New (and first) TWSBI

[taimdala]

On 10/4/2023 at 3:13 PM, amper said:

Welcome to the club! I have seven ECOs, now, and I'm about to order an eighth. My one criticism of them is that, other than the clear, black, and white, all the colors are limited editions, so if you see a color you like, you have to jump on it immediately, before it sells out. Some sell out very quickly, others linger for months, but there's no way to know which way the wind will blow with every new release. I regret missing out on the solid yellow that was released right after the pandemic lockdown hit.

And I am still waiting for a basic red and a basic green.

Ohhhh, yes! I *feel* this! 

I'm still kicking myself for passing up on the Cement Grey, as well as the Pastel Blue and Pastel Pink that were released as a pair. 

I only belatedly realized that the Cement Grey would have paired up beautifully with the Yellow if I wanted to replicate the Pantone 2021 Color of the Year Duo of Illuminating (the yellow) and Ultimate Gray (the grey).

Likewise, the Pantone 2016 Color of the Year Duo of Serenity (the pastel blue) and Rose Quartz (the pastel pink) could be sitting in my TWSBI pen drawer if only I had chosen to buy them. 

To be honest, I would have purchased the grey and the pastel pair if TWSBI had released the colors to *coincide* with Pantone's release ... but alas, in both cases, I think TWSBI off by a year or two. 

Gosh, can you imagine how many TWSBIs they could make/sell if they followed Pantone's CotY? You'd get the design/fashion community buying in like crazy! 

While I wait for that happy day, I'm still searching for an affordable secondhand/NOS purchase of the Cement Grey and the Pastel Blue & Pink. 

Wish me luck!

I'm gonna need it.

ETA: 
I *knew* I should have checked my notes first!

To give TWSBI its fair due, they *almost* coincided the release of their Yellow and their Cement Grey with Pantone's Illuminating/Ultimate Gray 2021 release. They were off only by a year: The Yellow was released in March 2020, the Cement Grey in August 2020. So in a way, they beat the mighty Pantone industry by a whole year!

Pastel Pink and Pastel Blue were 2018 releases, coming 2 years behind Pantone's CotY 2016 Serenity and Rose Quartz. 

TWSBI is closing that gap from 2 years to 1. Perhaps 2026 will be the year TWSBI turns thta gap into zero? 

Fingers crossed! 

[taimdala]

On 10/4/2023 at 3:13 PM, amper said:

 

There doesn't seem to be an option to delete my duplicate post, so this is the best I can do. 

Sincere apologies, everyone.

[Misfit]

@taimdala I, too, did not get the Cement Eco, and so regretted it. I did find it on Aliexpress. Had to pay up for it. It seems to be the real TWSBI. One exception is where they usually have Taiwan on them, the Cement version I got has China. 
 

This is the Link to the AliExpress store I bought from. One caveat: I bought well before tariffs. 
You can see the country difference:

[Doc Dan]

I wish y'all would stop waving that Cement in front of my eyes! I didn't get it, either. Ecos are like popcorn. You can't have just one. 

[jchch1950]

Some ECOs are made in China. They aren't necessarily copies or fakes.

[Misfit]

On 11/8/2025 at 2:25 AM, jchch1950 said:

Some ECOs are made in China. They aren't necessarily copies or fakes.

Mine seems to be the real deal, as you mentioned. I think I paid close to $45-$50 to get it. 

[Doc Dan]

China considers Taiwan part of it, though Taiwan is a nation of its own. There are probably political safety issues at play.

[jchch1950]

Some of the penboxes have an imprint that reads "Made in China" while others say "Made in Taiwan". If I'm not wrong, my triangular finial of the caps was made in China, while others with the typical finial were made in Taiwan. I stand to be corrected.