Pens, Inks And Samples Pass-Around In Australia

[A Smug Dill]

Not unlike how things are in New Zealand, postage costs in Australia are almost prohibitive for exchanges and giveaways even when just sending stuff domestically, especially when they involve pens, which Australia Post has explicitly stated are not to be sent by letter post, which is far cheaper, but must be sent in parcels (Parcel Post minimum cost A$7.95) that are not subject to being stomped on by automated mail processing machinery.

A better way may be to pass around a box of surplus and not-my-cup-of-tea-but-may-be-someone-else's items of up to 3kg, using a flat-rate prepaid mailing bag – costing A$13.80 to ship between any two points in Australia – and let participants take from it and add to it as they wish.

I would like to gauge the level of interest in such an exercise. I'd be happy to put the following into a box, pay for the first leg of its journey and kickstart the process:

• 3 new Hero 395 pens fitted with converters; these pens supposedly have semi-flex steel nibs, which is a feature I personally don't care much about
• 2 three-ounce bottles of Noodler's Baystate Concord Grape ink – one new, one mostly full
• 1 three-ounce bottle of Noodler's Prime of the Commons blue-black contract ink – mostly full
• 2 three-ounce bottles of Noodler's Polar Green ink – one new, one mostly full
• 1 three-ounce bottle of Noodler's Polar Brown ink – mostly full
• 1 three-ounce bottle of Noodler's Kiowa Pecan ink – new
• several 3ml samples (in plastic pipettes) of the new Sailor Nano souboku pigment ink; I just received my three bottles in the mail yesterday
• a few 3ml samples of Sailor Nano kiwa-guro and seiboku pigment inks

and possibly:

• one or two 3ml samples each of some De Atramentis scented, Diamine, and Pilot Iroshizuku inks I have.

I'm still waiting on my eBay order of plastic pipettes to arrive from China, so it may take another three or so weeks before I'm ready to get the samples ready for shipping.

 

I don't personally intend to track the box's travels, or who has taken or added what to it, but if participants could just post in this thread:

• that they want to be the box's next stop
• what is in the box, after they have received it, taken what they wanted and perhaps added to it themselves; and
• their commitment to sending it at their expense on to the next interested party

I think that ought to be sufficient to keep things moving.

 

What do you think?

[Steveg58]

I'd be interested but the 3kg bag is enormous. Aust Post used to have a 1Kg bag as well which is substantially cheaper.

I have inks and also a bunch of Hero pens which are give-away material.

JustWrite sells the 30 ml plastic bottles that they use for their own inks which might be better than glass bottles but I'd say stick with samples rather than whole bottles.

 

Cheers, Steveg

Edited August 29, 2018 by Steveg58

[A Smug Dill]

Steveg,

Thank you for the feedback.

Australia Post may be bringing back(?) prepaid flat rate 1kg satchels for individual retail from 1 October 2018, but they won't be substantially cheaper than 3kg ones; the difference between the two sizes, after the upcoming pricing changes (about which I only just found out), is $3.

I wouldn't say the 3kg satchels are enormous, certainly not in physical dimensions or volume. I have a stack of flat-packed, generic mailing boxes that are designed to just fit inside 3kg satchels, and the boxes aren't that large at all at 270x200x95mm. They won't fit inside the new 1kg satchels. Also, if I'm shipping bottles of ink, then I'll want to put in sufficient void fill material. I've had a bottle of ink smashed inside a shipment (which came from the UK) because the bottles weren't properly packed and sufficiently protected; it ended up staining half the other merchandise on that order, as well as soaking one corner of the carton leaving it more vulnerable to being torn.



I certainly don't intend to take any chances and let that happen when I send the box to someone.

As for plastic bottles versus glass bottles, should you choose to participate, you're welcome to transfer the ink into smaller plastic bottles before shipping the remainder out to the next recipient, if you think that is better for either you or them. I'm happy to pay the asking price for a 3kg prepaid satchel for the first leg of the box's journey; any alternatives available to me (e.g. use my own packaging and forgo a flat rate if sending outside NSW using Australia Post, or using Officeworks' Mailman service instead) in the next few weeks may not be much cheaper anyway.

Anyone would be more than welcome to turn this initiative into more of a travelling caravan of ink samples for subsequent recipients. I personally don't want any oversight or control of this ‘project’ once it gets on the road; I'm just trying to kickstart a community initiative for Australian fountain pen users, and my primary motivation is in redistributing surplus pens and inks that anyone would care to donate. Setting the expectation of having to send the box and its contents on for a price of A$14 gives would-be participants plenty of room to add to what gets passed around.

