Nikaido's 5-day sale! (April 15-19)

Nikaido is having a 5-day sale ... and it starts tomorrow !! 😄

Nikaido 5-day Sale

We hope you can join us for a 25% off (almost everything) S T O R E W I D E S A L E April 15-19 11.00am - 6.00pm Cannot attend the sale in-person? You can still participate in the sale by emailing us  at nikaidotea@hotmail.com with a list of items you  would like to order. We will then send an invoice,  which is payable via e-transfer. Orders can be picked up at a later date. *Nikaido Tea & Uji Matcha are excluded from sale Twsbi pens are 15% off Sale applies to in-stock items only. Thanks so much for your continued support, and hope to see you there! the team at Nikaido

Nikaido (https://nikaidotea.com/) is located at 3580 Moncton Street in historic Steveston village (Richmond, BC) and their lovely store is open Monday - Sunday from 11:00am-6:00pm. Telephone: 604.275.0262

Some local Black Friday sales--updated! (Buchan's, Nikaido & now Van Pen, too!)

Web store: https://www.buchanst.com/
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/buchans_stationery/

Buchan's is located at 2141 West 41st Avenue in Vancouver, BC and their business hours are: Mon-Sat : 10:00 am - 6:30pm; Sun: 11:00am - 5:00pm.

Nikaido 5-day Sale

We hope you can join us for a   25% off (almost everything)   S T O R E W I D E S A L E     November 26 - 30 11.00am - 6.00pm     Cannot attend the sale in-person? You can still participate in the sale by emailing us  at nikaidotea@hotmail.com with a list of items you  would like to order. We will then send an invoice,  which is payable via e-transfer. Orders can be picked up at a later date.     *Nikaido Tea & Uji Matcha are excluded from sale Twsbi pens are 15% off Sale applies to in-stock items only.     Thanks so much for your continued support, and hope to see you!     the team at Nikaido

Website: https://nikaidotea.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikaidotea/

Nikaido is located at 3580 Moncton Street in historic Steveston village (Richmond, BC)  and they're open Monday - Sunday from 11:00am - 6:00pm  

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vancouverpenshop/

The Vancouver Pen Shop is located at 555 Howe Street in downtown Vancouver, BC and their store hours are Monday- Saturday from 10:00am - 6:00pm

Local Black Friday/seasonal sales!

With the ongoing Canada Post strike, this is as good a time as any to support your local pen shops by checking out some big sales 😊, such as... 

When you use the discount code above in their online shop (https://www.buchanst.com/), you can select the free "pickup" option or have it shipped to you (via alternative shipping carriers during the postal strike). 

Buchan's is located at 2141 West 41st Avenue in Vancouver, and their business hours are: Mon-Sat : 10AM - 6:30PM; Sun: 11AM - 5PM.

                                                              

If you can't make it to Nikaido's in-store sale, you can email owners Joe or Sara at nikaidotea@hotmail.com with a list of items you'd like to order (they'll send you an invoice, payable via e-transfer), which you can then pick up at a later date! (note: Nikaido Tea is excluded from the sale and TWSBI pens are 15% off; sale applies to in-stock items only).

Nikaido is located at 3580 Moncton Street in historic Steveston village (Richmond, BC) and their website is https://nikaidotea.com/ The store is open Monday - Sunday from 11:00am-6:00pm.
                                                             

They don't have a Black Friday sale this year, but CHARALS is having a month-long sale (November 1-30) with selected items up to 30% off! Charals is located at 171 Robson Street (near BC Place) in downtown Vancouver, and their official website/web store is at: https://charals.com/ Charal's hours are: Mon-Fri: 10am – 5:30 pm; Sat 10am-5pm; Sun & All Public Holidays - Closed.

As an aside, I've been updating this list of local pen stores on our club's website here: https://www.vancouverpenclub.com/2020/08/support-your-local-pen-shop.html (if you spot any errors/glaring omissions, please let me know and I'll update the list).

Happy shopping, everyone!
~Maja

New stuff! (from the Vancouver Pelikan Hub & Buchan's)

Happy October! Here's a quick shot of some very recent acquisitions -- a bottle of Pelikan Edelstein "Lapis Blue" ink and a Pelikan notepad from last Friday's Pelikan Hubs event in Vancouver (both were gifts from Pelikan to registered Hub attendees), a bottle of KWZ "Brown-Pink" ink I won as a Hub door prize 😀 (courtesy of Nikaido; the Vancouver Pen Shop also donated inks), and a Lamy Safari "Pina Colada" fountain pen & bottle of Pelikan 'Royal Blue' ink I purchased at Buchan's Kerrisdale Stationery just before the Hub lol.

