Inky T O D - Inky Regrets

[amberleadavis]

Before I discovered FPN and the wonder of reviews, I made some very poor ink choices. (I'm looking at you Concord Bream).  I couldn't even give away the ink without warnings.

 

So, what about you?  What inks have you regretted purchasing, and what did you do about the purchase.

[PithyProlix]

Noodler's Lexington Grey, years back. Feathered like crazy. It sure seems popular though - perhaps newer formulations are better? 

 

I bought the big bottle with the eyedropper and it's sitting in the back of a drawer. A couple years ago I got the compulsion to try it again - maybe it was the paper I was using back then or something else. Nope. Still feathers like a mf. Back to the back of the drawer for you, Mr. Grey Noodle. 

[arcfide]

Noodler's Black. The only ink that I seriously considered just dumping out. It's basically one of the only inks for which I can't find any use in my own pens and writing or even swatching. 

[Kalessin]

Not a real regret because the ink is rare and interesting, but my 2oz bottle of Sheaffer King's Gold is just not a color for everyday writing, a light tan/golden brown.  It will probably not get used very much over the next few decades.

 

Montblanc Lucky Orange: every time I try it, it creates lots of nib creep, which dries into crystals.

 

 

[A Smug Dill]

• Noodler's Ink Operation Overlord Orange. Out it went with the trash.
• Noodler's Ink Polar Green and Polar Brown. Sent away when I launched the Aussie FPN pass-around box. (I'm glad to see someone liked Polar Brown.) More so Polar Green than Polar Brown, if only because I stupidly ordered two bottles of the former to begin with, back when I knew very little about fountain pens and inks, and thought Noodler's Ink was a brand of good repute. They led me to (unjustifiably) form a poor opinion of my Lamy Logo fountain pens, and I benched those pens for a long time, having misattributed the cause of unacceptable levels of feathering at least somewhat to the writing instrument.
  I blame online discussion, blog articles, and ink reviews written in English — even more so back then than now — by not just Americans, but also less-experienced others such as myself who were influenced by sheer volume of what they see, unduly favouring American brands as if place of origin translated to some inherent merit or virtue as commercial products.
  For the avoidance of doubt, I don't hate all Noodler's Inks products, and I even like some of the inks — including Kiowa Pecan, of which I also gave away an unopened bottle simply because I had too many, and X-Feather Blue and El Lawrence. It's just that the reputation of the brand is other than I thought it was, not the least for questionable consistency from batch to batch, and I think hobbyists should proceed with extreme caution in judiciously selecting which Noodler's Ink colours to buy and try.
• Rubinato Verde Inchiostro. Also sent away in the pass-around box, if only because someone else may take a shine to the glass bottle itself, and want to keep it after emptying its original contents. Too pale to be legible, and too boring to be otherwise attractive or useful. I stupidly snapped up all the Rubinato colours (in large bottles) on clearance offer from Peters of Kensington, on account of them both being cheap and seemingly rare. Luckily, the other four ink colours aren't so useless to me.
• Lamy Crystal Topaz. Ruined two of my pens. My bottle is still there, and if my wife wants me to put it into a cheap, expendable Chinese pen for her from time to time, that's fine. I see it as one of those inks to which one needs to dedicate a pen, so that thorough cleaning including removal of the nib unit would not be necessary (such as when switching inks).
• Diamine Sargasso Sea. I find its smell sickening; and that smell managed to permeate the cap and gripping section on one of my Moonman 800 pens, after having been left in that pen for some months. No amount of any treatment could remove the smell from the pen sufficiently that I could use that pen again, so the pen ended up in the trash. The 30ml bottle of ink is still in a naughty/quarantine corner somewhere waiting to be safely disposed of in an incinerator.
• Pilot Iroshizuku Kosumosu. I only bought it because it (along with some other 15ml bottles) completed my ‘collection’ of all 24 colours in the regular line-up (at the time); in retrospect, I'd have been much happier with only 23 (or fewer) colours, and doubling up on another of the colours I only had in a 15ml bottle, e.g. Shin-kai. I ended up giving it to a friend who was on a pink ink collection quest.
• KWZ Ink Sheen Machine. Hard for me to imagine at the time, but this ultra-sheening ink performed worse than Diamine's most excessive ultra-sheening inks, in terms of not drying, and remaining forever apt to smudge and smear. Ended up in the pass-around box the second time around.

[Misfit]

J Herbin Vert Reseda was not the color I was hoping for. I have kept it, meaning to give it another chance in a pen with a stub nib. Iroshizuku Syo-Ro is another. I think it’s the color these two show that isn’t my favorite. Luckily I got the smaller bottle of it, and one day it will get another chance too. 

[ErrantSmudge]

Lamy Bronze.  Bought a full bottle from the Lamy store in San Francisco, then I discovered it was a pale, wishy-washy peachy orange.  It's been sitting in a drawer the past two years, waiting for me to organize a PIF or swap to get rid of it.

[Paul-in-SF]

I would describe my regrets as just colors I didn't like rather than bad inks, so I had no qualms giving them away at our local pen club. There weren't that many. 

