Image via Retro 51

Our pen pouches were packed to the breaking point in this episode. We got a first look at Retro 51’s new releases, raved about orange things, and decided which pen company we would like to take over and set them on the right path. Good times!

Show Notes & Download Links

This episode of The Pen Addict is sponsored by:

Harry’s: Redeem your trial set!

Casper: The Internet’s favourite mattress. Get $50 off select mattresses with the code ‘PENADDICT’.

eero: Never think about WiFi again. Use code PENADDICT for free overnight shipping.

Another giveaway in the books, keeping the streak alive! This time, it’s the Elemental Paper Nitrogen Notebook headed to a new owner. And the winner is:

Congrats Aaron! Check your email and let me know your shipping address.

Each week in Refill, the Pen Addict Members newsletter, I publish Ink Links as part of the additional content you receive for being a member. And each week, after 10 to 15 links, plus my added commentary on each, I'm left with many great items I want to share. Enter Misfill. Here are this weeks links:

— Notebook Review: Franklin-Christoph Vagabond Notebook Refills (The Well-Appointed Desk)

— Bentley and Graf von Faber-Castell Team Up For A Pen (Forbes)

— “Skater For Life”: Fascinating Vintage Photos Of Judi Oyama, Who Began Skating In 1973 When She Was 13 Till Now! (Design You Trust)

— Ink Review: De Atramentis Pearlescent Cyan Blue (Mountain of Ink)

— Crush Walls 2018: Shepard Fairey (Juxtapoz Magazine)

— bruce brown… “endless summer” (doane paper feed)

— An eclectic range of zines, books and prints: it’s September Things! (It’s Nice That)

— New Materials and Lots of Updates Coming Soon…. (Edison Pen Co.)

— Frank Stephens field notes, 1908-1910 (Biodiversity Heritage Library)

— Kunisawa Japanese Notebooks Unboxing & First Impressions (Gourmet Pens)

— Christie’s Expects $51M for One of China’s ‘Da Vinci’ Scrolls, But Provenance Questions Remain (Hyperallergic)

— That Crazy Rock and Roll Baptist Preacher who turned out to be an Artistic Genius (Messy Messy Chic)

— A Sneak Peek Behind Opening the Studio Shop (Wonder Pens)

— Review: Lamy Nexx (Alt. Haven)

— Procyon (Crónicas Estilográficas)

— Doodle The Day Away (Doodlers Anonymous)

— Pen Review: Schon DSGN Classic and Clip Collections (The Gentleman Stationer)

— Personajes con estilográfica: Frida Kahlo (El Pajarete Orquidiado)

Want to catch the rest, plus extra articles, reviews, commentary, discounts, and more? Try out a Pen Addict Membership for only $5 per month!

Have you ever had trouble deciding if you like a product or not? I’m running into that right now with the Midori MD Pencil.

That makes for a strange review. Do I like it? Do I love it? Do I want some more of it? I don’t know. It’s obviously good and I keep using it, but what is my opinion on it? What should I tell you about it?

It’s a pencil. That’s the hangup for most non-pencil people. “They are all the same Brad!” No, not at all. But this one. This one I can’t tell you what to do.

It’s not as good as my favorite pencils. That list includes the Blackwing 602, Tombow Mono 100, and the Mitsubishi Office 9850 for starters, and even more included in the Pencils For Pen Lovers Sampler Set. And I love using pencils. There is hardly a day that goes by where I’m not enjoying one of the many pencils that live on my desk. I LOVE using pencils!

It’s not as bad as bad pencils. I haven’t tried many bad pencils on purpose, and if you stick with brands that are sold by all of your favorite online vendors, you don’t have to worry about that either. You know bad when you get them. Scratchy graphite, non-centered cores, janky wood quality, and Wopex.

It’s expensive. It’s not egregious at $1.83 per pencil from CW Pencil Enterprise, but that is on the upper end of the pencil spectrum. As a pen person at heart, and as someone who pays hundreds of dollars for a single fountain pen, it is funny to call that expensive. But it matters. Just like any product, price vs. perceived value vs. competition comes into play when making a buying decision.

