Thursday Drops: New Lochby Sizes, Yamamoto Paper Tastings, Appointed Pencils and Notebooks

There’s lots of exciting new things to report today on the paper front, including new paper sizes and formats from Lochby, fun Letterpress notepads from the Well-Appointed Desk, and an entire new line of U.S.-sourced paper from Appointed, based in Washington, D.C. We’ve also built out our Yamamoto Paper sampler offerings with the “Paper Tastings” series, which currently feature seven different combinations of unusual Japanese papers that you’re unlikely to find outside of samplers like these.

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Thin Papers, Planner Papers, Onionskin Paper, Gray Paper, we have all sorts of samplers for you to explore!

On a somewhat somber note, the word is that Write Notepads will no longer be making retail products, so what we have from them is likely it for the time being. We’ve double-checked our stock, and everything that we currently have available (the Landscape Weekly Planner) is listed on the site. I’ve made an effort to start bringing in products from smaller companies such as Well-Appointed Desk and Skylab, Appointed, and Musgrave here in the U.S. Just a reminder that if you like a small business, and enjoy their product, they won’t be around forever if you don’t actually support them, especially in this environment!

Everything shown here is also in our brick and mortar shop, which will be open Thursday and Saturday this week, and this Friday by appointment. Typically we have regular Friday hours, but I need to finish upgrading some displays and plan to take the afternoon to do that work. Come see us on Saturday and check out the new look!

1. Appointed Notebooks and Pencils. Washington, D.C.-based Appointed makes gorgeous notebooks and other stationery items, featured wonderfully textured paper that’s one of the best pencil papers I’ve used. Note that American paper is more absorbent than most and will not be the best for extremely wet fountain pens.

2. Well-Appointed Desk Notepads and Calendar Stickers. Want some irreverent letterpress notepads? These will look great on your desk at work. (They do on mine.) Oh, and we have some fun Calendar stickers too! Add these for planner functionality in any notebook!

3. Lochby 68gsm Tomoe River Notebooks. One of the last regularly available sources of my beloved 68gsm Tomoe River Paper (and in dot grid nonetheless), Lochby has released their notebooks in a few new sizes, including B5, A5 Slim/Personal, and a new Planner format for their 3.5” x 5.5” pocket notebooks.

4. Yamamoto Paper Tasting Samplers. One of my favorite ways to explore different types of rare papers is via Yamamoto’s carefully selected “Paper Tasting” samplers, each of which contains three different sizes of notepads (B7-A6), and three different papers grouped by shared characteristics. For example, there is an eggshell-texture pack, an onionskin pack, a gray pack and more.

5. TWSBI Precision “Gemini Blue” and TWSBI ECO Slate Blue and Onyx Fountain Pens. We have more of TWSBI’s latest releases, including the long-awaited Gemini Blue and the popular ECO Slate Blue fountain pens.

6. Yamamoto A4 Paper Packs. Each Yamamoto Paper Pack contains 50 sheets of A4 rare and/or discontinued Japanese Paper, including OK Fools, Tomoe River varieties, Soliste, and new arrivals such as Sheeps Cloud Bond Paper.

7. Yamamoto A5 Writing Pads. We have additional stock of the Yamamoto Paper A5 Writing Pads that include fountain pen friendly favorites such as Sanzen Tomoe River, Tomoegawa Tomoe River, and Bank Paper, which I’ve heard is being discontinued.

8. Sunderland mk1 Machined Pens. We now carry the entire line of anodized Sunderland mk1 rollerballs, which ship with a Pilot G2 refill and also fits the threaded Montblanc-style rollerball refills and fineliners. (We have one last T.G.S. x Sunderland special edition in stock.)

9. Notsu Centre Rise Notecard Sets. We have additional stock of the orange and black Notsu Centre Rise Notecard sets (which are the cardboxes that ship with 50 cards and feature the magnetic card stand).