[irrigger]

It was Private Reserve Sepia. Loved the colour, but just could not get it to flow reliable in any of my pens. I gave up on it and ended up tossing it.

[chromantic]

>  Noodler's Red Black - loved the bonus free sample I got but hesitated springing for a full bottle due to the batch variation reputation. Much brighter red than the sample, of course.

>  Tsuki-yo - washed-out blue-grey, "meh"

[Arkanabar]

Noodler's Bad Black Moccasin.  Featherocious, and the residue when it dries out will never rinse clean.  I haven't tried an ultrasonic cleaner yet.  I dilute it 1:1, and put it only in either cheap Chinese pens I expect to die within a few years anyway, or FPR stalwarts that I know I can completely knock down to scrub the feeds with a toothbrush.  The bottle is now half gone, and I'mma Use Up This Ink If It Kills Me!  It's just too vile to saddle anyone with.  Even so diluted, in an XF Jinhao, it's the darkest ink in the narcotics log.  I have a Platinum 0.2mm nib/section that I suppose I could put into one of my Plaisirs, to see if that narrows the line, but the goal is to use the ink MORE quickly.

 

Noodler's Widow Maker.  Just a bit too cool a red for really good markup, and far too bright for text.  I gave it away with a pen.

 

Noodler's Heart of Darkness.  It came my way just a few months after I decided that Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black or J. Herbin Perle Noire should be The Essential Black, instead of HoD.  Likely to be gifted, along with a pen.

 

Thornton's Luxury Goods Oxblood.  As with Noodler's Red-Black, it's Just Not My Kind of Color.  Gave it away with a pen.

 

Noodler's Brown.  It's a very nice ink.  But Diamine Chocolate would be better, and I'm not quite willing to have both in my ink wardrobe at the same time.  It is likely to get gifted, along with a pen.

 

Most of these were purchases made by another member of my household on my behalf.

[Chouffleur]

4 minutes ago, Arkanabar said:

Noodler's Widow Maker.  Just a bit too cool a red for really good markup, and far too bright for text.  I gave it away with a pen.

The fountain pen equivalent of the Mets-Mariners Robinson Canó trade.

[IlikeInksandIcannotlie]

MB Midnight Blue, Diamine Writer's Blood, Jinhao Deep Blue, De Atramentis Dark Blue, Daytone Blue Black...

Quite a few were due to just being the wrong colour for me. The Jinhao due to feathering.

 

[Zdenek]

Montblanc Royal Blue ... I’ve been using the ink about 20 yrs in my MB pens. The ink from newly opened bottle (in Jan. this year) skips, esp. with broader nibs. Someone of you has a similiar experience?

[amberleadavis]

Oh and a bottle of too expensive for the lack of dye Montblanc Petite Prince Red.  I ended up adding red dye to it and now it is usable.

[InkyColors]

On 7/28/2022 at 12:18 AM, A Smug Dill said:

Lamy Crystal Topaz. Ruined two of my pens. My bottle is still there, and if my wife wants me to put it into a cheap, expendable Chinese pen for her from time to time, that's fine. I see it as one of those inks to which one needs to dedicate a pen, so that thorough cleaning including removal of the nib unit would not be necessary (such as when switching inks).

Has anyone else had a bad experience with this ink?  I have a bottle and have not had any problems with it. Maybe I was just lucky?  I was hoping to use it in my new Pelikan but don’t want to ruin the pen. I’m hoping Smug Dill’s experience was due to a bad bottle and not the norm for this ink. 

[lgsoltek]

Buying the full line (minus one bottle) of those Sailor STORiA inks shortly after they were released at a steep price, thinking they were from Sailor so should be good (they were horrible).

 

Buying a bottle of Noodler's Cactus Fruit Eel that I am scared and not willing to put into any of my pens, only because it was at a discount.

 

Buying last year's Pelikan Edelstein ink of the year Golden Beryl knowing I dislike shimmering inks but somehow hoped Pelikan might do it better (they didn't, if not worse).

 

Not buying more of those Sailor Pen & Message inks when they were more readily available many years ago.

 

Buying last year's Diamine Inkvent calendar this year knowing there are too many blue-greens and too many shimmering inks in it for my liking. (a minor regret)

[ErrantSmudge]

3 hours ago, InkyColors said:

Has anyone else had a bad experience with this ink?  I have a bottle and have not had any problems with it. Maybe I was just lucky?  I was hoping to use it in my new Pelikan but don’t want to ruin the pen. I’m hoping Smug Dill’s experience was due to a bad bottle and not the norm for this ink. 

 

I have a bottle of Lamy Topaz and haven't had any problems with it.  I think Smug Dill got a bad bottle.

[Arkanabar]

14 hours ago, Chouffleur said:

The fountain pen equivalent of the Mets-Mariners Robinson Canó trade.

When I offer to give somebody a pen, I try to always give them a bottle as well.  I let the recipient choose from among the bottles I was willing to give away, and that was the choice.

[InkyColors]

4 hours ago, ErrantSmudge said:

 

I have a bottle of Lamy Topaz and haven't had any problems with it.  I think Smug Dill got a bad bottle.

Thank you. That’s good to hear.