The Pen Addict Podcast: Episode 506 - Chicken Ink

What does it say about the state of stationery marketing that the best product launch I’ve seen this year revolves around fried chicken? It says that the world of stationery is awesome! Myke and I discuss Chicken Ink, new Pilot Custom 912’s, and my celebratory Elbwood.

Show Notes & Download Links

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Kokuyo Campus Word Cards Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)

What does one do with wee cards that are 3 cm by 6.8 cm? Anything! Everything! Kokuyo Campus Word Cards are so versatile. There are 85 cards all held together with an elastic cord that has a plastic bead closure so it can be opened and closed as needed. The band can be stretched around the deck to keep them secure, or let them hang loose for browsing.

The card is thick artist paper that performs well with all kinds of media. It's not coated in the way that the Campus notebook paper is, so it doesn't show ink sheen much, but the cards do still work for ink swatching in general. They also work great as flash cards for learning words or math or geography or any facts at all. They could be a tiny travel sketchbook, portable scratch paper, a rolodex of contacts, an autograph book, bookmarks for part of your towering TBR, gift tags... The possibilities are endless.

My favorite thing to do with small notecards is to use them for writing organization. I write the title, mood, themes, or beats of a story or book chapter on each card, then I can rearrange the cards as needed to restructure parts of a book or story. The holes in the cards are great for slipping over a pin in a cork board, and then when the order is finalized, i can put them back on the ring, in order, and use the deck as an outline. The extra smallness of these cards makes them great for carrying around or stashing in cases.

They're only $3.25 at JetPens, which is under 4 cents a card. At that price you can use them with abandon and not worry about wasting or ruining one. One deck is plenty for most classes or projects, but they're so tiny you could probably fit ten decks in your pen case, just in case of emergencies.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Monteverde Invincia Nebula with Omniflex Nib Fountain Pen Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

I first wrote about the Monteverde Invincia way back in 2016 (!), and today I'm talking about the same pen. The Monteverde Invincia with Nebula finish and Omniflex nib is a recent addition to the line, and I wanted to try out a new one to see how it compares to my well-worn orange and carbon fiber variant.

What I've enjoyed about my original Invincia is the dependability and all-round good and reliable performance and easy maintenance. It's certainly not the best pen I own, and it's not even close to being my favorite. I like trying inks in lots of pens, and I definitely go through phases of favorite ink/pen combos. When it comes time to test out a new ink, I don't always want to clean out a favorite pen to try out the new ink. And that's where the Invincia has never let me down.

The Invincia is "good enough" of a writer to do a great job at testing inks. The 1.1mm stub nib shows off ink characteristics wonderfully, the ink flow is superb, and it just happens to be really easy to tear down and clean out. I've used and cleaned this pen so many times that almost half of the black coating on the nib has worn away. Some of the black coating on the grip section is also wearing away. I keep coming back to it because I know exactly how it behaves.

If you have more than a couple of fountain pens, then you're probably aware that some pens write dryer or wetter than others when using the same ink. It's the same phenomena as using the same ink and pen on different types of paper. They just feel and act differently! Using the same pen for testing affords a certain level of control to keep the testing grounds even. I stumbled into using the first Invincia as a go-to test pen by accident, but now I can't imagine testing a new ink or notebook without it being in the mix.

The Nebula variant caught my eye because of the beautiful coating. I'm a huge fan of anything with a nebula or galaxy color scheme, and this Invincia just did it for me. I love the gradient that goes from blue, black, purple, teal, and orange. That was enough to put this pen in the cart, but I had to pick a nib first. I saw the Omniflex option and realized I had no idea what that was. Touted as a steel nib with a good amount of flex, I was sold immediately.

Upon opening up the new Invincia, I was immediately 100% satisfied with the colors and finish. After inking it up and testing out the Omniflex nib, I was also pleasantly surprised with how it performed out of the box. It's an extremely smooth nib and feels similar to a car that rides on a super smooth suspension. It glides over the imperfections of the page and reacts to the various pressure levels from your hand with ease.

Being a steel nib, it doesn't have the same level of flex as a gold flex nib (like the Pilot Falcon), but it's pretty impressive considering the steel materials. It's easy to add a little flourish of line width with light pressure. When writing normally, the nib acts like a fine, and you can increase the line to a bold with enough pressure. That's a great amount of variation that means you can really affect your writing style with practice.

The Invincia comes with a cartridge converter and two international short cartridges (one black and one blue) to get you started.

The cap of the Invincia is a screw on cap, but it only takes a quarter turn to operate. It's really smooth and secure, and I've always enjoyed using it. There's a satisfying motion and click to let you know it's closed.

Posting the cap on the back of the pen extends the length quite a bit, but it's still a great overall length for writing. The pen is well-balanced without the cap, but the extra weight of the cap doesn't throw off the balance by much.

I mentioned that I'm a huge fan of the color scheme for this version of the pen, but there is a downside. This finish is a fingerprint magnet! I find myself wiping it down pretty often, and it picks up new fingerprints instantly. I guess that's the price you pay for a shiny finish with bright colors. It won't keep from using it a lot, though.

Since this is my second Invincia, I knew what to expect with this pen (aside from the new nib type), and it's delivered flawlessly. The nib is smooth and consistent, provides a lovely amount of flex and variation, and flows perfectly. It's great seeing new types of nib options outside of the standard EF-B sizing. Monteverde has excellent stub options, but flex nibs offer a different experience and are uniquely interesting. It's great seeing this diversity and change in a pen that was already well-dialed.

The Monteverde Invincia isn't the best fountain pen out there, but it's a solid contender that is worth your attention. It's a work horse that just keeps delivering a great writing experience after plenty of use and abuse. I can whole-heartedly recommend the Invincia to anyone in the market for a unique and affordable fountain pen option. And if Nebula isn't your thing, there are plenty of other color options!

At $80 for the Nebula colorway, it hits the middle price point for the line, and I think it's a fair price for the quality, materials, and aesthetics that it provides. I think the Omniflex nib is definitely worth checking out, but you can also pick from more standard nib sizes as well.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!