[RedDingo]

  On 8/29/2018 at 1:02 AM, A Smug Dill said:

I would like to gauge the level of interest in such an exercise. I'd be happy to put the following into a box, pay for the first leg of its journey and kickstart the process:

 

 

What do you think?

I think it's a great idea. I've always been jealous of the opportunities available in the US. Recently I thought of doing something similar through our monthly pen meets in Brisbane. It saves on postage and the people have a month to sample the package before returning it at the next meeting. I had thought of seeking support from retailers but it should be the realm of the Distributors. Unfortunately I don't have a list of them supporting the Australian supply.

 

I'm happy to support your suggestion and the postage price is not that significant when you consider the cost of the goods inside. I think it's a great idea an in time I'm sure it will have legs. Besides it will be fun.

 

However, I'd like to encourage people to do a review of the items to get their personal perspective.

 

I'll pm my address.

[AndyLogan]

This would be interesting.

[A Smug Dill]

  On 9/8/2018 at 12:18 PM, RedDingo said:

I'm happy to support your suggestion and the postage price is not that significant when you consider the cost of the goods inside. I think it's a great idea an in time I'm sure it will have legs. Besides it will be fun.

Thank you very much! I'm glad you put your hand up to be the first stop of the box, especially when you seem to be quite connected to the community of fountain pen enthusiasts in Brisbane.

 

  Quote

However, I'd like to encourage people to do a review of the items to get their personal perspective.

Yes, of course. I won't make it a condition or even demand a pledge or promise from anyone to do that, though.

 

I just picked up 26 bottles of new inks from Peter's of Kensington this week (and have another 14 on order), including some Rubinato inks that haven't been much reviewed on FPN, and since they come in 67ml bottles, I'll be happy to include several samples of each of those so anyone interested can try them out, and hopefully we'll get one or two or three reviews of each colour out of that.

 

  Quote

I'll pm my address.

Roger that.

[RedDingo]

Sorry for the slackness in taking so long to get back here. Sometimes I get distracted with my calligraphy workshops, pens for repair, and the watches and clocks.

 

You have my attention again. I've replied to your pm.

[A Smug Dill]

I'm astonished that my three separate eBay orders of pipettes never turned up in eight(!) weeks. Is the Australian Border Force stopping them from coming through? Not that I was notified of anything being held, and that I would be required to arrange its release and/or give an explanation of what the items are for.

 

Anyway, luckily I have now received a couple of hundred 1.8ml sample vials, so I'm just going to go ahead and send the box off by the end of this week.

 

I'll finalise what goes into the box in the next couple of days. At this point, I intend to include 81 filled sample vials, most likely being:

• 9x 1.8ml of Sailor souboku pigment ink
• 3x 1.8ml of Sailor seiboku pigment ink
• 3x 1.8ml of Sailor kiwaguro pigment ink
• 3x 1.8ml of Sailor STORIA Magic Purple pigment ink
• 4x 1.8ml of Noodler's Golden Brown ink
• 4x 1.8ml of Noodler's Green Marine ink
• 4x 1.8ml of Noodler's V-Mail Burma Road Brown ink
• 4x 1.8ml of Noodler's V-Mail Mandalay Maroon ink
• 4x 1.8ml of Noodler's V-Mail North African Violet ink
• 3x 1.8ml of Diamine Red Dragon ink
• 3x 1.8ml of Diamine Oxblood ink
• 3x 1.8ml of Diamine Evergreen ink
• 3x 1.8ml of Diamine Green-Black ink
• 3x 1.8ml of Diamine Sherwood Green ink
• 3x 1.8ml of Diamine Jalur Gemilang (Malaysian-market exclusive) ink
• 5x 1.8ml of Rubinato Nero Inchiostro black ink
• 5x 1.8ml of Rubinato Blu-Nero Inchiostro blue-black ink
• 5x 1.8ml of Rubinato Blu Inchiostro blue ink
• 5x 1.8ml of Rubinato Verde Inchiostro green ink
• 5x 1.8ml of Rubinato Sepia Inchiostro ink

in addition to some new or almost-full bottles of some Noodler's inks I have as surplus and/or no longer want to use, especially now that my collection of commercial inks has grown to over 125 different colours. I'll also include some empty sample vials to make it easier for downstream recipients to add to the collection of ink samples available for sharing.

 

I have also decided not to keep any of the new-old-stock Hero 395 pens for myself, so there will be a total of four of those.

