Am I The Only One Who Detests The Idea Of 'limited Edition' Inks?

[Highbinder]

We all know the pleasure of finding a great ink, but after the horror of Montblanc discontinuing British Racing Green, I'm not keen to repeat that particular pleasure.

 

So how limited is limited edition? Does it depend on manufacturers?

 

Does it deter anyone else from buying LE inks? Does anyone try and match LE colours with more 'standard' inks? Anyone stock pile once they find their keepers? Or do you just take it as it comes and move on when an inks availability dries up?

Edited January 18, 2017 by Highbinder

[pajaro]

It seems that Montblanc is changing its inks every so often, and so I have to find a new ink to get comfortable with. I like to have a violet or dark red ink. These seem to go away from time to time. I don't buy limited edition inks, because I don't want to get to like one and have it not available. There must be someone who likes them, or they would not be offered.

[Chrissy]

I have managed to make a duplicate copy of Montblanc Racing Green ink. I posted the recipe on another forum. If you are interested in reproducing it, I could also post it on here.

[Padawan]

I am a fan of various blue MB LE inks and have got a few.

To my mind it is a part of fun/game of using FPs.

"Regular" MB inks (Royal Blue and Midnight Blue) IMHO are a bit boring.

No complains when using any MB inks in MB pens.

[Highbinder]

Montblanc are by no means the only guilty party. I actually had Sailor Gentle Miruai in mind when I created the thread but from a bit of reading it seems that it has been added to their regular line of inks due to popularity (and rightly so)

 

 

I have managed to make a duplicate copy of Montblanc Racing Green ink. I posted the recipe on another forum. If you are interested in reproducing it, I could also post it on here.

 

Actually yes that'd be great. I've been satisfying my dark green lusting with Diamine Salamander and Classic Green, which are both great (standard) colours.

Edited January 18, 2017 by Highbinder

[Cryptos]

I find it slightly irritating. Not so much bothered by the MB inks as I've yet to properly try any, and they tend to be gone before I hear about them.

 

Japanese inks bug me, for three reasons:

 

1. Very limited supply or target market. These never occur here in NZ. Ever. I'm sure many others could agree for their own areas too.

2. Members who brag about buying a lifetime supply of hard to get inks. Hey guys, keep the info to yourself. It's called tact.

3. Re-sellers who dribble stuff onto the market. It may make good business sense in the short term, but they are mistaken if they think we don't know what's going on, and it will harm their reputation in the long term. These people are, IMHO, the jam today people.

 

When it comes to pens it's a slightly different story, at least for me. I don't chase after LEs because they tend to be somewhat spendy, and sometimes lacking in aesthetic compass. Further, I tend to think that LEs do nothing to encourage the pen hobby community, and are just a quick money grab for the company involved.

[Uncial]

I quite like LE inks but do feel rather sad when I find a really great one and know I won't be able to get it again. I refuse to pay silly money for ink. I do also get frustrated at the lack of availability of many Japanese inks. If I find an LE ink that I like I sometimes buy one more of it. I know someone who recently bought just over forty bottles of an LE ink that I thought they'd bought to dribble sell later. They hadn't!

[cattar]

I'm ok with LEs. I think of inks as transitory - these are the ones I'm enjoying now, and when they run low I'll see what appeals.

If needed, I'll mix a color I want.

Big fan of Miruai. It's still a four seasons color, so might be gone anytime.

[Arkanabar]

The Six Essential Inks have to be readily available for the forseeable future. Thus, LE and d/c inks are not eligible to become one of the Six Essential Inks. The more widely available, the better.

I have some inks that I'm not going to have any more of. I've decided that they may as well get use, whenever the mood strikes (which is how I choose which pen and ink to use whenever it's time to do so).

Japanese inks bug me, for three reasons:

 

1. Very limited supply or target market. These never occur here in NZ. Ever. I'm sure many others could agree for their own areas too.

2. Members who brag about buying a lifetime supply of hard to get inks. Hey guys, keep the info to yourself. It's called tact.

3. Re-sellers who dribble stuff onto the market. It may make good business sense in the short term, but they are mistaken if they think we don't know what's going on, and it will harm their reputation in the long term. These people are, IMHO, the jam today people.

 

That's the risk that speculators take; often, they don't make much money. Only rarely will they get the sort of big returns that gets them called "price gougers." I personally don't object to it. When prices rise in response to increased demand, it helps to ensure that goods go to those who are most desperately in need of them, and those who can afford to do without will try to do so.

 

For example, when, because of Katrina and Deepwater Horizon, gas prices jumped to $4+/gal and supplies were very limited (only one of the four gas stations in town had any), I got in the gas line and bought ... $7 worth, when everyone else in line was doing their best to fill up, and planned on driving much less.

