Made in France! Who knew!
So. Many years later, I have to say – I’ll stick with fountain pens!
First, I sincerely apologize for the background. I thought I’d experiment a bit and I’m the first to admit that this is one experiment that should not be repeated. I’m not even wild about pink – who knows what I was thinking!
Anyway. Noodler’s Ahab Flex Nib!
Love…
…it’s a demonstrator
…the filling mechanism – slide piston – fun and different
Indifferent….
…large ink capacity. I know this matters to some fountain pen users, but I like to change ink rather frequently so (at least in this instance) size doesn’t matter
…can be used as an eyedropper pen with extra huge capacity. Again, I’m unlikely to take advantage of this feature
Meh….
..it’s not the smoothest writing pen out there
Con…
..because of the resin used, Noodler’s pens can have a…scent
Pro..
..this one didn’t stink at all
Love….
..the price tag – just $20, yo
Disclaimer….
..it’s a flex nib. I’m a total n00b when it comes to flex nibs. I didn’t read the instructions (I’m pentulant like that)
Love…
..easy to disassemble
..easy to clean (big love!)
A breather tube also comes with the pen. Where is mine? I don’t know. Man, I hope I didn’t throw it out. The tube helps the pen from “burping” out ink. I can’t imagine what a mess that would be.
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| image from edison pen co |
Say what?!
Edison Pen Co. has announced their Pneumatic Filler fountain pen.
And check that out – it comes in the same tortoise fleck of my pretty new pen – which you can see here and here.
One of my big concerns about this pen was the sac. I’ve read tales of people having to scrape old latex sacs out of pens to replace them. Turns out, these sacs are silicone and those are better for a lot of reasons discussed at the link.
I probably won’t be getting one of these. At least not right away. After the holidays, I’m on a bit of a pen diet. We’ll see how long that lasts – ha! But these are really cool – and I now have first-hand experience – Edison Pen Co makes amazing pens.
What do you think? Will these be popular with the cool kids? Will you get one?
How pretty is that??
This pen is the brainchild of Brian Goulet of Goulet Pens and Brian Gray of Edison Pens. Hopefully, they will have a new limited edition pen for us each year.
You can read my Pen Preview of the Edison Nouveau LE Encore. Lots more pictures there.
I wrote in that post that the one maybe negative was that the section doesn’t fit flush with the barrel. Total non-issue in use. Didn’t feel it, didn’t think about it. Non-issue.
This is the first review with my new form. I got so excited about inking and using the pen that I didn’t weigh it, measure it, or anything else. (I’m rethinking the idea of including weights and measures – or maybe I’ll just include anecdotal information like, “too short,” or “feels right,” we’ll see.) Since then, I’ve cheated and looked at the full description over on Goulet Pens. It weighs 16g and measures 5.2″ when closed.
Honestly, I considered not using the pen at all – it’s #3 in a production run of 70 and that makes it feel almost too special to use. But, really? All of my pens are for using. I don’t plan to sell any of them and so if I don’t use them – what’s the point?
I note in my handwritten review that I was maybe regretting the medium nib – thinking I should have gotten the fine. After using it for a bit, though, the medium is a good choice, but I would also like to have an Edison with a fine nib. Pentulant, you know.
Later in the review I discuss that I’m already planning my next Edison purchase. Actually, though, I gave Mr. Pentulant the Edison Beaumont for Christmas. It’s #2 in this picture. The Beaumont was named Pen of the Year (2012). Mr. P hasn’t inked the pen yet. If he doesn’t soon, I may need to recall the gift. Pentulant again.
Annnnyway….
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| click to view larger |
The Edison Nouveau is comfortable, balanced, and pretty pretty pretty. Definitely going into regular use around here.
After I wrote all of the above, I asked Mr. P (aka Jeff) if he would like to take it for a spin. He likes it a lot. “Smooth. Like butter.”
But look, he’s also having intermittent start issues. I do feel like this is an issue of not being able to find the sweet spot and not an issue with feed or anything like that. The more I write with it, the less problems I seem to have.
Another very pretty teal color from Pilot Iroshizuku.
Pricing is pretty much the same at $28 all over the place. When pricing is the same in all of my usual places, I generally go for the one that offers the best customer service (heck, I’ll even pay a few dollars more for excellent customer service).