 

RedDingo will be the box's first stop. I'm grateful for his support of this initiative. Since he has expressed interest in CJK calligraphy, I'm very happy to send a copy of the kaishu calligraphy practice book (reviewed here) and a brush that's of the right size to use with it, even though it's not really related to the fountain pen theme. I have a couple more spare copies and calligraphy brushes that aren't already earmarked as Christmas presents, so if anyone else is interested in picking up a set down the line of this initiative, I'd be happy to include them in the box's contents now.

[A Smug Dill]

All packed, and the package will be on its way to RedDingo tomorrow!

 

 

 

 

8 × Ink bottles

Brand	Colour and/or Type	Size	Status

Noodler'sBaystate Concord Grape3 ozFull (NOS)

Noodler'sBaystate Concord Grape3 oz>90% full

Noodler'sKiowa Pecan3 ozFull (NOS)

Noodler'sPolar Brown3 oz>90% full

Noodler'sPolar Green3 ozFull (NOS)

Noodler'sPolar Green3 oz>90% full

Noodler'sPrime of the Commons blue-black contract ink3 oz>80% full

RubinatoVerde Inchiostro green writing ink67 mlFull

 

81 × 1.8 ml sample vials

LID	Brand	Colour and/or Type	Qty

1Sailorsouboku blue-black pigment ink9

2Sailorseiboku blue-black pigment ink3

3Sailorkiwaguro black pigment ink3

4SailorSTORIA Magic Purple pigment ink3

5DiamineRed Dragon3

6DiamineOxblood3

7DiamineGreen/Black3

8DiamineEvergreen3

9DiamineSherwood Green3

10DiamineJalur Gemilang3

11Noodler'sBurma Road Brown5

12Noodler'sMandalay Maroon5

13Noodler'sNorth African Violet5

14Noodler'sGolden Brown5

15Noodler'sGreen Marine5

16RubinatoNero Inchiostro black writing ink5

17RubinatoBlu-Nero Inchiostro blue-black writing ink5

18RubinatoBlu Inchiostro blue writing ink5

19RubinatoSepia Inchiostro sepia writing ink5

 

ItemQty

Empty 1.8 ml sample vials20

Hero 395 fountain pens with aerometric converter4

Sailor clipless pen with 55° Fude de Mannen nib1

Chinese calligraphy brush2

Yan's Kaishu Forms water brush calligraphy practice book

(with reusable practice pages; just write on it with clean water)

2

In case anyone is wondering, the package (inclusive of all void fill, etc.) as it stands weighs 2.4kg.

[A Smug Dill]

RedDingo, it's on its way to you now. The tracking number is 60121535878093.

 

I bought Extra Cover to the tune of $200, so please let me know if it arrives damaged in spite of my best efforts to pack it well inside the box and put padding on every side between the cardboard and the Parcel Post satchel.

[RedDingo]

  On 10/29/2018 at 8:09 AM, A Smug Dill said:

RedDingo, it's on its way to you now. The tracking number is 60121535878093.

 

I bought Extra Cover to the tune of $200, so please let me know if it arrives damaged in spite of my best efforts to pack it well inside the box and put padding on every side between the cardboard and the Parcel Post satchel.

Thanks Gil, you've done well, the package arrived on Thursday in very good condition. It was so neatly packaged, I hope I can do the same. Thanks for the photo above, I'll use it as a guide. I forgot to take pics myself. :-)

 

We had some friends up from Melbourne so haven't had a chance to try them out yet but definitely looking forward to it.

 

Thanks again for the chance to try them out.

 

Cheers . .

Danny

[A Smug Dill]

I'm very glad to hear that, mate. I'm a paranoid packer and usually go quite overboard with tape and void fill, but I also have the unfortunate habit of stuffing too large a payload into limited carriage volume, so once something is unpacked even I have trouble putting things back the way they were in a hurry, haha!

 

I still remember when I first arrived in Australia. The international flight landed in Melbourne, and we had to clear Customs there before catching a connecting flight interstate. Once the Customs officer dug several things out of my suitcase to have a look, there was no way everything was going back in in the span of fifteen minutes! Major panic.

 

By the way, I've updated the spreadsheet with some new inks I just ordered; I've carelessly allowed my collection to grow by yet another 25% since I put the list up. Do let me know if there's an ink of which you'd like a sample vial to test and review.

[saulyleeplans]

Hi,

I would be interested in participating in this travelling package if its still open. I am a new to fountain pen user but I will put what I have in it and forward to the next person.

