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Landsknecht posted:So I guess I need to be at the keyboard, ready to go if I want to try one of them? You'll have to ask the goons in the thread more familiar with foreign ordering through their site, sorry! I have no idea; when I was living outside Japan I just got them through a friend in the country. I will say this, though: if you're the sort that actually relies on your daily planner, the Hobonichis tend to put almost every other brand and model to shame. The construction is really good and, especially for FP users, the paper quality is, well - it's Tomoegawa paper. If you've never used it before you're in for a surprise. It's thin as hell and doesn't look like it will hold up, then you start writing on it and you begin to see why people special-order that stuff direct from Japan. Kessel fucked around with this message at 10:04 on Aug 29, 2014 |
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Aug 29, 2014 10:02
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Landsknecht posted:So I guess I need to be at the keyboard, ready to go if I want to try one of them?
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Aug 29, 2014 10:38
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Bought an Esterbrook LJ on eBay, but the 2556 nib is so scratchy and dry as to be unusable unless I write painfully slowly, in which case it turns super-wet and feathers like crazy. This is on cheap paper, but if I can't write on cheap paper then the pen is basically useless to me. So I ordered an Osmiroid 17204 left-handed fine nib and should have an Esterbrook 9460 medium manifold on the way as well if the guy selling them gets back to me. Any other suggestions that might meet my need for a smooth, quick nib for left-handed use in an LJ?
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Aug 29, 2014 12:07
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I'm totally gay for stationary, don't get me wrong, but what is the appeal of the Hobonichi planners? Are they chic and trendy in Japan as a brand name, or is day planner culture a thing in Japan? I can get a solid day planner with blank, lined, calendar in the margins, etc from Wal*Greens so I'm not seeing what's so cool about these.
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Aug 29, 2014 13:38
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I'm fueling my car so quick reply: The paper they use is the best ever. Tomoe River paper. Crazy thin, eerily smooth, highlights the shading properties of inks, dries beautifully. I bought a bunch of the paper after trying the planner. The planner is well thought out. I like the grid squares, the covers are fun to browse through and swap out. It's the perfect size, is 'just' flexible enough, I dunno how to explain it really (it'd be easier if I was a weird Japan-o-phone or something maybe) but I've used day planners all my life, using them to supplement digital calendars when smartphones became useable and this is the first one that I've used that just felt 'right'. Maybe it's just the exceptionally good paper, might be the community around the drat things, which I s something I usually laugh about, but even though I don't really participate in that it's kind of nice to see such a mundane, utilitarian item garner such a devoted, adoring following. Dunno, but I haven't had enough sleep and too much coffee already cause that's a bunch of words for a day planner. The good thing is, unless you get the fancy covers, they're really not too expensive.
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Aug 29, 2014 13:57
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vigorous sodomy posted:I'm totally gay for stationary, don't get me wrong, but what is the appeal of the Hobonichi planners? Are they chic and trendy in Japan as a brand name, or is day planner culture a thing in Japan? I can get a solid day planner with blank, lined, calendar in the margins, etc from Wal*Greens so I'm not seeing what's so cool about these. It's fancy bullshit that nerds can spend money on and talk about on internet forums. Y'know, right up this thread's alley! BTW I finally got some Shin-kai and it's beautiful in my purple Custom 74. I'll get pictures later.
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Aug 29, 2014 14:06
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ktonastya posted:Oh awesome, I'll have to order a replacement then and then try to switch the innards about. Once I get off my rear end to drain the ink from mine, I'll go see how much effort it takes to remove the grip and let you know. I'm pretty sure there are 2 versions of the Vac 700. I looked for disassembly diagrams and found ones where the grip came off and ones were it didn't. ktonastya posted:I'm watching the Goulet video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nt34OQrHXk) right now, and I'm not sure doing the straight nib swap would work for me since the little metal ring won't stay on the pen anymore at all. It just completely falls out from the pen even though there appears to be nothing wrong with the grip like a crack or anything. I may just have to accept a smoke grip on my vac from what it looks like unless I'm missing something. That seems really odd if there's no cracking at all. Someone else already said it, but yeah, email twsbi.
