It's Small Business Saturday! Stop By To See New Inks from Kuretake and More

Just a friendly reminder that we’re open today from 10am until 7pm, for what’s become known as “Small Business Saturday,” a day between Black Friday and “Cyber Monday” to support your local community-based shops! Our in-store specials are the same as our online “INKSGIVING” promotion, and we have plenty of ink for you to peruse in person.

While I’m taking a break from reviews this weekend to help us keep up with the holiday orders coming in, I did want to take a brief moment to note two ink lines we recently received from Kuretake, namely the “Art Nouveau” and “Meiji no Iro” series. I love stationery products that incorporate a bit of history, especially historically themed inks such as these and the Laban Greek Mythology series. The Kuretake Art Nouveau inks feature some of my favorite box and label artwork to date! These are now up online and on the store shelves.

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This weekend, we are open Saturday from 10am-7pm; and Sunday from 12pm-5pm. Come help us kick off the holiday shopping season! Additional detail on store location and hours here.

Happy "Inksgiving"! T.G.S. Thanksgiving Weekend Promotions

Happy Thanksgiving! Or should I say “Inksgiving”? Starting today and running through Sunday evening at 11:59pm US Central Time, take 10% off all bottled ink, ink cartridge, and refill orders (excluding TWSBI and Pilot) using the discount code “INKSGIVING” at checkout. Select items through the store have also been marked “Clearance” and can be searched using the navigation bar at the top of the shop pages. All orders over $100 will also receive one of our large 3” T.G.S. holographic vinyl stickers, and orders over $50 will receive one of the smaller holographic decals, while supplies last!

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New ink arrivals are waiting for you. Any Thanksgiving weekend promotions apply in-store as well.

New arrivals this week include select inks from Diamine’s standard lineup, as well as the entire line of sixteen different Diamine 150th Anniversary inks. Other discount-eligible inks include the Teranishi Guitar inks from Japan, Tom’s Studio Inks, and Anderillium! If you’re looking for gift ideas, don’t miss our recently refreshed holiday gift guide.

Domestic U.S. orders over $75 ship free. Please review our shipping policies and time estimates prior to placing an international order. Orders to Canada may be delayed due to the ongoing postal strike, and UK orders are subject to a minimum due to VAT rules.

1. Diamine 150th Anniversary Fountain Pen Inks. Diamine’s 150th Anniversary Line contains some of my favorite colors made by the UK-based inkmaker. The blues in this series are outstanding.

2. Diamine Inkvent Calendar. Using your Inksgiving discount to pick up an Inkvent Calendar ahead of the season beginning next week!

3. Col-o-ring Ink Testing Books. Stock up on Col-o-rings to get ready for Inkvent, with sizes ranging from the small “Dippers” to the larger “Oversized” reporter-style books.

4. Teranishi Guitar Inks. This cult favorite from Japan features more than a dozen subtly unique colors. The greens are especially good in this line, as are the blacks and browns.

5. Laban Greek Mythology Inks. Athena Grey and Aphrodite Pink are back in stock, at long last. Though often overlooked, these inks from Laban are rock-solid in terms of performance, and the colors are offbeat enough to be interesting without sacrificing usability.

6. Ohto CRO2 Ceramic Rollerball. This .5mm rollerball pen features a comfortably grippy matte finish and a smooth .5mm rollerball refill that resists feathering and bleedthrough, which can fit many different models of rollerball pens (though you may need to use a spacer).

7. T.G.S. x Sunderland Machine Works mk1. We are down to TWO remaining Sunderland Pens. I will likely reorder more after the first of the year so if this is something you’re wanting for the holiday season, act quickly.

8. Zebra Sarasa Grande Vintage Pens and Refills. This series of Japanese gel pens not only won me over by actually matching the ink to the vintage-y barrel colors, but I’ve also been using the refills in the Sunderland with minor modification.

9. Kaweco Piston Fillers, Classic Sport and AL-Sport. Kaweco recently released a lower-cost version of their piston-filling Sport fountain pen, and we’re restocked on both these and the AL-Sport version.

10. A Full Restock on Lamy Pens. Finally, we’ve recently received additional pens (and pencils) in the Lamy 2000 series, the Lamy AL-Star series, Safaris, and more.

Our shop is closed today (Thanksgiving Thursday), but we will reopen tomorrow (Friday 11/29) from 10am-7pm; Saturday from 10am-7pm; and Sunday from 12pm-5pm. We hope to see you this weekend to kick off the holiday shopping season! Additional detail on location and hours here.

