Posts filed under Retro 51

Retro 51 2024 Spooky Season Editions

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)

Every year I look forward to the Halloween themed Retro 51 drops and I've collected them faithfully--only missing one years ago, the elusive glowing zombies. I won't ever let that happen again. Which means I jumped on both spooky releases this month!

First up, I picked up the Dracula Rollerball Tornado Popper from Anderson Pens. This might be a top five edition for me. Maybe even top three. I love it. The pen body is, of course, blood red, with the illustration laid over it in black. The illustration shows our buddy Dracula surrounded by a swarm of bats. To the side, a gothic castle, graveyard, and a man with a fatal stake raised in his hand (could be Van Helsing, could be Jonathan), and to the other side, a lovely lady with a mysterious smile (Mina or Lucy?). The hardware is all in glossy black, and the finial is blessed with a fabulous image of fangs.

There is a ton of detail in this design. Every time I look at it, which is a lot because I can't stop looking at it, I see even more. It's a great homage to Stoker's novel and an excellent addition to my spooky Retro collection.

The pen comes in the classic pen tube, with the name and design in red foil on the outside. This edition is limited to 1031 pens, so grab it while you can!

Next, I grabbed the Goldspot exclusive Boo-roque Fright Night Rollerball. The fun thing about this edition is that it comes in three colors, and you don't know which you'll get till you open it. Great Pumpkin Orange is the most common, with 505 pens or a 50% chance. Paranormal Purple has 313 pens, a 30% chance. And Poisoned Apple Green, which glows in the dark, has 213 pens, or a 20% chance. While the underlying color varies, the black overlay is the same for each. As you can see, I got the Paranormal Purple! I'd have been happy with any of them--they all look great.

The black overlay design is an opulent Halloween theme, with jack o' lanterns, bats, spiders, webs, ghosts, and skulls. Be still my heart. All are interspersed with gothic flourishes. This one also has black hardware, and the finial has a grinning Jack-o-lantern. The pen tube is black with a preview of the design on the label.

This pen really screams Halloween, so I've been keeping it clipped to my shirt collar as a seasonal accessory.

It's pretty exciting to get two Retro 51 Halloween releases this year. Having two did hurt the budget a bit, as they're costing around $59 these days. That's steep for a rollerball, but these are exceptional. Not only do they look amazing, they have that classic Retro 51 refill that writes a sturdy, thick line of saturated black ink. They write so smoothly that they're a joy to use, and when you're not writing, you can just stare at them.

Someday I hope I'll be able to complete my spooky retro collection and find the one I missed, but until then, I'll keep making sure I don't miss any more. And if you feel the same, be sure to grab these ones while you can!

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Posted on October 10, 2024 by Sarah Read and filed under Retro 51, Pen Reviews.

Pairings Party: Retro 51 Coffee House Tornado Fountain Pen and Kobe Kitano Antique Sepia

What kind of party features a coffee-themed pen and Brown ink? My kind of party! The pairing of the Retro 51 Coffee House Tornado Fountain Pen with Kobe Kitano Antique Sepia has been my most used writing combo over the last month, and has taken the clubhouse lead early into September.

The Retro 51 Coffee House is a Goldpsot exclusive, which they kindly sent me earlier this Summer to try out. The black-based pen features chalkboard-style graphics you can find at a coffeehouse - beans, mugs, presses, cups, steam - the works. It’s a cool design for coffee lovers like myself, and I especially like the all-black hardware.

That includes the nib, which is coated black to match the rest of the pen. Retro 51 switched over to Jowo nibs years ago, and this #6 Fine nib writes nicely. The black coating may add the slightest bit of line width compared to a standard uncoated steel nib, or it could be a placebo effect. There are so many variables to take into account beside nib width - ink properties and paper, for starters. Regardless, this one writes smoothly, and the ink flows well.

This pen also fits my hand well. The underlying barrel is stainless steel, but it’s not heavy. There is some weight to it, but it is well-balanced throughout the tapered barrel. The metal section has a slight concave toward the nib for a solid gripping surface. The cap is threaded, taking two turns to remove or replace, and the clip provides a strong attachment.

In choosing an ink, there was no chance I was inking this pen up with anything but Brown. This shade has been edging towards the top of my usage list for the past year, after years of avoiding it. Antique Sepia was recommended to me by a friend after bemoaning the limited nature of Sailor Tea Time Series Fika Coffee Ink, one of my favorites.

This ink is a rich, dark brown that could easily pass a “normal” ink in a business setting. Some lines lean black, and some of the thinner areas of shading bring in the brown. Let’s keep it on theme here and call it a nice Medium Roast. There is a hint of green sheen with the right amount of ink on the right type of paper, but I rarely see it from my standard writing on Bank paper, PLOTTER paper, or Kokuyo paper - all of which I’ve used this combination with heavily.