Our Hubmaster (Vladan) did a great job organizing the Vancouver Pelikan Hub (thank you again, Vladan!). He posted photos from it here on the official Pelikan Hubs Facebook group, and our fellow Vancouver Pelikan Hub attendee Sherman posted his own pics here on the Canadian Fountain Pen Enthusiasts Facebook group (they're both private Facebook groups, so if you aren't on Facebook, you can view Sherman's photos on Dropbox here and the photos I took on my Instagram here).

I met a lot of nice folks at this year's Vancouver Pelikan Hub who weren't in our pen club. If you're one of them (or if you didn't attend the Hub, but would like to join our club :), you're very welcome to attend any of our pen club's meetings--just drop in (no RSVPs required) and see what we're all about! Our next meeting is on Saturday October 19 at the Kensington branch of the Vancouver Public Library from 11:30am - 2:00pm (full details in this post). Hope you can make it!

Best wishes,
~Maja

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 395

Catching up on my backlog of new acquisition reviews with this eye-catching Faber-Castell 'Grip 2010' fountain pen in pink-orange that I got from Nikaido in Steveston (Richmond), BC a few months ago...

(please click on images to enlarge)

The 'Grip 2010' fountain pen line is made in Slovenia and comes in a variety of colours, both conservative (black, dapple grey, coconut milk, and rose shadow) and colorful (bright blue with light blue dots, turquoise with light green dots, and the one reviewed here - pink with orange dots). There's also a 'Grip 2011' line of fountain pens that come in different colours, but unlike their glossy 'Grip 2010' counterpart, they have matte finishes. The MSRP for my pen is just under $30 CAD.

The 'Grip' line also includes wooden pencils, felt-tipped markers, crayons, mechanical pencils and ballpoints, and for those products, the dots on their barrels serve a purpose--they enhance the user's grip on the object. In the case of the 'Grip' fountain pens, the dots are merely decorative. Still, I think they make for a very cool fountain pen design.

The plastic used for the pen's body is thick and the pen seems well made and robust. The pen's cap is cylindrical but its barrel has a triangular shape ... which you might not notice at first (I didn't) because of its soft contours. Both the cap and barrel are hot pink, but the barrel also has a series of raised orange dots on it (92 in total, to be exact).

The pen weighs about 13.7 grams and its capped length is approximately 13.7 cm (5.4 inches) while its uncapped length (nib tip to barrel end) is 12.8 cm or just over 5 inches. The posted length is a whopping 17.3 cm or 6.8 inches, but it is well-balanced when posted (and very light), so you could use it this way, if you wanted; I usually post my pens, but I use this one unposted. I was a bit surprised that the cap didn't post very deeply (~ 1.5 cm / 0.5 inches), but it posts securely and tightly.

I love the classy grey Faber-Castell name & logo screened onto the side of the cap, and I applaud the colour choice for the raised dots on the barrel -- the light orange of the dots pairs very nicely with hot pink of the pen's cap and barrel. The molded textured rubber grip section is subtly triangular and comfortable to hold.

The stainless steel clip is actually one of my favourite things about the pen -- it has an elegant shape and is very smooth to the touch, so it won't tear into paper or fabrics. I often find myself fidgeting with the clip -- running my thumb over its surface -- because it's sooo smooth.

The cap top (above) is slightly concave and has the Faber-Castell jousting knights logo embossed on it. The cap snaps onto the section/barrel with a nice "click". The bottom of the pen's barrel is slightly convex and unadorned. I like symmetry in writing instruments, so I would have preferred if the barrel end was slightly concave or flat.

The attractive stainless steel monotone nib also features the F-C logo, as well as the nib designation ("F" for Fine, in this case). I think the nib is a little small in size for the pen body, but that's just my opinion. The 'Grip 2010' fountain pen is available in four nib widths--Extra-Fine, Fine, Medium, and Broad--according to the manufacturer's Canadian website. 

My pen's Fine nib writes smoothly with no nib tuning required, but it does have a fair amount of feedback, so if you like very quiet nibs, this may not be the one for you. I am a huge fan of Faber-Castell's steel nibs, and the ones on my other F-C pens have little-to-no feedback...but I'll take 'em any way they come! The pen fills via standard international ink cartridge or the supplied converter.

All in all, the  Faber-Castell 'Grip 2010' is a cool-looking, sturdy entry-level fountain pen and a very reliable writer. Many thanks to Joe & Sara of Nikaido for this neat pen!

