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Summer and I’m not dead yet

Here in the UK it’s a heatwave and frankly I’ve spent less time thinking about pens than I normally would.

My pen-buying has trickled to a halt (although these gorgeous designs are tempting me), my pen selling nearly so, and I’m satisfied with how my Toyooka tray is looking. I’ve been using and reinking my pens with gay abandon.

But it’s not totally quiet in the world of UKFP…

I have an exciting (but embargoed) summer release from Esterbrook incoming, which has genuinely put a spring in my step. I think I’m going to love it, and you will too. It’s not uber-premium, but it’s fun and what writing is all about.

I also have the new, utterly crazy and uber-engineered pens from Drillog inbound too. They have a Kickstarter currently underway, which you should check out just to see the design. If you’ve ever had a glass nib pen break on you, I’m sure you can see the appeal.

Regardless of the much-discussed jacked-up pricing, I have also sprung for the brown LE Lamy 2000, supplied by the lovely folks at Write Here (at full retail price, I might add). I don’t buy many pens nowadays, but I stand by my love of the Lamy 2000, and frankly I’m also excited to read the bio of Gerd Muller that’s included in the box. It arrives tomorrow.

Looking out a little further, I have assurances from the fine crafstmen at Elbwood, Gioia and Scribo that I’ll have some interesting things in my mailbox soon. I don’t go out of my way to hunt down new products to review any more, but apparently people are still interested in my opinion!

And, amazingly, it’s the London Pen Show this weekend. I’ve had a lot of people contact me (some via Facebook, which I’ve deactivated!) to ask if I’m going. In short, I expect I’ll be poking my head in the door to show support, and I have dutifully purchased an earlybird ticket, but I won’t be making a day of it, so I probably won’t be stopping to chat much. I figure that the longer I spend there the greater the chance I’ll be tempted to buy a pen. And truthfully I am trying to avoid that!

But I will be looking to pick up some more Venvstas inks from Stonecott, and I’ll see what other interesting inks are out there. I could be persuaded by the right Montblanc writer’s edition with the right nib, or a Nakaya in Milky Way or ama-iro. But let’s not go there, shall we? That way madness lies…

3 Comments

  1. tomalaerts

    Perhaps skip the show. The covid infections are rising again and the current vaccines don’t work as well (though they do help)…

  2. Kevin

    Like many people I have reached the time in my pen use that I know what I like and what I don’t. I’m still interested when makers like Benu , Leonardo, and others come out with interesting colourful designs but by and large I like what I have. Recently I decided to sell some of my pens and contacted Izods who were a real pleasure to deal with. I’m sure there are other dealers just as good but I have bought pens , both new and preloved from Izods before and had a great service. I would just encourage people who are not using specific pens to consider selling them. You get some cash to use as you like, the dealer gets stock to sell and keep their business going and others in the pen community get the chance to own a pen at a lower price than when bought new. which might otherwise be out of budget.
    I look forward to the upcoming reviews Anthony and stay well everyone.

    • Anthony

      Roy at Izods is a national treasure, it’s true.

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