The Franklin-Christoph table open for business! Friday in Baltimore is much less crazy than the Friday rush at D.C.

Baltimore Pen Show: Day One Friday Recap

March 11, 2023

It’s always a bit different writing pen show recaps from a behind-the-table perspective, as opposed to walking the show and visiting with friends and vendors. It’s still fun to attend the show, in that you get to visit with show attendees and customers, but you’re more or less stuck in one place and have to rely on people coming to you, as opposed to being able to go seek out all that a given show has to offer. Either today or tomorrow, I’m going to look for a lull in show traffic to walk the floor and take more pictures so that I can give you a better reflection of what all was on display.

It was fun to be able to set up the shop in-person, which gives me plenty of ideas for the future.

Regardless, Baltimore is always a fun show! It’s traditionally been my first pen show of the year, and I always try to attend because it’s a LOOONG gap between San Francisco at the end of August and Baltimore at the beginning of March. There’s a lot of pent-up demand, and Baltimore presents an opportunity to browse in a calmer, less crowded environment than a larger show like D.C. or San Francisco.

Conway Steward Duro in Razorshell — This gorgeous Conway Stewart Duro in Razorshell acrylic is still available at the Vanness Pens table. If it doesn’t sell by Sunday, I can’t promise that it’s going back to Arkansas.

Friday in Baltimore tends to be an odd day. The show opens to the public at 11:00am, which is an awkward start time so things typically don’t pick up until mid-afternoon. If you’re attending this show from out-of-town, always try to attend on Friday (especially Friday morning) because the “Saturday Rush” is a real thing. Popular tables such as Franklin-Christoph, Kanilea Pen Company, and Edison Pens, among others, will still have most of their show-special stock, and popular regular-stock items will be available from the other vendors, including vintage traders.

Surprisingly, paper has been the smash hit of the show - not just for me but for many other vendors. Because it’s expensive to ship, especially if bought in quantity, you can sometimes save a significant amount of money by picking it up in person at shows.

What You Shouldn’t Miss if You’re Attending the Baltimore Pen Show

Our Own Table! As you can see from the photo above, we’ve had a lot of fun organizing our layout and displaying the eclectic selection of goods we brought with us. Though we’re limited by what we could fit into suitcases, we do have the full line of Lochby cases, a full Traveler’s Notebook setup that will allow you to build a notebook, and a selection of pens from Nahvalur, TWSBI, and Penco. If you can’t visit us in person at the show, be sure to take advantage of our Pen Show weekend discount, using the coupon code “PENSHOW10” at checkout to get 10% off your online order (excluding certain brands like TWSBI which cannot be discounted).
Vanness Pens. Our friends at Vanness are right next door to us, and they brought a selection of Vinta Inks, special release Midori Paper, and Conway Stewart and Onoto Pens. Like us, they are running a pen show weekend special sale on ink, so visit their site to take advantage if you can’t come to the show in person.
Dromgooles. Dromgoole’s from Houston, Texas brought a huge selection of ink, with Jessie from the Well-Appointed Desk doing ink consulting if you’re looking for that perfect shade.
Schon DSGN. Ian brought all the new finishes this year, in addition to a selection of Monoc nibs, I hear! I haven’t had a chance to peruse his table but I hope to make it over there today.
Franklin-Christoph. I expect to see a big crowd around the Franklin-Christoph table when they release their tray of prototypes on Saturday morning.
Edison Pens. Now that things are relatively back to normal on the pen show circuit, it’s great to see Edison attending shows again. I’m looking for one of their oversized Collier fountain pens with the No. 8 nib….
Kanilea Pen Company. Finally, be sure to visit Hugh and Karol at their home show! Kanilea always brings their full lineup of available standard releases, plus
Bespoke Makers. Baltimore always has a wide range of bespoke makers in attendance, and unfortunately I can’t give you the full roster but you can view it here on the Baltimore Pen Show website.

I hope you can make it! Look for a full recap early next week, with more pictures from the show.

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop, and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. This post does not contain affiliate links or paid third-party advertising.

