MB's new Midnight Blue

[lapis]

Introduction

 

 

Papers

 

Ink properties

* General appearance: This is a "standard blue-black", very similar to MB's last version and Lamy's (both in bottles). The new MB ink is probably the closest thing to old blue-black, maybe a very slight touch lighter, but still darker and less blue than Lamy's, the ink with which MB is/was compared the most. For more, see below.

* Intensity/saturation: This ink has a fair to middling intensity. The Noodler's tested are definitely more intense, Waterman's Pelikan's and Parker's blue-blacks less so.

* Flow/wetness/lubrication: medium to dry. IMO the same slight dryness as MB's previous version. Not quite as dry as Pelikan's, but still a bit dryer than Lamy's. Noodler's (see below) are much wetter and these are even topped off by Sailor's and Pilot's blue-blacks. I'd give it a wetness rating of about 4 to 5 out of 10, just like some other MB inks. Racing green was much wetter. I encountered the usual slight start-up problems with any pen filled with MB's new Midnight Blue, either after a few hours or especially days of non-use, capped. After 15-20 minutes of lying down uncapped, it takes > 10 seconds to start writing. For this reason, I always recap any pen filled with any MB ink if I stop writing with it for more than 5 minutes.

* Drying time/speed is quite good: using my M800 (broad nib) a drawn line is dry in 5 seconds.

* It neither feathers nor bleeds to any special extent, as mentioned above on different papers.

* It shades very little and as usual this also depends on the pen. The wider the nib and/or the wetter the pen, the more the shading from a lighter blue-black to a darker blue-black.

* Its permanence, non-washoutability, and/or legal-ness are equivalent to those of the predecessor MB ink. In any case absolutely non-smudgeable.

 

Ink comparisons with different writing instruments

The following table compares only 6 other blue-blacks (I do have more, believe me). These are all bottled FP inks. But I left out Pelikan's, Waterman's and Skrip's (Slovenien) because these inks are IMO too light, watery and/or not "really" blue-blacks.

 

Dip pens are not as good as real FP nibs for comparisons, and swabs are likely the worst, but what the heck. Each swab used here has exactly 100 µl of ink pipetted onto it. The letters in parentheses after the pens' names represent their nib widths.

 

 

You can judge by yourself the differences in colour. IYAM I'd say that this new ink (MB's "Midnight Blue") is "almost exactly the same colour" as its predecessor (MB's "Blue-Black"). To elucidate where possible, it is perhaps a tick lighter and a half a tick bluer than the older ink. In that instance, one might go so far as to say that the new MB ink is somewhat a merge between the old MB ink and Lamy's. That is not entirely ridiculous, because MB's new black ink as well is now no longer called "black", but "Mystery Black", a special black having a tinge of darkest gray charcoal, like CdA's Carbon.

 

Availability

Being a MB ink, it will likely be available almost all over the world (okay, even if not all that up close in your corner store). As said above, it is already here on the market, costs 12.00 Euros (list price) for a 60-ml bottle whereas the older stuff came in at 8.90 for the 50-ml bottle.

 

The new bottle -- also shaped like a shoe, but squarer, more "vertical" -- is IMO designed to be much more "user friendly" than previously. It has a better box, and, above all, a better-fitting cap inclusive of its sealing disk inside that needs neither a chizel nor an umbrella to open safely.

 

Note the nice piece of ribbon on the right end, to pull out the inside box from the outer box:

 

 

The inside box has a well-fitting piece of foam plastic as a padding on top of the lower flat part of the bottle. At the bottom of the inside box there still is, like there always was, a detailed instruction sheet. This time, the newer inks are mentioned. Please note that MB's recomendation for a good cleaning of any pen used with any MB ink is (and remains) at least every three (3) months.

 

The bottle itself is as said above, squarer, more upright. Still having a heel for good filling of any pen, I think this shoe is, well, more aesthetic than the old one.

 

 

All in all

I would like to describe this ink as a good, standard, iron gall-containing blue-black ink. That makes it a good documentation or "registrar's" ink. A very good and easily attainable but not unearthly priced permanent blue-black. Being iron-gall containing, have no fear. Just rinse your pen ever 1-2-3 months whether you use it regularly or not. In comparison with other blue-blacks (and there are, yes, hundreds). I'd say that it is still too dry, very slightly too light-coloured but in any case not too blue or green. Some of us prefer a lighter, almost gray-flannel-suit blue-black, and for that issue, this ink should fill the bill.

Short story long: this is likely the best example of a new MB ink being a very close follow-up of the previous ink. I.e. "Midnight Blue" is practically the same as the old "Blue-Black". That is not the case for others: Irish Green is by no means a substitute for racing green, and Oyster Grey is a completely new MB colour.

