New Pen Day (#NPD) 09/04/2024

 New Pen Day (#NPD) 09/04/2024

Previously I used to share my New Pen Day (NPD) updates on my Fountain Pen Journey YouTube channel under the headings of “Pen Mail” videos, but now that I’m on Blogger I felt that it was time for me to adopt the more standard “NPD” tag - I’m also testing the water to see how much reaction my NPD posts get on Blogger. (People really did seem to enjoy my original Pen Mail videos, so here goes…)

Sometimes I see second hand fountain pens for sale which just so happen to be either of interest, or at a price which makes them appealing. If they fit both of these criteria, then I’m even happier.

What new pens did I get?

First off, this is the Kaweco Sport Carmine (Galen Leather 2024 Special Edition).

Last years’ transparent blue version did nothing for me - I really don’t like blue very much!

However, this years’ Special Edition really is a nice, deep red. It’s almost garnet red in colour. I do like this colour and it’s a plain demonstrator, i.e. no sparkles or opacity, making this a bit less cringy for me.

The cardboard tube packaging is also nice.

Shipping from Turkey to the UK was fine - and fast.

Next up is a blue Parker 25.

I don’t know why, but the shape of these pens really appeals to me. They have a 1970s look and they give me a feeling of nostalgia or some memories of that time.

The Parker 25 is a robust pen, too. I have several of these in my collection.

The next pen that I received is the Parsons Italix Black Mamba.

Last year (2023) this UK brand (Mr Pen) retired, which is a bit of a shame.

This is my first Parsons Italix fountain pen and I am looking forward to trying it: I have heard a lot of positive things about the various models that used to be available from Mr Pen, though the Black Mamba was the only design which sort of appealed to me. (I considered the others to be a bit too plain or conservative.)

The Parsons Italix Black Mamba is a reasonably weighty pen. It’s an all-metal fountain pen, but not overly heavy. It surprised me by not being a screw cap.

My first impression is that it looks to be well-made, though in some ways I am pleased that I didn’t pay full price for this pen because once I had it in my hand, I would have felt disappointed in that it actually is a glossy black, metal fountain pen with little to distinguish it from most other black, metal fountain pens… (Even when Mr Pen was having his closing down sale, I didn’t buy this pen because the website images weren’t very good and I thought that this might be a matte black pen.)

In due course, I shall review this fountain pen.

Lastly, I got a black TWSBI ECO.

Why?? I have many TWSBI ECOs, but not a straight black version.

Did I need it? No.

Would I find it useful? Yes.

One thing that I have gone deeper into over the last three years is having a smaller number of fountain pens in rotation, with a handful of EDC pens which I just keep refilling over and over.

Part of this is time (laziness?) because cleaning pens is annoying, especially en masse.

However, in my defence I have chosen to stick to some pens which I simply enjoy writing with. These are also, additionally, fountain pens which have a decent ink capacity and therefore don’t require so much regular refilling.

My favourite fountain pen of 2023 was my fine-nibbed Lamy 2000 - mainly because I like this model/design and it holds a good quantity of ink.

The TWSBI ECO falls into this category, too. I like the “industrial” looking design, the demonstrator barrel holds a really decent amount of ink and you can easily see the ink level.

This could be deemed to be a bit of a “boring” pen, but for me it’s 100% functional because it ticks all of the boxes that make a fountain pen worthwhile;

• 

  Writes well

• 

  Holds a decent amount of ink

• 

  Comfortable for longer writing sessions

• 

  No hard starts if left unused for weeks

• 

  Looks are acceptable

• 

  Affordable