Notebook Review: Stifflexible Notebooks

August 1, 2018

At this year's Atlanta Pen Show (way back in April, yes I know) I had the opportunity to check out Italian brand Stifflexible's updated line of notebooks. The primary selling point of Stifflexible Notebooks is the cover: it's a hardcover notebook that "flexes," making it easier to cram into an overstuffed briefcase or backpack without permanently damaging the cover. Not a major selling point for everybody, but I can see where it could come in handy for certain people. Stifflexible notebooks are made by the same company as Giuliano Mazzuoli pens, and are distributed by Luxury Brands USA, who regularly attend pen shows with a full display of these notebooks in tow.

Stifflexible Notebooks contain 192 pages of 80g ivory paper, which handles fountain pen ink quite well. 144 of those pages are lined, 32 are blank, and 16 are perforated graph. If you don't like lined paper, you're out of luck: I've not seen any all-blank or all-graph versions, but I can only assume that may be in the works at some point down the line. I'd personally love to see a notebook full of perforated graph paper. If you've tried Stifflexible notebooks in the past and did not have a great experience with fountain pens, the paper has recently been upgraded in response to customer feedback. The paper in my notebook handled pretty much any nib and ink combo I was able to throw at it, including a very wet medium loaded with Colorverse. (I don't typically write with anything much broader on a daily basis.)

Takeaways and Where to Buy

These are very nice notebooks with good paper; my one quibble being the lack of all-graph or all-blank options. The flexible cover isn't something that I necessarily need, but I can see how it would come in handy for students or road warriors who have to lug around an overstuffed bag. The cover art on these books is extremely well done, and I love the gold Paris Metro Map cover that I chose. A wide range of other designs are also available, as you can see from the Luxury Brands pen show display below. I may very well pick up a couple more this coming weekend in D.C.!

Distributor Luxury Brands brings a wide array of Stifflexible notebooks to pen shows.

Anderson Pens carries the full line of Stifflexible notebooks in a range of sizes from extra large all the way to small/pocket. (The notebook pictured here is the "medium" size, which is A5-ish and measures 5" x 8 1/4".) Pricing is $29 for the extra large, $18 for the large, $16.50 for the medium, and $11.50 for the small, all of which is a fairly standard price point for notebooks of this quality.

Disclaimer: I received the notebook featured in this review from Luxury Brands USA, the Stifflexible Distributor, free of charge for review purposes. I was not otherwise compensated for this review.

Come See Me At The 2018 DC Pen Show!

July 31, 2018

It's that time of year again! From Thursday, August 2 through Sunday, August 5, I'll be attending the Washington, D.C. Fountain Pen Supershow at the Marriott Fairview Park. This year, I'll be at the Vanness Pens table, so stop by and say hello if you get the chance. Vanness will be bringing their wall of ink, pens, paper & more!

Note that Thursday and Friday at the show are "Trader Days," meaning that you will have to purchase a weekend pass to attend ($45). The weekend pass also gets you into the show an hour earlier on Saturday and Sunday. I highly recommend attending on Friday and early in the mornings on the weekend - it's much less crowded, and you'll have first crack at rare pens and inks. Stuff can sell out fast! The show opens to the public on Saturday morning, and single-day admission is $9.

Just one of the Vanness Ink displays that they will have at the DC Pen Show.

Disclaimer: Vanness Pens is a sponsor of this blog, and I will be working for them at the show. For more about Vanness, see my post talking about my visit to their store in Little Rock, Arkansas earlier this year.

Ink Review: Colorverse Season 4, "Trailblazers In Space" (Albert/V2 Rocket)

July 28, 2018

Colorverse recently launched Season 4, titled "Trailblazers in Space," and once again the company has shown that it really has no competition in terms of marketing creativity. This season's theme is again well-thought out, and the inks in the various sets seem to complement each other well. For those of you who aren't space geeks, the names are a tribute to the various animals, mainly monkeys and dogs, who were the first "Trailblazers" to "visit" space. (To be honest, after reading up on this theme in depth, I personally found the history behind these sets more than a little morbid. For example, I think there were technically six "Alberts", which is reflected on the design of the Colorverse box.)

Anyway, back to the ink. The set that I have is Albert/V2 Rocket, which pairs a bright grass green (Albert) with a bright orange (V2 Rocket). I say "bright" - both colors aren't quite what I would call fluorescent, but it's close. While V2 Rocket is easily my favorite here, Albert is also a great color. Both are on the drier side for Colorverse inks, though there were no flow issues. One thing to note about Season 4 is the new and improved packaging. Colorverse now includes foam inserts to help keep the bottles in place during shipping and prevent spillage, which had been an issue with the previous packaging design. (Check out the photo below.)

