Inky T O D - an ink you have been considering, but you haven't bought ... yet

[amberleadavis]

Perhaps you have been thinking about buying a particular ink but you haven't bought it - and you might not buy it - but you may buy it...

 

Tell us what ink it is and why you are on the fence. Then tell us if you think you'll end up buying it after all.

[amberleadavis]

So, uh, I really don't need more ink.  I hate to admit this, but I might have more ink than I can use in my life time.  I now only use huge stubs or really wet broads and my Pilot Parallels are getting use as I try and use up my ink.

 

But I was looking at Birmingham Pens ... and I was wowed by a few of the inks - including Ultramarine and Galactic Twinkle.  (See the pictures below). But honestly, how many blue inks do I really need?

 

 

 

BUT on the other hand, I haven't tried any Birmingham Inks yet, and maybe I should try these out.

 

Clearly, I'm still on the fence. 

I'll probably bite the bullet, but it won't be this week.

 

So, how about you?

 

 

[LizEF]

Robert Oster Bronze is one I will get, I just don't know when¹.  I'm also on the fence about a grey ink.  I want one, it was going to be Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-syogun, but I was gifted a sample of Vinta Armada, and it's terribly interesting.  Meanwhile 3 Oysters Delicious Cool Grey is actually dark enough to read easily, even in an EF nib.  Sigh.  I think grey will have to stay on the fence.

 

¹Probably whenever I next order ink samples, but a certain extremely generous Aussie is sending me an obscene number of ink samples, so my need to order ink samples (and ability to use them) will now be delayed by about a year...

[amberleadavis]

@LizEF  I am totally empathizing with you.

[lapis]

Sailor's "Sailor" (or similar). Yes, that's a bit cynical since it seemed IMO to be a good example of a bad thing in general because it's A. too expensive, B. too hard to get, C. apparently a LE but someday soon to appear as a regular, and D. likely (at least possibly) already superfluous due to the huge spectrum of similar blues currently available....

[amberleadavis]

45 minutes ago, lapis said:

Sailor's "Sailor" (or similar). Yes, that's a bit cynical since it seemed IMO to be a good example of a bad thing in general because it's A. too expensive, B. too hard to get, C. apparently a LE but someday soon to appear as a regular, and D. likely (at least possibly) already superfluous due to the huge spectrum of similar blues currently available....

 

 

All that makes total sense... So, will you wait to acquire it?

 

I also keep thinking about the Diamine inks that are only available in Germany like Brexit. 

[Barkingpig]

I recently received a notification (as subscribed to their mailing list) from BIRMINGHAM PENS introducing their newest inks.

 

I may have bought 5 bottles of ink last year: I fully realise I have more inks than I will ever use & admit to purchasing foolishly during the past 6 years.  I look @ most newly released inks & just pass them by.  However I weakened when I looked @ these Birmingham inks & remembering I had enjoyed the inks I had previously purchased, ordered the first bottle of ink this year.

 

It is KY Bluegrass & I didn't hesitate after seeing a swab of the ink from their site.  It is a very pleasant green & I am very fond of green inks, from true colors to murkers, with exception of blue greens, which I dislike.  I filled a pen upon arrival & have enjoyed using this new ink for the past couple of weeks. 

 

Because Birmingham sells their ink @ a reasonable price & equally fair price for shipping, I didn't hesitate to order it immediately upon discovery.  In the past I have spent happily whatever an ink cost & paid shipping equal to the cost of the ink if necessary for receipt from a far away place.  BUT, after doing so I have decided to enjoy what I have &  avoid repeating such actions.  Since I have resisted same for more than a years time I believe it is a plan I intend to continue. 

[ENewton]

7 hours ago, Barkingpig said:

 

Because Birmingham sells their ink @ a reasonable price & equally fair price for shipping, I didn't hesitate to order it immediately upon discovery.  In the past I have spent happily whatever an ink cost & paid shipping equal to the cost of the ink if necessary for receipt from a far away place.  BUT, after doing so I have decided to enjoy what I have &  avoid repeating such actions.  Since I have resisted same for more than a years time I believe it is a plan I intend to continue. 

