Thursday Drops: Canopus Paper, Gel Pens, Low-Viscosity Ballpoints, and Post-Fountain Pen Day Recovery!

Except for a handful of backorder items, all of the Fountain Pen Day orders have been shipped! Many thanks to everyone who supported us last weekend, either in-person or online, and it made for one of our most successful events ever! This week we’re busy restocking and getting ready for the holidays, and the week after Fountain Pen Day is the perfect time to, well, take a brief break from fountain pens. :) We have restocked on favorite gel pens, including the Uni Zento Flow and Uni Zento standard, as well as the Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto Multi Pens. We also have a fresh shipment of goods from Yamamoto Paper in Japan, including their new “Canopus Note” A5 Notebooks, as well as more Bible-size Bullet Jotters and Bullet Jotter Refills.

View fullsize

We’re restocking on most of our papers in advance of the holiday season.

We are open in-store normal hours this week, from 1-6pm Thursday and Friday and 10am-6pm on Saturday. Please come by and see these and more in-person!

1. Yamamoto Paper Canopus Note A5 Notebooks. Canopus is Yamamoto’s latest paper experiment, specially formulated for a soft writing feel and excellent color reproduction for brighter inks with shade and shimmer. Hopefully availability remains consistent as this paper has been quite popular.

2. Uni Zento Flow and Zento Standard Gel Pens. The Uni Zento is the latest Japanese gel pen craze, featuring an ultra-smooth, low-friction writing experience that makes for a great daily driver. The Zento Flow features an upgraded metal barrel for increased durability, while the standard comes in a range of colors. (All pens have black ink.)

3. Uni Jetstream Prime Lite-Touch Special Editions. We’ve received a new shipment of Jetstream Prime Lite-Touch pens in special edition colors. Note that these are standard .5mm retractable ballpoints and not multi pens.

4. Uni Jetstream Prime Lite-Touch 4+1 Multi Pens. But we do have new 4+1 Multi Pens in new special edition colors, this time with a gloss finish! As is typical for Japanese market Jetstream limited editions, these are in nice muted pastel shades.

5. Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto 1000 Multi-Pens. The higher-end 4 slot Coleto barrels are back in stock! Available in matte black, matte brown, silver, blue, and red. Refills are sold separately (link below), allowing you to build your perfect multi pen using Pilot’s cult favorite needle-tip gel refill.

6. Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto Refills. We have Hi-Tec-C Coleto refills available in tip sizes ranging from .38mm to .5mm, as well as mechanical pencil options.

7. Yamamoto Paper Bullet Jotters (Bible-Size). These compact notepad holders were a big hit at the D.C. Pen Show in August, and the paper inserts will work with most Bible-size 6-ring binders if you punch-holes in the paper. Each Jotter holds two pads of paper, and ships with one each of Slight White and Soliste.

8. Yamamoto Paper Bullet Pads. We now have additional Bullet Jotter refills with Sanzen Tomoe River, Slight White, and Meringue Paper available.

9. Pilot G-Tec-C4 Gel Pens. The needle-tip Pilot Hi-Tec-C was the first Japanese gel pen that captured my imagination all the way back in 2014 when I started this blog, and the “G-Tec-C4” is the .4mm U.S. market version. We have a limited quantity in black and blue. (It’s the standard stick-pen version of the Hi-Tec-C Coleto multi pen.)

10. Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter TGS_25 “A5-Slim”. We continue to have stock of our special edition Roterfaden cover in the A5-Slim size, which will fit Traveler’s Standard, Ro-biki Standard, and other similarly sized refills and accessories. Don’t miss our new color, since this now comes in light grey as well as the dark green.

View fullsize

We’ve greatly expanded our selection of high-end specialty notebooks from Japan, including these hardcover Tomoe River notebooks as well as softcover in both 52gsm and 68gsm.

12 Pen Person Questions, Part I

My friend Lisa over at Olive Octopus Ink came up with this exercise, which I love because the responses give readers and other community members insight into what we do and why we do it. They’re also great journaling prompts if you’re looking to delve deeper into why you engage with this hobby, and I’ve been working on these for the past few months with the idea that I would do a multi-post series. Here goes Part I!

Question 1: If you consider the different ways you can engage with pens and stationery—as a user, a collector, a hobbyist, a creator, a maker, a vendor—which roles fit best and what percentage of 100% would you assign to each? Are you happy with the balance?

I have engaged with pens and stationery in pretty much every way possible during the course of my 10+ years in this hobby, and as you might imagine my engagement has changed over time. Right now, I am probably 60% Vendor, 20% Creator, 15% hobbyist, and 5% Collector. I’m not sure that “user” works as a stand-alone category for me because it overlaps with all of the others - at the moment, I have a dual career, and both jobs involve engaging with stationery and analog tools extensively but in different ways. Not a day passes where I’m not writing something out longhand, so I’m pretty much a user all-day everyday.