(photos & review by Maja)

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 380

Here's a review of one of my favourite non-fountain-pen writing instruments - a red Caran d'Ache '849' Rollerball I got from Joe & Sara of Nikaido in September 2021. When I heard about this model, I was so eager to purchase it that I asked them to email me when they got it in stock...and they did! And here it is....

(please click on images to enlarge)

If the rollerball looks familiar, it's probably because it reminds you of another well-known pen...

-- the Caran d'Ache '849' ballpoint!

Yep, the new '849' rollerball is the big sibling of the iconic '849' ballpoint! The' 849' ballpoint was first produced in 1969 and comes in a wide variety of colours and designs (including some limited editions). The rollerball just came out a few months ago, so it's currently only available in five colours - red, blue, white, matte black and matte grey.

Price-wise, the rollerball costs about twice as much as the regular (non-limited edition) '849' ballpoints, depending on where you buy it. I'm a big fan of the '849' ballpoint, so I was really looking forward to owning its larger relative ... and I was not disappointed at all, despite my high expectations!

Both Swiss-made models are hexagonal, capless, retractable aluminum pens with nickel-plated clips and clicker buttons (knocks), and they're identical in every way, except for their size and weight. Caran d'Ache claims that the rollerball is 28% bigger than the ballpoint -- too bad its price is twice that of the ballpoint's! (but that's probably the only thing I'd change about it, honestly)

My measurements (total weight includes the weight of the refill):

Caran d'Ache '849' rollerball: Length: 13.7 cm; Total weight: 15.9 grams
Caran d'Ache '849' ballpoint: Length 12.8 cm;  Total weight: 9.9 grams

Both the '849' ballpoint and' 849' rollerball pens have well-designed, springy clips (one reviewer said they were removable, but I haven't tried removing mine). Some users have complained about the clicker button, though - specifically, the way in which you remove it to access the refill inside. You have to press down and twist the button at the same time to do this, which can be a bit tricky with the ballpoint (as its clicker button is smaller), but it's much easier with the rollerball. I don't have a problem with either one.

 I measured their diameters at their gripping areas with some calipers, and I got 1.1 cm for the rollerball and 0.8 cm for the ballpoint. It sounds like a small difference, but the rollerball feels noticeably girthier than the ballpoint.

Side note: I did the same measurement for a Parker 'Jotter' ballpoint (the regular 'Jotter', not the larger 'Jotter XL') and it was 0.85 cm at the grip area --just a tiny bit wider than the '849' ballpoint-- but I prefer the way the '849' ballpoint feels in my hand. Both pens are the same length, but the '849' ballpoint is a bit heavier (by about 2.3 grams) than the 'Jotter', and I find its hexagonal barrel provides a better grip for me. I still love my Jotters, though! (I didn't compare the '849' Rollerball to the Parker 'Jotter XL' because the '849' is an obviously heavier, chunkier pen).

Above: The '849' rollerball came with a Caran d' Ache (CdA) 'Roller Ball' refill, whereas the '849' ballpoint came with a CdA 'Goliath' ballpoint refill (which is shorter than the rollerball refill).

The 849's 'Roller Ball' refills are available in Fine (0.5 mm) or Medium (0.7 mm) widths, and come in blue or black rapid-drying liquid ink; mine came with a black 0.7mm refill (a word of warning: there are other CdA rollerball refills, but they won't fit the '849' rollerball!). The 'Goliath' ballpoint refills come in a larger variety of widths (Fine, Medium and Broad) and ink colours (Black, Blue, Red, Green, Turquoise and Violet - all oil-based inks); my pen came with a Medium blue one. Both types of refills write smoothly, but I much prefer the 'Roller Ball' refill.

A word about cheaper refill alternatives: The Caran d'Ache refills that the pens came with aren't cheap, so here are two alternatives I've tried myself that work with no modifications required:

• Parker 'Quinkflow' ballpoint refills (which have hybrid ink in them) work in both the '849' ballpoint and the '849' rollerball. A 'Quinkflow' refill costs $7 CDN at my local Staples store, whereas a Goliath costs $12-$14 CDN, which is a pretty hefty price for a refill. Yikes!
  
• Caran d'Ache makes a less-expensive refill called the 'Swissride' ballpoint refill (which also uses a hybrid ink) that will work in the '849' ballpoint; it's longer and skinnier than the 'Goliath' refill, but it fits perfectly. I tried the 'Swissride' in the '849' rollerball and it did not work. I believe 'Swissride' refills only come in Medium black or Medium blue, so they're a bit limiting in that way, but the ink is nice (as is the price ;)

Above: Out of curiosity, I tried the 'Goliath' ballpoint refill in the rollerball. It does fit, but because the 'Goliath' refill is shorter, its tip isn't extended far enough out of the rollerball's (non-removable) nosecone for my liking.

