Triangle Pen Show haul

And a written walkthrough because I can’t film videos to save my life

The moment all ten of you readers have been waiting for is finally here! It’s been under a week (or a day as of the writing of this post) since I returned from Raleigh, NC and left the 21st annual Triangle Pen Show behind. This was my first time visiting the area¹ and let me tell ya, the nature is absolutely stunning, and they have a pen show to match, with talented pen makers such as DarailzPens, Divine Pens Plus, River City Company, and Little Pen Designs, to name a few; ink people such as Andellirium Pens; companies that need no introduction, such as Franklin Christoph and Taccia; at least one pen club adjacent seller PLUS the face of the Orlando Pen Show, Joe; pen celebrities and nib meisters (Kirk Speer aka Nibwolf aka Pen Realm) and many, many more that I apologize I didn’t list, but if I did, this post would hit the character limit before I got to the actual haul.

Did I follow my own advice regarding shopping? Of course not. I was floating around the budget limit for the first day and blew straight through it on the second. The plan was to make a loop, take a gander, browse, mull over a pen or two, get one pen, maybe test others, see things in person I can’t figure out online, penable some people, and go home without maxing out my credit card. This time, I arrived with a friend while both his and my wife were going to join us a bit later. It took me under 15 minutes to find a pen that I could not leave behind. I learned from my own previous experience that if a pen catches your eye, it will also catch someone else’s eye. For the sake of civility, and to save an eye, I bought that pen without even putting it down from the moment it was in my hand.

As you may know, I absolutely cannot do green, I hate it, ew. Pink is the close second worst color for me. Then I approached DarailzPens’ table, and let me tell you, these people are one of the kindest, friendliest faces around, and that’s with the fact pen people are the kindest people on earth. It’s all about having fun, they said, and I was shocked to realize that my only qualm about the pens I picked up was — which model do I want to have in this finish that reminded me of the cover of Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things (20th anniversary edition).

(Before you scroll under the picture, let me know which one you thought I’d get).

On the right is their signature model, and on the left is Naomi, if I heard correctly. I’m old, don’t judge me. I wasn’t informed on which blank they used, but I shall inquire further.

Naomi went home with me. Fun fact: I even got to pick the F “flex” nib if I so desired, and I did, so I got it. The full review will follow.

After that purchase, which was in the actual lobby, I took my friend to the smaller room where Little Pen Designs were hiding alongside Divine Pens Plus, and apart from awesome pens, the latter were selling some paraphernalia that took my breath away. Little Pen Designs make these super cool pens that look like jawbreakers, by the way. The Write Stuff sold super cool shirts and pins; I went home with some stickers and a pin with a cat’s butt on it. For the sake of keeping this post PG13, I shan’t be posting the image of that… but it’s awesome and you’re missing out.

I’m beating myself about not getting one of these as a pen holder.

The local calligraphy guild was also there, so I got my name(s) written in perfect handwriting. See for yourself.

Me, holding the best tag that’s ever tagged on any platform. Please notice the ink stain on my finger. That’s how you know I actually visited a pen show.

Next, there was another “smaller” room on the other side of the lobby, where I bumped into friends from the Orlando Pen Club who were shooting a video on the Triangle Pen Show. If you haven’t already, definitely look it up on YouTube under Feed Your Creativity; for some reason, Substack won’t let me link it. Anyway, Crazy Alan’s Pen Emporium was there, so I got the privilege to meet the man himself, and although he sold his business, it’s still up and running. Got to hold one of the most expensive pens I’ve seen in my life.

Honestly the 50% of the price was tempting but it was still more expensive than rent and then some. Maybe three rents.

This room contained awesome starter pens as well, so I convinced my friend Dragan — with the help of one of my previous posts, of course — to get a Pilot Metropolitan instead of a Lamy Safari. And yes, he’s now hooked and we’re talking about inks. His wife? Also hooked. She left the show with two pens she got on her own.

The main ballroom was where the action was happening, and as soon as I walked in, I was floored. I floated around for several hours, just interacting with sellers and visitors and penfluencers, like Clare Coco, for example. It was great. I got some nibwork done on two of my pens; the one I mentioned in my previous post, the 3776 Ascending Dragon, is finally usable — the B nib is now a cursive italic, and I actually enjoy writing with it. Kirk Speer of PenRealm was exceptionally busy, but I am grateful that he found some time for me. He also engraved nibs again, so I went home with my first Triangle show commemorative nib; I went with a Bock M.

Commemorative Bock nib.

Franklin Christoph donated a $1,000 pen for the giveaway, which I sadly didn’t win; however, as a big fan and owner of (only) one pen of theirs, I kept orbiting around their table, and I got to meet Mike Matteson of Inkdependence. Of course, I was too shy to say hi on the first day, but the next day, I was there again and we spoke for quite a bit. Audrey Matteson tuned the nib I bought from the Franklin Christoph table, as the pen I wanted to buy was sold, of course. I didn’t heed my own advice.

Franklin Christoph model 50; sold out on second day before I pulled the plug. You can see other goodies in the back.

I fully intended on getting a SIG M, as I have their SIG B aka stub-italic-gradient, and I love it to death, although it’s just slightly too wide for me. However, a person who was testing nibs next to me mentioned having bought their 14k gold nib, so I tried that one as well.

Holy smokes.

Audrey Matteson tuned my first Jowo gold nib; I opted for the F (my preferred size, although I was between EF and F). I adore steel nibs, don’t get me wrong; some gold nibs — looking at you, Platinum B — are not even as good as the worst steel nib. But this… this nib was on another level. The softness of it, the cushy feeling of it on the page is inexplicably satisfying. The price definitely made me go over my budget, as I said, but I am not too sad about it. I have a FC pen anyway, and it very fits my new purchase too.

DarailzPens’ with the 14k Franklin-Christoph nib.

This nib has quickly become one of my favorite nibs. I just love how it feels on the page. It was my wife, actually, who tried the SIG, the M cursive italic by Nagahara, and this nib, and voted for the 14k. And I will forever follow my wife’s advice. Especially if it means spending money on pens.

The last purchase was a tiny bottle of String by Colorverse; it looks quite like KWZ Old Gold or even Sailor Moroccan Mint Tea, but I wanted an ink, and I wanted to test my pen, and so I got it. And I love it! My friend got Andromeda at my suggestion, and also Space Laika, which is not a bad choice if you’re looking for a chocolatey brown ink.

That was my haul; we left the show around 1PM on Sunday, and most people were gone by then. I wish I had stayed longer, as pen shows are just so welcoming and cozy and warm my cold dead heart. I went back to the place we were staying at to meet with my friends and go for a late lunch/drinks. I’m no expert on pen shows, but trust me, if you like pens and if you want to just be around kind people, go to any pen show that is close enough to you. This one was perfect for as I got to see pen makers and companies I wanted to see, and I got to hang out with some of the amazing Orlando Pen Club members.

Yes, you should also visit the Orlando Pen show. And say hi to me. I was going to meet up with some nice folks, but sadly, that didn’t happen. Next year, though… nothing will stop me from hanging out with other penablers.

Any pen shows you’re visiting? Please let me know!

1. I’ve stepped onto NC soil before during my visit to TN and the Smokies, but apparently that “doesn’t count” if you ask my wife