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Aug 29, 2014 16:16
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The best part about the Hobonichi is that the Earthbound guy is responsible for it. Edit: one of this year's covers is even Earthbound themed, sweet. asylum years fucked around with this message at 18:28 on Aug 30, 2014 |
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Aug 30, 2014 18:25
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asylum years posted:The best part about the Hobonichi is that the Earthbound guy is responsible for it. Wait, what? Gonna need some links here. I love Earthbound and Mother 3.
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Aug 30, 2014 18:41
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http://www.1101.com/store/techo/2015/planner/detail_cover/c_p_mother2.html Itoi created the Hobonichi, and mine at least (I only have the 2014) has a lot of quotes from him in the footers. Not to sound fanboyish, but you know how there's this hard-to-place charm about Earthbound? The Hobonichi's the same way. It's just a planner, but there are subtle little touches to its design that lend it a bit of extra personality. It just feels lovingly crafted, even for what amounts to an office supply. If you're a person who uses planners, it's a very nice choice.
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Aug 30, 2014 18:49
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That's really neat! Itoi is a strange and remarkable person, and I'm not surprised anything he does has that hard-to-place charm, as you put it. If I used planners, I'd definitely get one. Maybe I should start...
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Aug 30, 2014 20:03
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Brightman posted:I'm pretty sure there are 2 versions of the Vac 700. I looked for disassembly diagrams and found ones where the grip came off and ones were it didn't. Just to reiterate -- TWSBI's customer service is freaking amazing. Any time I have any issue here in the US, I email their US contact and Phil takes care of me. I had my Diamond 540 in my pocket and something cracked -- they instructed me to send the entire pen in so they can see what's wrong and fix it. When I first got the pen, it had a "B" nib, which I didn't want, so they exchanged the nib unit out free of charge to an EF. I use my Diamond 540 daily, it's a workhorse of a pen and holds a massive amount of ink.
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Sep 1, 2014 01:26
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I emailed TWSBI, and Philip told me to contact him again in two weeks so he doesn't forget after they get more grips from the factory since they usually don't break. So that is ridiculously awesome of them! On another note, I was able to snag one of the Onett Hobonichi covers before they ran out and a planner tonight. This will be first planner I'll have used since college and my first experience with Tomoe River paper. I'm looking forward to January way too much just so I can use it already.
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Sep 1, 2014 03:46
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I picked up the sashiko cover myself. We can nerd out together when they show up!
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Sep 1, 2014 10:27
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ktonastya posted:On another note, I was able to snag one of the Onett Hobonichi covers before they ran out and a planner tonight. The Onett covers ran out already?! Ugh I've fallen in love with Tweed Red but... that price tag...
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Sep 1, 2014 12:03
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Kessel posted:I picked up the sashiko cover myself. We can nerd out together when they show up! By all means, we'll have a massive Hobonichi nerd out party! basch posted:The Onett covers ran out already?! The Onett covers ran out almost instantaneously. I stalked the page so I could order it the second the store was open, and when I checked the product page after the checkout process, they had already gone out of stock. However, they already restocked them in the store today because the demand was so insane, but this batch won't be shipping until November.
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Sep 1, 2014 16:14
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I'm not sold on these Hobonichi planners since I'm not sure I'd actually need something beyond Google Calendar, but I wound up reading up on them because the Earthbound connection seemed so random and weird. Which one of these things do you guys get? It seems like the Japanese language ones have way more features and attention to detail, plus they're cheaper.
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Sep 1, 2014 17:55
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Meldonox posted:I'm not sold on these Hobonichi planners since I'm not sure I'd actually need something beyond Google Calendar, but I wound up reading up on them because the Earthbound connection seemed so random and weird. Which one of these things do you guys get? It seems like the Japanese language ones have way more features and attention to detail, plus they're cheaper. The thing about them is that you don't have to use them as a daily planner, and in fact many people don't. I use my smartphone for appointments and my Hobonichi as a diary. Someone I know who works in television uses it to plan out scripts and log last minute changes to filmed versions. Some people just use it as a scrapbook and glue everything into it.
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Sep 1, 2014 18:05
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Meldonox posted:but I wound up reading up on them because the Earthbound connection seemed so random and weird. The thing is that's it not that random or weird, really. It's more that it's weird that Itoi would have ever made a video game. Most of his career has been more about copywriting and design and whatnot, from what I understand. There are people who make cool Hobonichi covers on Etsy, too. I don't have a cover at all myself, but I might order one in the next few weeks.