I enjoyed it while using it over the past couple of weeks. It has good point retention, which is one of the most important features of a pencil to me. Even as a B-grade, which is softer than my preferred graphite hardness. That gives it a nice darkness as well, another favorite feature of mine. The satin finish looks and feels nice, and I’m perfectly fine with the no eraser style. I may even prefer it.

So, what should you do? If you are a Midori fan, then it is a no-brainer. It fits their style and aesthetic perfectly, and, of course, they are high quality. If you are a general nice pencil fan, then there are better options out there. If you want to try good pencils for the very first time, I’m not sure this one should even be on the radar.

Reviewing middle of the road products is the hardest. If there is no one thing that is great, or no one thing that is bad, what do you hang your hat on?

Maybe nothing, other than enjoying it for what it is.

Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Notebooks have been a fun weekly giveaway item every week, and this week, I’m dishing out one of my favorites. The Studio Neat Panobook has been one of my most-used stationery items this year, and I have one to give away. Read the rules below and enter away!

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

One of my favorite pens growing up was a non-branded rollerball with a twist mechanism and rubber grip section. I don't remember what kind of refill it took, but it was smooth and dark. The internals were brass, which gave the pen a nice weight. It's one of the pens that led me down this journey so many years ago. One of my favorite things about that pen was the color: gunmetal. I was delighted to pull out this Faber Castell Loom and take in the gunmetal goodness that makes up the entire body.

The Faber Castell Loom is a premium fountain pen with a steel nib and snap cap. The particular color/finish I have is a matte gunmetal, which I absolutely love. It's not as hefty as my old pen from my childhood, but it's also not made of brass.

The pen looks a bit chunky when sitting on my desk, mostly due to the thick body and large cap. But when you pick this pen up, you're surprised by the lack of weight. It's much lighter than it looks, and that translates to comfortable writing.

The EF nib is stainless steel and has a surprising amount of flex. While this isn't a flex nib by design, it offers a pleasant amount of give which produces some nice line variation with gentle pressure. The nib writes reliably and with great flow, but it is a tad scratchy. This is something that can easily be corrected with some minor tuning, however.

The nib is also lightly decorated with the Faber Castell logo, the nib size, and some small dots that remind me of filigree.

The grip section is slightly tapered toward the end and also has a few embossed grip rings that provide a surprising amount of comfort and stability. I've used this pen for some longer writing sessions, and it's incredibly comfortable.

The cap is a snap design that feels very secure when in place. It takes moderate pressure to uncap, but not so much that I worry about losing my grip or sloshing ink. Capping the pen produces a nice click/clunk sound. You can also post the cap on the back of the pen, but I feel that the unposted length/balance is perfect for writing.

The cap also has a debossed Faber Castell name and logo. While the name/logo is fairly large, I think it's still pleasing and classy due to the lack of paint. The plain deboss doesn't draw too much attention. The top of the cap also features the Faber Castell logo in a shiny finial that is also part of the clip.

The clip is spring-loaded, but nothing like that of the Lamy 2000. It's strong, but doesn't match up to the perfection of the 2000. Even so, it does a great job of attaching the pen to other objects, and it looks great while doing it. There's a nice arch at the tip of the clip that makes it easy to guide onto a pocket or pouch.

One of my favorite parts of this pen is the end of the body. Instead of a flat surface, the butt of this pen features a beautiful concave design that adds a bit of visual interest to an otherwise boring piece of the pen.

The color of the pen body is a matte gunmetal, and I absolutely love it. It does have a bit of shine, but it's very subdued. The cap is a matte black that compliments the gunmetal perfectly.

Overall, I've really enjoyed using the Loom. I wasn't sure I would like it due to the thick body, but I was proven wrong. The cap also threw me off at first because it's so long and chunky compared to the rest of the pen. At this point, I see it as a design element that I wouldn't change. At just shy of $60, this pen falls into an awkward price point. It has to compete with the likes of Lamy Al-Stars, Kaweco AL-Sports, and TWSBIs without offering any clear advantages to justify the minor bump in price. To me, this is an affordable luxury pen, and if you like the aesthetic, the pen won't let you down.