 

Interesting.  My one regret, as regards ink purchases, is that I did not buy a bottle of the first formulation of Birmingham Waterfront Dusk, because I could not bring myself to pay almost as much for shipping as for the ink.  (If I remember correctly, the ink was then only $8.95 a bottle, a bargain, but the shipping was $6.95.)  More recently, I keep looking at Alternator Crimson, but I still balk at paying the shipping, which is now $9 for a $16 bottle of ink.  Birmingham does offer free shipping on purchases over $40, but there isn't $40 worth of merchandise I want to buy from them; I wish they sold paper or other items I would be inclined to use to pad an order.

 

 

 

 

 

[LizEF]

20 hours ago, amberleadavis said:

@LizEF  I am totally empathizing with you.

  Thank you!  And I forgot one - Robert Oster Green Lime - very bright, happy green - I'll get it eventually, with Bronze, just don't know when (and I still have samples of both, so no rush).

[femamerica13]

I have a list of inks that I want to buy, but the two on top of my list are Diamine's Apple Glory and Red Poppy. I am waiting for my samples to run out, since I have more inks than pens to use them.

[amberleadavis]

13 hours ago, Barkingpig said:

I recently received a notification (as subscribed to their mailing list) from BIRMINGHAM PENS introducing their newest inks.

 

I may have bought 5 bottles of ink last year: I fully realise I have more inks than I will ever use & admit to purchasing foolishly during the past 6 years.  I look @ most newly released inks & just pass them by.  However I weakened when I looked @ these Birmingham inks & remembering I had enjoyed the inks I had previously purchased, ordered the first bottle of ink this year.

 

It is KY Bluegrass & I didn't hesitate after seeing a swab of the ink from their site.  It is a very pleasant green & I am very fond of green inks, from true colors to murkers, with exception of blue greens, which I dislike.  I filled a pen upon arrival & have enjoyed using this new ink for the past couple of weeks. 

 

Because Birmingham sells their ink @ a reasonable price & equally fair price for shipping, I didn't hesitate to order it immediately upon discovery.  In the past I have spent happily whatever an ink cost & paid shipping equal to the cost of the ink if necessary for receipt from a far away place.  BUT, after doing so I have decided to enjoy what I have &  avoid repeating such actions.  Since I have resisted same for more than a years time I believe it is a plan I intend to continue. 

 

Good for you on resisting.

 

 

 

6 hours ago, ENewton said:

 

Interesting.  My one regret, as regards ink purchases, is that I did not buy a bottle of the first formulation of Birmingham Waterfront Dusk, because I could not bring myself to pay almost as much for shipping as for the ink.  (If I remember correctly, the ink was then only $8.95 a bottle, a bargain, but the shipping was $6.95.)  More recently, I keep looking at Alternator Crimson, but I still balk at paying the shipping, which is now $9 for a $16 bottle of ink.  Birmingham does offer free shipping on purchases over $40, but there isn't $40 worth of merchandise I want to buy from them; I wish they sold paper or other items I would be inclined to use to pad an order.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those big bottles are a great price for volume of ink.

 

2 hours ago, LizEF said:

  Thank you!  And I forgot one - Robert Oster Green Lime - very bright, happy green - I'll get it eventually, with Bronze, just don't know when (and I still have samples of both, so no rush).

 

Ooh, I'd love to see it with Bronze.

 

1 hour ago, femamerica13 said:

I have a list of inks that I want to buy, but the two on top of my list are Diamine's Apple Glory and Red Poppy. I am waiting for my samples to run out, since I have more inks than pens to use them.

 

 

Two wonderful vibrant inks.

[LizEF]

4 minutes ago, amberleadavis said:

 

Ooh, I'd love to see it with Bronze.

I could arrange that, but beware, I'm pretty sure they'll clash horribly!

[mizgeorge]

Birmingham are my biggest on the fence purchase. I have filled a basket several times, and then I just balk at the shipping - especially knowing how long they're going to take to get here. I know they're only little, but I so wish they had a UK or at least European distributor. The biggest problem is that I'd have to limit myself to a given number, and I want more than fit into that number.

 

Then there are the inks I'd buy if I could, but are just too hard to get. Mostly Sailor specials for various Japanese stationery stores. It's probably a good thing...

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, amberleadavis said:

Ooh, I'd love to see it with Bronze.

OK, here it is.  The color isn't quite right.  The Lime is not quite green enough, the Bronze is not quite dark enough.

[RJS]

I keep contemplating a purchase of Sailor Souboku, KWZ Walk Over Vistula, Organics Studio Walden Pond, Sailor Okuyama, Sailor Souten and Pelikan Edelstein Topaz. Especially the first and last ones on that list, which have made it into baskets many times.

