KWZ's Meet Me in St. Louis (2018)

The first St. Louis Pen Show will be this weekend, and I hope it's a big success. The show is set to be pretty darn big, with 150 tables putting it in the same weight class (I think) as shows like Chicago. That's a big deal for a first-year show, and I really hope that people show up. I wanted to go, but it's just not in the cards this year. Maybe next summer will work out, though.

This ink was created by KWZ for the pen show and, as far as I know, it'll be an exclusive to the show. So, if you like what you see below, you'll want to get someone to mule you a bottle or hope that there's enough left over for another vendor (like Anderson or Vanness) to get some stock to sell after the show.



Written Review

Close-Ups!

Copy Paper Test

Inky Fingers Currently Inked: Wheat paper

Ink Journal: Tomoe River

Chromatography

Water Test and Review Video

Yeah...no resistance.

Color Comparisons!

***This ink sample was provide, free of charge, by the show's promoters for promotional purposes. What you see is what I got. ***

Sailor Shikiori Yonaga

This is the first of the Shikiori inks that I've tried, and it's an instant hit. Well, instant in that I inked it up in one pen, and I used up pretty much the whole sample in this TWSBI Eco T. It only took me since January. I'll confess, I have too many pens inked right now. I'm working on that. This ECO got put in a drawer and forgotten about. BUT: it has never had any issue starting back up and writing perfectly. It's a great pen, and this is a really nice ink. As you'll see below, it's not perfect. It's a little prone to misbehavior on bad office paper, and it's a little expensive, but the color and feel of the ink makes it worth it.

Thanks for letting me try it out, Anderson Pens! (Here's the link to the ink.)

BEHOLD:

Written Review

Close Ups

Copy Paper Test

Inky Fingers Currently Inked: Wheat Paper

Ink Journal: Tomoe River

Chromatography

Water Test & Video

Bonus Time!

Color Comparisons!

***This ink sample was provided, free of charge, by Anderson Pens in exchange for this honest review. What you see is what I got. Free ink samples don't sway my reviews in any way that I'm aware of.***

Pen Chalet's Retro 51 Argo

The Argo is a new exclusive pen from Retro 51. These spacey pens are a future-take on ship that Jason sailed through Green mythology in search of the Golden Fleece. These futuristic pens come in two flavors. The orange that Pen Chalet sent out for me to review, and a really cool bright green.

I had to go for the orange, but that green is really cool. Check it out on their site. Check this one out below and then don't dilly-dally if you want one of these. There were only 250 in each color, and there aren't that many left of either at this point.

(There's a video review down at the bottom of the post.)

Close-Ups and Details

The first thing I noticed about this pen is that it looks better in person than it did in the pictures that I'd seen. The body is a slightly metallic, taupe-gray color that's a little hard to describe. The orange is much more reflective than I thought it would be, too. In the light it is almost as if it's lit from within. I hope space ships are this cool in the future.

The top is sort of sunburst, but it could also be the flame from an engine. Either way, I really like a cool finial, and this one is pretty sweet.

Each pen in the set is individually numbered along the band near the finial.

Watch the video below to see it unboxed, examined, and compared to a couple of other pens.

**This pen was sent out for my honest appraisal and review. No money changed hands, no assurances were given. Honesty is all. Have a good day.**