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!

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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.

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