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Tag: Chicago Pen Co

Would I Buy Them Again Today?

Posted in Fountain Pens, and Non-Fountain Pens

This post is inspired by Angelica Nyqvist‘s video But, Would I Buy Them If They Were Released Today?! In that video, they credit Dolly Mama Beauty with coming up with the idea.

The idea behind this post is pretty straightforward: if the below pens were first announced/released today, would I buy them? So, this is different than the more typical, “if my collection disappeared” or, “if this pen got lost” that usually prefaces the “would I buy it again” question. Suspend disbelief for the duration of this post. Imagine that none of the below pens have ever existed in this world before today. And I’ll tell you if I would buy them.

My Pen Collection Part 3

Posted in Fountain Pens

Indie Pens

I’m back with Part 3! I meant to include my “always inked” pens in this post, but it’s already so long, I don’t want to make it longer. So, I guess there will be a part 4.

As with my other pens, I keep my indie pens in rainbow order. The exceptions being my two urushi pens and my Permies.World pens. Those three live in the pen display box, as I don’t want to run the risk of ruining them with the elastic bands.

all of my indie pens

Once again, please use the form at the end of this post to vote for pens you want to see “pen porn” posts about.

Year in Review – 2021 Pens

Posted in Fountain Pens, and Non-Fountain Pens

DISCLAIMER UPDATE (6/24/22): TWSBI and Narwhal have released a joint statement which I cover in my most recent TWSBIgate post. While not completely satisfied with TWSBI’s response to the situation, I no longer feel the need to dissuade people from purchasing their products.

DISCLAIMER (5/1/22): Since writing this post, TWSBI has been involved in some unsavory actions, and I am currently boycotting them. For more information, refer to the #twsbigate tag page.

Both last year and in 2019 I wrote about my biggest pen wins and regrets. It was fun to look back on my pens, so I decided to do the same thing this year. However, with my 2021 Top Pens post, I basically already did that. So, I decided to do something I’ve seen in the YouTube makeup world — surprise, surprise — and rank all of my pen purchases.

Note: Some of the pens have already been discussed in recent posts. If a description looks familiar, that’s likely why. Also, where possible, I linked to an Instagram photo from the pen maker or store they collaborated with. When that wasn’t possible, I linked to a good photo on Instagram (consider following those fine folks). And, when all else failed, I linked to my own photos on Instagram.

My 2021 Brand “Discoveries”

Posted in Fountain Pens, and Storage

When I sat down to start writing this post, I thought it would be rather short. Then, I looked through my Airtable database and found that I’d purchased pens from 15 new-to-me brands this year! Wow! Now, when I say new-to-me, I don’t mean I’d never heard of them, just that I’d never before purchased a pen made by that brand.

I bought from a decent mix of indie and mainstream brands, which makes me happy. I like supporting indie brands. And I’ve found, especially recently, that my interest is piqued by indie brands more than mainstream brands.

Anyway, let’s start with mainstream brands to get that out of the way, then jump into the indie brands. FYI: The lists are in alphabetical order.