 

Lee:)

[A Smug Dill]

Hi Lee,

 

First of all, welcome to FPN, and Happy New Year to you.

 

I see you're a new fountain pen user. Thank you for being interested in participating and in the spirit of giving/sharing! The offer is still open, the box is with RedDingo right now, so it's best you contact him about its next steps.

 

If you have specific ink samples you'd like to try (from that list above or outside of it), drop me a note and I'll see what I can do.

 

Cheers!

[saulyleeplans]

Hi,

Thank you for letting me participate. I will contact RedDingo and I hope that more people join in. I don't have much but I will add to it, maybe even some Rhodia paper or something like.

 

Thanks again.

Lee

[RedDingo]

Hi Lee, thanks for your interest.

 

I'll pack up the box and post it to you this week. I need a couple of days to get everything back in the box. :-)

 

Once I have the tracking number I'll post it here.

 

Cheers . .

Danny

[RedDingo]

Hi Lee

The box was posted yesterday with the tracking number 601 21768968 097. Estimated delivery is Monday.

 

I had meant to include this packing slip. A couple of more items have been added and they're in italics.

 

You can have it for a time until somebody else posts a request.

 

9 × Ink bottles

Brand Colour and/or Type Size Status Noodler's Baystate Concord Grape 3 oz Full (NOS) Noodler's Baystate Concord Grape 3 oz >90% full Noodler's Kiowa Pecan 3 oz Full (NOS) Noodler's Polar Brown 3 oz >90% full Noodler's Polar Green 3 oz Full (NOS) Noodler's Polar Green 3 oz >90% full Noodler's Prime of the Commons blue-black contract ink 3 oz >80% full Rubinato Verde Inchiostro green writing ink 67 ml Full Pelikan Olivine 50ml Full

 

86 × 1.8 ml sample vials LID Brand Colour and/or Type Qty 1 Sailor souboku blue-black pigment ink 9 2 Sailor seiboku blue-black pigment ink 3 3 Sailor kiwaguro black pigment ink 3 4 Sailor STORIA Magic Purple pigment ink 3 5 Diamine Red Dragon 3 6 Diamine Oxblood 3 7 Diamine Green/Black 3 8 Diamine Evergreen 3 9 Diamine Sherwood Green 3 10 Diamine Jalur Gemilang 3 11 Noodler's Burma Road Brown 5 12 Noodler's Mandalay Maroon 5 13 Noodler's North African Violet 5 14 Noodler's Golden Brown 5 15 Noodler's Green Marine 5 16 Rubinato Nero Inchiostro black writing ink 5 17 Rubinato Blu-Nero Inchiostro blue-black writing ink 5 18 Rubinato Blu Inchiostro blue writing ink 5 19 Rubinato Sepia Inchiostro sepia writing ink 5 -- Toucan Turquoise 1 -- Toucan Umber 1 -- Montblanc Blue 1 -- Akkerman Shocking Blue 1 -- Akkerman Yellow Ochre 1

 

Other items
Item Qty Empty 1.8 ml sample vials 14 Hero 395 fountain pens with aerometric converter 2 Duke 209 Matte Black 1 Sailor clipless pen with 55° Fude de Mannen nib 1 2ml Syringe and needle 1 Pelikan Writing Pad 1 Chinese calligraphy brush 1 Yan's Kaishu Formswater brush calligraphy practice book (with reusable practice pages; just write on it with clean water) 1

[saulyleeplans]

Hi,

 

I received the package today thanks Danny. I promptly went and got ink all over my fingers filling a pen lol. When someone else wants it you know where it is.

 

Lee:)

[A Smug Dill]

I hope you enjoy the selection of inks.

 

I'm still waiting for Pen Chalet to send my post-Christmas order that include six Nemosine Singularity demonstrators, and a couple of those may end up being 'surplus' available for a possible Round Two later this year, in addition to a couple of new Platinum Preppy pens with EF nibs to which I have added O-rings of suitable size (in case anyone is keen on using them as eye-dropper pens) and maybe a Pilot Penmanship pen or two.

 

My ink collection has grown by at least another 50% since the time I started this thread, too.

[RedDingo]

  On 1/8/2019 at 7:34 AM, saulyleeplans said:

Hi,

 

I received the package today thanks Danny. I promptly went and got ink all over my fingers filling a pen lol. When someone else wants it you know where it is.

 

Lee:)

Hi Lee

Have you had a chance to play with the ink and pens? What do you think of the choices? ;-)

cheers . .

Danny