10. Notsu Notecard Holders. These vegan leather notecard holders from Notsu will hold a handful of cards in reserve, along with a pen, as well as provide a firm writing surface for the card you’re working on at the time.

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We have been known to sell other irreverent stationery from time to time.

Plotter Walkthrough: How I Use My Plotter Binders (Video)

This one’s been a long-time coming. Readers have been asking me for more notetaking and organizational “technique” content, which I’ve discovered is pretty hard to do here on the blog. It’s much easier to show people how I use various notebook systems, and in-store customers have remarked that my store demonstrations and explanations would make compelling video content. I’ve previously done similar videos on Roterfaden and certain of the Lochby cases. Today I walk through three of my Plotter binders, including the Mini 5 (Pocket-size), Bible Size, and Standard A5. I’ve also written some about what Plotter is and how I use it, but in this video I actually flip through all of the notebooks and talk about the accessories and how they each fit into my workflow. I’ve also added Chapters so that you can jump to the specific notebook you want to hear about, but please do listen to the intro because it does provide a general overview of Plotter and the overall role it plays for me.

Note: We are not Plotter retailers, and have no affiliation with the brand other than that we enjoy using their products. I will note that many of the items we sell (including looseleaf papers and paper pads from Midori, Clairefontaine, Yamamoto Paper, Nakabayashi, and Iroful) can be trimmed and/or hole-punched to use in Plotter and other notebook systems, which is actually how I personally use much of the paper I consume.

We are supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. Our brick and mortar shop will be open Thursday and Saturday this week, and this Friday by appointment. Typically we have regular Friday hours, but I need to finish upgrading some displays and plan to take the afternoon to do that work. Come see us on Saturday and check out the new look!

New Arrivals: Lamy Safari 2025 Special Editions in Dark Dusk and Sunset

The new Lamy Safaris have arrived! This year we have two colors: Dark Dusk and Sunset, as Lamy continues the trend of releasing the special edition Safaris in pairs. Dark Dusk is what I would call a midnight blue, in a glossy finish paired with a dark blue clip. Sunset is a true coral pink, with hints of orange and a matte finish, also with a matching clip. While supplies last, fountain pen orders will ship with a matching pen case (dark blue or coral), which has a zippered pouch and an elastic strap designed to slip over the cover of an A5 notebook. You can see more of the new colors, as well as a demonstration of how the pen case works, in this video here.

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These zippered pouches can hold a pen, pencil, and smaller accessories.

The 2025 Lamy Safari is currently available in fountain pen, rollerball, ballpoint, and .5mm mechanical pencil format. Be sure to check out the rest of our Lamy offerings, including standard Safaris and AL-Stars, the Lamy 2000 line, and more.

We also have these pens in our brick and mortar shop, which will be open Thursday and Saturday this week, and this Friday by appointment. Typically we have regular Friday hours, but I need to finish upgrading some displays and plan to take the afternoon to do that work. Come see us on Saturday and check out the new look!

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I love that Lamy is regularly releasing the limited edition Safari in the .5mm mechanical pencil.

Sunday Reading for May 4, 2025

1. Hooligan Georgia (via Figboot on Pens). I got to meet Tim from Hooligan at the Atlanta Pen Show, and loved getting to see his work.

2. Monoc Monoc Monoc (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). A great overview of the different Monoc sizes including, as with most of Kimberly’s reviews, plenty of writing samples.

3. Japanese Magazine Surprise (via Inky.Rocks). Now that’s a cool surprise! Stationery magazines that include stationery samples!

4. Montegrappa Venetia vs. Scribo Piuma (via A Gathering of Curiosities). I still don’t have my Piuma - I really need to change that! I love the silhouette of that pen.

5. $29 EDC? Everyday Karas basik (via Figboot on Pens). Double drop this week from David, since this Karas sub-brand and the price point really intrigued me.

6. Outsized Impact (via Stationery Pizza). Here’s another interesting notetaking/journaling technique. Does anyone else block their pages?

