Lamy NYC - A Quick Visit

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

I was recently in New York City and wanted to check out some pen stores that I hadn’t visited before. One such store was the Lamy NYC Flagship Store in the SoHo district. I went to the flagship store in San Francisco when it opened 5 years ago so I had an idea of what to expect but considering this was in New York City, I thought maybe it would be different, but as we all know, Lamy’s gonna Lamy, lol. Located at 452 W Broadway, Lamy NYC is pretty easy to miss because it does not have a large storefront like one might imagine from a flagship location. If you missed the banner above the store, and depending on which direction you were coming from, you could easily walk by and not see the 5 foot tall Lamy LX Rose Gold in the doorway. (I know it’s an LX, Bossman, but this counts as #alstaralways, lol).

Inside, the shop had sleek, clean (as in uncluttered) displays of their writing instruments as well as a station in the middle for you to try out their pens.

Lamy Urushi — *Lamy Dialog Urushi Bright Leaves FP.*

Since I’m pretty familiar with their fountain pens as well as some of their rollerballs, I decided to check out something different. I tried their “Safari ncode”, which is a Safari-shaped ballpoint pen that allows you to write on the LAMY digital paper notebook and have it show up on a computer or tablet via their Neo Studio app.

Lamy ncode — *The Safari ncode is pretty neat - stuff showed up on the tablet in real time as I’m writing on the paper!*

Not pictured is their ink display, which was occupied by shoppers when I visited. They have their usual lineup of inks and refills (sorry, no Lamy Dark Lilac here!).

As of this writing the store is open Monday - Saturday from 11 AM - 6PM and Sunday from 12:00 PM - 5PM. They can also be reached by phone at +1 646-998-4244 or via email at sohostore@lamyinc.com. While I wouldn’t necessarily make a special trip to visit, if you’re going to be in the area, the Lamy NYC Flagship Store is a neat place to check out their offerings.

Posted on August 19, 2022 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Lamy, Travel.

The Pen Addict Podcast: Episode 526 - All of the Fruit Combinations

Remember the original Pilot Juice launch? That was a great time! Thanks to Evan for digging up the original page on Archive.org.

The Juice came up because I made the first of many updates to my Top 5 Pens page, and hope to give it a full facelift by the end of 2022. I also book a couple of classes for the San Francisco Pen Show, and Myke and I debate ink bottle design.

Show Notes & Download Links

This episode of The Pen Addict is sponsored by:

Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code PENADDICT at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.

Kanilea Pen Co: Choose your Aloha today!

Posted on August 18, 2022 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Podcast.

Mythic Pens The Prime Fountain Pen 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!)

The Prime is the headlining standard from pen maker The Mythic Pen Co. The owner, Brad, hand-makes each pen and offers 8 different models, mostly fountain pens, with rollerball and ballpoint options as well. Custom pens can be commissioned, though the shop doesn't list any current custom openings. Your best bet for seeing what Mythic has to offer is to head to their Instagram feed, Mythicpens, where it appears pens are sold as they are made. Or if you're lucky, catch them at a pen show.

This model is The Prime. It's quite large with straight sides, flat finials, and only a slight taper to the grip section. There's no furniture or flourish--it's a very minimal design that lets the material do all the talking.

Mythic sources their acrylics from lots of indie blank-makers. This particular material is called Basilisk and comes from Tim Crowe of Turnt Pen Co. In low light the color looks dark and subtle, but when the sun hits it, you get the full effect of silvery-sparkle-red-blue-purple loveliness. It's another one of those pens where I can lose time staring at all the shapes in the color swirls.

The Prime has a twist cap with very smooth threads, and the section unscrews from the body. It can take a cartridge, converter, or eyedropper fill. It writes well, with good balance, though it's a bit large for my hands. The lack of significant taper on the grip section makes the size a little harder to manage for me, but if you prefer larger pens and wide grips, this may be the perfect one for you.

The Prime takes a #6 JoWo nib. This one is a fine point, and it writes perfectly. The flow is good and it writes smoothly while showing fun ink characteristics. I do find that it dries quickly between uses. Even with daily use, it needs some prompting to get started. Once it's going, it's delightful. Perhaps it's a cap seal issue, or a feed issue, or it may be the ink I'm using (most likely the ink, but more science is needed).

The baseline Prime is priced at $175, which can go up if any fancy features are added. That's well in line with similar pens from similar makers and it's the least expensive of Mythic's full-sized fountain pens.

If you're a maker-pen addict, or acrylic-pen addict, Mythic's lineup is well worth checking out.

(This pen was purchased from Mythic Pens at regular retail at the 2022 Atlanta Pen Show.)

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