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Fingers Were Meant to be Inky

/ / Ink, Reviews / 1 Comment

Quick Look: Robert Oster Signature Inks (Part 4)

Banner image for the Robert Oster Signature Ink Quick Look posts 4 and 5. This banner shows inks swatches from 12 Robert Oster Signature Inks.

Busy Beaver…Or would that be Busy Platypus in Australia?

Robert Oster might be the hardest working man in the fountain pen ink industry these days. Yeah, yeah, I know…I can hear the chorus of “What about Nathan Tardif?” and I haven’t even pushed the Publish button yet. True Story: Nathan is a machine. But this post isn’t about him, it’s about Rob Oster, who exploded onto the fountain pen scene not even a year ago, but has managed to win the hearts and minds (and money) of fountain pen users across the globe in that very short timespan.

It seems like we can’t go more than a couple weeks without… Read More

/ / Fountain Pens, Reviews / 6 Comments

Yongsheng 088 Fountain Pen Review

The Yongsheng 088 Fountain Pen, capped and laying down

Straight outta the “You sure looked different in your picture” file, an inexpensive Chinese pen from a mysterious manufacturer…

Yongsheng 088 Fountain Pen

Price: $8.00
Nib: Medium/Fine
Filling System: Cartridge/Converter (International Standard)

About the Company:

This one has me mystified. I’ve heard in the past that “Yongsheng” is a slightly different translation/Romanized spelling of “Wing Sung” and that they’re made by the same company (both of which would be owned by Hero now). And in seemingly logical fashion, the Yongsheng 088 did, in fact, come with a Wing Sung nib installed. Cut and dried situation, right? Except that I went looking for some background on Yongsheng and where the name came from, only to find reference to two separate Yonghseng pen companies: Jieyang Yongsheng Pen Manufacturing Factory and Zhejiang Tonglu Yonghseng Pen making Factory.

Now, Jieyang and Zhejiang seem like they could be different spellings of the same name; however, these two companies have different postal addresses, indicating that they are most likely different companies. Kind of a weird thing. More weird things… Read More

/ / Ink, Reviews / 7 Comments

Quick Look: KWZ Standard Inks (Part 2)

Banner image for the Quick Look Review of six KWZ Standard Inks

Bold and Rich…These Inks Don’t Fool Around!

Here’s a look at six more KWZ Standard inks. This set isn’t quite as bright and colorful as the first, but it’s no less impressive. These colors are a little more low-key and serious, but they’re still very rich and deep.

A Little Deeper Look into KWZ’s History

KWZ Ink had a pretty humble start. Back in 2012, Konrad began making inks for himself, trying to produce a permanent/waterproof ink he could use in the lab. Unable to find the kinds of inks he desired locally, he researched how to make inks and started experimenting. After about 100 attempts, he found… Read More

/ / Ink, Reviews / 4 Comments

Quick Look: KWZ Standard Inks (Part 1)

Banner image for the Quick Look Review of six KWZ Standard Inks

Eksplozja Kolorów: Beautiful & Vibrant Colors from Poland!

About a year ago, I started to see KWZ inks mentioned on the Fountain Pen Network and shortly afterward, I noticed them for sale at Vanness. They started to get lots of positive “press” around the innernets from various reviewers and blogs, and I picked up a couple samples. I instantly fell in love with Foggy Green, and decided they warranted a closer look.

KWZ Ink is a small ink company run by chemists Agnieszka and Konrad Żurawski in a town just outside of Warsaw, Poland. The KWZ vision began in 2012 when Konrad—unhappy with the performance and variety of the Iron Gall (IG) inks that were available—decided to try creating his own. Konrad used his super-charged chemistry skills to… Read More

/ / Ink, Reviews / 10 Comments

Quick Look: Six Organics Studio Inks

Banner image for Organics Studio Ink Quick Look, Part 1

Now you see ’em. Now you don’t. Now you see ’em again.

Organics Studio (OS) is a company I (regretfully) avoided early on. When I started working with fountain pens a few years ago, there was a pretty big kerfuffle going on about certain “boutique” ink brands. People were complaining about SITB (Slime/Stuff in the Bottle) issues with Private Reserve. Others were swearing up and down that Noodler’s Baystate Blue was eating their pens. There was a lot of FUD going on. Some things I chose to ignore (I did buy a pile of Noodler’s ink), but others stuck with me. For some reason, I lumped Organics Studio in with all the scary issues. I think there was one or two reports of SITB in their inks, so I relegated them to the “Do Not Bother” list.