[Detman101]

"DeAtramentis - Heliogen Green-Gold"

I've heard that their inks smell great and are well behaved. This ink in particular is rumored to have more fine particulate shimmer in it and the ink reported to have a tone closer to Montblanc - Irish Green.
I really don't need another Green ink...especially after the abysmal disappointment that "Sailor - Tokiwa Matsu" was yesterday. 😞

But....Those factors have compelled me to place an order for a sample vial of the ink...and about 5 others that I "Don't Need"...lol
But...if I can find the perfect brown and green that flow right and are also scented...that would be magnificent!

[LizEF]

36 minutes ago, Detman101 said:

abysmal disappointment that "Sailor - Tokiwa Matsu" was yesterday

May I ask what caused the disappointment?  Color, performance, ...?

[A Smug Dill]

On 5/1/2021 at 6:04 AM, amberleadavis said:

So, uh, I really don't need more ink.  I hate to admit this, but I might have more ink than I can use in my life time.

 

You never know, with advances in medical science and all that. (Oh, but don't we just lament the vintage ways of pursuing longevity through potions, magic, blessings by gods and unholy trades with the Devil?)

 

But I do empathise.

 

On 5/1/2021 at 5:57 AM, amberleadavis said:

Tell us what ink it is and why you are on the fence.

 

“… have been considering”? That's any number of commercially available inks; I often ‘have to’ look for (and thus look at) inks I could buy to pad my pen orders, so as to reach some threshold value and be eligible for free international shipping. Truly waterproof inks are always welcome in my stable, so Sailor STORiA inks (of which I have three colours), Rohrer & Klingner SketchINK inks, and even Platinum's Pigment blue and rose red inks have been considered, as have some PenBBS inks that cannot be used to pad orders. I'm “on the fence” about them because I cannot plausibly need more ink, and it isn't like I don't already have waterproof black, blue-black, blue, purple (and so on) ink; and some are just poor value on a per-millilitre cost basis, now more than ever (and I'm looking at you, Sailor STORiA). But, like last week, I needed to pad an order and so three colours of R&K SketchINK were ordered.

 

Just a couple of hours ago, I had to pad another order, and upon seeing all nine colours of Platinum Mix-Free ink in 60ml bottles has been restocked by the (as far as I'm aware) only retailer outside of Japan that still sells those, the previously only very casually considered inks ended up on my order.

 

Other inks I've considered: TWSBI Blue-Black, and KWZ Ink IG Blue-Black, only for comparison against the many blue-black iron-gall inks I already have, out of idle curiosity — and for no good reason, because I know I will neither end up choosing them to take prime positions in the inks I actually use, nor find anything so special about them that they fulfil some particular qualitative but objective criteria (outside of someone's personal preferences) that other blue-black IG inks don't. They may yet end up serving as order padding, if I don't stop buying fountain pens.

 

Then there are Sailor Ink Studio inks, some of which look quite attractive, but are relatively very poor value. If it was a matter of pay $30 in shipping charges, or spend (an additional) $30 ordering two tiny bottles of ink but qualify for free shipping, of course I'd choose the latter; but otherwise I'm just not buying those.

 

On 5/1/2021 at 7:24 AM, LizEF said:

… an obscene number of ink samples …

 

obscene: adj. (describing an integer) sandwiched immediately between two prime numbers

[amberleadavis]

On 5/1/2021 at 3:15 PM, LizEF said:

OK, here it is.  The color isn't quite right.  The Lime is not quite green enough, the Bronze is not quite dark enough.

 

Quite a comparison and definitely not one of your extra fine nibs.  . Thank you. 

[amberleadavis]

55 minutes ago, Detman101 said:

"DeAtramentis - Heliogen Green-Gold"

I've heard that their inks smell great and are well behaved. This ink in particular is rumored to have more fine particulate shimmer in it and the ink reported to have a tone closer to Montblanc - Irish Green.
I really don't need another Green ink...especially after the abysmal disappointment that "Sailor - Tokiwa Matsu" was yesterday. 😞

But....Those factors have compelled me to place an order for a sample vial of the ink...and about 5 others that I "Don't Need"...lol
But...if I can find the perfect brown and green that flow right and are also scented...that would be magnificent!

 

I love Heliogen Green with the Gold, BUT it is crazy wet.

 

What did you not like about Tokliwa Matsu?