View fullsize

This year’s San Francisco Pen Show panels brought together vendors and enthusiasts from around the world.

Question 2: What is something you want to understand better or develop more informed opinions about?

The role of stationery and analog tools in different cultures and/or different parts of the world. I’m constantly fascinated at how much certain places value the actual use of stationery - making it an integral part of everyday life - compared to the collector and accumulator focus you often see in the U.S. At this year’s San Francisco Pen Show, I enjoyed hearing from other stationery vendors about different paper preferences around the world, and how in other markets there is more of a focus on how the paper feels to use as opposed to technical performance and specifications. For me stationery has always been more of a lifestyle choice than a “hobby”, so I guess I’m naturally drawn to places and people who share this worldview and I want to learn more about them.

View fullsize

We’ve come a long way in two years.

Question 3: In the pen community, what's something someone has said or done that stuck with you?

“For some reason you really look like you’re at peace.”

Someone made this comment to me after-hours at the 2023 D.C. Pen Show, about a week after I had decided to reduce my role at my day job to focus on growing T.G.S., developing the retail side of the business, and preparing to open the Nashville store. Though I hadn’t told anyone yet, and wouldn’t until late October, I’d made the decision in late July. This wasn’t a popular decision in many of my circles, both personal and professional. Some people couldn’t understand why I would trade a certain level of security and comfort for the risk inherent in any business venture - particularly one focused on a sector that was supposed to be “declining”. But I was miserable. I was working too much on projects that didn’t interest me, that sucked up all of my time, and which - in my opinion - didn’t really accomplish much or benefit anyone in the grand scheme of things. Ironically, I’d come to this place because I had actually tried to scale back T.G.S. to focus on what was supposed to be the more lucrative career. I couldn’t do it. After I’d made the decision, I immediately knew it was the right call even though there was - and still is - zero assurance that this will all work out long-term. (There never is.) But whenever things get hard and scary I think back to this comment to keep myself centered. Two years in, I’m not sure I’ve ever felt a greater sense of purpose and community than I have in this gig. And yes, that brings a certain degree of peace with the decision even if a lot of people close to me think I’m crazy.

View fullsize

Question 4: There are now 25 hours in a day, a bonus hour is available to use however you like as long as pens or stationery are involved—how do you spend your hour?

Daily creative work. If there’s anything lacking in my engagement with stationery, it’s the lack of a real opportunity to do non-T.G.S. creative writing. I’ve written half a novel, countless short stories, and ideas for more, and back in the day I used to be a halfway decent artist and even won a couple of awards. Then life happened…. The entire hour would go to finishing up the still-incomplete projects that I love and developing or relearning the other creative skills I’ve been neglecting.

View fullsize

Question 5: In the pen community yearbook, what would your superlative be? (i.e. "Best ______", "Most _______" "Most likely to _______")

“Most likely to fly to another city specifically to purchase books/pens/paper in person because he dislikes buying anything over the internet.” I have done this more times than I can count, because even though I run a business that sells online and recognize that online shopping can be the most practical and cost effective option for many different reasons, I still feel that being able to see pens and paper in person and try them is an invaluable part of the experience. And who doesn’t get a rush from spending hours browsing through a stationery store or bookshop (or even three days wandering through a large pen show)? Whenever I’ve had the time and means, I’ve tried to take the opportunity to travel specifically to support those who sell the things I love, and take the time to appreciate all the things in person even if I don’t end up buying them. The irony is that even though travel costs money, shopping in person and avoiding internet impulse purchases has probably saved me more. (BTW, I greatly appreciate those of you who have traveled specifically to visit our shop in Nashville!)

View fullsize

Question 6: How do you feel about your handwriting?

Frustrated. Through college I had fairly good handwriting, even though I received bad grades in penmanship in elementary school because I didn’t hold my pencil the “correct” way. However, 20+ years of taking notes as an attorney has turned my handwriting into scrawling mix of cursive and italic-style script, though lately I’ve been trying to practice and develop a more consistent style. Part of the issue is that I need to slow down and break the lawyer habit of writing fast to transcribe everything.

Stay tuned for Part II later this week!

If you enjoy our content, please consider supporting us through the T.G.S. Curated Shop or by visiting our Patreon, which features extra content and more hangout opportunities. And, of course, you can also come visit us in person at our Nashville Shop!

New Arrivals: Uni Zento Restock, Pilot G-Tech-C, and More Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto Multi Pens!

