Hello again Quillophiles!
Kenro Industries (distributors of many of my preferred Italian beauties) have a competition to win one of Montegrappa's DC Super heroes and villains pens - THE GREEN LANTERN.
The link is here: Green Lantern and Montegrappa!
It's not a difficult competition and open world-wide; so, if you're interested, check it out!
Competition closes on Tuesday, March 24th at 11:59 Central time (which I presume is the time in New York, USA)
Saturday, 21 March 2015
Saturday, 7 March 2015
Logo Comp Winner!!!
Congratulations to Michelle Suratos for designing the winning logo in my blog comp:
Here is her winning entry:
The Stipula Passaporto is on it's way to you (once you send your address to eclectidbits@icloud.com) :D
and here are a couple of her other entries (also excellent)
Here is her winning entry:
The Stipula Passaporto is on it's way to you (once you send your address to eclectidbits@icloud.com) :D
and here are a couple of her other entries (also excellent)
Honourable mention also to Chris Fink for his effort:
With Michelle's permission, I will be using her winning logo in a stamp and other bits and pieces. Thankyou Michelle and all who entered.
Until next tine...
Thursday, 12 February 2015
A rant about pen retailers who don't know their stuff.
I guess every now and then, a blog provides a platform to rant. This is mine.
This is not going to be a total rant. I want to be objective. I don't want to just rattle off some rude words and get this off my chest (well I do; but I won't).
Followers of my Instagram posts will have seen me post an image recently of the brand of a well-known American Fountain pen Retailer with a red-cross through it.
The red cross represented my significant disappointment with the service I recently received from them.
My issue is that when a fountain pen retailer of some years standing sells a pen, I believe that it requires that all it's staff are fully informed about the product they sell. In my story this was clearly not the case.
The Company in question had a deal on the Omas Alba (a deal that Goulet Pens recently also announced ). I already have a purple Alba I purchased with no problems from Novelli pens in Rome (thankyou).
One of the tyrannies of distance is that fountain pens are very expensive in Australia, so that even after postage (and even considering that the company in question charges more than any other I have dealt with for postage) the Alba was still a deal! So I began my e-order. The only issue was that the "extra flessible"* nib I wanted did not seem to be there *(the spelling is deliberate - don't forget, Omas is Italian :D).
The "Extra Flessible" nib by Omas is, in my view, one of the best modern attempts at achieving the nib flexibility of vintage nibs. It is not as good as a vintage nib (more delicate) but, with care, it is an outstanding nib that delivers great line variation.
So I wrote to the Company saying: "I am after an Extra flessible nib and not and extra fine nib. Is this what you are inserting?" After no response for 1 week, I wrote again and asked for an answer. I received a response apologising for the delay and saying: "The nib on the Omas Ltd Ed Ogiva Alba Fountain Pen is extremely flexible."
I hope you are starting to see my issue. If someone not selling Omas pens were to respond this way, I would understand. I would have no expectation that they should know what Omas calls their nibs or what sort of nibs they carry. This Company sells Omas pens. It is a Company that has been selling pens for over 80 years. Is it unreasonable for me to expect that it understood the product it is selling?
I tried, in subsequent emails to explain what I was looking for; only to be advised again that: "Omas confirmed that the nib on the Omas Ltd Ed Ogiva Alba Fountain Pen is extremely flexible. "!!!
I tried again, saying I would not confirm the sale until they would confirm the pen was "extra flessible" - and yes, I included the inverted commas and asked that they check with another salesperson as the one corresponding with me was not answering my question.
I finally received a response saying: "We spoke directly to the manufacturer and the nib is extra flessible (flexible)"; and providing me with a phone number of the distributor in the U.S. if I needed to check.
"Hooray", I thought (still probably too driven by desire for the deal on this pen rather than wary of the nature of the correspondence), and concluded the order.
When it arrived, I received the Orange Alba (as beautiful as I expected) with an Extra Fine nib!
Yes, more emails, an offer that I send it back for refund if unhappy and advice that the extra flessible nib is sold out.
So what is the lesson here?
There are clearly a broad range of fountain pen dealers that we all deal with. I have found that the service of the overwhelming bulk of those that I have bought from has been excellent. Mostly that excellence has been based in a knowledge and enjoyment of the product they sell. Goulet Pens, Fountainpen Hospital, PenChalet, Chatterley Pens, Fontoplumo, Novelli Pens, Appelboom pennan (love all those extra letters!) are all retailers I have dealt with who, time and time again, have demonstrated their knowledge of their product and care of their customer.
