Released as part of a batch of seven inks (the others being Burned Orange, Crocodile Green, Deep Purple, Dragon’s Night, Hot Pink, and Red Candy) True Blue came out in the latter part of last year. I’m not sure whether it was a themed group release but many seven inks are some of my favourite Robert Oster inks and some of Rob’s more unique inks (especially within the Robert Oster lineup). While ‘True Blue’ has a history older than Australia it is a term that came into the Australian lexicon (and for her most part left it as well) that means, roughly ‘authentic’. It’s used an as adjective to to qualify how a person relates to a subject matter such as a ‘true blue ink enthusiast’ (I reckon that’s the first time that phrase has been said!)
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Ink Review: Sailor Shumibun Writing Time Jasper Green
Shumibun Writing Time Jasper Green is a Sailor store exclusive ink from Shumibun in Japan. The store itself is makes a Fountain Pen magazine for the Fountain Pen market. The store describes the colour as a "deep green mixed with jasper". There are two other inks in the series (from which I only have a bottle of Jasper Green): Coral Blue (a dusty turquoise colour) and Lapis Blue (a rich blue).
Read MoreDouble Ink Review: Colorverse String and Brane
Colorverse String and Brane are the pair of inks from Season 3 "Multiverse" series of inks that I, personally, thought was the most interesting pairing. A nice golden brown and a soft olive green. Brane, which comes in the small 15ml bottle, as opposed the String's 65ml bottle, is also a shimmering ink but is much subtler than many shimmering inks out there.
Read MoreInk Review: Sailor Pen's Alley Shaker Green
Pen's Alley Shaker Green is a pretty unique and special ink; a green ink with gold sheen. I've never seen anything like it before! Pen's Alley is a stationary and pen store in Okazaki, Japan. They have a series of Sailor Store Exclusive inks in the tall "vase" Sailor bottles of which this is one. Where this ink stands out is it's sheen!
Read MoreState of the Union 2017: Fountain Pen Ink
The last few years really have been a renaissance for Fountain Pens and this year is no different. Lots of expansions and additions to lineups and several standout inks. I’m going to be talking about how various brands have performed this year and what I hope for next year. This will be, of course, focused on inks and not pens. I try to keep my posts as objective as possible but this one will probably have a bit more subjectivity than usual.
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