(Vanness Pens loaned this product to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter.)

It's probably hyperbole to say that ring binders have changed the world, but is it, really? They've certainly changed the school supply world, and the basic technology is so simple and effective that they themselves have remained almost unchanged for as long as I've been around. As with any technology, if you can't improve it, make it smaller. The Maruman Into-One Mini-Sized Binder is the perfect example of a classic product made useful in whole new ways just by making it wee.

The binder has a flexible polypropylene cover with a light texture. It's very light and thin, so it keeps the binder's profile slim enough that it can fit in a back pocket. The spine is held together with rivets to the ring plate. The rings are plastic and have a pinch-to-open mechanism. They work well, though I worry about the durability of the clear plastic. The binder lies perfectly flat when open. The cover does bow a bit when lying closed.

For being so small, it holds a surprising number of sheets. The paper is available in 5 mm grid, lined, scrap paper, or drawing paper. As with other Maruman papers I've tried, it behaves very well. It's smooth, holds a crisp line of writing, and doesn't allow for feathering or bleed-through. The paper is strong enough that it doesn't tear away from the rings easily, so I've had no trouble with pages falling loose. The sheets are slightly larger than a 3 x 5 card. They'd make great flash cards or study notes.

There are also card and zipper pockets that fit into the binder, much like those for Traveler's Notebooks. And with the different papers available, these could easily be a customizable journal or planner system. I've been using mine primarily for making lists and writing down reminders--like a commonplace book where I can decide how much of each sort of paper I need. It's like an auxiliary planner. A place to dump my raw brain data before I organize it into my actual planner.

I think this is a great little product. I love being able to customize my notebook and the small size makes it easy to carry around. I can scribble down an important address, grab a stamp from the pocket, and store the post office receipt all in one place. Oh, hey, that's probably why they call it "Into-One". I love it and I'll get good use out of it until one of my kids steals it.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

Colorverse’s Trailblazer in Space Series pays homage to animals, insects, and rockets that were launched into space. The Strelka and JFK’s Dog Pushinka set is based on the following story: in 1960, two dogs named Strelka and Belka boarded Sputnik 2. They were accompanied by forty mice, two rats, and several plants, and they successfully orbited Earth eighteen times. Strelka later gave birth to a litter of puppies. One of them, Pushinka, was given as a gift to John F. Kennedy (Dogs in Space).

Photo Credit: Cecil Stoughton. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston; Public Domain

The Strelka/Pushinka set comes with some pretty fabulous packaging. The outer box has pictures of both dogs with their respective color inks. The inner box is decorated with stars and the solar system.

In addition to the ink, the box contains some extra goodies: two branded napkins for wiping ink off nibs, a cardboard bookmark, a cardboard pen holder, and stickers.

Strelka

The Strelka ink comes in a 65ml teardrop-shaped bottle. It is a bright, peacock blue color with little shading or sheen.

I tested the ink using a Sailor Cross Point nib on Maruman Septcouleur paper. The ink flows extremely well and is definitely an eye-catching color. It’s a wet ink and is not colorfast.

My chromatography test showed little variation in color.

The color is really quite beautiful. But writers (like me) who enjoy shading and/or sheen will be disappointed that Strelka is so flat.

JFK’s Pushinka

The Pushinka ink comes in a tiny 15ml bottle. Pushinka is a rather odd color that looks tan in swabs. But with a nib it almost looks looks greenish. The ink does not contain any sheen.

I tested this ink using my Franklin-Christoph medium SIG Flex nib on Maruman Septcouleur paper. It exhibits a tiny bit of shading when you write with it, but is a flat tan color in swabs. It is much drier than Strelka ink, and it is not waterproof.

The chromatography test indicates that this rather bland color actually contains several interesting hues: gray, yellow, orange, and blue.

In spite of the cool chromatography, I’m not at all impressed with this drab color, though it does capture the tan colors of Pushinka’s ears and tail. Although the tiny bottle is adorable, it’s not practical for pens with large or long nibs. In fact, I filled the converter straight from the bottle rather than trying to draw ink up through the nib.

