Most Disappointing Ink Buy

[Truman]

Waterman Green. The color just rubs me the wrong way and feels artificial, overbearing, weak and wishy-washy all at once. And I like greens, over half of my inks are green.

 

:ltcapd: Tell us how you really feel! Don't hold back.

[Astra]

PR Sepia. It's such a beautiful color but it's so dry. I have yet to find a pen in which it flows properly.

 

It's funny how tastes differ: I love Yama-Budo. I use it for marking up papers and for my lab notebook.

[Silvermink]

I found J. Herbin Café Des Îles disappointing - it looks pretty washed-out to my eye.

[tophercarlton]

Levengers Pinkly (came in a 6 pack of inks) didn't like color

 

Levengers Always Greener (came in a 6 pack of inks) didn't like color

 

Private Reserve Tanzinite, couldn't stand the nib creep

 

I'm still learning....What's "nib creep?"

 

~ topher

[Ad_Astra]

Levengers Pinkly (came in a 6 pack of inks) didn't like color

 

Levengers Always Greener (came in a 6 pack of inks) didn't like color

 

Private Reserve Tanzinite, couldn't stand the nib creep

 

I'm still learning....What's "nib creep?"

 

~ topher

 

Nib creep refers to when ink seeps out of the nib slit and covers the nib. More prevalent with some inks than others, for example, some of the Noodler's and PR line are well known for it.

 

Not a huge issue or anything, they just like to coat the metal. Just wipe it off if it bothers you, or don't bother.

[mhphoto]

Noodler's Fox Red: tried a sample a while back and was disappointed at the feathering and lack of shading, though I did like how bright it is.

 

Noodler's Black Eel: can't remember what I didn't like about this one, but something hit a nerve when I tried it.

 

Rohrer & Klingner Verdigris: given my love of copper I figured I'd love this one, but I found its color to be completely different from real verdigris, though when diluted it is a very good ink.

[mhphoto]

Noodler's Pasternak and Diamine Sepia. For some reason both of these colors set me teeth on edge and I emptied them out of my pen after writing with them for a day

 

Two of my favorites! Haha. But my love for both is almost exclusively for their use with flex nibs.

Edited July 31, 2012 by mhphoto

[stefanv]

Two other disappointing inks that I purchased were:

 

• Pelikan Blue-Black in cartridges. I had heard so many great things about this colour, I picked up a pack of cartridges while visiting Copenhagen. Something must have been wrong with them, because the colour was a very pale grey with no hint of blue. My first clue should have been the accumulated dust on the package. I've since bought a bottle of Pelikan Blue-Black in Germany, and it really is a great ink.
  
• Online Red in cartridges. I bought these at Write Impressions, and they were a very pale, dry, washed-out pink. I suspect that like the Pelikan cartridges above, they were old and faded.
  

[Sholom]

Noodler's Golden Brown. I've tried it in several pens and all I can get out of my bottle is an unpleasant orangy yellow - none of the shading to brown that is seen in the reviews. Even though I always shake my Noodler's semi-permanent colors well, my Golden Brown behaves as if the black component settles out immediately in the pen and the yellow filters through the black and comes out on the page while the black just sits there somewhere in the feed. Actually the sample I got first was better, but the full bottle is a real disappointment. I'm using a sample of Diamine Raw Sienna right now - hardly any shading in the Waterman Taperite it's in but a much more pleasant color than the Noodler's Golden Brown. Given that, I suspect I'd find the Diamine Golden Brown to be too light. Somewhere out there is the right color.... Maybe I can darken the Noodler's somehow, but don't have any of the Noodler's blacks in house at the moment.

[yotiao]

Diamine Majestic Blue and Noodler's Majestic Orange (Singapore colors).

[random_display_name]

Pelikan Edelstein Sapphire! I liked what I saw of it in Brian Goulet's video introduction to the Edelstein line. I thought I was getting a standard default blue with some good properties but instead I got a flat-out no doubt purple. Not bad in itself except if you have a purple aversion or if it was not what you were expecting.

