I'm A Sad, Pathetic Stationery Junkie.

[Misfit]

I do have Snoopy sticky notes. Trouble is they aren’t sticky enough. I’d have to use washi tape to hold them in. Good thing I picked up some Snoopy washi tape this year.  

[AmandaW]

7 minutes ago, Misfit said:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/C92D0D3A-B7A8-41C6-917F-610B0F6F4705/search?ingress=2&visitId=b36f16f5-c83f-4907-acd2-bb22b8bd8923&ref_=ast_bln&terms=Masterpieces
 

would this be if interest? There are two different sizes.  

Those are cool.

[Misfit]

I found out on Reddit, that the Home Goods stores can have Leuchtturm notebooks at under $10 each, probably discontinued colors.  I’m so looking forward to going to the one here, and see if they have any.  Others reported finding the metal colors (gold, silver, copper) plus the Neon version. I’d love to get a Neon version, but I will keep my expectations low in case they don’t have it. 
 

Home Goods is in the same company family as Marshall’s and TJ Maxx. There is a TJ Maxx here too, just down the road always from Home Goods.  
 

I found an A6 black Leuchtturm Whitelines dotted notebook for $7.99 at my local Home Goods. I’ll be visiting the other stores in the suburbs off I-70 tomorrow or sometime this week. Maybe they will have A5 sizes. I hope so. 

[AmandaW]

Has anyone tried the Oxford Sketchbook? The one that has about 190 pages, 100gsm.

 

I'm looking for a hardcover A5 sketchbook cos my old dependable Quill Art Journal has disappeared from Officeworks and everywhere else that has it is double the price. If I'm paying that much more... well, I might as well consider my options.

[Misfit]

 I’ll be trying another Home Goods store and  TJ Maxx in one suburb, and Marshall’s in another suburb Tuesday. I have to decide which city to stop in first. 
 

I did buy one A6 notebook since I have never tried that particular paper in a Leuchtturm notebook. It is black with an orange band.  I also got what is a passport holder that should work with some notebooks, plus some salty caramel macarons, and Stroopwafels for $3.99. 

[A Smug Dill]

On 6/19/2023 at 3:30 PM, Misfit said:

Home Goods is in the same company family as Marshall’s and TJ Maxx. There is a TJ Maxx here too,

 

Now that you mentioned it, I did see (to my surprise at the time) these at the closest TK Maxx store here, when I dropped in three weeks ago to check it out after a Queenslander mentioned on reddit that she picked up a Ystudio fountain pen for $50 in the store local to her.

  

The prices shown are, unless otherwise stated, in Australian dollars of course.

 

[Misfit]

So jealous of that variety @A Smug Dill Maybe one of the other stores I plan visiting will have some. I hope. 
 

The price stickers on the passport holder are not a friendly type. They come off in pieces.  It holds notebooks that the unemployed philosophers guild sells. It won’t accommodate Field Notes. 

Here are photos of the front and back of the A6 Whitelines. Notice the orange elastic, plus it has an orange bookmark. 

[AmandaW]

I was going around in circles trying to decide which untried brand of sketchbook to order. The problem was I had three contenders - Royal Talens, Peter Pauper or Oxford - all approx A5, around 140gsm and good enough for pen & ink (and hopefully a little watercolour). Unfortunately from different sources and I would need to order three to qualify for free shipping, so I couldn't just order one of each.

 

Whatever I chose I will be stuck with... And eyeing the few pages left in my current book had to get it done. No pressure...

 

The winner: Royal Talens. A5 with a black cover and elastic band. Fingers crossed.

 

Random find while exploring: watercolour-suitable cards with envelopes made by Strathmore. So yeah, that too. The paper is cold press so I don't know how it will work with fountain pen, but at worst case fountain pen ink can be delivered with a brush. I will report back.

[AmandaW]

21 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

TK Maxx store here

I've never heard of this store... edit to add - we're getting one. About an hour from me. I signed up for stores news. Thankyou.  

 

Going to Daiso today!

[Misfit]

I wish my area had a Daiso store. I wonder if the US TJ Maxx is related to the Australian TK Maxx. 

[A Smug Dill]

1 hour ago, Misfit said:

So jealous of that variety

 

The store also had some larger (A4 sized?) Leuchtturm and Clairefontaine products.

 

Given I can order Stalogy 365 Days A5 journals on Amazon for <$22 apiece including shipping from Japan, though, I'm not sure how much of a bargain it is buy a Leuchtturm1917 A5 hardcover book with Taiwanese paper for $10 any more, notwithstanding the local RRP being over $30.

 

Edited to add:

Out of sheer curiosity, I decided to take a stroll down to the TK Maxx store this afternoon; it's only a few blocks away. All the Leuchtturm1917 products, in every size has been cleaned out. As has all most of the Clairefontaine products; anything A5 or larger in size is gone. Only some bundles of those thin Italian-made notebooks, and another made-in-Italy thicker A5 softcover notebook, remain; and, going by touch only, I doubt the paper used in those are fountain pen friendly. No more fountain pens or Kaweco products on the shelves, either.

Edited June 20, 2023 by A Smug Dill

[Misfit]

@A Smug Dill wow, that’s fast. You live in Sydney, right?   I guess it makes some sense. I’ll have to drag myself out of bed earlier to get out to the stores here. I’m not doing well, again, with wake/sleep hours. I really want a Neon version. I noticed it is no longer on the Leuchtturm US website, but is still on the Leuchtturm website. I could never decide on a color, so didn’t buy one. Now I’d take any color.  
 

