The Pen Addict Podcast: Episode 706 - The Zebra Zebra

Putting KURUTOGA inside the LAMY product that needed it the most. (via uni Mitsubishi Pencil)

We were full of surprises on this week’s podcast, or were we just full of it? Sailor Que Sera feedback got us off on the right foot, followed swiftly my Mitsubishi doing the right thing with a LAMY product that needed it the most. This was only setup for the big reveal - no, not a bedazzled Pac-Man pen - but the latest from Zebra, named … The Zebra.

Show Notes & Download Links

This episode of The Pen Addict is sponsored by:

Enigma Stationery: Unique items, top brands and hard-to-find imports. Get $10 off.

Factor: Healthy, fully-prepared food delivered to your door. Use code penaddict50off

Retro 51 X Denik X Bat Conservation International Notebook Review

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

One of my favorite Retro 51 releases of the past few years is their collaboration with Bat Conservation International. The vintage colors, cute bats, pretty moths, and repeating geometry all charmed me. The design reminds me of Art Nouveau wallpaper, but spooky, and I love it. I was extra excited to see that they had also collaborated with Denik on a notebook, so I could be matchy-matchy. They've done this for a handful of their pen designs, usually a rescue edition, and those notebooks also contribute funds to the rescues.

Apart from the fabulous cover design, this A5 notebook is fairly simple. If you've used a Denik notebook before, you'll be familiar with the format. The cover is thin cardstock with a matte finish. It has decorated interior covers, and then 144 pages of lined paper (it also exists with dotted paper). The binding is sewn and glued in signatures. It's a bit crispy for the first few uses, but as it breaks in, it does get to the point where it lays flat.

The paper inside is decent. Denik's paper can be inconsistent as far as its fountain pen friendliness, but so far I have had good results with this one. The only thing that bled through at all was a sharpie. There was some light feathering with liquid inks, but only visible if I held the notebook three inches from my face. It's not a notebook for paper snobs, but it's very functional and perfectly useful.

Like all Denik notebooks, this one is very affordable. It sells for $16, which is a great price for that page count. There are no bells and whistles on the notebook--no ribbons or elastics, no rounded corners or page numbers. The cover is obviously cut from a large printed sheet, so the design cuts off at the edges. It's not fancy, but it is nice. It's pretty without being precious. That helps keep the price low, and still allows them to give some of the proceeds to the bats. Everybody wins.

This is the perfect notebook for a commonplace book or ideas journal. It would be great for meeting notes. It has enough pages to be devoted to a longer project, and will very likely end up as one of my novel planning notebooks. And it's gotta be for a vampire novel, right?

(This product was purchased from Dromgoole’s at regular price.)

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Goldspot x Robert Oster The Jersey Devil Ink Review

Storytelling plays an important role in some of my favorite products, so why not an ink featuring one of the great legends of the Northeastern United States, the Jersey Devil.

My question is this: Has the team at Goldspot actually seen this beast to properly match this ink color? Is it acceptable to call this ink a “beautiful” Reddish-Burgundy color, when tales of the Jersey Devil have haunted children and adults alike for centuries?

Left to right: Sanzen 52gsm Tomoe River, Col-o-ring.

I say yes, because while the Jersey Devil is a fantastical figure, made for spooky stories, The Jersey Devil ink is designed to be a friend to your pens. No mythical tales required.

My favorite part of The Jersey Devil is that it is a normal, straightforward ink. No bells, no whistles, no shimmer, no pigment - just a good, solid Burgundy with a bit of shading, and some character on the page. If you like the Red ink side of the ledger, then this could be your all-day writing choice for everything from work notes, to journaling.

My writing in the Aurora 88 Unica Nera with a 14K Extra Fine nib was consistent, with great flow on the Sanzen Tomoe River 52gsm Yamamoto Pad I used to transcribe one of my favorite Drive-By Truckers songs, “Where the Devil Don’t Stay” (look at baby Isbell in this footage!) The Devil was more Brown inside the Yoseka Notebook I doodle in, so you will see different shades on different papers.

To find The Jersey Devil, just head over to Goldspot, where you can pick up a 50ml bottle for $19. And if you want to learn more about how the legend of the Jersey Devil came to be, check out “A Devil on the Roof” from Aaron Mahnke and the Lore podcast. Aaron is more famously known around these parts as the designer of the original Pen Addict Podcast logo in the 70Decibels days. The more you know!

(Goldspot provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

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