People frequently criticize established brands such as Lamy and Pilot for not introducing new products at a rapid clip, but what they overlook is the extensive back catalog of existing products that these companies have developed over decades, including dozens which don’t receive a lot of hype. Entire product lines have been ignored for so long that I was unaware of them despite nearly a decade as a blogger in the stationery world, and it was only after I opened a retail store and gained access to the full catalogs and pricing sheets that I somewhat shockingly “discovered” a treasure trove of great options that many people don’t know exist. These are excellent products that should receive far more promotion, not just by the community but by the manufacturers themselves. My observation is that most of these fall into three categories: multi pens (subject to the most egregiously unfair treatment), rollerballs, and mechanical pencils.
The Lamy CP1 Twin Pen (right) shown next to my vintage Lamy Unic (Thanks, Jim!)
Multi Pens: “Tri Pens”, “Twin Pens,” and 4+1 Options
Is ignoring multi pens a U.S. thing? Did the proliferation of low-quality multi pens in the U.S. market during the 1980s and 1990s spoil the category for most people, outside of dedicated Japanese stationery aficionados? Apparently Lamy, Pilot, and Uni all have deep lineups of multi pens in their back catalogs, but with very little presence at U.S. retailers. I find this surprising given the enthusiasm among my own readership and customer base for multifunction pens, especially those slimmer models that take nonproprietary D1 refills. I took a flyer from Lamy on three multi pens that I had never used before: the Logo Tri Pen, the CP1 Multi Pen (both Twin and Tri versions) and the ST Tri Pen. All of these are exceptionally good, and I’ll call out the CP1 Twin Pen as my personal favorite of the three. The matte black finish and squared off clip are reminiscent of the Lamy 2000, and I like the slim design. Fun note: Gerd Müller, designer of my beloved Lamy 2000, also designed both the Lamy CP1 and ST series of pens. All of the multi pens take the D1 refill so you can customize them with the gel or ballpoint refill of your choice.
The Lamy Swift in the Special Edition “Black Forest”. Did you never hear about this one until a year after it was released? Me neither. I just got mine yesterday.
Rollerballs
Many people (including myself) had essentially written off rollerballs as overly wet, gloppy writing instruments that tend to bleed through every type of paper and offer very little variety in terms of writing experience. There are some excellent rollerballs out there, however, including the Ohto Ceramic Series (CR01 and CR02), as well as the underappreciated Lamy Swift retractable rollerball. The Ohto Ceramic Rollerball refill is one of the best “capped” rollerball refills I have used, and with modifications (i.e., a spacer) it can even fit into the Lamy 2000 Rollerball. The Lamy Swift is a retractable rollerball with a cool design feature: when you depress the knock to extend the refill, the clip retracts into the body of the pen. This not only gives you the comfort of a clipless pen - no clip digging into your hand - but it prevents you from accidentally sticking the pen in your bag or pocket with the tip extended (and ruining fabric).
There is no better $4 mechanical pencil than the TWSBI Pagoda. I’m confident of that.
Mechanical Pencils
Ok, so it’s probably not fair to say that mechanical pencils go “overlooked”. There are vibrant online communities solely dedicated to pencils (woodcase and mechanical), but for much of the stationery community mechanical pencils don’t receive a lot of attention. Personally, I think it’s because apart from the Uni Kuru Toga Dive, companies haven’t innovated all that much over the years, and most of the excellent mechanical pencils on the market have been around for a while. (In some cases since the 1960s, like the Pentel Sharp Kerry. If you’re interested, I did a review a while back looking at the Kuru Toga Dive and Sharp Kerry side-by-side.) In addition to the Sharp Kerry, check out the TWSBI Pagoda ($4, really?), and the gorgeous Pilot S20 at 1/4 the price of a Kuru Toga Dive, which is a great pencil but I would question whether it’s worth the current U.S. asking price.
And because I will get a dozen comments/emails asking if I don’t do this, the pens are, from left: TWSBI Pagoda, Uni Jetstream 4+1 Lite Touch, Uni Jetstream 4+1 Standard, Uni Jetstream Lite Touch 3 Prime, Lamy CP1 Twin Pen, Pilot Acroball 4+1, Pilot E95s fountain pen (because it IS underappreciated), Pilot S20 ballpoint, Pilot S20 mechanical pencil.
All of the pens and pencils discussed in this post are available to enthusiasts if you dig around enough, though sometimes U.S. retailers have to import directly from Japan, especially with some of the more uncommon mechanical pencils. While new product releases can be fun, I don’t get my stationery thrills from special and limited edition releases, but rather undiscovered (to me) gems that many people have been using as their everyday writers for years. Personally, I find many of the “innovations” in recent releases gimmicky, and would prefer to concentrate my efforts on raising awareness of existing products that are well made, that meet the needs of most people, and that I want to promote and support so that companies will continue making them.
Do you have a long-term favorite stationery item that you think tends to go un- or under-appreciated among stationery enthusiasts? Drop a comment below or send me a note. As you know, I’m always looking for new products to explore, and yes, we are still growing our own shop and looking for unique stuff that nobody else carries!
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