Joe's Picks: Five Underappreciated Stationery Items Across Five Different Categories

For today’s post, I thought it might be fun to offer five different “picks” from five different stationery categories, highlighting what I’d consider to be underappreciated products that don’t get as much attention as they perhaps should. Most aren’t trendy, and some have been around for quite a while. Someone asked me this question the other day when I was in the shop and I thought it might make for an interesting exercise on the blog.

Some of these picks highlight a specific product, while others name a brand or product line if the individual items are heavily dependent on personal preference (i.e., ink color). Note that this isn’t a “best of” list, but rather my response to the question: “What should I try that often goes overlooked?”

1. Fountain Pens. Pilot Kakuno. No, it’s not just for kids! (Though it’s a great first fountain pen to give anyone, regardless of age.) Because of the smiley-face nib, the Kakuno tends to get written off as a novelty, but it features the same excellent nib as the Pilot Explorer, Metropolitan, and Prera. I have one of the red and grey models, and for a no-nonsense cartridge pen that comes in at under $20, the Kakuno should get way more mainstream attention than it does.

2. Fountain Pen Inks. Anything by Taccia. I won’t pick a color here, but I’ve repeatedly discussed here how Taccia inks are criminally underrated. While certain Ukiyo-e inks (such as Sabimidori and Aomurasaki) receive most of the attention, the standard Taccia line is excellent and competitively priced. The offbeat “Jeans” line has some interesting blacks and blue-blacks.

3. Notebooks. Quo Vadis Habana. One of the brands from within the Exaclair family, the Quo Vadis Habana is a go-to for personal journaling. Slightly larger than standard A5, the Habana contains Clairefontaine paper, but be sure to opt for the bright white dot grid version, as I’ve had mixed results with the ivory lined version in recent years. Featuring a leatherette cover, I’ve always considered this particular notebook higher-end than the Rhodia Webnotebook. The “Webbie” is also good, but I prefer the Habana’s slightly larger page and better paper.

4. Ballpoint Pens: Bic Cristal. I always get criticized for being a proponent of this mass-produced pen, but I consider it a classic of modern consumer design and actually like how it writes. I’m not alone: The original creator of Spoke Design used to make the “Baux Pen”, which is an aluminum upgraded barrel for the Bic Cristal refill that I still love. I guess there’s not enough of a demand to keep these going full time, though the website says they might be coming back in 2025?

5. Rollerballs/Gel Pens: Anything by Ohto. Ohto is a Japanese company that specializes in lower-cost rollerballs and needle-tip gel and ballpoint pens. I also strongly suspect that they are the “white label” manufacturer for many similar products on the market. The pen bodies themselves are nothing fancy, but the refills are always fantastic and the overall price makes for an attractive value proposition. Examples include the CR01 and CR02 Rollerballs, as well as the Jotter-inspired Flash-Dry gel pens.

Unpacking Our First Curated Stationery Box: Check Out T.G.S. on YouTube

We recently did something special, and offered our Patreon supporters a limited run of 10 Curated Stationery Boxes with the same theme as today’s post. Each box included around a half-dozen hand-picked items that fall into what I consider the “underappreciated” category, whether they’re long-existing items buried in manufacturer’s back-catalogs or newly released items that haven’t received much attention. If you’re interested in getting in on the next round, be sure to check out our Patreon program.

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 (1-6) 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.

Your Support Matters! Consider Becoming a TGS Patreon Member and Help Grow Our Community!

Happy New Year! Those of you who have been following this site over the years know that it’s constantly evolved, and 2024 will be no exception. How do we keep the lights on and fund all of this? Direct reader support, either through purchases in the T.G.S. Curated Shop or pledges via T.G.S. Patreon. While T.G.S. posts multiple pieces of original blog and social media content per week, the site hasn’t relied on third-party advertising and affiliate support to pay its bills for several years now. Whether you’re a longtime reader or only recently discovered the site, I’d appreciate it if you’d take a brief moment to browse the carefully curated selection of goods in the shop, and/or visit the Patreon Page. Last month, I wrote a bit about how we curate goods for our shop, and how it integrates into the larger vision for T.G.S. In short, we highlight well-made pens, pencils, paper, and desk and reading accessories that not only look great but are actually meant to be used in your everyday life.

What Does the T.G.S. Patreon Membership Entail?

I’ve enjoyed building an active community both here on the site and on Patreon, which I think of as an “extension” of T.G.S. for our most dedicated readers and supporters. Over the past year the Patreon program consolidated at two levels of monthly support: $3 or $5, with a 10% discount for an annual pledge so you don’t have to deal with recurring charges. Among other benefits, Patreon supporters receive a handwritten thank-you note from me and some swag (depending on support level), a welcome discount code good for one use in the shop, access to the monthly online meetup, early access to T.G.S. exclusive release products and my periodic “Gently Used” sample sales, and special content. My most recent series of exclusive posts was a series on the 2023 Diamine “Inkvent” Calendar, the first of which is publicly available.