Colorverse Albert in my Franklin-Christoph Model 02 with a Masuyama-Rouse 14k needlepoint nib.

Colorverse V2 Rocket in my Jim Rouse Sheaffer Legacy.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

Colorverse inks continue to pleasantly surprise me. With all the crazy colors, sheen, and "glistening" properties, one might think that these inks would be slow to dry, or otherwise have issues with feathering and bleeding. Not so - every single one of these inks has behaved itself in any pen I've tried, and Albert/V2 Rocket are no exception. You can check out my prior reviews of other Colorverse inks, including Black Hole and Dark Energy, Schrodinger and Cat, and Quasar.

Many thanks to our sponsor Pen Chalet for graciously supplying this set of Colorverse Ink for review. Pen Chalet carries the entire range of Colorverse, including Season 4. Each set is priced at $36 USD for 80ml of ink (a large 65ml bottle and a smaller 15ml bottle), and with this season you get two different inks per box, much like Season 3.

Disclaimer: Pen Chalet provided me with the ink featured in this review free of charge. This post contains affiliate links.

Ink Spotlight: Three Recent Montblanc Special Editions

July 25, 2018

I make no secret that I love Montblanc Inks. In fact, I think they’re some of the best all-around inks out there. Why? Because the company makes a well-behaved, “safe” fountain pen ink that comes in unique, interesting colors. Though the craze has cooled a bit lately, Montblanc attracts a lot of attention for their annual special edition inks, many of which correspond to a special or limited edition pen. While I don’t have the coin to collect all of the various pens, I do tend to pick up the special edition inks. The past few have been superb, and include some of my favorites since the release of the legendary Alfred Hitchcock limited edition ink in 2012.

Montblanc Antoine de Saint-Exupery Encre du Desert (Burgundy/Maroon)

Antoine de Saint-Exupery is my personal favorite of the three inks reviewed here. It’s a rich burgundy, with more depth of color than the standard Montblanc Burgundy or the now-discontinued Bordeaux. There’s even a rollerball version of the Saint-Exupery, though the color is much more gray/brown than the fountain pen ink, which has purple undertones.

Review Pen: Conway Stewart 100 in Honey Noire, courtesy of Vanness Pens.

The rollerball refill compared against the fountain pen ink (which I prefer). Review pen: Montblanc Le Petit Prince Classique Rollerball, courtesy of Appelboom.

Montblanc Great Characters the Beatles (Psychedelic Purple)

Another riff on one of Montblanc's standard ink colors, the Beatles "Great Characters" ink is a bright rich purple that has a some “psychedelic” pop. If the limited and special edition Beatles pens are too out there for you, consider the ink. It's tame enough to use at work, but just loud enough to be interesting.

Review Pen: Montblanc for UNICEF Doue Classique, courtesy of Appelboom.

Montblanc for UNICEF Blue (Turquoise)

I reviewed this ink last year alongside the Montblanc for UNICEF Solitaire Doue Classique fountain pen, and while turquoise will never rival burgundy as my favorite color, this vibrant blue remains one of my favorite Montblanc inks overall. UNICEF Blue is still available, but it's unclear how long Montblanc will continue with the UNICEF lineup.

Review Pen: Faggionato Petrarque in Blue Tortoise, available at Papier Plume.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

In my opinion, you can never go wrong with Montblanc ink. The colors are always interesting, and the ink behaves well on most paper types, without bleeding, feathering, or slow dry times. Moreover, Montblanc makes high-end pens, which generally means that their ink should be “safe” to use, without undue concern for staining or corrosion. (PLEASE take this with a grain of salt and use common sense. Ink is ink, and even “safe” inks can stain or cause problems if you don’t clean your pens regularly. Light colored pens, celluloids, and valuable/rare writing instruments need to be treated with caution, especially with bright colors like purples, reds, and oranges.)

Montblanc’s standard lineup of inks is priced at $23.50 USD for 60ml of ink, representing good value, especially in today’s market with rising ink prices. The special edition inks are pricier, at $43 USD for the larger 50ml bottle and $20.50 USD for 30ml. All three of the special edition inks featured here in this review come in the larger 50ml bottle, and are still available from most Montblanc retailers, including Anderson Pens, Appelboom, Pen Boutique, and Goldspot. Montblanc also releases rollerball versions of the special edition colors, but not all retailers stock them. Goldspot and Pen Boutique carry some, and if I come across these refills on Amazon I typically add them to my affiliate storefront (link at the top of the sidebar).

Disclaimer: With the exception of the UNICEF ink, which was supplied by site sponsor Appelboom, I purchased the inks featured in this review with my own funds, for my own collection. This post contains affiliate links.