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Sep 1, 2014 20:48
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I ordered a hobonichi with a leather cover (goodbye, $100), but since I know it's something I'll use every day, and an improvement on my passport-size traveler's notebook, I'm excited to see what it's like. Even though poo poo like outlook appointments are inescapable, I do find a daily planner nice for my personal life, as well as for tracking activities, exercise and other stuff.
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Sep 1, 2014 21:18
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asylum years posted:The thing is that's it not that random or weird, really. It's more that it's weird that Itoi would have ever made a video game. Most of his career has been more about copywriting and design and whatnot, from what I understand. Yeah, as far as I know Itoi is well known for copywriting and jingle writing, stuff like that. Then he played Dragon Quest and figured he could do a better job with story telling. Thus MOTHER was born. So in Japan the MOTHER series was just a side project or experiment for him, but that's all he's known for everywhere else.
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Sep 1, 2014 22:09
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I was in the market for a fancy pen so I settled on a Carene, because it is fancy and distinctive looking, and all the reviews I found pointed to it being a nice writing pen. Amazon had a nice deal on the "Blue Obsession" and thanks to the magic of next day shipping I have this in my possession: That's a really strong blue. It's a fine nib pen, and I currently have Heart of Darkness in it. Close up on that sexy nib (even if I think it kind of looks like a toe from the side)  It writes really nicely too. I first popped in a Waterman black cartridge, but wasn't too happy with it. I then inked it with some bottled ink, and holy cow was that wet! It's a little uncomfortable to write with if you hold it in a death grip, which I know you shouldn't do with a fountain pen, so that's probably a good thing. And the metal cap, lacquer body does look a little unbalanced to my eye, and feels unbalanced too. All in all though, i'm pleased with the purchase.
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Sep 2, 2014 15:46
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For the English version of the Hobonichi planner, does it just show the Japanese Holidays, translated into English, or do they put in "Western" holidays? (Just curious, as I got the Japanese one last year and was trying to figure out if there is any conceivable reason for me to get the English one this time around).
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Sep 2, 2014 16:03
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Speaking of stationary, I have a couple A6 moleskine notebooks, but they don't get along that well with fountain pens, I get a bit of bleedthrough even with the platinum preppy, which is the finest nib I have. A few months ago I got a couple of A5 Clairefontaine clothbound notebooks, which are a step up; I still get a wee bit of seethrough but the ink does not go through the page like in the moelskine. They do have A6 versions of those, but I was wondering if you guys have any other "hands on" recommendations (especially since those don't come in blank or dotted, just lined). The Apica ones look really nice, I've always heard good things about Field Notes, but I was browsing Goluetpens and there's just a fuckload of options. I'm looking for a side-bound, A6 size, basically something to stick in a pocket or carry around in my bag.
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Sep 2, 2014 18:53
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I ordered the Heart of Darkness ink, and it is really performing worlds better than the private reserve stuff I had been using before. Unfortunately the random re-seller amazon routed me through either didn't include or had removed the "free pen" part of my order. So now I have an ink bottle with an effectively useless eyedropper on it. Are there any pens worth having that fill with an eyedropper? All I can see googling around are conversion methods. Also count me in on this Hobonichi thing, I feel like my life needs more organization.
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Sep 2, 2014 18:54
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Is the point of the dropper fine enough to fill empty cartridges? You could use it for that. I also fill my TWSBI 530 with a syringe instead of the piston and I think the opening would be wide enough for most droppers.
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Sep 2, 2014 19:46
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laertes22 posted:For the English version of the Hobonichi planner, does it just show the Japanese Holidays, translated into English, or do they put in "Western" holidays? (Just curious, as I got the Japanese one last year and was trying to figure out if there is any conceivable reason for me to get the English one this time around). My 2014 shows the date info at the top of the page and in the orange ink the country codes that it is a holiday in. So thanksgiving just lists the US but Christmas has 20+ listed.