I didn't mean for this to be such a long review, but there are so many good things about both of these pens. Both the '849' ballpoint and rollerball are durable writing instruments that look greet, write beautifully, and are very comfortable to hold. You might prefer the size and weight of one over the other; I love using both of them. The '849' is a true style icon, though, so you can't go wrong with either pen. Many thanks to Sara and Joe of Nikaido for this wonderful new rollerball!

(photos & review by Maja)

We'll be featuring a fountain pen in our next blog post, so watch for that on Saturday. Ongoing thanks to everyone who has contributed to our virtual "show & tell"!

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 359

We hadn't featured a new ink in a few months here on our club's blog, so I was pleased to get this review from Lawrence a few days ago.

He writes: "I was not really intending to get any ink at Nikaido's last month, but because I got this greenish Neo Slim pen, I decided to get an ink for it, I ended up with this one. This is called Sakuranezumi from the Japanese ink line Kyo No Oto."

(all photos courtesy of Lawrence ~ please click on images to enlarge)

"The packaging is quite nice. And the ink bottle is also pretty subdued looking, no-nonsense type (and not in the almost gimmicky demi style of Herbin...which I will talk a little about later on)."

"The ink bottle is something reusable....it's fairly non-distinct and I probably can use it for many other things aside from just inks.
Now we get to the ink itself. It is a greyish-violet color. I have my Neo Slim inked with it and it is okay with it. But for this review, I dipped it with one of my calligraphy pens to get more width so we can see the shading a bit more."

"This ink is also fairly resistant to water. If you let the ink dry up more on the paper, it can hold very well. The testing below is after maybe 5 to 6 seconds of putting the ink on paper: "

"After brushing over a couple of times, the ink no longer dissolves and seems to be permanent after (more or less).
This ink reminds me of my Poussier de Lune (Herbin ink). the sample below is the two inks compared. The top one is Sakuranezumi the one below is the Poussiere ink: "

"To make the comparison more clear I sort did a brush test: "

"So the Sakuranezumi is less "magenta" than Poussiere...but in terms of writing feel, they are similar. That is, they write dry. While Pilot Iroshizuku ink has a definite rich liquidity feel (wetter?)...the Sakaruanezumi, like the Poussiere, writes like diluted acrylic ink (not sure how else to describe it) so like diluted acrylic ink, they are water soluble for the first few moments...after that they are kind of permanent.
This ink in a way is not a good combination for my Neo Slim...as the pen has a hard start after a few hours of inactivity. It is probably a combination of the Neo Slim's nib with this dryish ink. It is unfortunate because the color goes so well with the pen.
Overall, this is sort of like a Japanese version of the Herbin ink line. It feels the same and has an ethereal color quality to it (very vintage / faded look). I do like the ink as an alternative to my Herbin, but I may be very selective as to the pen I use it with."

Many thanks to Lawrence for this great ink review, and the photos accompanying it!

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 351

I got this gorgeous fountain pen a while back from the good folks at Nikaido and finally decided to snap some photos of it a few days ago, when we got some lasting sunshine. It's based on a very popular model made by a Taiwanese company - an iconic modern fountain pen that's surprisingly affordable...

(please click on images to enlarge)

Meet my TWSBI 'Diamond 580' Smoke Rosegold II fountain pen !

This model is called the Smoke Rosegold II because there was an earlier version of this pen (in opaque--not transparent--black) that came out in 2013. Apparently, TWSBI wasn't happy with the colour of that rose gold plating and there were issues with its durability (nib de-plating), so the model was discontinued. The company took their time improving the plating, and the 'Diamond 580' Smoke Rose Gold II was finally released, to much fanfare, in April 2020.

"Smoke" refers to the transparent black acrylic of the section, cap and piston turning knob. I think the colour and the high gloss of the material go beautifully with the shiny rose gold plating of the nib, trim and inner piston mechanism.

TWSBI didn't design the 'Diamond 580' pens to be posted; in fact, the process of unposting the pens could result in their piston knobs accidentally being turned, causing ink to be expelled. The pen, however, can be posted, but that results in a large gap between the bottom of the cap and the barrel ring (seen here in my TWSBI 'Diamond 580 ALR' review). The main issue with posting, I find, is that the pen winds up being unbalanced and far too long to use comfortably. It's 13 cm / 5.1 inches in length from nib tip to barrel end, which is long enough for most people to use unposted.

