The Well-Appointed Desk

The fine folks over at Poppin sent me another package. This one was filled with boxes of their gel pen assortments. Each box includes six different gel pens in a rainbow of vivid colors.

These gel pens have a similarly simple aesthetic to the ballpoint pens I reviewed last week. For the gel pens, the casing is colorless transparent plastic to see through to the colored ink core. The top of the cap and the metal clip match the ink color. The pens are minimally branded and don’t have any special ergonomic features.

I tested the pens on both the Poppin lined notebook and in my standard testing notebooks, the Quo Vadis Habana. My results were pretty consistent between both books. I wanted to test it in both a high end and a mid-range notebook since these are the type of pens, based on price and style, that I would be more inclined to use at work or to leave on my desk for passersby who need a writing instrument. The Poppin gel pens would most likely be used on copy paper, legal pads and 3x5s so I wanted to be sure they were tested on comparable paper.

The colors of the ink are bright and vivid. The line width looks to be about a 0.7mm. On the Poppin notebook, I included a comparison ink color from my stash. I didn’t have anything close to the brightness of the pink, orange or green short of a highlighter. The blue was similar in color to the bright blue Marvy LePen and the purple is close in color to the Pilot Juice Grape. The gel red is the least vibrant color in this set, more of a true red. Think fire trucks and maraschino cherries.

All the colors dried quickly though the purple had a bit longer dry time on the Quo Vadis. On the Poppin notebook, I didn’t notice any dry time delays. I do think that all the pens preferred the slightly toothier Poppin notebook to the super smooth Quo Vadis. It is a subtle difference but I think these everyday pens will perform best on everyday paper.

I had a little trouble with the purple pen being a bit skippy. I tried one from another pack to make sure it was a fluke. It was. This could also be casued by my slightly wonky left-handed writing style. I often have trouble with gel and rollerball pens if I hold them at too severe an angle which basically chokes off the rolling of the ball bearing in the tip.

Overal, the Poppin gels worked fairly consistently. These are definitely more of a budget range pen, obviously, but their performance was consistent with the results I get from a Pilot G2 or other gel purchased at a big box retailer. What makes these gel pens stand out is the bright fun colors and the clean, simple designs.

Packs of 6 assorted or single color gel pens sell for $9.

GIVEAWAY: Would you like to win a box of these pens to try yourself? I am giving away two boxes (that’s two chance to win!). Leave a comment and tell me which color in this assortment would be used up first.

FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by 10pm CST on Monday August 19, 2013. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winners will be announced on Tuesday. Winner will be selected by random number generator from entries that played by the rules (see above). Please include your email address in the comment form so that I can contact you if you win. I will not save email addresses or sell them to anyone — pinky swear. Shipping via USPS first class is covered. Additional shipping options or insurance will have to be paid by the winner. We are generous but we’re not made of money.

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Esterbrook 2442 Falcon Nib

AnaAugust 14, 20137 Comments

finestub

Reader Cliff offered to send me an Esterbrook Falcon nib and I gladly accepted. What I didn’t realize until it arrived is that it is the same number as my favorite Esterbrook nibs — the #2442. It turns out that the #2442 is also called a Falcon nib or a Fine Stub. Needless to say, I was thrilled to have a second one as I have far more Esterbrook pen bodies than I do nibs but first, I needed to do a little research about what exactly made a nib a “falcon” nib.

As best I could glean from the Internet is that a Falcon nib was also a term used to describe a left-leaning italic nib which is also sometimes considered a left-handed italic. This does not mean only left handed writers can use it but that it does seem to benefit lefties who tend to write leaning a bit to the left.

At close inspection, the two 2442 nibs look a little different. The one on the left is the one I’ve had for some time and my go-to pen. The cleaner one on the right is the one that Cliff sent me and the tines seem tighter and the angled tip looks a bit sharper in the corners.

When I put them to paper side-by-side, a mysterious and slightly unsettling thing occurred. My older 2442 wrote like butter, like it was made for my hand. With the feathery-lightest of touches, it applied ink to the page. No scritchy noises, no snags or skips. When I put Cliff’s shiny, new 2442 to paper it revolted against me. It skipped, stuttered and behaved most uncivilized. How could this be the same nib? One would think the new nib would behave well and the old nib would be grumpy and fussy but no. It was the other way around. How could this be?

I pouted for days and grumbled and wondered. My instinct is that the new nib needs a little tuning to match my writing angle, to smooth the end for my somewhat wonky writing angle. It requires some pampering and adjustment to grow up to be as fabulous and flaw-free as the older 2442.