Remember, MB Midnight Blue is the successor to their previous MB Blue-Black. The (old) MB blue-black is still on the market and has not (yet) been discontinued like racing green was. I don't know how long any of the other MB ink oldies (now still available) will continue to be around.

 

Note

Comparing "the real McCoy" with the scan I see on my monitor, everything isn't as bad as I first thought it would be. Exception: The Noodler's Blue-Black shown above is, in real life on paper even more green.

 

 

Mike

 

[Gran]

Lapis, thank you very much for such an excellent review. The comparisons are most helpful. I will miss the old blue-black.

[dandelion]

Thanks for a splendid review! Great with such an extensive comparison - very useful!

[razr]

doesn't look much different than the MM blue/black to me...

[reprieve]

Thanks for the review! MB's Blue-black is one of my inky staples, so I'm glad to see that the new Midnight Blue formulation is very nearly identical.

[inkcoffee]

Thanks a lot, lapis for the extremely informative and thorough review.

[PenTieRun]

Good to see that MB is really only changing the name, bottle, and presentation of the inks and leaving the color the same (sigh--except for Green). Thanks for the review!

[LWB]

Superb review...thanks very much.

[MarkTrain]

Thanks Mike. Really nice comparisons.

 

Mark

[kushbaby]

Thanks for the review! MB's Blue-black is one of my inky staples, so I'm glad to see that the new Midnight Blue formulation is very nearly identical.

 

+1!

 

The old MB Blue-black is a staple for me, and I have a F-nibbed 149 from the 70s that drinks nothing but MB Blue-black and sits in a 149 stand on my desk, and my Poe also drinks nothing but. I am GREATLY relieved to see this detailed review and the assurances that this is still a permanent ink.

 

This is a wonderful, detailed review. You are wonderful - thank you!!! You now go on my super-special "cool" list! :notworthy1:

[saintsimon]

Good to see that MB is really only changing the name, bottle, and presentation of the inks ...

And the price!

[Ondina]

Good to see that MB is really only changing the name, bottle, and presentation of the inks ...

And the price!

 

No kidding, prices are going up like crazy.

 

Excellent review, fabulous. Many, many thanks.

[Ed Ronax]

Great review, thanks.

[lapis]

No kidding, prices are going up like crazy.

Thanks for the thanks, everybody!

The way I see it, the rise in price is minimalistic... At least as re list prices here in Yermany, it go like dees...

 

Old bottle (50 ml) = 0.18 Euro per ml

New bottle (60 ml) = 0.20 Euro per ml

 

And for the better lid and sealing disk I'd give you a whole buck more.

 

Mike

[kushbaby]

...and my Poe also drinks nothing but. I am GREATLY relieved to see this detailed review and the assurances that this is still a permanent ink.

 

My Poe also drinks nothing but MB Blue-black! It really suits the pen, I think.

 

My thoughts exactly!

[lapis]

...and my Poe also drinks nothing but. I am GREATLY relieved to see this detailed review and the assurances that this is still a permanent ink.

 

My Poe also drinks nothing but MB Blue-black! It really suits the pen, I think.

 

My thoughts exactly!

My 51 (in burgundy) enjoyed MB's old "bordeaux" the most, and since that bordeaux in fact looked more like a burgundy, this may have been the reason why MB has now renamed "bordeaux" "Burgundy Red".

 

Mike

[laplume]

No kidding, prices are going up like crazy.

Thanks for the thanks, everybody!

The way I see it, the rise in price is minimalistic... At least as re list prices here in Yermany, it go like dees...

 

Old bottle (50 ml) = 0.18 Euro per ml

New bottle (60 ml) = 0.20 Euro per ml

 

And for the better lid and sealing disk I'd give you a whole buck more.

 

Mike

 

12€ = $16.35. The ink is good, but I agree, price increase is no peanuts. I understand they are focusing on luxury markets. That's why I'll focus on the guy next door one;

Registrar's ink, 110 ml, 7£, ($10.45), or = 0.069€

Nice review.....

[lapis]

Registrar's ink, 110 ml, 7£, ($10.45), or = 0.069€

Yes, I've heard about that ink (actually only "seen" it in TWD's site)... 28.4-ml bottle = 6.99 quid, 100-ml bottle = 10.99 quid...

 

... Could you -- in a nutshell -- please compare these two inks (Diamine's Registras and MB's Midnight blue)?.

Is Registrars wetter/drier, darker/lighter/blacker/bluer, more/less permanent, etc? Thanks. I've always wanted that ink, just not ever got around to ordering it.

 

Mike

[ethernautrix]

I love the new bottle! Thanks for the thorough review, Mike. I see a couple of blue-blacks that I use. My current favorite "blue" is Sailor Blue-Black.

[jandrese]

excellent review, thanks