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Sep 2, 2014 20:12
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powderific posted:Is the point of the dropper fine enough to fill empty cartridges? You could use it for that. I also fill my TWSBI 530 with a syringe instead of the piston and I think the opening would be wide enough for most droppers. I don't think so, the dropper quite substantial. I have just been laying the dropper down on a paper towel, making a mess, then filling from the bottle. Just having the eyedropper is making me interested in finding out more about pens that intend to fill this way.
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Sep 2, 2014 20:59
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VendoViper posted:I ordered the Heart of Darkness ink, and it is really performing worlds better than the private reserve stuff I had been using before. Unfortunately the random re-seller amazon routed me through either didn't include or had removed the "free pen" part of my order. So now I have an ink bottle with an effectively useless eyedropper on it. Are there any pens worth having that fill with an eyedropper? All I can see googling around are conversion methods. I use my dropper to refill the cartridge that came with my Pilot Metro, which is what I use instead of a converter. The eyedropper is not as big as it seems, really. If you want a pen that specifically works with it, check out eyedropper pens. In the future, you might have better luck with the recommended suppliers listed in the OP. Amazon doesn't seem to handle fountain pens as well as their other products, and a lot of pens and inks are cheaper at other sites. (Goulet Pens, for example, sells the Pilot Metro for $15 instead of the retail price $18.75)
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Sep 2, 2014 23:04
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Got for 2015 Hobonichi too. They have a lot more accessories this year! I bought the "moveable page film" and the rest of the stencils 
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Sep 3, 2014 18:53
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I hate you all. I'm trying to resist the 2015 techo, and you will make me fail. I used my 2014 more as a scrapbook, and now it's sitting unused. I was thinking of using it as a budget, but I can't get into it. I will try again, and order if I succeed.
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Sep 3, 2014 22:39
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Giving the Weeks a try, since I found the A6 techo a bit bulky and wasn't coming close to filling the pages. I see they've also introduced two-volume versions of the A6 and A5 models, which should slim things down a bit. Not sure why they don't advertise any of that stuff in English, but you can as always order anything you like from the Japanese store and still use the English version to check out.
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Sep 3, 2014 23:47
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 Empty Lamy bottles make great inkwells.
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Sep 4, 2014 00:50
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pienipple posted:
I love the design of lamy bottes (IMO only pelikan edelstein and pilot iroshizuku have better bottles), but it sucks that their colours are so limited and boring.
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Sep 4, 2014 19:43
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Landsknecht posted:I love the design of lamy bottes (IMO only pelikan edelstein and pilot iroshizuku have better bottles), but it sucks that their colours are so limited and boring. Yeah they've got a nice kind of utility to them. I got a couple of empty inky bottles from Goulet because they were $3, I'd love to see a similar design maybe in a smaller size sold as an inexpensive inkwell.
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Sep 4, 2014 20:19
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I love the roll of blotting paper for cleaning up on the Lamy bottles. Lamy really should just sell the empty bottles as ink wells, but then I guess since their ink already comes in those bottles they don't have to! 
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Sep 4, 2014 21:42
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Ahh my pilot metro has been leaking recently, what could it be? I've tried pushing the nib in and the cartridge down further and apart from inky fingers nothing seems to have changed.
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Sep 4, 2014 23:43
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Speaking of ink wells, I haven't used a dip pen or quill in some time. I generally only do so for drawing (my lettering isn't for the eyes of others.) Is there anyone here that uses them for calligraphy or journal writing? Of course, if I ever saw somebody with a quill and ink well out in a Starbucks, I'd probably throw hot coffee on them.
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Sep 5, 2014 15:17
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I like dip pens for calligraphy (which I'm terrible at but enjoy) and just testing out new inks without filling a pen. Right now I have a couple sets that work pretty OK—osmiroid and speedball—but I'd like to find something a little nicer. I've heard that brause is good. The tips hold a surprising amount of ink. With the smaller italic points I can write nearly a full page without re-dipping and it doesn't really slow down my writing. edit: never used a quill but would like to give that a shot too.
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Sep 5, 2014 15:58
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I've got a dip for learning flex. I feel alright about my broad nib calligraphy, my pointed nib calligraphy is awful, i have no idea how anybody has the patience to learn copperplate let alone spencerian.
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Sep 5, 2014 16:11
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