The Retro 51 Coffee House Tornado Fountain Pen is $119 from Goldspot, and Kobe Kitano Antique Sepia is $30 at Vanness Pens. The Retro 51 is at a premium from their standard offerings, primarily due to the store exclusive/limited edition nature of the pen, plus the awesome artwork and finishes. Standard Retro 51 fountain pens start around $65 if you are looking to try out a great pen, but don’t need a full caffeine fix. $30 for 50 ml of Kobe (ie. Sailor,) ink is fine by me. Yes, it is still expensive/ml but at least the multiplier is 50, instead of the smaller bottles Sailor loves so much.

I drink coffee every day, often many times a day, so this pen and ink combo has been a blast to use. I just had to make sure I had the real thing flowing through my veins before attempting to write with the pen and ink version.

(Goldspot provided this pen at no charge, and Vanness Pens provided the ink at a discount, to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Posted on September 2, 2024 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Retro 51, Fountain Pens, Kobe, Ink Reviews, Pen Reviews.

Retro 51 Tornado Mercury 7 Limited Edition Rollerball Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

There are just a few fascinations that have stuck with me through childhood, adolescence, and adulthood — subjects or ideas that are endlessly interesting. Stationery is definitely one of those things, but another is astronomy and space travel.

Growing up next to a rocket arsenal and a NASA office is a sure-fire way to at least be aware of the scientific and technology feats that space travel require, and I was lucky to have as much information as I could handle. Watching space shuttle launches down in Florida is a core memory for me. I wasn't around during the initial space race or the Apollo missions, but I love learning about them and marveling at the ingenuity, bravery, and guts required to make those missions happen.

Way back in the late fifties and early sixties, there was a race between the US and Russia to put a human being into space and orbit the earth (and bring them back safely!). The engineering and technological advancements required to make this happen are incredible, and the ego-driven competition between nations forced everyone to work at break-neck speeds to beat the other one to orbit. Russia was first to do this with Sputnik, but the US was fast on their heels with the Mercury missions. These were tiny capsules that had barely enough room for a person to sit and operate controls and read instruments — and strapped to a giant rocket that propelled the capsule away from Earth. I can't even imagine what it felt like to be one of those astronauts strapped to the top of a rocket intended to shatter all kinds of barriers and previously undreamt of limitations. But, they did it. There were seven astronauts that were part of the Mercury project, and they paved the way for larger, more daring projects after them.

The limited edition Mercury 7 rollerball from Retro51 was commissioned by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF). This foundation was created in 1984 by six of the original Mercury 7 astronauts as a way to recruit and develop top talent for the science and aerospace industry. You can read more about what the ASF do on their site, but it's really cool that they wanted to commemorate the Mercury 7 with a nice rollerball pen. The thing is, ASF and Retro51 knocked it out of the park with the design on this. It's easily one of my favorite Retro51 Tornado models.

I'm not one to care about packaging, but limited edition Retro51 tubes are one exception I make. For the Mercury 7 edition, it features a silver tube with a drawing of the astronauts in their space suits. Prior to the bulky white suits that we associate with Apollo and Space Shuttle missions, the Mercury suits were a shiny silver material that look ultra classic by today's standards. The tube is a piece of art and something I'll use to store this special pen.

Getting to the pen, it's a standard Tornado rollerball model with the Schmidt P8127 medium refill inside. I typically swap these out for the finer P8126 refill, but the included refill is fantastic out of the packaging.

The silver and white color scheme match the space suits and rocket/capsule colors, and provide a fantastic backdrop for the debossed lines and decals that mimic the Mercury space capsule. And, the NASA and Mercury 7 logos really pop off the silver body of the pen.

The nose cone, clip, and twist mechanism are all a flat white color that match the body well. The limited edition number is stamped on the twist mechanism band (there are only 1,958 of these available), and there's also an ASF logo in the finial. 2024 is the 40th anniversary of ASF as a foundation, so that's why the finial includes a "40" along with the logo.

Writing with the pen is just like writing with any other Tornado. It's a great pen that delivers an exceptional writing experience.

Being a limited edition, this is more of a keepsake item than a workhorse pen. If the Mercury missions are special to you or someone you know, this makes an excellent gift or collectible. Retro51 and ASF really did a great job designing Mercury 7 limited edition of the Tornado. At $68, it's a little more expensive than a standard Tornado, but this is expected for the limited runs. If you like the design and can afford to pick one up, you won't be disappointed.

(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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