I’m looking forward to 2024, and building on what we’ve been able to do with your generous support so far! I plan to share more about what’s in store for this year in the coming weeks, as I’m constantly exploring new ways to grow our community.

Tuesday Drops: A New Batch of Gently Used Items!

One of the benefits that T.G.S. Patreon supporters receive is first access to periodic batches of gently used pens, inks, and papers. Most of these items are pens I’ve acquired over the years for review, product testers or samples for the store, and pens from my personal collection which I no longer use so I’ve decided to contribute for sale in order to fund the site. After Patreon has had their pass, I move items to the “Gently Used” Section of the main T.G.S. website, where they will be available for purchase by the general readership. This morning, I moved over a handful of gently used items, most of which are like new and some of which are still in the wrapping, including a couple of nice limited editions.

I launched the Patreon almost three years ago because I didn’t like running third-party ads on the site and continuing to depend on affiliate marketing. Thanks to the Patreon and the success of the T.G.S. Curated Shop, we’re now fully self-sufficient! If you’d like to learn more about Patreon, which has both a $3 and $5 monthly tier for supporters (with a full-year prepaid discount available), check out the main T.G.S. Patreon page. Many thanks to all of you who have supported T.G.S. over the years!

Thank You For Your Support, and How to Help T.G.S. Grow in 2022

Those of you who have been following this site over the years know that it’s undergone a bit of a transformation since 2020. While T.G.S. still posts at least two pieces of original content per week, the site no longer relies on third-party advertising and affiliate support to pay its bills. How do we keep the lights on? Direct reader support, whether that be through purchases in the T.G.S. Curated Shop or pledges via T.G.S. Patreon. I won’t make an extended plug here, but whether you’re a longtime reader or only recently discovered the site, I’d appreciate it if you’d take a brief moment to browse the carefully curated selection of goods in the shop, and/or visit the Patreon Page. Any level of support is greatly appreciated. We recently added annual memberships to the Patreon, which offers a discount on a paid-up-front subscription. I’m looking forward to 2022, and building on what we’ve been able to do with your generous support so far!

The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized retailer of all brands sold. The goods stocked in the shop are carefully selected to match the mission of T.G.S. in general, which is to highlight well-made pens, pencils, paper, and desk and reading accessories that not only look great but are actually meant to be used in your everyday life.

Tuesday Update: Revamped Archive, Updated Resources, and A New E-mail Option

I’ve fallen behind on housekeeping lately, and it was actually fairly satisfying to use part of last week’s “Staycation” to finish up some necessary behind-the-scenes updates to the blog archive and informational resources. There’s a wealth of content here at T.G.S. and one of my ongoing projects has been to figure out how best to make the back archive more easily navigable. Recently, I’ve added a new feature: a Pen Review archive that organizes all of the past T.G.S. Reviews, by brand, as well as an updated “Workhorse Pens” page that contains links to all of the posts I’ve written on pens I consider to be true “workhorses,” just like the Opus 88s I reviewed on Saturday. For those curious about my evaluation process, I try to update all of my various “Best Pen Recommendations” at least annually, and sometimes more frequently, as I do with my running post on Fountain Pen Friendly Paper. I hope you find these useful in making informed decisions on the pens, inks, and paper that you’re looking to purchase and use!

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Finally, if you follow me on social media, and if you read this week’s Sunday Reading, you’ll know about the ever-increasing difficulties facing small businesses these days. It’s even harder where the majority of your online activity is devoted to providing free content, and I’d like to keep it that way. If you’re a longtime reader, and want to help support T.G.S., please consider joining the T.G.S. Patreon Program to offer your monthly support (there’s also a discounted annual pledge option), and if you’re in the market for a new pen, ink, or notebook, please consider shopping our curated selection of goods in the T.G.S. Curated Shop. Under the advice of friends much more experienced in online retail than I am, I also plan to launch a monthly “shop update” e-mail that is currently in the works, and which I plan to be less-frequent-but-more-involved than the typical e-mail blasts you receive from retailers, meaning more detail on why I’ve chosen to stock certain products and how I think they fit the vision of my shop. If you’d like to sign up to receive this e-mail, just visit the “subscribe” e-mail on the side bar and opt-in to receive e-mail marketing notices. (There’s also an opportunity to opt-in when you check out in the shop.)

Again, many thanks for all of you who have supported T.G.S. over the years, and I’m doing everything I can to make sure T.G.S. stays around for the long haul!