I love that the nib is rose gold in colour and not yellow gold (thank you, TWSBI !) It drives me crazy when pen companies use rose gold plating for a pen's trim, but put a yellow gold-plated nib on the pen.

TWSBI's rose gold plated trim & nibs can also be found on other current TWSBI models - the revamped 'Mini White Rosegold V2' , the 'Eco Rosegold' in Smoke and White colours, and the TWSBI 'Draco' Limited Edition (which I plan to review this month). I don't believe TWSBI's rose gold nibs are available for purchase separately, though, which is a shame because I think they'd look really nice on some pens I own :(

Above: TWSBI's famous logo (some say the red of the logo clashes with the rose gold trim, but I like it)

Above: cap band with "DIAMOND" on the top row, "580 RG II" below that, and "TAIWAN" on the bottom row. I appreciate pen companies making the effort to put this kind of information on their pens, especially when they reuse a model name or number.
 

Finally, a few shots taken with a white background (and a small copper bowl made in India):

(I forgot to remove the bowl's sticker before I took the photo above -- oops!)

The TWSBI 'Diamond 580' Smoke Rosegold II fountain pen retails for $85 USD, which is $35 USD more than TWSBI's iconic 'Diamond 580' clear model with chrome plated trim. Is the rose gold plated trim and nib worth the extra money? I say "Yes!" TWSBI took several years to improve on their original rose gold plating, and I think the end result is well worth it. Whichever of the 'Diamond 580' fountain pens you decide to buy, you'll be getting an attractive, well-made, well-designed piston-filling fountain pen.

Many thanks to Joe & Sara of Nikaido gifts in Steveston (Richmond), B.C for this lovely pen!

(all photos & review by Maja)

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 334

Today's featured new acquisition is courtesy of Lawrence, who got this fountain pen at Nikaido...

Lawrence writes:

I did not know very much about this pen, only that Joe told me this is a new variant - it has a brushed metal look. I saw this olive green color and instantly fell in love with the looks. It gave a very Tiki/ Exotica vibe for some bizarre reason. I know that is the last thing anyone will have in mind when they think of Faber-Castell fountain pens (well, at least for this series...my POY has a very tropical feel and will, in fact, make a better Tiki pen come to think of it...but 'nuff about that).

May I present the olive green Neo Slim Tiki pen (just kidding).... 

(all photos courtesy of Lawrence ~ please click on images to enlarge)

 The green color reminds me of some tropical palm leaves, and the actual shape of the pen has a very bamboo like feel; it has some subtle tapering like a plant stalk. At least that's how I would describe the feeling I have for it. And the Faber-Castell logo...because my eyes are indeed getting old and failing....looks like palm trees from a distance, instead of the two jousting knights. I thought they looked like the tops of coconut palms at first glance...LOL Anyway, it gave me mondo tiki vibes, so I got it. 

The nibs are coated in black (which I am hoping will be more durable than what Montblanc gave me...) 

I can barely see the nib details because of the black color, but I got mine in medium.

It writes smooth, like other Faber-Castell pens that I have.  Not the floaty writing -- there is feedback-- but the nice kind of feedback, not scratchy.

The unusual thing about this pen was the nib angle...it points downward. I thought it was broken when I tried it at Nikaido LOL...but it is intentional...

It takes a converter and I filled mine up with purple ink (because green goes with it...Maja looked it up in a color chart...thanks for that...:))

The pen body is metal, but it is very light. Even the cap is light, so posting it does not add any weight whatsoever at all...unlike some of Faber-Castell's pens (I had the pear wood Ambition which becomes off-balanced when posted..).  It's a bit thin, but because of the brushed metal, it does not slip off easily like other thin metal pens I have. It stays put.  Because it gave me Tiki vibes all over...I don't think it would have the same appeal if it was any thicker...right now, it gives me the impression that I'm writing with a bamboo or palm stalk....

I never really felt that way with any of my pens before, but this one whispers "Bring me with you on your vacations.... to Hawaii, Caribbean...Southeast Asia.....and of course, we will use purple ink..."

Till next time.

Aloha :P

L.

Our thanks to Lawrence, as always, for sharing his new pen-related purchases with us here on our club's blog! Faber-Castell steel nibs are nice writers, so it's good to see them on another interesting model like the 'Neo Slim' ...and I'm glad to hear my ink recommendation was a good one ;)
Cheers,
~Maja