I brought a sampling of Washi Tape! If you don’t see what you’re looking for at the table in Baltimore, everything is still available online!

Thursday Drops: Pen Show Weekend! (Plus a Midori Restock - Too Heavy to Take!)

March 9, 2023

Since it’s a pen show weekend, we’ll be running our usual promotion of extra swag with your order while we’re away. We just received a fresh shipment of T.G.S. buttons and stickers, so you’ll get a few extras in your package to compensate for any slight delay in fulfillment. I will have a couple days in the shop early next week to get caught up on shipping orders before turning around and heading back out on the road to Little Rock for next weekend’s Arkansas Pen Show! Remember, if you want to pick something up at Arkansas next week, just check out in the shop and use the “615PICKUP” Code to drop the shipping charge.

Likewise, if you miss our display of Traveler’s Company and Lochby in-person at the show, most of our stock continues to be available online.

In the meantime, right before I flew out we received a large shipment of Midori MD paper, including a restock of several favorite Midori MD Notebook sizes, all Midori MD Notebook Covers (including the natural goat leather), and more Traveler’s Company Brass Pens!

The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized retailer of all brands sold.

Midori MD Light 70th Anniversary Notebook Sets. These sold out lightning fast when we first stocked them last Spring, and fortunately I was able to procure another shipment. Each set contains seven A5 MD Light notebooks, each with a different color grid.
Midori MD A5 Notebooks. We now have most rulings back in stock in standard A5, our most popular size, including the dot grid notebook journal.
Midori MD Leather Notebook Covers. These natural leather covers fit the standard Midori MD notebooks and notebook journals, and will age beautifully as the undyed natural leather develops a patina.
Midori MD Cotton Notebooks. These cotton paper notebooks have “F” series sketchbook dimensions, but the larger F3 fits the A4-size paper notebook cover, and possibly others.
Traveler’s Company Brass Ballpoint Pens. My favorite everyday pocket ballpoint, which lives clipped to my Plotter Mini 5 (and to be honest, most of my other planners as well, given that I have like five of these pens). Though they last a long time, we also have the refills.
Traveler’s Company Brass Bullet Pencil. After a short hiatus, the Brass Bullet Pencil is back in the store. As a concept, this type of pencil is one of my favorite products in existence, and the Traveler’s version might be the only one currently made?
Midori MD Letter Pads and Envelopes. There’s still time to respond to all of those InCoWriMo letters! (I know I have a personal backlog… stay patient, pen pals.)
Penco Pocket Drafting Pens and Pencils. I’ve brought several of these to Baltimore with me, so if you’re at the show you have to come by and see what’s become a top-selling product.
Caran d’Ache 849 “Colour Treasure” Edition Ballpoint Pens. We still have a few of the 849 Colour Treasure ballpoints in both the cool and warm tones. Once these are gone, that’s it! If they’re not gone before next week I’ll take them with me to Arkansas.
Penco Perfection Light Bullet Pens. We have a full display of these at the Baltimore Pen Show this weekend, but we also have some remaining in online stock.

Bag Dump: What's in My Rickshaw Banzai Bag?

March 8, 2023

So the people have asked, and I have answered. I teased a photo of my Rickshaw “Banzai” Bag - designed specifically for pen people - and which makes a great carry-all for pen shows and meetups. Despite it’s relatively small size, the Banzai Bag holds an astounding number of pens, in addition to notebooks and tablets up to A5 size. Enjoy the unpacking!

The thing that I love about this bag is its versatility. This was a “Pen Club Saturday” loadout, with three separate pen cases, my Plotter A5, plus some highlighters and my Kindle Scribe for some Saturday afternoon reading.

Rickshaw Banzai Bag Interior Pockets — The Banzai Bag is slightly larger than A5 length-wise, and is capable of holding several notebooks and similarly sized tablets in the center, plus accessories in the three interior pockets: two pockets on one side, a single pocket on the other.

Four pen cases that I regularly carry, clockwise from top: Rickshaw six pen roll/wrap, three-pen coozy in tweed, Lochby Quattro in Brown, and a Rickshaw x Nock Co. Sinclair Model R. You can check out the full selection of Rickshaw cases and sleeves here, and see below for some options on how I arrange the different pen cases.

