True Writer Pen Collection - So Far

[Misfit]

Today Levenger inks are $17.76. I bought Cocoa and Blazing Sunset. 

[mge01park]

18 minutes ago, Misfit said:

Today Levenger inks are $17.76. I bought Cocoa and Blazing Sunset. 

That’s great congratulations. Those are both really nice. I’ve bought every color they’ve ever had or introduced since the 90’s. I don’t need any now but I’m not going to pay them $29.50 for one of the smallest bottles in the industry and it’s not superior to any other inks. It seems their prices are skyrocketing now especially refills and I can’t believe Freeleaf 5 packs are $44.50. They came out with a new Freeleaf the Prismatic, with tax and shipping it would be close to $60. Not me. 😊. 

[Misfit]

There are lots of Levenger items on eBay. 
 

No fountain pens made the $17.76 sale. Just ballpoints and rollerballs. 

[Misfit]

1 hour ago, mge01park said:

I’ve bought every color they’ve ever had or introduced since the 90’s

Do either of the inks I bought shade? I like shading inks. 

[mge01park]

24 minutes ago, Misfit said:

Do either of the inks I bought shade? I like shading inks. 

I’d definitely say no on that. The cocoa is a rich dark brown and the blazing sunset is a fairly rich orange color. Their inks have always been heavily saturated. 

[mge01park]

On 7/4/2025 at 6:51 PM, Misfit said:

Today Levenger inks are $17.76. I bought Cocoa and Blazing Sunset. 

How are the inks doing for you? I’m using cocoa in a two pens today. I hung onto the Levenger Long Cartridges which had a Parker end and an International end (in many colors from that era) and using a few of them today. There’s some dissipation so I syringe fill them for the difference. 

[Misfit]

I haven’t received them yet. 

[Misfit]

Here is Levenger Blazing Sunset on Iroful paper. 
 

[mge01park]

Nice! I’ve been using it with M and B nibs mostly on Rhodia notepads and I’m getting more of a saturated results and a darker appearance but then again the photo can change things around a lot. It’s a great color though.

[mge01park]

Speaking of Levenger and ink, I’m on a bit of a grey rage and I’m using the Greystoke ink today which is a great ink as I’ve always found finding a saturated grey can be difficult. This ink was discontinued some years ago. The predecessor Smokey that came out with the original Levenger colors back in the 90’s which was part of a six pack that came in a fancy box. I’m 

[Misfit]

I have Smokey, as I got an older boxed set of Levenger inks on eBay. It has the discontinued Pinkly, Always Greener and Fireball inks as well. 

[mge01park]

On 7/22/2025 at 5:40 PM, Misfit said:

I have Smokey, as I got an older boxed set of Levenger inks on eBay. It has the discontinued Pinkly, Always Greener and Fireball inks as well. 

Did you get the six pack? 

[mge01park]

On 7/22/2025 at 3:40 AM, Misfit said:

Here is Levenger Blazing Sunset on Iroful paper. 
 

Nice pen, by the way. 

[Misfit]

@mge01park I did get that set of six in that same box. I didn’t mention all of the inks, only the discontinued ones. Thank you for the compliment on the pen. I think it’s a very cool version of the Conklin Duragraph using birch wood for the barrel. I did have to send the pen back for a nib replacement. But once it came back, it wrote as I was used to seeing Duragraphs write. 

[mge01park]

Those are from the 90’s. When they had the store and warehouse in FL. I would go weekly. I have supplies of things from the 90’s and early 2000’s that I use sparingly, like the legal pads in actual legal size. They also did collaboration with Stipula on some pens with gold nibs that I bought. I think I have every ink they ever came out with either in bottled or short international cartridges. They also had long international cartridges which I hoarded which had a Parker end on it. 😄. Sorry for not being directly on True Writer. 

[Misfit]

At least I slept on it before ordering another True Writer. This time it’s the Foliage with F nib. I do remember when it was available. Even though the theme spoke to me, I didn’t get one back then. 

[Misfit]

On 7/22/2025 at 9:30 AM, mge01park said:

Speaking of Levenger and ink, I’m on a bit of a grey rage and I’m using the Greystoke ink today which is a great ink as I’ve always found finding a saturated grey can be difficult. This ink was discontinued some years ago. The predecessor Smokey that came out with the original Levenger colors back in the 90’s which was part of a six pack that came in a fancy box. I’m 

If it would be good for you, would you be please post a photo of a Greystoke writing sample? I’d appreciate it.
 

I haven’t used Cocoa yet. I’ll try to put it in a pen with a 1.1mm stub nib to see how it does with that wide nib. 

[mge01park]

51 minutes ago, Misfit said:

If it would be good for you, would you be please post a photo of a Greystoke writing sample? I’d appreciate it.
 

I haven’t used Cocoa yet. I’ll try to put it in a pen with a 1.1mm stub nib to see how it does with that wide nib. 

 

[mge01park]

It’s hard to see the grey in a picture that doesn’t make it look black but it’s dark charcoal like the only other grey similar I ever found was the Grey Lux from KWZ. 
 

I have two fairly full bottles of the Greystoke after finishing one a few weeks ago and some cartridges. I’ll hang on for dear life. 🛟

[Misfit]

Thank you so much for the photo. I like gray inks. I bought the big bottle, I think 80ml, of Diamine Grey. I had it first in a smaller nib size, F or M. Looked like a pencil mark, I remember thinking. And a review called the ink atmospheric. But when I put it in a pen with a 1.1mm stub nib, I saw shading, and then the term atmospheric matched for me. I like shading inks. 
 

I looked up the KWZ Grey Lux ink on the Mountain of Ink blog. Just as you said.