My lessons?:
and if they still can't really answer you straight, walk away.
This is not going to be a total rant. I want to be objective. I don't want to just rattle off some rude words and get this off my chest (well I do; but I won't).
Followers of my Instagram posts will have seen me post an image recently of the brand of a well-known American Fountain pen Retailer with a red-cross through it.
The red cross represented my significant disappointment with the service I recently received from them.
My issue is that when a fountain pen retailer of some years standing sells a pen, I believe that it requires that all it's staff are fully informed about the product they sell. In my story this was clearly not the case.
The Company in question had a deal on the Omas Alba (a deal that Goulet Pens recently also announced ). I already have a purple Alba I purchased with no problems from Novelli pens in Rome (thankyou).
- but after reading a number of great reviews on FPGeeks, Ed Jelley and elsewhere, I had been craving the orange. Then I saw an advertisement on my email for a good deal on the Omas Alba. The stars were aligned. I set about making the purchase.
One of the tyrannies of distance is that fountain pens are very expensive in Australia, so that even after postage (and even considering that the company in question charges more than any other I have dealt with for postage) the Alba was still a deal! So I began my e-order. The only issue was that the "extra flessible"* nib I wanted did not seem to be there *(the spelling is deliberate - don't forget, Omas is Italian :D).
The "Extra Flessible" nib by Omas is, in my view, one of the best modern attempts at achieving the nib flexibility of vintage nibs. It is not as good as a vintage nib (more delicate) but, with care, it is an outstanding nib that delivers great line variation.
So I wrote to the Company saying: "I am after an Extra flessible nib and not and extra fine nib. Is this what you are inserting?" After no response for 1 week, I wrote again and asked for an answer. I received a response apologising for the delay and saying: "The nib on the Omas Ltd Ed Ogiva Alba Fountain Pen is extremely flexible."
I hope you are starting to see my issue. If someone not selling Omas pens were to respond this way, I would understand. I would have no expectation that they should know what Omas calls their nibs or what sort of nibs they carry. This Company sells Omas pens. It is a Company that has been selling pens for over 80 years. Is it unreasonable for me to expect that it understood the product it is selling?
I tried, in subsequent emails to explain what I was looking for; only to be advised again that: "Omas confirmed that the nib on the Omas Ltd Ed Ogiva Alba Fountain Pen is extremely flexible. "!!!
I tried again, saying I would not confirm the sale until they would confirm the pen was "extra flessible" - and yes, I included the inverted commas and asked that they check with another salesperson as the one corresponding with me was not answering my question.
I finally received a response saying: "We spoke directly to the manufacturer and the nib is extra flessible (flexible)"; and providing me with a phone number of the distributor in the U.S. if I needed to check.
"Hooray", I thought (still probably too driven by desire for the deal on this pen rather than wary of the nature of the correspondence), and concluded the order.
When it arrived, I received the Orange Alba (as beautiful as I expected) with an Extra Fine nib!
Yes, more emails, an offer that I send it back for refund if unhappy and advice that the extra flessible nib is sold out.
So what is the lesson here?
There are clearly a broad range of fountain pen dealers that we all deal with. I have found that the service of the overwhelming bulk of those that I have bought from has been excellent. Mostly that excellence has been based in a knowledge and enjoyment of the product they sell. Goulet Pens, Fountainpen Hospital, PenChalet, Chatterley Pens, Fontoplumo, Novelli Pens, Appelboom pennan (love all those extra letters!) are all retailers I have dealt with who, time and time again, have demonstrated their knowledge of their product and care of their customer.
My lessons?:
- don't always fall for the deal
- if in doubt, ask
- and ask
- and ask
and if they still can't really answer you straight, walk away.
Thursday, 29 January 2015
Eighty Pages Notebook - follow up review.
It arrived today, my limited edition, eponymously named "Eighty Pages" notebook so I can now give you a quick review.
Nicely wrapped in this little reminder, numbered sleeve, you can see I didn't pay for this but was given it as a sample to review. The numbering is a nice touch. The first number indicates the volume number, and the second the production number - cool. It also came with a little (about 9.5cm long) "Eighty Pages" pencil with eraser attached - see bottom picture - nice.
I really don't do a lot of notebook reviews (in fact I've only done one other). Nevertheless, I like notebooks, they're handy; and often a little fun; so while this review will be a little less professional than some you'll see out there, you should still get the drift.
If you want all the general information, I covered that a couple of blogs ago - you can find that here .This review is just a quick "touch and feel" review; so you get the idea of what is really on offer here.