A5 Notebooks for Banzai Bag — In addition to the pen cases show, I’m able to fit two A5 notebooks (my William Hannah A5 and Plotter A5), as well as a Kindle Scribe.

Banzai Notebooks + Pen Cases — Everything fits! I put one of the notebooks (the Plotter A5) in the single side slot and the rest in the center.

All packed up and ready to go to the Baltimore Pen Show!

Come See This Bag in Person at the Baltimore Pen Show!

As I mentioned yesterday, we will be at the 2023 Baltimore Pen Show in-person! I’ll have this bag (not for sale) and many other items (for sale) at the T.G.S. Table! Since we will be traveling, shipment of shop orders may be slightly delayed until early next week, though as always any orders placed will receive some extra T.G.S. Swag as an apology for any inconvenience. Many thanks for your support, and I hope to meet many of you soon!

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. This post does not include paid advertisements or third-party affiliate links.

Pen Show Prep: What's Coming With Us to Baltimore?

March 7, 2023

It’s time for our first pen show of 2023! This coming weekend, we’re headed to the Baltimore Washington International Pen Show, and I wanted to take a brief moment to talk about how we’ll be set up and what we’ll be doing over the three days of the show.

There should be plenty of the new Lochby Quattro pen cases available!

Come Visit Us at Our Table

We currently plan to have a table alongside our friends at Vanness Pens! Because I’ll be flying to this show (and navigating bag weight limits, etc.), I’ll be somewhat limited in what I can carry with me, but I plan to have on site the full range of Lochby and Traveler’s Company products, so that those of you who visit the table will be able to assemble your own notebook and/or pick up accessories.

Those who want to try Midori MD and Midori MD Cotton paper in person will be in luck, as I’ll have testers at the table.

We will also have a limited selection of paper and accessories from Midori, Write Notepads, and Hightide, as well as pens from Penco, TWSBI, and Nahvalur! If what you're looking for isn’t available for purchase on-site, I will try to bring a sample of most items, and you’ll be able to place an order using a special coupon code available at the table which will give you a special discount as a thank-you for coming to see us in person.

If you’d like to pick up an order in person, go ahead and check out in the store using the coupon code “615PICKUP”. Certain things are in relatively low supply at the moment, like T.G.S. Penwells, so if you’ve had your eye on one of these it may be best to buy in advance. I will e-mail everyone who uses this code to confirm they will be picking up in person. That said, please exercise discretion. I will not be able to carry heavy items like 6 notebooks to the show, and if you place an order like this I will have to ship. If you have questions about what’s possible, please ask!

Seminars and Meetups

One of my favorite aspects of the pen show experience is hanging out with readers and friends after-hours, and also taking courses on pen collecting, pen repair, journaling, and more. I’ll be offering at least one session hosting a seminar on stationery for everyday writing, much as I did all the way back in 2020, and if there’s enough demand we’ll have a second session.

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. This post does not include paid advertisements or third-party affiliate links.

Ink Review: Laban Greek Mythology Apollo Orange and Aphrodite Pink

March 4, 2023

In the interest of building out a library of ink reviews similar to the current T.G.S. Fountain Pen Archive, I’m going to keep plowing ahead with my write-ups of the Laban “Greek Mythology” Ink Series. This week’s inks up for review are Apollo Orange and Aphrodite Pink. Apollo Orange is a solid mandarin orange ink that will see a lot of use as an annotator. Aphrodite Pink is a truly unique shade that’s difficult to describe and even harder to compare to anything else, but I love the muted tone for everyday use.

Aphrodite “Pink” and Apollo Orange, side-by-side.

This isn’t the first review of inks in this series (see below for links to the prior reviews), so I won’t spend too much time rehashing a history of Laban, but the company is based in Taiwan and has been a longstanding fixture at pen shows. I was somewhat surprised to see Laban launch this line of Greek Mythology-themed inks last year, and was pleased at the obvious level of effort that went into putting together not just excellent ink but an aesthetically pleasing product, packaging and all.