This is my first experience with Colorverse inks, and I’m definitely intrigued, even though the colors I tested didn’t have shading and sheen. I love the space themes Colorverse emphasizes, and I hope to try out some different colors in the future. You can purchase this Trailblazer set from JetPens for $33.00.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

I’m not completely sure, but I think Myke’s next purchase for his home will be a lighted museum cabinet to hold all of his new Sailor pens. Actually, knowing him they will just be tossed in a drawer, inked in perpetuity. As it should be.

Pilot also did a thing, and we discussed it. A lot.

Show Notes & Download Links

This episode of The Pen Addict is sponsored by:

Pen Chalet: Click the ‘podcast’ link at the top of the website and enter the password ‘penaddict’ for this week’s special offer, and to get your code for 10% off.

Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code PENADDICT at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.

I’m a big fan of the Studio Neat Panobook and I’m glad to be able to give one away to a Pen Addict reader to see how awesome it is. And the winner is:

Congrats! I’ve sent you an email to collect your shipping address. Thanks to everyone who entered.

Each week in Refill, the Pen Addict Members newsletter, I publish Ink Links as part of the additional content you receive for being a member. And each week, after 10 to 15 links, plus my added commentary on each, I'm left with many great items I want to share. Enter Misfill. Here are this weeks links:

— Paper Review: Milligram Studio Linen Notebook (The Pencilcase Blog)

— Twsbi GO: Mecánica Híbrida. (El Pajarete Orquidiado)

— Ink Comparison: Montblanc Honoré de Balzac Dandy Turquoise (Macchiato Man)

— Jake’s Take (YouTube)

— How am I Not Burned Out? (Hank Green)

— Hilarious Questions Posed To The New York Public Library Pre-Internet (Design You Trust)

— This Artist’s Earthy Palettes Create Serious Fall Vibes (Doodlers Anonymous)

— Thinking: Blue Inks That Photocopy (Comfortable Shoes Studio)

— Lamy 2000 Makrolon Fountain Pen Review @Lamy (Gourmet Pens)

— The Best Bullet Journal Supplies for Beginners: 2018 (The Strategist)

— The Art Of Insomniac’s Spider-Man (Kotaku)

— Review: Pelikan Edelstein Olivine (Alt. Haven)

— J. Herbin Bleu de Calanque (Wondernaut)

Want to catch the rest, plus extra articles, reviews, commentary, discounts, and more? Try out a Pen Addict Membership for only $5 per month!

It the most recent episode of the Pen Addict podcast, Myke and I discussed some of our favorite school supplies. This brought back a ton of memories for me, especially since it has been a VERY long time since I was in school.

My school supply heyday was the late-80’s, and while we discussed a few items from that era, we skipped over one of my primary writing tools: The mechanical pencil.

The Pentel Sharp P205 and the Pentel Quicker Clicker were my workhorses. As someone who was committed to the finest lines I could find, 0.5 mm mechanical pencils were a core option for me. I couldn’t afford the engineering pencils from the college bookstore I frequented, but I could liberate the P205 from my dad’s office (remember when office supplies were good?) And, the Quicker Clicker was inexpensive and available at the grocery store.

So, what does this lead up have to do with the Tombow Mono Graph Grip Shaker? It made me fall in love with durable plastic barrel mechanical pencils. I pick one up today, like this one, and am immediately transformed back to my teenage years.

Don’t get these pencils confused with the trash that is disposable plastic barrel mechanical pencils like the Paper Mate SharpWriter. These are quality pencils with added features that will last years if taken care of.

The feature list of the Tombow Mono Shaker is impressive. The primary feature is even in the name. This is a shaker pencil, meaning a quick flick of the wrist will extend the lead, while keeping your hand in the writing position. There is a knock as well, in this case, in the clip which can be depressed for the same effect.

Speaking of the clip, it has a locking mechanism to keep the shaker from extending the lead when getting tossed around in your backpack. On top of that, it has and extra-large, extra-wide eraser that can be twisted to be extended or stored away. Did I mention that the eraser is the best in the business? That too.