Honestly I probably don’t need another Leuchtturm, as I have nine A5 size, and now three A6 size. I think it’s the price point that makes it so compelling. 
 

edit: I looked at some Leuchtturm notebooks I’ve had for several years. All made in Taiwan. Maybe the only one not is a chocolate brown version. The Red Dots one was made in China. I got some of these on the Leuchtturm US website. 

Edited June 20, 2023 by Misfit

[Misfit]

After going to 5 stores, here is my haul of Leuchtturm notebooks ranging in price from $4.99 to $7.99.

 

[AmandaW]

9 minutes ago, Misfit said:

After going to 5 stores, here is my haul of Leuchtturm notebooks ranging in price from $4.99 to $7.99.

 

That looks worth getting up early! And fun to be going to so many stores.

[A Smug Dill]

19 hours ago, Misfit said:

I looked at some Leuchtturm notebooks I’ve had for several years. All made in Taiwan. Maybe the only one not is a chocolate brown version.

 

I think I still have more than five Leuchtturm1917 hardcover A5 journals that weren't made in Taiwan (or at least the manufacturer's labelling doesn't say so), from some large orders several years back, after my wife has been helping me use up the stockpile.

[Misfit]

3 hours ago, AmandaW said:

That looks worth getting up early! And fun to be going to so many stores.

Sadly I did not get up early. I wish I’d found some like other people. Some got the Neon version, and more colors like red, blue, gold.  I guess I’ll have to pay full price for Neon on Amazon. Leuchtturm US does not have Neon anymore. I have green, yellow and orange to choose from. Pink costs more, for some reason. 
 

I guess when you are only looking for one thing, the fun is not so much as the challenge. Some stores were busts, except for Moleskine, which I haven’t bought. Only Home Goods came through. I’m wondering if I should check in on the local Home Goods every once in awhile. 

[A Smug Dill]

3 minutes ago, Misfit said:

I’m wondering if I should check in on the local Home Goods every once in awhile.

 

As with Daiso — or perhaps even more so — if one wants to be able to pick up “good stuff” opportunistically, one has to just drop into stores to browse once in a while, even without any specific needed items or purchases in mind. I understand that may be more “difficult” or onerous for busy people, people who live far from stores and there's a significant cost in transport/petrol to visit aimlessly, or (like me) have poor impulse control and don't really want to be spending money for the sake of it or to make the visit “worthwhile” in retrospect. It's easy for me, when I have lots of spare time and little to do in my retirement, and I can just walk to all these stores to have a look.

 

And… <RANT>

 

That's the “problem” I have (somewhat) with how seemingly a lot of redditors in r/fountainpens behave, more so than on FPN. They're consumers first, hobbyists second, and instead of throwing time, effort, and money at something they just enjoy doing (i.e. a hobby), they're always relying on — and sometimes outright demanding — others do the scouting, filtering, analysis, and distillation of market intelligence for them so that every dollar of their consumer spending could be “smarter” than average on account of others have already done the work, experienced the less-value-for-money or explored the less-smart options. That's part of why I didn't post the photos showing the prices, when I discovered three weeks ago that TK Maxx carried some European stationery products, and let others know in the discussion thread that prompted my visit to the store. I wanted others to go because they're curious, not because of some expectation that there would be “gain” in snagging specific bargains; and I certainly didn't want them to be able to gauge the likelihood or magnitude of the “gain” on account of my serving relevant information to them freely as a fellow consumer.

 

As a peer, I'd be happier to share discoveries and information with a community of self-motivated explorers who are all interested in contributing (at their expense of time, effort, and spending) to the collective's market intelligence, than to be in a small subgroup of active doers outnumbered by those who want the benefits as an end-user but not the giving in return. To me, if everyone's savings arising from information made available by others are cancelled out by the expense they made doing their own part in exploring and reporting on other items, so it's close to net zero from an effort and expense perspective, but they enjoyed the doing (because, hey, it's part of their hobby) and the collective information available keeps growing because of everyone's contribution, then there's community and advancement.

</RANT>

 

[AmandaW]

I don't get to visit Daiso often because it's too far and too fuel-costly, but if dh says there are to be work-related deliveries near there: I am waiting in the car before he's packed the job! And as Smug says: always with an open mind and happy with my self-control if there's nothing of interest. I enjoy the outing and just getting to look.

 

The TK Maxx to be opened here is in the other direction. I'm still figuring that out.

[inkypete]

Nothing better than snaring a bargain. I will check out my TKMaxx this weekend - it's been a while. Daiso always seems to throw up a surprise or two but the stock range varies from store to store. I only have one TKMaxx within a reasonable distance to me so don't go there often. Sort of forget they exist at times.

[Misfit]

I think I’m over the wanting a Neon Leuchtturm, since I did get the silver metallic version. I hate to admit it, but I lacked impulse control when looking at my Barnes and Noble app. Leuchtturm seems to have discontinued colors, so you never know what color is next. I, um, yeah, ordered a Navy dotted (lined was not available) and a lined Emerald. The Emerald was $19.95 vs the Navy at $22.95. My membership got 10% off.  Now I think I should say I’m done buying Leuchtturm unless found for under $10 again. 
 

I kind of get @A Smug Dill’s rant. That’s partly why I didn’t share the news of discounted Leuchtturm notebooks on the Reddit notebooks sub. 
 

Although, pretty please if anyone finds Kaweco Sport pens on sale, please tell me. I can’t drive to the Kansas City pen store, shop, and come home. I worry about leaving my Mom alone that long. Two hours seems the limit. The driving time to the pen store is almost 2 hours round trip.  It’s more like 45 minutes each way. But pen shopping should not be rushed at retail.