 

In a fit of pique I mixed it 1:1 with the bottle of P.E. Topaz I got at the same time. Now I have two Edelstein bottles of a very average-looking but workable blue and no Topaz on hand to give a fair trial. I keep thinking I can give one bottle away but then I would have to admit to my crime.

 

I like the Ruby, I love the Tanzanite, but gosh that Sapphire, pushing me to extremes!

[Jared C]

I'm in the same boat with the Edelstein series. I bought a bottle of mandarin because at the time I didn't have any orange ink. I got it home and loaded it up in a fine nibbed pen and wrote just one sentence. I couldn't read it, could barely see what I had wrote because the color was so pale. I put it in a broad nib and it was marginally better. I guess I just like more saturated inks.

[JimB]

PR Sepia. It's such a beautiful color but it's so dry. I have yet to find a pen in which it flows properly.

 

It's funny how tastes differ: I love Yama-Budo. I use it for marking up papers and for my lab notebook.

I had the same issue with my first bottle, and ended up dumping it. A friend gave me a sample, and, trying it yet again, I was pleasantly surprised. The next bottle I got was problem free, and runs nicely from all my pens, but really likes flex or broad.

[piyamaradus]

Noodler's Whaleman's Sepia. It didn't flow nicely in any of the pens I tried it in, it was a hard starter and just did not want to play nicely with me. I sold it (told the buyer all the difficulties I had with it, didn't try to scam anyone or bilk an unsuspecting buyer), I seem to remember the buyer telling me he loves the ink.

 

 

Ah, this is one of my favorites -- keep meaning to buy another bottle while it's still available, as it results in the nicest brown of any I've tried. It is, however, extremely thick and clogs up any drier pen if not diluted. I cut it with about 20% water in most of my pens and it then flows well (although will dry quickly in the feed if the pen's uncapped for 15 minutes or so).

[OPG4711]

I bought a 1oz bottle of Noodler's Upper Ganges Blue a few years ago when it was "rare". Underwhelmed. But I see it's now in the lineup again at our favorite Husband & Wife online team who shall remain nameless. Reformulated?

 

Add Apache Sunset (it never seems to dry for me) and Rome Is Burning & Aurora Blue as letdowns.

 

Odd thing, I'm typically a Noodler's fan.

[Plumdragon]

Gris Nuage for me, too. I wanted stormy clouds, and I got evaporating fog... I'm going to keep it likely, if for no other reason that it makes a good base to mix with other things to darken it up a bit.

 

And tho it may be very girly of me - was so hopeful that some of the DA scented line would retain their particular stinkum past the first day. Only thing I've had with any success is Herbin Violette. Oh, bother.

[Uncle Red]

DeA Cucumber still scents a converter.

[FLZapped]

Parker Quink has been disappointing for me. Blue-Black turns a sickly green. Black caused my pens to write really poorly - I thought it was the pen until I tried a different ink. Red grows crystals on the pen.

[Dioxazine]

Lexington Gray.

 

The reason is primarily... It's so thin. I'm used to Noodler's inks being so thick they're best used at 1:1 or 1:2, but Lexington is so thin and foamy... I like it otherwise, but why is it so thin??? I'm used to getting well over twice the use of a bottle of Noodler's.

 

Other than that, while I don't have access to it right now I have it in a Gray Safari as a sketching ink, and was just familiarizing myself with it until I had to go away for a bit.

 

 

And a long time ago, I'm sure we all know this one, Private Reserve Fast Dry Midnight Blues.

 

Insane penetration. Lovely smell, lovely color, outrageous behavior. Until I got an ink or two with no penetration. Then PRFDMB came to my aid. A drop or two of that for a vial of an ink that just won't flow helps a lot.

 

And a more recent but minor disappointment was Private Reserve Gray Flannel. Will. Not. Flow. No penetration. It didn't bother me so much because I got 50mL for $5, and it can be used in mixing or go into a marker or something. Besides, PRFDMB can help with it now.

Edited August 2, 2012 by Dioxazine

[mhphoto]

Here's another: Diamine Beau Blue. Normally I'm a big fan of their ink. This one sucks.