That’s a lot of stuff!

Admittedly, Tombow has confused their own market (and me) with the introduction of this pencil. At $7.25, it is close in price to the $6.00 plastic grip, plastic clip, and similarly named Tombow Mono Graph Shaker. Are the rubber grip and metal clip enough to introduce a completely different pencil? There are metallic paint jobs too, but they are awfully similar.

In the end, either of these pencils are excellent in my book. They offer more than I expect in this mechanical pencil price point, and look great to boot.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Image via JetPens

Happy Hobonichi season! September is release month for many of the 2019 planners, none more popular than the A6 Hobonichi Techo in my book. The size, the style, the paper - everything about it is right on the mark. Even the covers have been popular with their variety and quality.

I have one A6 Techo Planner with the Very Berry red cover to give away this week. Read the rules below and enter away!

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

A couple of weeks ago, Susan posted a review of the Find A5 notebook, and I also wrote about the Find Pocket notebook, both of which are produced by Kunisawa.

To round out my own experiences with these notebooks, I have the Kunisawa Find Smart notebooks. These notebooks are a unique offering because of their size. They don't fit a standard ISO paper size, but it's similar to a slim version of a B6 notebook. At only 95x167mm, it's a size that will easily fit in a pocket or pouch, but affords you some extra vertical space for writing. It's about the same width as a standard Field Notes book, but you get an extra inch on top.

Another unique attribute of this notebook is the cover. It's a nicely constructed hard cover with an elegant gold-debossed logo on the front. Apart from the company slogan in the inside front cover ("I do not seek, I find") and the additional logo in the inside back cover, there is no other branding on this book. It's delightfully minimal.

The binding is well done on all three books I have. It's a stitched binding that's also glued into a spine and covered with the hardcover. It seems incredibly durable and feels great. The book has no trouble laying flat and closing properly.

The notebook also features gold foil on the page edges, but I'm not a fan of gold foiled pages. It does match the front logo foil, so that's nice. If I had the option, I'd go with plain white paper edges over gold foil any day.

Once you open the notebook, you're greeted with some polarizing graph paper. It's a small 2.5mm grid, which can take some getting used to if you don't use it regularly. I don't use it very often, so my eyes struggled to cope with the small squares the first few times I opened the book. After writing for a bit, I figured out the sweet spot for my writing, but I don't prefer this kind of graph paper. I'd rather have a standard 5mm graph.

Unlike the other Kunisawa notebooks we've reviewed here, this paper is a noticeable cream color. I'm not a huge fan of the color of the paper, as it can alter the appearance of some inks. Again, after using it for a bit, I stopped noticing.

Once I started writing with this paper, I was pleasantly surprised. It's a decent paper, but not as fountain pen friendly as they claim. It can certainly handle a wide variety of inks and pens, but you can kiss the back of the page goodbye. In some instances, there is heavy feathering depending on the ink you use. The show-through to the back page is significant. Depending on the pens you use, the back page won't be useful.

Despite the "meh" performance, it's a very smooth paper and is pleasant to use. It's comparable to Field Notes paper in how it handles different inks, but it's a tad smoother.

On the Kunisawa website, the Find Smart notebook goes for 1,000 yen (each), which translates to about $9. At this price, I can't recommend the notebook when I know what other options exist in the stationery world. It's a decent notebook, but I'm not sure it lives up to the price.

Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter.)

TWSBI’s, man. When they are good, they are SO GOOD. This pen is so good. I still get nervous about TWSBIs, after having two break and one leak all over, but this one has held up to my rigorous writing routine and has been nothing but gorgeous and reliable. It's gone from purse to pocket to pen case, with nary a crack or drip. It's comfortable to hold, writes very well, and packs enough ink to get me through several weeks of productive writing.

This 580ALR is an update to the existing line of Diamond 580s, with a matte, brushed, grey anodized aluminum. The grip and cap accents are textured with a fine rib that looks neat and helps keep the grip section secure in your hand. The piston mechanism is this same brushed grey. It's a very crisp, industrial look. The only thing that ruins it, I think, is that the clip is still shiny chrome. It stands out in an odd way, when all the other metal accents are matte. I can understand how it would be tricky to specially manufacture a regular component like that, and it likely would have had to drive the cost up, but it would have looked cooler.