The Uni Zento has been one of the more in-demand gel pens on the market, so much that we sold through an entire shipment in a matter of weeks a couple of months ago. We currently have more, including most colors of the Zento Flow, which features the upgraded metal barrel, as well as the standard Zento in multiple colors. The capped Zento Signature remains elusive, but I’m trying…. Read more about the Zento and what makes it unique in this recent post. I also talked a bit about it in this YouTube video.

View fullsize

Fans of the Pilot Hi-Tec-C are also in luck, as we have more of the higher-end Coleto 1000 multi pen barrels, all of the Hi-Tec-C Coleto refills (including the mechanical pencil inserts), and now the G-Tec-C4 .4mm gel pen (which is the U.S. market equivalent of the .4mm Japanese Pilot Hi-Tec-C.) These are all in stock and available for purchase both in the online shop and in-person in our Nashville location.

We will be open this week in our Nashville store normal hours, 1-6pm Thursday and Friday and 10am-6pm on Saturday. Be sure to come see us as we will be getting ready to jumpstart the holiday shopping season soon!

Sunday Reading for November 9, 2025 (Fountain Pen Day Weekend Edition)

1. Ten Years on YouTube (via Figboot on Pens). Wow, that’s a HUGE anniversary. Congrats to David!

2. Ten Favorite Inks, November 2025 (via A Gathering of Curiosities). I am firmly on team “Ainezu is not a blue black”. This is a great list and I now have five or six additional inks I need to buy.

3. The Secret to Perfect Straight Lines: Architect Nibs Explained (via Doodlebud). I’ve never considered this aspect of the architect nib as I don’t really draw with fountain pens, but I can see how this would be a thing.

4. Even More Indie Makers (via Rachel’s Reflections). I love this resource, as I always find new independent pen makers on the list that I previously was not aware of.

5. Benu Haute Fountain Pen Review (via SBRE Brown). Benu has a new pen out, with a squared-off profile that you don’t typically see. This design could be considered more “classic” than most Benu releases.

6. Paper Mind Passepied Cream Paper Notebook Review (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). Passpied is a relatively rare Japanese paper that can be hard to find, as I believe it’s now in short supply. Originally used for book publishing, I love how this one feels.

7. Catch and Release (via From the Pen Cup). Hunting pencils in the wild! Literally!

8. Notebook Review: Stalogy 018 Editor’s Series 1/2 Year Notebook B6 Slim Size (via Well-Appointed Desk). I enjoyed seeing these B6 slim Stàlogy notebooks released, as I’m a huge fan of the B6 slim “café” size.

View fullsize

This past weekend was a great weekend to break out your pens and celebrate!

In Case You Missed It…

Friday was Fountain Pen Day (always the first Friday of November!) and I spent the past few posts on the blog getting ready, in addition to prepping for the craziest three days in the shop we have ever had! Last week I did a refresh of my “Currently Inked” pens for the fall, and scaled things back a bit. I also wrote a two-part series in advance of Fountain Pen Day: Part I, How to Get Started with Fountain Pens; and Part II: An Overview of Fountain Pen Inks. If you’ve been looking to try fountain pens for the first time, Fountain Pen Day is a great time to get set up, and we’ve even put together a brief guide that will ship with all fountain pen purchases this weekend! See below for details.

View fullsize

This Week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop: Don’t Miss the Fountain Pen Day Specials!

Our Fountain Pen Day promotions run through Sunday (tonight) at 11:59pm. Take 10% off most items across the store using “FPDAY10” at check out, and all items in the clearance section receive an automatic 15% off. Check out all of the various discounts and tiered free gift promotions here, though all freebies and swag are on a “while supplies last” basis. Note that some brands are excluded (mainly TWSBI, Pilot, and Roterfaden), though if you’re interested in a Roterfaden we are stocked with two different versions of the TGS_25 A5 Slim Taschenbegleiter and now is a great time to grab a discount on compatible refills and accessories!

Roterfaden

Pilot

Kaweco

Anterique

How You Can Further Support T.G.S.

If you enjoy our content (whether here on the main website, Instagram, YouTube Channel or elsewhere), and would like early/extra access to shop releases and special promotions, consider supporting us via Patreon. The T.G.S. Patreon includes early access and discounts on exclusive shop releases, a monthly updates newsletter, and of course our monthly meetups. Patreon supporters also have access to the first two episodes of a new podcast experiment I’ve been working on with Lisa Vanness of Vanness Pens. More on this later, but for the time being the initial episodes are Patreon-exclusive.

Fountain Pen Day Weekend Specials Through Sunday! Discounts, Tiered Prize Promotions, and Thursday Drops

Happy Fountain Pen Day Weekend! A bit of a long post today, so buckle in because there are plenty of details. While Fountain Pen Day is the first Friday in November (and officially tomorrow), we will kick things off a day or so early because I’ll be in the shop all day on Friday and want to be sure everything is ready and working well in-advance. So as of today the following promotions are active through 11:59pm Sunday, November 9. Come by our Nashville Shop and mention this promotion and you can claim the same discount and get some swag!