New Arrivals: Pilot S20 Ballpoints, Uni Jetstream Prime and Edge, and More Giftable Ballpoints

Ahead of the holidays, one of my top priorities was to restock our supply of higher-end ballpoint, rollerball, and gel pens, especially Japanese imports, but we also made room to bring in some new finds. Last week, we received our first shipment of the excellent Pilot S20 ballpoint, which uses Pilot’s hybrid “Acro-ink” and performs similarly to the Uniball Jetstream. A friend from our local pen club gifted me a S20 last year, and I couldn’t get over how comfortable this pen was to use: it sports an hourglass silhouette and soft, polished wood finish in two striated wood grains: red/black and brown/black. We also have a healthy supply of the Dr. Grip “Cocoon” refills, which is that cartridge that fits the S20.

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Other new arrivals include the Pilot Birdie/Birdie Switch: a small format writing instrument from Pilot that comes as either a mechanical pencil or “reversible multi-pen”; as well as additional stock of the Uni Jetstream Prime, the Uni Jetstream Edge, and the Zebra Sarasa Grande Vintage. All colors and tip sizes should be restocked and showing as available.

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The hourglass shape of the S20 ballpoint simply fits very well in your hand!

Store Holiday Hours and T.G.S. Holiday Gift Guide

I’ve updated the shop hours for Thanksgiving week. While we will be closed Thursday, we plan to open Friday (10am-7pm); Saturday (10am-7pm), and Sunday (12-5pm) to kick off the holiday shopping season. Remember that you can always shop by appointment outside of our public hours.

Also, don’t miss our 2024 Holiday Gift Guide, which walks through stationery gift options and recommendations that include pens, pencils, paper, and other desk and reading accessories for those who appreciate analog things! If you have gift-related questions, always feel free to reach out.

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If you come see us in-store, you’ll be able to peruse our growing selection of inks, including the entire range of Teranishi Guitar Inks in over a dozen colors!

New Arrivals: Get Ready for Inkvent/Colorvent with Col-o-ring Books and Swatching Supplies!

Confession: I opened my Colorverse Colorvent Calendar yesterday. Starting December 1, I plan to post each day’s ink from both the Colorvent and the Diamine Inkvent Calendars, just as I did last year. Most of these mini-reviews will probably go to Instagram and to YouTube (you can check out my recap of last year’s Inkvent here), but I’ll definitely do summaries as well. Typically, what I’ve done in the past is swatch each ink on a standard Col-or-ring card (which shows off ink properties like sheen and shading), and then also compare the inks side-by-side on Midori MD Cotton paper, which to me offers excellent color reproduction and is also one of my favorite papers for my personal writing, so I get a sense of how the inks will work in the real world.

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While Colorvent Calendars are sold out, we still have a few Diamine Inkvent Calendars available, in addition to all the gear you can use for working your way through “Inkvent,” such as Col-o-ring Ink Testing Books and dip nibs from Kakimori and Tom’s Studio. Stay tuned as the holiday season kicks off in about two weeks!

This week our brick-and-mortar shop returns to regular hours: Thursday 1-6pm; Friday 1-7pm; and Saturday 10-7pm. We are considering adding additional hours for the holiday shopping season after Thanksgiving. Stay tuned!

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Pen Drop! New Harry Potter x Lamy Al-Stars and Ohto CR2 Ceramic Rollerballs

Yesterday the Harry Potter x Lamy AL-Star fountain pens arrived! What stands out in-person that may not necessarily pop in pictures? The clips, for one thing, which have a matte metallic finish, and the engravings are understated for a themed offering. There are four pens, one for each House at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: Gryffindor (Red), Slytherin (Green), Hufflepuff (Yellow/Gold), and Ravenclaw (Blue). Personally, I think the Hufflepuff pen might be one of the best looking AL-Stars Lamy has released in years, with the gold finish, transparent matching section, and the matte gold clip. (Surprisingly, it’s the one I chose for myself, even over the Gryffindor red.) The Harry Potter x Lamy AL-Star Fountain Pens are available in fine and medium nib options and are shipping immediately, priced at $51.30.

Ohto CR02 Ceramic Rollerballs

As you all know, I’ve long sought a fine-tipped rollerball with minimal bleedthrough, which at times has been difficult to the point where I’ve written off the category altogether. In response to my latest post, many of you kind readers suggested that I try Ohto’s ceramic rollerballs, which ship with a somewhat uncommon .5mm refill that almost feels like a gel pen. It’s an excellent option, and I’ve been using the refill not only in these matte-finish Ohto “CR02” pens that recently arrived from Japan, but in my Lamy 2000 Rollerball. These pens are relatively inexpensive at $18 and have a very nice feel in the hand. They’re also on the slimmer side and will make a great planner/pen loop option. Refills are available separately.

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The Ohto CR02 Rollerball comes in four different finishes, including Matte Blue, Matte Black, Wine Red, and Matte Silver.

This week our brick-and-mortar store is open Thursday from 1-6pm, Friday from 1-7pm, and Saturday from 12-7pm. Keep up to date on store hours here, and contact us to shop by appointment if you can’t make it during regular store hours.