7. Travel Organizer? (via Philofaxy). I actually do tend to swap my organizers and notebooks out when I travel, usually for a Traveler’s Notebook which can be more compact in a travel bag, or a zippered folio if I have stuff that I worry will fall out.

8. Lamy Petrol (2025 version). I’m currently enamored with the latest Lamy Petrol, and love how dark it is. Honestly, I missed the first release so I have nothing to compare it to save for a swatch a friend gave me, but I love this color.

9. Paper Systems and Their Uses (via Rachel’s Reflections). I love a good post discussing uses for all the different styles of notebook systems.

10. Show Recap: Little Craft Fest (Houston) (via Well-Appointed Desk). I love reading about new stationery events, including the apparently very well-executed Little Craft Fest!

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The Sunderland mk1 has long been a favorite - I’m glad to see it more regularly available these days!

In Case You Missed It…2025 Best Pens Update

This week we reviewed the Uni M17 Jetstream refill, designed to fit Lamy pens that accept the M16 ballpoint. While we no longer have these specific refills for sale at the moment, since they are a Japan-only release and need to be imported, it’s still fun to see just how good a ballpoint refill can be. (Plus, we have other Jetstream stuff in the shop!) And as noted above, we’ve updated the “Best Pens” page for 2025. This year’s update is more “maintenance” than anything, without any major changes, but it’s still fun to see how consistent my opinions have been for the past several years.

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This Week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop: New TWSBI and New Lamy Safaris With a free gift promotion!

The new TWSBI Gemini Blue Precision Fountain Pens arrived this week, to cap a much-hyped release of a pen that TWSBI hasn’t updated in some time. Also, yesterday I received our initial shipping allotment of the 2025 Lamy Safari releases in “Dark Dusk” and “Sunset Coral”. While supplies last, the initial round of fountain pens will receive a Dark Dusk or Sunset Coral matching pen case that ships alongside the pen, though supplies are limited and these will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. One per person. Check out this week’s Thursday Drops post for a full list of new arrivals and restocks. (Did I mention that we now carry the standard line of Sunderland mk1 pens?)

Notsu

Caran d'Ache

Uni

Kaweco

Check Out T.G.S. Patreon for Breaking news and first access/Special pricing on exclusives and Sample Sales

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 gently used stationery opportunities, consider supporting us via Patreon. We do our best to remain 100% self-supported without having to rely on third-party advertisers or affiliates. Of course, the number one way to help is to visit our curated retail shop either online (or in person, if you’re in the Nashville area)! If you enjoy in-person and virtual meetups and having access to more personal content, the T.G.S. Patreon includes these as well as access to early shop releases (including the Taschenstift “Violet Tendencies”), the quarterly gently used sales, a monthly updates newsletter, and of course our monthly meetups. Patreon support starts as low as $3 per month, and if you pay annually there is a further discount.

The Updated 2025 "Best Pens" Page Is Live!

Longtime T.G.S. readers know that I update the “Best Pens” list annually, typically around the T.G.S. Anniversary in mid-to-late April. I’m a little late this year, but not by much, and in any event this year was more of a maintenance update because as the list matures, there’s simply not as much movement between the categories. I’ve made a few adjustments to account for pens moving between the different price points - who knows what the coming year will bring - but I always enjoy this exercise.

As with previous updates, the last 10 or so lists remain live so that you can see how my opinions and tastes have changed over time. View the 2025 Best Pens List and prior lists here, and if you see something you like, please consider supporting us by shopping our store* or pledging via Patreon. We’ve recently launched a T.G.S. Discord forum for Patreon members, and so far it seems that everyone has enjoyed being able to interact in a much more user friendly format that what Patreon can offer with its build-in features.

*The “Best Pens” list goes back to at least 2017, and predates our shop by several years. You’ll see that these lists have informed how we built out our own retail operation, as I knew when I opened my own shop that I would only want to sell stuff that I could readily recommend to other people.