The ridged grip feels very comfortable and looks awesome, but the grooves do hold on to dirt, and ink gets in them with every fill. It rinses out, but it will probably always look a little grungy between cleanings.

The cap is clear with a smoky inner lining. Ink can get trapped between the lining and inner cap. There are tricks to removing the lining and cleaning it out, but it can be a pain.

The body is the faceted clear plastic of all Diamond 580s. It's window-clear, and the facets stop it from rolling and look lovely in the light. There are a few places where this plastic screws together with metal parts, so be very careful not to overtighten any of the joins, or you may risk cracks.

The ink chamber in the body holds a whopping 1.95 ml of ink. It feels like it lasts forever. It's perfect for longer projects, writing trips, or for a student who doesn't want to risk running out of ink mid-lecture notes. I'm so curious about how far this much ink will get me that I'm planning to test it out this November during NaNoWriMo.

Like the other 580s, this pen should not be posted. It doesn't work well--the cap is too heavy, it doesn't post deeply enough to stay, and it can risk twisting the piston knob and spilling ink everywhere. Fortunately, the pen is big enough that it really doesn't need to be posted.

The nibs come in EF, F, M, B, and 1.1 stub. Mine is an EF and writes perfectly--smooth with good feedback, a true EF line, with the perfect amount of wetness. The nib unit can be easily swapped and nibs are available separately, so you can change your line width as needed, or replace a nib when necessary.

The whole pen can be disassembled with the included wrench for easy maintenance and cleaning--but be sure to do your homework before you take it all apart. There are some great videos with instructions to make sure you can get it all back together again in working order.

This pen has proven to be an excellent workhorse over the past few weeks. It's such a reliable writer that it gets more attention than my fancier, more pricey pens in rotation, and it's earned more than one compliment when I've used it at work. It's a great blend of the classic and modern advantages of fountain pens. I like this pen enough that it may have cured me of my TWSBI jitters. Of course, its longevity will factor into that. If it survives NaNoWriMo this year, I'll know I've got a winner on my hands.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

The Syahi Imperator is a fountain pen from India that is made from Wenge wood and has gold-plated trims. Syahi (pronounced “si-ya-hee”) is the Urdu word for ink. This Indian company was founded by Sanay Shah and Aayush Bansai in 2017. They craft their pens using kiln-dried heartwood, which is carved and then reinforced with brass and finished using natural oils.

The model I’m reviewing is called The Imperator. It comes nicely packaged in a rectangular box with a pull-out drawer.

Underneath the pen you’ll also find a faux leather black pen pouch. Unfortunately my pouch has a noticeable scratch on the back. Still, it’s a nice accessory to include with a wooden pen.

The Imperator is a large fountain pen, measuring 5.51 inches (140mm) capped and 5.11 inches (130mm) uncapped. Posting is not recommended because it will mar the wood.

The pen has a flat top and bottom, which I really like since it sets the pen apart from the more common cigar-shaped pens.

The cap is adorned with a 24k gold-plated clip and a large cap ring.

The ring is engraved with “Syahi” on one side and the company’s logo (four nibs crossed) on the other.

When you unscrew the cap, gold-plated threads are revealed. The inside of the cap is lined with plastic, presumably to protect the wood and also to prevent the ink from drying out (but see below). The threads inside the cap are plastic. Although screwing the cap on and off isn’t difficult, sometimes the threads didn’t catch immediately. At times the screwing motion felt a bit rough, as though the plastic and gold-plated threads had not been thoroughly sanded.

The grip is plastic. At first I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t wood, because I love how wood feels. But, this design choice makes sense. When you dip the pen into an ink bottle to fill it, it’s inevitable that some ink will get on the grip. If it were made of wood, it would very likely stain. I’d rather have a plastic grip than take the chance that a saturated ink would permanently stain a wooden grip.