• Fountain Pen Day General Discount: Most items in the shop are eligible for a 10% Discount using the code “FPDAY10” at checkout.

• Clearance items will receive a 15% discount, no code necessary, automatically applied at checkout. Note that this automatically applied discount will not show up until you go to check out your cart. We are clearing out the last handful of our recent collaboration with Hinze Pens, so act quickly if you want one of these at the special price!

• Discounts are stackable on some items, meaning that you can use the FPDAY10 discount on top of your clearance discount for certain items. (Some can’t be discounted beyond the clearance price.)

View fullsize

Some of the T.G.S. Vinyl Swag that will be included in Fountain Pen Day orders. (Roterfaden not included.) :)

In addition to the clearance sale and discounts, we’re running our annual tiered gift promotion, meaning that orders exceeding certain thresholds (before shipping and any taxes) will receive a free gift, while supplies last. [Note that the ink samples and special TGS Swag are in short supply and give the volume of orders we are having to substitute extra Fountain Pen Day swag or other stickers.]

• All Orders: Any order placed between now (Thursday, November 6) and 11:59pm on Sunday, November 9, will receive some official Fountain Pen Day swag such as a button or bookmark, along with a T.G.S. sticker.

• Orders $75 and above: In addition to Fountain Pen Day and standard T.G.S. Swag, you will receive an ink sample (either Colorverse or Diamine), plus a special vinyl sticker featuring one of our experimental T.G.S. Logo redesigns. There aren’t many of these T.G.S. logo stickers so only the first orders are guaranteed to get them.

We also have stock of the new TWSBI ECO Plum + Onyx Fountain Pen, so if you haven’t seen this one yet check it out online or swing by the shop!

Thursday Drops: Ink Palettes, Kakuno “Madoromi” Series, and More!

We have lots of exciting new arrivals for you this week including new Kakuno Fountain Pens from Pilot and Ceramic Handmade Ink Palettes by Busy Hands Studio. While we can’t discount our Roterfaden stock, including our recent exclusive TGS_25 release, now is a great time to pick up accessories and refills, which qualify for all of our promotions!

1. T.G.S. x Hinze Pen “Taschenstift” Special Edition Fountain Pen. We only have a few of these left, as I mentioned above, and we need to make room for new projects in the coming months! Now in the clearance section at special Fountain Pen Day pricing.

2. Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter TGS_25 A5 Slim. While it can’t be discounted, take advantage of the opportunity to pick up refills and accessories. The TGS25 is now available in green and grey leather, and we’re thrilled to offer two colorways.

3. Pilot Kakuno “Madoromi” Series Fountain Pens. This recent special edition Kakuno features a handful of cloudy pastel colors inspired by a theme of naps and dreams. It brought me joy to see Pilot do something special with one of my favorite basic fountain pens.

4. Busy Hand Studio Handmade Ceramic Ink Palettes. The ink fans in my readership requested that I bring in some additional accessories that can be used for ink mixing, including some sort of watercolor/ink palette! These ceramic palettes are handmade in the U.S. and come in a range of sizes.

5. Diamine Inkvent Calendars. It’s not too late, and a great opportunity to use your Fountain Pen Day discount! The original ink advent calendar gets you 24 12ml bottles of ink and one 30ml bottle of ink on the 25th day!

6. Kaweco AL-Sport Piston Filler Fountain Pen. You asked for it, so Kaweco has released the AL-Sport Piston Filler in a new navy blue color! Everyone who has seen this color in person enjoys it more than the original.

7. Kaweco Metal Sport Fountain Pens (Including the New “Titan” Sport). Kaweco recently released a Titanium version of the Kaweco Sport fountain pen to go along with the Brass, Stainless, and Bronze Sports. The polished titanium is lightweight and durable - one that will last a VERY long time.

8. Bindewerk Flex-Cover A5 Linen Notebooks. I’m glad these arrived in time for Fountain Pen Day, as Bindewerk makes one of my favorite fountain pen friendly notebooks on the market with nicely textured A5 paper that’s lightly ruled with dots or lines.

9. Tomoe River Hardcover and Softcover Notebooks. These Tomoe River notebooks feature anywhere from 196 to 368 pages of fountain pen friendly paper, with the Sanzen paper formulation.

10. Platinum Preppy Wa “Edo Monogatari” Special Edition Fountain Pens. We still have a handful of this year’s Platinum “Preppy Wa” fountain pens. Once they’re gone, they’re gone so last chance on these!

View fullsize

Come see us in-store Thursday and Friday, 1pm-6pm, and Saturday 10am-6pm.