One thing I didn’t mention in my other Pilot Iroshizuku reviews is how lovely the bottle is. Here’s an image I dug up on Flickr from user InkyJournal. Gorgeous, yes? I can almost feel the coolness of the thick thick glass.
Still, I’m not going to invest in a full bottle of this ink. I’m holding out for something different – something with more bOOm bOOm pOw. Hopefully, I’ll find that perfect ink – or have fun on the search. Hahah..it’s definitely the journey when it comes to inks.
Syo ro writes very well. No problems with flow. Not much sheen. Decent saturation. There’s little feathering on my Hammermill Premium paper. And there’s even a tiny bit of shading.
Dry time was perfectly acceptable.
I was surprised at how well it did on the water test. Not perfect, but not too bad for a non-black.
Wrapping things up…I like it, I don’t love it. I’m looking for love.
But don’t take my word for it. Here’s what others are saying about Syo ro:
Oooh…lookie at what I got!
It’s what happens when Edison Pen Co and Goulet Pens get together – the Edison Nouveau LE Encore Tortoise Fleck.
Is that the cat’s meow? The translucency. Dude, it practically glows. These pictures were taken last week – early morning, low light.
I like the trim. Perhaps a bit deco? The top ring of the clip is concealed – giving the entire piece a more expensive feel.
The pen is super-comfy to hold. It’s a bit lighter than expected. I wonder what a man with bigger hands would think of it. It’s definitely well-balanced. A real joy to hold. (That sounds a bit corny, but I mean it!)
I have a problem. Totally a first world problem. I have too many pens and inks and not enough time to pay them all of the attention they deserve.
I paid $185. This is a crazy-good price for a run of 70 pens. CrAZy-GoOd!
Here’s the full description from Goulet Pens. Mine is a medium nib. I swear, I always regret going medium. I find myself wishing I’d gone with a fine nib – and this before I even ink it up. How crazy is that?
I posted my very first impressions over on FPN last week.
Which limited edition pens do you own?
This is a blue I could fall in love with. I get all blue from this color – I don’t see purple like I did with Noodler’s Baystate Blue.
This is a blue I could fall in love with. I want to fall in love. I want to. I neeeed to fall in love with this blue. Except – it’s feathery. And it’s wet. And it smears like cheap peanut butter (what does that even mean!).
This thread over on Fountain Pen Network concerns me a great deal.
The short version: someone bought a Montblanc Starwalker that is clearly a fake to the people who know about these things.
While this isn’t news in itself (the Starwalker is reportedly the most frequently faked pen in the Montblanc line up), the part that concerns me a great deal is that he purchased the pen from Costco.
A little investigation reveals that Costco is not an Authorized Montblanc Dealer. But they are a major retailer in the US. And the public should be able to trust them. I like shopping there, feel like I get good deals, and as someone in the thread pointed out – Costco has been carrying some high-end items lately. (In fact, it sounds like they even had some Montblanc Bohemes awhile back.)
There are two theories about how this could have happened…
1. A customer already in possession of a fake went to Costco, purchased a real pen, slipped the fake into the box, returned that item, and kept the real pen. The FPN person happened to be the unlucky person who ended up with the fake.
2. Costco bought a bunch of fakes.
I think this has me so bothered because how in the world is the average person on the street looking for a nice pen supposed to protect themselves from something like this?
– Buy only from Montblanc Boutiques
– Buy only from Authorized Dealers
– Research, research, research so that you may be better able to spot a fake
– Sounds too good to be true….
The good news is that Costco took the pen in question back (not surprising, my understanding is that they have a great return policy).
But now what happens? Will that pen be put back on the shelves and resold? Will someone take a closer look at the inventory.
It just concerns me.
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| image from here |
Thought you’d want to know that I updated my wish list.
You know, in case you wanted to get me prezzies.
I’m also working on a plan (a real plan) for the blog for 2013. Lots of ideas!
Right before Christmas, I posted a similar picture of some of the things Santa brought.
Here’s some more. Yikes. Talk about an embarrassment of riches!
In coming weeks, we’ll take a look at everything more closely. How many of the items can you name?