PRICE
I can't do a price comparison on this one (I didn't pay); and they have just been successful on Kickstarter so I'm not sure what their price will be. Check out their web site in future if you need more on that front.
SIZE & APPEARANCE
It is what it purports to be: 3.5" x 5.5" (roughly 8.7cm by 14cm). So delivering on the promise there. That is the same size as a Field Notes notebook (even though my comparison makes it look bigger).
"Eighty Pages" doesn't have the rounded corners of the Field Notes - they're cut of instead. I'm fairly neutral about that; although I have a slight leaning to the rounder corners. (My apology too to for the look of the Field Notes book in this picture - this is a rather well used one).
The binding is waxed linen thread (as opposed to the staples of the Field Notes). Here I think I favour "Eighty Pages" which is also the same binding as my favourite notebook, Curnow's Backpocket journal (Tomoe River edition).
The cover is sturdy, simple, slightly patterned and the colour bold. All good there.
Like Field Notes, the brand name is mildly indented; although not on the front, but modestly at the bottom of the back cover where it also proudly proclaims itself a product of New York City. In this way, the Eighty pages Notebook is similar to the Just Write Notebook I reviewed here. but not quite as sophisticated an offering.
THE PAPER
Good stuff! Just look see:
No feathering, no bleed through. The paper seems to handle fountain pens very well. My only criticism would be that the paper has a little "roughness" to it - especially with the finer nibs. Nothing to be worried about, just a little feedback; so not the smoothest of surfaces at all times. This compares well still to Fieldnotes; that are good with finer nibs, but definetly feather and bleed through with thicker pens.
Eighty Pages currently only offer plain paper but promise to offer grid and other varieties as they evolve; which I would be happy about too.
Finally...
PAGES
Yes, there are 80 pages here. That compares to the 48 pages of Field Notes and many others. Is that good? Well, yes and no. It certainly means more time with one notebook. If you like changing covers to suit moods, maybe that's a disadvantage - but not a big one I would have thought. The cover is sturdy (it feels a little thicker than a Field Notes cover) so it should cover (pardon the pun!) the journey - I haven't done the LTIBP test ( 'long-time-in-the-back-pocket') so I'm only guessing here.
With all those lovely pages however, the 'Eighty Pages' has some problem staying flat; and that does tend to detract a little. Even when I placed my Eighty Pages in a Onestar leather Notebook cover I found the cover popping open (whereas there was no issue with Field Notes or Curnow Backpocket journal). This would suggest that Eighty Pages would benefit from a little elastic closure (a la Moleskine).
CONCLUSION
Finding a notebook that you can write in with your fountain pen on both sides of the paper is always a challenge - and you can do that with Eighty Pages: no problem. It's a rough paper though, and the writing is loud! The number of pages gives the notebook it's brand name; but that also seems to mean that you will need to be happy with a pop-open notebook (adding elastic may add to cost; but might be a good inclusion).
I have a few more editions of the Eighty Pages ordered via Kickstarter; and I look forward to seeing how they all look and perform. This is a great start!
Nicely wrapped in this little reminder, numbered sleeve, you can see I didn't pay for this but was given it as a sample to review. The numbering is a nice touch. The first number indicates the volume number, and the second the production number - cool. It also came with a little (about 9.5cm long) "Eighty Pages" pencil with eraser attached - see bottom picture - nice.
I really don't do a lot of notebook reviews (in fact I've only done one other). Nevertheless, I like notebooks, they're handy; and often a little fun; so while this review will be a little less professional than some you'll see out there, you should still get the drift.
If you want all the general information, I covered that a couple of blogs ago - you can find that here .This review is just a quick "touch and feel" review; so you get the idea of what is really on offer here.
PRICE
I can't do a price comparison on this one (I didn't pay); and they have just been successful on Kickstarter so I'm not sure what their price will be. Check out their web site in future if you need more on that front.
SIZE & APPEARANCE
It is what it purports to be: 3.5" x 5.5" (roughly 8.7cm by 14cm). So delivering on the promise there. That is the same size as a Field Notes notebook (even though my comparison makes it look bigger).
"Eighty Pages" doesn't have the rounded corners of the Field Notes - they're cut of instead. I'm fairly neutral about that; although I have a slight leaning to the rounder corners. (My apology too to for the look of the Field Notes book in this picture - this is a rather well used one).