The wood itself is a beautiful dark brown with lots of texture. Although it has been treated with sealant, it is otherwise unadorned. This wood isn’t shiny like it would be if it had been varnished. I like the matte finish, and over time the oils from my hands will give the wood character.

The nib is a two-tone steel semi-flex fine. It is engraved with the logo and “Syahi.”

The company states that the nibs are “German engineered,” but I don’t know if they are JOWO or Bock nibs. Regardless, the nib on this pen is beautiful and exhibits a good amount of line variation.

Unfortunately, the nib is also quite scratchy, and it skips during lengthy writing sessions. The reason for this became apparent when I took macro shots of the nib. It’s clear that the tines are misaligned.

I’ve also experienced hard starts every time I use the pen, even if it’s only been capped for a few hours. To get it flowing again I have to lick it (I know, gross), or, in some cases, I have to manually push ink into the nib using the converter. I’m not sure if the nib simply dries out when not in use or if the feed struggles to keep up with the ink flow, or both.

The pen fills with the included screw-in converter or you can use cartridges.

You can purchase the Syahi Imperator directly from the company. The Imperator with gold trims and a steel nib costs $169. You can get this model with brass trims for $10 less. If you prefer a gold nib, you’ll need to add $80 to the cost. Syahi also offers two other models: The Monarch and The Crown.

Pros

• Syahi pens are gorgeous wooden pens at a reasonable cost.
• The wood on the pen warms to your hand and feels very comfortable. Even though the pen is large, it is not heavy.
• The design elements on the pen are understated and classic.
• Although my nib is scratchy due to misaligned tines, it is a genuine semi-flex nib that offers excellent line variation when flexed.
• The pen pouch included with the pen is a nice accessory that helps protect your wooden pen.

Cons

• Unfortunately, the tines on my nib are misaligned, resulting in a scratchy writing experience and skipping.
• For some reason, the nib dries out between uses, even if only a few hours have passed. This means I have to get the ink flowing one way or another, which is an inconvenience.
• The threads seem to have a few rough spots when I cap and uncap the pen.

(Syahi provided this pen at no cost to Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Listener mail is the best. Especially handwritten listener mail from a 9 year-old. Starting them young - I love it! Myke also gives us an update on the great Sailor shipment of 2018, I discuss my confusion over the new Pilot Explorer.

Show Notes & Download Links

This episode of The Pen Addict is sponsored by:

Harry’s: Redeem your trial set!

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For my money, there is no better planner on the market than the Hobonichi Techo. I make sure to give one away every year to spread the word about this awesome product. And this year, it goes to:

Congrats Brian! I’ll be getting in touch shortly to get your shipping address. Enjoy the Hobonichi!

Each week in Refill, the Pen Addict Members newsletter, I publish Ink Links as part of the additional content you receive for being a member. And each week, after 10 to 15 links, plus my added commentary on each, I'm left with many great items I want to share. Enter Misfill. Here are this weeks links:

-- Pantone Fall 2018 (Mountain of Ink)

-- By the sword (Present&Correct)

-- Rubber Madness (Dave's Mechanical Pencils)

-- Taschen's celebration of 15 years of Sneaker Freaker magazine will be out later this year (It's Nice That)

-- Pentel Clicks (My Supply Room)

-- The Life of Van Gogh by Maciek Janicki (Juxtapoz Magazine)

-- A forgotten 200-year-old guide to color, redesigned for the internet (Fast Company)

-- Shimmertastic! New Diamine Shimmer Inks for 2018 (Fountain Pen Inks And Bleach)

-- Ink Review: Bungbox Happiness (The Well-Appointed Desk)

-- Unintentional art. Artwork of geniuses (José Naranja)

-- 12 Camo Backpacks and Bags with Serious Street Style (Carryology)

-- The Paper Series: Whitelines Pad Review (Looped Square)

-- Kyonooto Hisoku (Wondernaut in the world of stationery wonders)

-- Pen Review: Montblanc M Ultra Black Fountain Pen (The Gentleman Stationer)

-- How Pixies’ Surfer Rosa Rode a Wave That Changed Alternative Rock Forever (Consequence of Sound)