The three pens pictured in this review, from left, include the Faggionato Petrarque in Blue Tortoise, the Conway Stewart 100 in Honey Noire, and the Montblanc for UNICEF Solitaire Doue Classique.

Pen Review: Edison Menlo Draw Filler

July 21, 2018

My review of the Edison Menlo Draw Filler fountain pen has been in the works for nearly a year. Since I purchased this pen at last year's (2017) D.C. Pen Show, it's been in steady rotation. I've taken my time with this one because I wanted to give it a balanced write-up, which may be difficult because I like this pen so much. You may recall that I previously reviewed a slimmer eyedropper version of the Menlo, and I definitely prefer this version.

I instantly fell in love with the material on this pen, which reminds me of the swirls on the Visconti Homo Sapiens "London Fog."

The Edison Pen Company has been around for as long as I've been in the hobby (2013). My first custom pen was actually an Edison Mina that I picked up at my first pen show. Edison is located in Huron, Ohio and is run by Brian and Andrea Gray, who are absolutely awesome people who you should get to know when you visit a show. If you have the opportunity, the best way to learn about the various models of Edison pens isn't necessarily by reading online reviews, but by going to a pen show and spending some time at the Edison table discussing and handling the pens. I've purchased all of my Edison pens in person and have never come away disappointed.

This particular model, the Menlo, was initially released to showcase Brian's "pump filler" mechanism, a modern version of the traditional "vacumatic" filling system that incorporates a rubber sac, or diaphragm, to pump ink into the barrel. As most vintage pen aficionados are aware, however, rubber pen sacs don't last forever, and Brian started exploring ways in which he could combine the ink capacity of the pump filler with something that was easier to maintain and clean. The "draw filler" functions like a syringe. For a demonstration, check out this video.

A shot of the nib peeking through the transparent swirl acrylic.

What I Like/Love about the Menlo Draw Filler

Construction. From the moment you pick it up, you notice that this pen is obviously sturdy and well-made. It's also gorgeous to look at. Brian has been making pens for a long time, and his experience shows in the quality of the end product.
Weight. To me, the Menlo represents the Edison pen with the perfect combination of design and functionality. The pen looks great without sacrificing usability, especially in terms of size, weight, and balance. I absolutely love the fact that the draw filler gives you the ink capacity of a piston filler (and perhaps more) without the added weight of a piston filler. As a result, you can use the Menlo posted or unposted without dramatically altering the balance of the pen, which is a huge plus for me.
Nib system and General Writing Experience. Like other Edison pens, the Menlo uses JoWo nibs, and each is hand tuned prior to shipping the pen. If you purchase from Edison at a show, they will adjust the nib for smoothness, ink flow, etc. with you there at the table. Also, since the ink is in contact with the back of the feed, as opposed to flowing through the narrow converter, my draw filler tends to be a wetter, smoother writer than my standard cartridge/converter pens, similar to an eyedropper (without the mess from filling).

Are there any drawbacks to the Menlo? Not many that I can think of. If you're a serial ink-switcher, and the ability to change inks regularly is important, you may want to forego the draw or pummp filler since they make the pen more difficult to flush and clean than your typical cartridge/converter system. That said, Edison can also make you a cartridge/converter Menlo. Another thing to note is that if you choose a Menlo with a special filling system - either the pump or the draw filler - the nib and feed have to be customized for the filling system and you will not be able to swap nibs out as easily as you would with a standard JoWo nib unit.

For comparison purposes, from left: Platinum 3776 in Chartres Blue; Pilot Custom 823; Edison Menlo; Sailor 1911 Black Luster; and Montblanc 146.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

The Edison Menlo is a fantastic fountain pen, and if you're in the market for a lightweight pen with a massive ink capacity to serve as your primary daily writer, it's easily one of your best options. I purchased this Edison Menlo at the 2017 D.C. Pen Show, at the Edison Pens table. Since the Menlo is part of the Edison Pens "Signature Line," it's considered a custom pen, though Edison keeps a selection of pens in stock that are available for order at any time. You can view their current stock of Menlo pump and draw fillers here. If you'd like a Menlo made in a specific material or configuration, reach out to Edison Pens via their website.

Pricing is fairly standard across the entire Edison Signature Line. Cartridge/converter pens start at $275 with a steel nib and $375 with an 18k gold nib. A different filling system, (bulb, pump, pneumatic, or draw filler, pictured here) adds $100 to the price, so the pen featured in this review would cost $375. Some specific materials may be more expensive than standard acrylic, and Edison also offers nib customizations.

Disclaimer: I paid for the pen featured in this review with my own money. I was not compensated in any way for this review.