Fortunately, I kept hearing a lot of good things about these inks, and decided to give them a try anyway (plus, even giant brands like Montblanc and J Herbin had issues with SITB, so the one or two reported occurrences with OS inks seemed more like anomalies than an ongoing issue). Unfortunately

… Read More

/ / Fountain Pens, Reviews / 2 Comments

Yiren 856 Fountain Pen Review

Yiren 856 Fountain Pen Uncapped, with the cap laying down and the pen resting on top of it

Inexpensive. Chinese. Classy. Dependable. Bigfooty. It’s the…

Yiren 856 Fountain Pen

Price: $7.50
Nib: Medium (#5)
Filling System: Standard International Cartridge & Converter

About the Company & Pen:

Yiren has probably become my favorite Chinese fountain pen brand. It’s not just because their pens are attractive and work well (they are…and they do). It’s also because the Yiren (or Yeren…or 野人) is the Chinese Bigfoot (or Sasquatch…or Skunk Ape). Yes, I know. I mention that every time I talk about Yiren pens. And I will continue to do so every time from here to eternity. I like fountain pens. I like bigfoot. It’s a match made in heaven. Deal with it.

Yiren, and their sister brand Bookworm, are made by the Nanchang Yiren Pen Company from the Chinese town of Wengang. Yiren refers to Wengang as the “pen capital” of China. I can neither confirm nor deny this claim, but it sounds like… Read More

/ / Babble, Ink / 9 Comments

I’m So Bluuuuuuuu…For Youuuuuuuuu!

A comparison of ten medium blue fountain pen inks (Blackstone Barrier Reef Blue, De Atramentis Steel Blue, Noodler's Navy, Levenger Empyrean, Noodler's Ottoman Azure, Pelikan Edelstein Topaz, Pilot Iroshizuku Kon-Peki, Robert Oster Blue Sea, Robert Oster School Blue, Toucan Bright Blue). This image shows the water test in progress.

A Comparison of Blues Similar to Noodler’s Navy

Google+ has a really nice fountain pen community going. It’s not super busy there, but a group of dedicated regulars keep the conversation going. There’s a lot of information sharing, show-and-tell, and (of course) questions & calls for recommendations. Regular contributor Nathan stopped in to ask for recommendation: He was looking for a blue similar to Noodler’s Navy, but that was even more water-resistant.

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!!!!

I knew that Noodler’s published a
… Read More

/ / Fountain Pens, Reviews / 3 Comments

Think Pens Couture Review (Vacation & Violino)

Think Couture Fountain Pens (Vacation and Violino) Uncapped, with the pens laying down beside their caps

I’m not sure whether to include these pens in my “Took a Flyer” file or my “Impulse Buy” file. I guess I’ll copy this review and place it in both files. Like I really have files.

Think Pens Couture Fountain Pens: Vacation & Violino

Price: $45.00 each
Nib: Medium
Filling System: Cartridge/Converter (Standard International)

About the Company & Pens:

Okay, so I’m going to do something a little different with this review and look at two pens instead of just one. Although the two pens have different designs, they employ the same “guts” internally, and they are part of the much larger “Couture” line of pen designs. The problem with Think Pens is that… Read More

/ / Paper, Reviews / 2 Comments

Greenroom Recycled Notebooks Review

The three Greenroom Recycled Notebooks showing the three cover designs

I’m just going to get it out now. I have a problem. A paper problem. Well, it’s not the paper that’s the problem. I’m the problem. Or more specifically, my infatuation with paper is the problem. I have far more notebooks than I could ever use. Yet I still buy more. Why? Because I want them. I need them. If I don’t have them, I’ll just die. I know that may seem like a gross exaggeration, but I’m holding to it.

On a recent trip to Target, I thought I heard someone calling for help in the stationery aisle. I dashed over there to find that it was… Read More

/ / Ink, Reviews / 2 Comments

Quick Look: Robert Oster Signature Inks (Part 3)

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Robert Oster Signature Inks: That’s a Wrap! (Yeah, Right)

Inspired by the Australian nature surrounding him, Rob Oster engaged in much research and thought, which culminated in his first fountain pen ink: Lime Green (although he originally named it Matcha Green). After coming up with a few more colors, he started selling his inks on eBay. He made a few sales and worked with his customers to understand what makes great inks great.

Sales started to pick up, a few prominent bloggers wrote reviews and spread the word, and at that point, all hell broke loose. In a matter of five months, he went from… Read More