My takeaway from the experience is that not every nib, even from the same manufacturer, is going to be perfect, or perfect for me. We, as pen lovers, can either choose to pass it on to someone else who it might be perfect for, or tweak it, tune it or manipulate it to work with our needs. This is not the first pen that did not perform as I anticipated. I’ve had a vintage Parker that were actually broken and leaked like a sieve. I have had brand new pens from manufacturers respected for their craftsmanship fall short of my expectations (one due to an inherent flaw and one to do a user flaw). Over time though, I’ve learned not to let these experiences sour me on fountain pens. Each is a learning experience and what may be a jewel to you may not be for me. That’s part of what makes the world of pens and fountain pens so wonderful.

Feel free to share your own pen experiences in the comments, for better or for worse.

(Nib sent to by reader Cliff, aka Caleath. Thank you for your kindness. I will make this work!)

In feature

Happy Left Handers Day!

AnaAugust 14, 2013Leave a comment

lefty

Ok, technically it was yesterday but Happy Left Handers Day, just the same!

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Country Living Featurette: Mad-Men Style Vintage Office Supplies

AnaAugust 13, 2013Leave a comment

Yesterday was a big day for me. The September 2013 issue of Country Living magazine showed up in my mailbox and included a Collecting featurette about collecting vintage office supplies that featured some of the jewels from my personal collection. Yep, you read that correctly.

I sent my beloved Adler Tippa typewriter and some of my other favorite vintage office supplies to the Country Living office to help them put together this feature together. I’ve had to be a bit hush-hush about it but now I can shout it from the rafters. That’s my typewriter!!!

(via Country Living, September 2013 now available on newsstands)

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Washi Tape Addict

AnaAugust 12, 2013Leave a comment

I pulled open my “tape drawer” to add a few rolls of the new Scotch “washi” tape to discover that I have amassed quite a collection lately. Some might call it a problem. I call it an enthusiasm.

The best washi tape is still the MT brand from Japan. While the Cavallini paper tape is gorgeous, it doesn’t peel off the roll worth a darn. The new Scotch brand washi tape is a little shinier on the surface than true washi tape but for the price and availability, I’d say grab a couple rolls and decide for yourself. The Martha Stewart paper tape is shiny too and not particularly sticky so I would pass on it completely in the future.

Do you stock up on washi tapes? How many rolls do you have?

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Review: Poppin Jumbo Mobile Memos

AnaAugust 12, 2013Leave a comment

When Poppin suggested that they send me some of their Jumbo Mobile Memos in the hunt for the better-grade-of-sticky-note, I was thinking “jumbo” meant bigger than the standard 3×3″ square. You know, maybe 4×4″? Imagine my surprise when I got these.

Here’ s picture with a regular, rather diminutive sticky note and the Jumbo Mobile Note. When Poppin said “Jumbo” they meant 8.5″x8.5″ JUMBO. Once my amusement at the monstrous size subsided, I wanted to try them out. How sticky are they (on the backing paper it say “I am super tacky”)? How well will they take ink? How awesome would they be for meeting brainstorms, notes on the office fridge and to really make a point?

I was shocked at how well they took ink. For such a large piece of real estate, I wanted to try Sharpie Markers (or in my case, the discontinued but much-loved Crayola InkTank marker) and got from there. The wide felt-tip permanent marker wrote beautifully so I got out the pen arsenal and went to town, starting with a fountain pen with an italic nib. No problem. At this point, everything else seemed guaranteed to succeed and it did.

I tried a white gel pen, just to see, but the bright color overshadowed the opaque white gel pen. Otherwise, this paper works great!

Even the reverse side of the paper shows no ill effects. There’s a little show-through from the marker but that’s to be expected and not nearly as visible as I would have suspected.

Sticky-wise, I hung these up on my chalkboard/memo board on Saturday afternoon and, as of Monday morning, they haven’t budged. The pink note was moved to a plastic surface and its still stuck. All-in-all, these are fun and effective. My supply closet will soon be chock-full of lime sticky notes, for sure!

A three-pack of assorted Jumbo Mobile Notes are $18, individual Jumbo Mobile Notes are $6 and available in yellow, orange, pink and lime. Mobile notes are also available in the more traditional 3×3″ size for $2 or packs of 10 for $12 in the same array of colors. Paper file flags that are 0.6×2″ are available in an assorted color pack of 15 pads with 5 different colors for $5.