area as this will be sure to be a fun weekend. We’ll also have some in-store specials such as stamps and stickers so bring your notebooks. If everything goes to plan we will also open up the new TGS retail space, which will be on the front of the building!

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 special promotions, consider supporting us via Patreon. The T.G.S. Patreon includes early access and discounts on exclusive shop releases, a monthly updates newsletter, and of course our monthly meetups. Patreon supporters also have access to the first two episodes of a new podcast experiment I’ve been working on with Lisa Vanness of Vanness Pens. More on this later, but for the time being the initial episodes are Patreon-exclusive.

Ask TGS: Can I "Flex" a Pilot Soft Nib? What Does "Soft Fine" or "Soft Medium" Mean?

Because I’ve received this question two times in the past three days, in connection with the release of the Pilot Custom 74 Lavender Fog, I figured I would go ahead and answer because it’s important. To be clear, the Pilot “Soft” nibs are not flex nibs, and trying to force these nibs to flex may result in damage to the nib if you press them too hard.

So What Is a “Soft” Nib?

Some Japanese brands, namely Pilot and Platinum, sell a “soft” version of their fine, medium, and fine-medium 14k nibs. These nibs are slightly bouncier than the relatively stiff standard Japanese gold nibs, and will feel springier and put more ink on the page with a wetter line. That said, there is a fair bit of misinformation out there on whether or not these nibs are “flexible”, and whether you can press down on them to get additional line variation. I have to reiterate - do not try to flex these pens as you would a vintage flex nib, calligraphy nib, or even a Pilot FA nib. While they have some give to them, they are simply not designed to “spring back” into shape like a true flex nib.

View fullsize

I find the soft nibs very pleasant to use to write standard cursive. As you can see, the additional bounce in the nib gives some slight variation to your letters, and the ink flows nicely.

Some of the confusion may stem from the fact that nib technicians advertise these nibs as suitable for conversion to a more flexible nib. For example, I have a pen that I sent to Custom Nib Studio, to which Gena added flex by thinning out the tines. Soft nibs from Pilot and Platinum often make very good candidates for this nib modification, but they are a starting point, not a finished product in that regard.

For the U.S. market, Pilot releases specialty nibs such as the “soft” nib series in specific models - typically the Custom Heritage 91 and the Custom 743. I was thrilled to see these nibs released in the Custom 74 model, which remains one of my favorite everyday writers because it’s nearly the perfect size for my hand. As I noted yesterday, I picked a Soft Fine-Medium in the Lavender Fog because I wasn’t going to let this one go.

The “Ask TGS” series of blog posts features questions from readers and customers that frequently appear in my inbox, social media DMs, and customer questions. When one of the questions has immediate relevance and/or urgency - such as this one - I will bump that question to the top of the list. Some of the most frequent posts are summarized on our FAQ page.

Thursday Drops: Pilot Custom 74 Lavender Fog, Pilot Preras, Colorvent Calendars and More!

Ok, so with the arrival of the 2025 Colorverse Colorvent Calendars, the holiday season has officially kicked off! If you’re looking to acquire a Colorvent Calendar for this year, please don’t sleep on these as we are already more than halfway sold through our allocation, and once these are gone there will be no more. And no, I have not opened mine yet - there will be no spoilers here until December 1!

View fullsize

I decided to pick a SFM in the Lavender Fog, and a Medium Honey Yellow Prera!

We also received the first shipment of the U.S. exclusive Pilot Custom 74, “Lavender Fog.” I was especially excited for this pen because Pilot has chosen to release it in four relatively uncommon nib sizes: Soft Fine, Soft Medium, Soft Fine-Medium, and Double Broad. (As a huge FM fan, that’s what I picked.) In addition to the Custom 74, we’ve received the latest solid-color Pilot Preras, and have restocked on nearly all Pilot fountain pens and inks!

Our Nashville store is open this weekend from 1-6pm on Thursday and Friday, and from 10-6pm on Saturday. Note that we will be in our current location (Suite 113) before moving over to Suite 107 on the front of the building NEXT WEEK, just in time for our in-store event with Vanness Pens and Newton Pens. Hope to see you there!

1. Pilot Custom 74 Lavender Fog. This year’s U.S. exclusive release from Pilot features a gorgeous translucent lavender acrylic that to me appears to have almost grey undertones. The kicker is the nib selection here. Soft Fine-Medium for the win.

2. New Pilot Prera Fountain Pens. I’ve never been the biggest fan of the clear Prera, but once Pilot announced these vintage-y solid colors (Empress Teal, Honey Yellow, Porcelain White, and Cinnamon Brown), I jumped. The Prera is an excellent mid-range Pilot that should appeal to those looking for a midsized pen that is small enough to be portable yet posts long enough to write with for more extensive sessions.

3. Colorverse Colorvent. Whether you’re an Advent calendar fanatic or simply looking for a way to jumpstart your ink collection by experimenting with 25 different colors, the Colorverse Colorvent Calendar is an excellent solution!

4. Lamy Studio “Orion” Edition (Fountain Pens, Ballpoints, and Rollerballs). The latest Studio release from Lamy features a deep burgundy matte finish. I personally opted for the rollerball this time, and also went ahead and pulled a Royal Red Matte fountain pen because who knows how long those will last….

5. Pilot E95s Fountain Pens. We’ve restocked in all nib sizes of what I’d consider one of the best buys on the market for a gold-nib fountain pen. The burgundy and ivory color combination offers a unique look.

6. Pilot Explorer Fountain Pens and Rollerballs. Pilot’s Explorer line is undergoing a refresh, with some colors being phased out and possibly new colors substituting in. If you’ve been eyeing one of the existing colors, this may be the last shipment before they change over.

7. Hightide Sandglasses. One of our original items offered in the shop remains one of our top sellers! We have these hourglasses/sandglasses in different colors and time intervals.

8. Anecdote Hardcover Notebooks. I love the feel of the buckram covers of the Anecdote A5 notebooks, and these have a nice price point. Most colors are back in stock.

9. Lochby Field Journals and Field Folios. Available in multiple sizes and colors, the Lochby Field Journals (strap closure) and Field Folios (zipper closure) are cord-based journals that can hold up to 6 slim notebooks. The waxed-canvas exterior will patina nicely and makes an excellent alternative for those who don’t want leather.

10. Notsu Index Cards. These fountain pen friendly index cards are available in graph and dot grid layouts, productivity formats, and a large 5x7 foldable size. Notsu also makes a line of accessories to help you carry and organize your cards.

View fullsize