Noodler's Inks

[Charles Skinner]

To what extent is Noodler's Ink known, and love, and sold in other countries?

 

C. S.

[lapis]

You mean it's gonna get hit like Harley-Davidson?

[Charles Skinner]

"No luck" with my first try on this subject. Will try it this way. To all of fountain pen folks who live in countries ---- other than the United States. ---- Is Noodler's ink a popular brand in your country? C. S.

[picautomaton]

Unfortunately not. I had to get my inks from Swishers (when still open), purchased online sent to California and then couriered by a friend on his return to SA.

[Cyber6]

"No luck" with my first try on this subject. Will try it this way. To all of fountain pen folks who live in countries ---- other than the United States. ---- Is Noodler's ink a popular brand in your country? C. S.

 

 

This question is at least 10 years too late.

 

 

Noodlers was really big back when they were pretty much one of the few doing more than 4 colours for fountain pen ink. Nowadays, there are a bunch of great ink manufacturers with hundreds of colours.. So, the answer.... Not anymore.

 

 

 

C.

[A Smug Dill]

How do you define (or verify) ‘popular’? Reading your other thread, you seem to be conflating it somewhat with ‘common’.

 

Noodler's is not a brand that I see very often in bricks-and-mortar retail stores here in Sydney, Australia. Specialist pen shops may possibly carry the ink, but then we don't have many such shops, and the few that are there may be more interested in pushing Mont Blanc and Visconti. Stationery shop chains that are household names (as in where everyman go to shop, if he wants to buy pen and paper) here such as Dymocks and Officeworks don't seem to carry it, and national department store chains such as David Jones and Myer don't either. I've seen it in oddball department stores such as Peters of Kensington that sell everything but fashion, but then the individual colours in the Noodler's range are either overpriced, or tossed into the half-price-or-less clearance basket. (It's not all bad, I've picked up a few cheap Pilot Decimo pens there like that a few years ago, significantly cheaper than ordering from Amazon or Engeika then.)

 

However, I don't know about the primarily-selling-online retailers that operate in Australia, or on the flip side, local fountain pen enthusiasts who are prepared to shop online from overseas retailers.

I do remember being in the prestige pens department in Dymocks once, and the manager there at the time seemed very chuffed to have employed a bona fide(?) fountain pen enthusiast and calligraphy teacher to work there, but that ‘expert’ had nothing good to say about Noodler's when I brought it up with her on that visit. (Keep in mind that her employer did not stock that brand of inks.)

 

I have encountered maybe three other people in my corporate life who actually used fountain pens as their EDC, and none of them used Noodler's inks (and actually none of them have heard of the brand; but then, they didn't know about Sailor or Namiki fountain pens either).

[Noihvo]

[A Smug Dill]

Nowadays, there are a bunch of great ink manufacturers with hundreds of colours.. So, the answer.... Not anymore.

 

 

For what it's worth, I still have 17 bottles (but not 17 different colours) of Noodler's ink – most of which I still like – from my buying frenzy some 5½ years ago, but I'm not inclined to recommend the brand ahead of Japanese inks to any friends whose only previous exposure is to Lamy, Cross, Waterman and Mont Blanc which are relatively heavily marketed here.

 

I bought the Noodler's inks at a time before I discovered ⑴ major Japanese brands of fountain pens and ink, and ⑵ FPN and the wealth of information and reviews therein; Noodler's was the only brand for which I could find a (manufacturer's/retailer's/concise) summary of which colours are waterproof, bulletproof, etc. and I made my selection on that basis.

[Monophoto]

Nathan used to go after select overseas markets - notably England and Germany. In fact, he had several specialty inks that were only available in those markets.

 

However, I don't believe that is the case any longer - mainly because the costs of getting product to retailers in those markets has risen. And if you consider that there are now a number of local ink suppliers (all it takes to make ink is a kitchen sink), Noodler's can't compete outside the US.

 

I bought a bottle of Prime of the Commons, a UK-only Noodler's ink, a few years ago that I really like. But when its gone, its gone.

[Corona688]

You don't find anything at all except in specialty boutiques here, which makes the question of popularity moot. You find either nothing or most things.

[PJohnP]

The topic(s) of Noodler's Inks has (have) been a contentious one over the years in FPN, at one time leading to a deep reluctance for discussions on some specific inks.

 

I think a couple of posts in this thread have outlined an important point - there has been a rather amazing expansion of new ink alternatives in the last decade or so. I'd venture a guess that we might well have more companies making ink - even holding aside repackaging of inks under other labels - than at any other point of the use of fountain pens. As a corollary, I'd venture to guess that we have more total individual ink choices than historically available. That's somewhat astounding in that the overall number of fountain pens in general use is smaller now.

 

Nathan Tardif should be given substantial credit for the renaissance of new and unique inks in that atmosphere.

 

Given the diversity of manufacturers and overall number of new inks debuting each year, Noodler's Inks probably have a smaller fraction of the overall specialty ink market now. Only Mr. Tardif could tell us if his total ink production is larger or smaller.

 

I still have Noodler's Ink in one or more of my EDC pens. I consider myself to have wonderful opportunities in also using lovely and evocative inks from Poland, Japan, the UK, and other places as well.

 

 

 

John P.