Apollo Orange with my current ink swatching tools. More on that below.

Apollo Orange Should Please Most Fans of Orange Inks

Apollo Orange is named for the Greek God Apollo, God of phrophesy, music, and healing (Roman equivalent: Phoebus), and the traditional association of Apollo with the Sun makes this pairing particularly appropriate! I would describe Apollo Orange as a classic “mandarin orange” with red tones when the ink is wet. Unlike many orange inks, Apollo Orange isn’t a particularly dry writer, so I’ve not had any issues with hard starts or nib crud. I’ve also found the ink cleans out of pens fairly easily, which is always a pleasant surprise with oranges.

Apollo Orange is just different enough from the lighter Saffron TWSBI ECO-T fountain pen to make this pen and ink a perfect match.

Aphrodite Pink: The “Stunningly Weird” Ink From the Series, But Possibly the Best

Finally, this brings us to Aphrodite Pink, one of the most popular inks in the Laban Greek Mythology series and, in my opinion, probably the best simply because it’s so unusual. In fact, I would have to put Aphrodite Pink up there as one of my favorite discoveries over the past year, because there just aren’t that many “pink” inks in general, and certainly not many with this unique shade that falls well outside the typical “hot pink” or “electric pink” colors that companies try to release. Named for the Greek Goddess of love (Roman Equivalent: Venus), Aphrodite Pink is more of a dusty brick red with pink undertones than a true pink. At first, I thought it might be comparable to KWZ Brown Pink, but the latter has much more purple. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter - this ink simply makes for a great everyday writer that I’ve used fairly regularly over the past year, and it’s now in my Pilot Custom 823.

I love nontraditional, muted colors like this one. As with all of the Laban Greek Mythology inks that I’ve used, this one dries quickly and has no maintenance issues.

Takeaways, Where to Buy, and Reviews of the Rest of the Line

I’m currently five inks into my review of the Laban Greek Mythology Series, and I’ve not yet found one that I don’t enjoy. These inks all behave well, and I’ve personally experienced no issues with feathering, bleedthrough, staining, or slow dry times. You can check out my prior reviews of Ares Red, Artemis Navy Blue, and Athena Grey here. In fact, I enjoyed these inks so much that I purchased the entire line at last year’s Baltimore Pen Show for my personal collection, and recently brought them into our own shop. The T.G.S. Curated Shop stocks all colors with the exception of Aphrodite Pink (currently on backorder), and these Laban inks are priced at $25 per 50ml bottle. The packaging alone is a work of art, especially with the incorporation of fountain pens into the different depictions of the various gods and goddesses.

A Note on Swatching Inks and my “Organizational System”

Somebody recently asked me how I organize ink swatches (probably prompted by my Ink-o-Dex video), and what paper I use to photograph samples and organize my collection. The simple answer is that I really don’t have any sort of system. I’ve been doing this for a long time, and many different storage and sampling options have come and gone over the years.

Laban Aphrodite Pink on a Col-o-Ring Card. (Stamp courtesy of Angela at Inky Converters!)

Currently, I use a combination of Col-o-ring cards (stored in the repurposed Rol-o-dex), A5 planner paper, and a 68gsm Tomoe River notebook. Typically when I’m reviewing/archiving an ink I’ll use a q-tip and my Kakimori Brass Dip Pen to make a standard color sample on Col-o-Ring paper, which goes into the Col-o-dex. Blog posts nearly always feature ink swatches and writing samples on A5 sheets of Midori MD Cotton paper and 68gsm Tomoe River paper (while I can still get it), since these are the two papers I use the most. Lately, in addition to individual ink swatches, I’ve been creating comparison sheets so that I can easily view multiple colors from a single brand or line.

Laban Greek Mythology Ink Sheet — My ongoing ink comparison sheet for the Laban Greek Mythology Series

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. The Gentleman Stationer is an authorized retailer of certain brands, including the Laban inks shown here. This post otherwise does not contain paid advertising or affiliate links.