 

I knew that other vendors would be expanding into the market soon, repairs would be made, perhaps a mothballed facility would be brought back on line, and so on -- before long, there would be more gas, at lower prices. And there was.

[cattar]

The six essential inks?

[Runnin_Ute]

The six essential inks?

The six essentials.. There is a big thread on it.

Here:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/306763-inky-t-o-d-oh-the-places-youll-go-or-waypoints-on-the-inky-journey/

[Runnin_Ute]

Hey there are inks that aren't LE/SE or otherwise no longer available that I won't pursue. Even current production inks. I think I have two or three that fit the "unobtanium" classification, in that they were never in production (test/pre - production) and once they are gone that's it.

 

Now, a production ink I have, and is actually a favorite is Levenger Pomegranate. Discontinued last year. I really ought to try and get a replacement. I won't pay silly prices though. Heck I balk at paying Pilot/Iro prices. But there are only a couple of colors that appeal to me anyway. Kon Peki being one of them.

[migo984]

I buy LE inks, in ones or twos. I use them as I would standard inks. Don't understand the hoarding thing. I swap them; give away samples, whole bottles sometimes; sell them (not for profit) if I end up going off them. Don't care if I use them up - what's the worst that can happen if you run out? Another good ink will be along soon.

Also don't care if I can't get one I think I want: I'll likely have forgotten about it a few weeks down the line.

[Runnin_Ute]

I buy LE inks, in ones or twos. I use them as I would standard inks. Don't understand the hoarding thing. I swap them; give away samples, whole bottles sometimes; sell them (not for profit) if I end up going off them. Don't care if I use them up - what's the worst that can happen if you run out? Another good ink will be along soon.

Also don't care if I can't get one I think I want: I'll likely have forgotten about it a few weeks down the line.

I think that is a very healthy way to approach it. I have to have some attraction to the color - regardless of the ink. And I better like it a lot if I am going to lay down the kind of cash some of these manufacturers are asking for some inks.

[PS104]

Limited Editions. Ptooy. The manufactures have discovered the monetary profit by labeling whatever as an LE. I've even seen breakfast cereal labeled as LE. Jack up the price. Produce it for a while. Then drop it like a hot potato. It's a ploy to generate interest and profit. Not there's anything wrong with that. We live in a capitalist society. As Barzini rightly said, "After all, we are not Communists". They're made to make people feel if they don't get the LE they are no longer a part of the 'in crowd'. Now that's a 'blast (phrase) from the past'. LEs are created to make you feel inferior, like you've missed the train that left the station, your ship has sailed without you, etc, if you haven't bought it. Look at the latest debacle of Miles Davis pen and ink. Poorly developed, poorly marketed with less than favorable reviews and a total disrespect to a great musician. Another LE destined for the ashcan of history.

I think my avatar sums up my feelings. At least until I change it next month.

Edited January 19, 2017 by PS104

[Ada]

I don't detest them, but it does deter me from buying them. I have no problem with manufacturers offering limited editions, I just prefer to buy inks that I know I can replace if I end up liking them and use up an entire bottle.

[Noihvo]

 

[ethernautrix]

In theory... I don't have a strong opinion. It's the market, isn't it? I don't have any control over the market, and so I have to mould my desires according to what I'm willing to spend and so on. I haven't found this to have had a particularly deleterious effect on my overall satisfaction of life. I feel (probably because I was born into a culture that championed such thinking) that if I wanted, say, a private jet, I would have made much different choices (and eventually discounted the luck involved in attaining my goals or become philosophical about having not done so).

 

In practice... I don't have a strong opinion. There are so many inks on the market these days that classifying a portion of it as limited and another portion as hard-to-get and another as prone-to-sludge and so on just helps me spend less time figuring out what inks to buy and use ("using's" being the critical factor) -- that whole "paradox of choice" that I didn't have a phrase for until that guy wrote the book (that I haven't read).

[ParkerDuofold]

I know MB, Lamy, DeArmentis, Sailor, J. Herbin, Diamine and others have released LE/Anniversary inks, but I won't buy them. What's the point in loving a color that's here today and gone tommorow?

 

There are plenty of beautiful inks out there in regular production that I love to look at and I know won't walk out on me.

 

- Anthony

[white_lotus]

Most limited edition inks don't interest me. I've gotten a few of the MB ones, but recently their offerings haven't sparked any interest in me. Some other limited edition inks from KWZ and Noodler's I've been fortunate to get a bottle or good sample, and these are inks I've liked quite a bit. And they weren't priced any differently than their usual offerings, so they weren't produced with (extra) profit in mind.