The binding is waxed linen thread (as opposed to the staples of the Field Notes). Here I think I favour "Eighty Pages" which is also the same binding as my favourite notebook, Curnow's Backpocket journal (Tomoe River edition).
The cover is sturdy, simple, slightly patterned and the colour bold. All good there.
Like Field Notes, the brand name is mildly indented; although not on the front, but modestly at the bottom of the back cover where it also proudly proclaims itself a product of New York City. In this way, the Eighty pages Notebook is similar to the Just Write Notebook I reviewed here. but not quite as sophisticated an offering.
 |
| the heart sticker for the paper loop was a nice touch. |
Good stuff! Just look see:
No feathering, no bleed through. The paper seems to handle fountain pens very well. My only criticism would be that the paper has a little "roughness" to it - especially with the finer nibs. Nothing to be worried about, just a little feedback; so not the smoothest of surfaces at all times. This compares well still to Fieldnotes; that are good with finer nibs, but definetly feather and bleed through with thicker pens.
Eighty Pages currently only offer plain paper but promise to offer grid and other varieties as they evolve; which I would be happy about too.
Finally...
PAGES
Yes, there are 80 pages here. That compares to the 48 pages of Field Notes and many others. Is that good? Well, yes and no. It certainly means more time with one notebook. If you like changing covers to suit moods, maybe that's a disadvantage - but not a big one I would have thought. The cover is sturdy (it feels a little thicker than a Field Notes cover) so it should cover (pardon the pun!) the journey - I haven't done the LTIBP test ( 'long-time-in-the-back-pocket') so I'm only guessing here.
With all those lovely pages however, the 'Eighty Pages' has some problem staying flat; and that does tend to detract a little. Even when I placed my Eighty Pages in a Onestar leather Notebook cover I found the cover popping open (whereas there was no issue with Field Notes or Curnow Backpocket journal). This would suggest that Eighty Pages would benefit from a little elastic closure (a la Moleskine).
CONCLUSION
Finding a notebook that you can write in with your fountain pen on both sides of the paper is always a challenge - and you can do that with Eighty Pages: no problem. It's a rough paper though, and the writing is loud! The number of pages gives the notebook it's brand name; but that also seems to mean that you will need to be happy with a pop-open notebook (adding elastic may add to cost; but might be a good inclusion).
I have a few more editions of the Eighty Pages ordered via Kickstarter; and I look forward to seeing how they all look and perform. This is a great start!
Monday, 26 January 2015
I need a Logo - you get a prize!
I need a logo for this blog. Here is one I've tried myself:
but I would love to see what other people can come up with!
To make it interesting, I'm even offering a prize: a black Stipula passporto !
They are tiny capped; and the cap screws onto the base to make it a reasonable size pen (a la Kaweco).
Here is a comparison for size with a Montblanc Heritage 1912:
This one has a stainless steel nib with what looks like a bold or stub nib (see photo) (it's marked on back as "6").
So, after all this, what do you do? simply email your design to eclectidbits@icloud.com
As with my other competitions, this one is not random selection; I choose the one I like best. If I also choose to use it as my logo, I will be assuming your permission to use it.
Competition is open until February 28.
I look forward to seeing your efforts!
Thursday, 22 January 2015
Eighty Pages - a new notebook!
I have recently signed up on the kickstarter page for a new
notebook - Eighty Pages!
What is Eighty Pages?
"Eighty pages" is a company selling limited
edition, made in New York City, soft and hard cover pocket notebooks with a
minimalist approach.
They are a small team based out of Brooklyn, NY with a
passion for design and bookbinding.
Their goal is simply to provide quality notebooks, made in
their home town of New York, with an emphasis on simplicity and design. I haven't received mine yet, but they claim
that they want these notebooks to last so they use a very strong waxed linen
thread and durable cover stocks. This is a design project, and they promise to
have lots more in store if funded, and they have already achieved their Kickstarter
target so stay tuned!
How big are the
notebooks?
Each of the notebooks are 80 pages in length (I wonder where
the name comes from?), measure approximately 3.5'' x 5.5'' and have a unique
serial number. The first number indicates the volume number, and the second
indicates the production number. Currently, the notebooks are produced with
plain paper, but they promise that they will likely release lined and graph
versions in future releases. No two volumes will be the same!
The first 4 volumes are only available through Kickstarter
Page. They will release Volume 5 on their website sometime in February.
Additionally, if everything goes well, they plan on releasing two new limited
edition notebook designs every month.
The Kickstarter campaign ends on January 25th. I'm looking
forward to seeing how these develop.
Friday, 9 January 2015
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