-- Tombow Dual Brush Pens Custom Set (Lung Sketching Scrolls)

-- Pineider Avatar Saffron Fountain Pen Review (Gourmet Pens)

-- Review: Parker Urban (Alt. Haven)

-- Pelikan M805 Royal Platinum Raden Limited Edition, M805 18K Medium, inked with Montblanc Meisterstück 90 years Permanent Grey (TooManyPelikans)

-- A NEW future for fountain pen inks (Fountain Pen Inks And Bleach)

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(Original Mai-bun article posted here. Written by Takuya Takahashi. Translated by Bruce Eimon.)

“Bunbougu Choushoku Kai” is a group of stationery nuts in Tokyo who get together to talk about their love for stationery on Saturday mornings.

The club logo is above. The image comes from the fact that the abbreviation of the club name, “Buncho”, is the same word as that of a sparrow.

The club has been meeting once a month ever since they started in 2008, so they have been around now for 10 years. I started attending a few years ago, and have thoroughly enjoyed the time I get to spend with like-minded people to talk about stationery.

＊ ＊ ＊

The club meets all around Tokyo. Today we met at a rental office space in Shinjuku that is decorated like a school classroom.

Despite an early 9:30 am start on a Saturday, everybody who pre-registered on the club’s Facebook page arrived on time. There is an unofficial club rule that the door gets locked once the clock hits 9:30, so people are good about arriving on time. First, the club-leader Hara-san welcomes the guests.

We then go around the room introducing ourselves. Since today’s room was decorated like a classroom, each person came up to the podium to give their introductions.

Miura-san, one of the founding members, reads out the highlights of past meetings.

After the introductions, we split up into groups of 5-6 people.

The basic rule is that everybody brings one item of stationery they want to talk about - something they like, something new they just bought, something that didn’t quite live up to their expectations - anything is fine. We take turns talking about what we brought.

The show-and-tell is merely an ice-breaker for meandering conversations about all things stationery, whether about the specific product we brought or our experience with similar products. Each table has a facilitator, so there is nothing to be scared of even if you are a first-timer.

The following are some of the products people brought for today’s meeting:

Markers with Mickey ears

A card stand made out of compressed spring

The “challenge” planner

A medical staple remover

Each product shown is recorded in the official club minutes listing the product name, where it was purchased, and the approximate cost. A snapshot of the page is posted on Facebook after every meeting.

＊ ＊ ＊

Sometimes we even get representatives from stationery companies come to present their new products. Today we welcomed a PR person from ZEBRA to tell us about the newly published ZEBRA Complete Guide Book, covering the 120-year history of the company along with an in-depth review of their entire productline.

By now some of you may have noticed from the pictures, but we actually hardly ever have time to eat breakfast! Although the meeting is called the breakfast club (choushoku kai), we are usually too caught up in talking about our stationery that we don’t have time to eat. The only exception is when we meet in a coffee shop or restaurant that lets us use their space on the condition of ordering food. That is the one time we make sure we take a break from our talking to actually enjoy breakfast.

Today we collected 800 yen (approx. $8) from each participant for the meeting room rental fee before we went home to spend the rest of the weekend with our loved ones. A nice thing about meeting early on a Saturday is that the whole weekend is still ahead of us even after we go home.

This time we each got a special gift from ZEBRA on our way out!

What do you think?

The club always welcomes new members, so if you are visiting Tokyo and want a chance to talk to fellow stationery lovers, come check us out! Event information is shared on our [Facebook page][0], so make sure you follow us. Due to space limitations, pre-registration is required and attendance will be cut off as soon as the limit is reached.

(Note from Bruce the translator: For those living near San Francisco, I am working on organizing a similar Stationery Breakfast Club in collaboration with Mai Do, the stationery store in SF Japan Town. If you are interested in such an event, please shoot me a note at mailto:info@thinkonpaper.co)

Recommended for:

• People who like stationery
• People who want to get the most out of a Saturday morning
• People who want to share the unique ways they use their stationery
• People who want to learn about stationery

Information: Bunbougu Breakfast Club