A Swipe from Wonder Pens

I'm a big fan of TWSBI's inexpensive range of fountain and ballpoint pens. In my opinion, they beat the competition from brands like Lamy (who seem to be unable to get even their flagship pen to write reliably) hands down.  So when I heard about the new TWSBI Swipe on episode #471 of the Pen …

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A Narwhal Origional in Hippocampus Purple

No, I didn't forget how to spell original, the Origional is what Narwhal calls their pen. I know, because it was on the box so kindly sent to me by Goldspot Pens. Up until now, I have to admit that Narwhal had always meant Monodon monoceros to me. That is, a small to medium-sized arctic whale, …

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A Soft-Fine Pilot Falcon, and a Custom 74: Contrasting Similarities (aka Liam Neeson Didn’t Steal My Pen)

I have had a few Pilot pens in my collection over the years, including a much loved Custom 823. Tragically, the 823 was stolen during the after-hours of an academic conference some years ago, whilst I was attempting to prove the hypothesis that a yard of Young's Winter Warmer could indeed be consumed in less …

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Pelikan Classic M200 Brown Marbled… What-the-Pelikan-Fuss?

For a long while now, I've been reading reviews, and watching so many videos, of some truly beautiful Pelikan pens. In particular, I've been sorely tempted by the M600 Vibrant Orange, and a while back, by the Classic M200 Brown Marbled. I've written with a few very nice, and very expensive, Pelikan pens over the …

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The Laban 325: Won’t Stop a Rhino

The last pen post I made, mentioned something about understated style and elegance, well, let's, er, forget about that today shall we? Last year, I took a stroll (about six hours worth, but still a stroll), through Scriptus the Toronto Pen Show. Amongst the highlights of the day was bumping into the lovely Ana Reinert …

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The Pen Addict vs. Lamy Shootout—Brad’s on Fire!

At around about the same time this year, three new products and one that was older than me, caught my eye. The first was a bursting orange from The Pen Addict's Brad Dowdy and the Australian manufacturer Robert Oster, with the nicely tongue-in-cheek name of Fire on Fire. This coincided with the delivery of a …

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Is there Anything New to Say About the Pilot Metropolitan?

Well, it may all have been said before, but not by me, so I'm going to say it anyway; and besides, what's old news for some of us, can still be useful to others. The Pilot Metropolitan seems to have been around forever. Anyone who has ever commented on fountain pens, has had something to …

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Nothing wrong there is, in being small and green: The Pilot 78G

Recently, I have had a number of small parcels wing their way to me from the only Ontario-based, online fountain pen and stationery specialists, the Wonder-People in Toronto (soon to be relocating, but staying in Toronto)... Jon and Liz 250 Carlaw Avenue Unit 105 Toronto, ON M4M 3L1 Tel. 1 416 799 5935 General Email: …

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The Pilot Prera and Diamine Lilac Satin—A Guest Post

My thirteen-year-old daughter will be the first to tell you that she is not the world's hardest working student; but about a year ago, she decided that she would put some extra effort in to improve her grades before entering high school. She came home the other night with a school report that had excellent written, …

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Platinum Plaisir in Silver, from Pen Chalet

Well, you know you've hit the big time as a pen and stationery blogger when you can start your post, "[Insert big time pen retailer here] sent me this pen to review..." And a little while ago, a nice guy from the US retailer Pen Chalet reached out and asked if I would like to …

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