(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)
Combining three things that you love into one thing is quite a challenge, but that's what I have in the Robert Oster NYC Pen Show ink from 2022. This special edition ink from Robert Oster hits three positive notes for me out of the gate: Robert Oster inks, pen shows, and NYC. Even though I've never attended a pen show in New York, this ink caught my attention.
Robert Oster NYC Pen Show 2022 is a sky blue ink that leans toward the darker side of this particular hue. In a word, it's gorgeous. It's a lovely color with the shading goodness I've come to expect from Oster inks. And of course it's also well-behaved and easy to use and clean. The one thing I can find wrong with this ink is the simple fact that I already have so many similar inks in my collection. Sky blue or turquoise is something I'm drawn to by forces I can't explain, but despite that self-admitted problem, this ink still stands out as a unique shade of this lovely blue color. It's darker than some of my favorites — like Lamy Turquoise or Iroshizuku kon-peki — but still has enough brightness to scratch the itch I have for this color zone.
For me, an ink that only presents a single color on the page is kind of boring. Sometimes that's exactly what you want out of an ink, but I tend to lean toward inks that have noticeable shading effects. This ink shades nicely between a medium and light sky blue even with smaller nibs. It's just enough variation in color to attract the eye and drop plenty of hints about the type of pen being used to make the marks. It's elegant and happy, and that's why I like using it.
In terms of performance, it's top-notch. No feathering or bleeding, and minimal show-through on the back of the page when writing with a wet 1.1mm stub nib. This is exactly what I've come to expect from this ink brand and why I never hesitate to try out new colors that look interesting. I know they'll at least perform well even if I don't love the color!
Dry time isn't phenomenal, but it's respectable. It dries for me in under 15 or 20 seconds in most cases, and even faster with a finer nib (I used a 1.1mm stub in the photo writing sample). Still, this won't be a good option for writers that drag their hand across the left side of the page while writing.
I'm sure that you can find another ink (probably several) that match this ink in terms of hue and shading properties. There really are so many ink options in this spectrum (bordering on too many), and you'll likely know immediately if it's too similar to something you already have. For me, it looked a little darker than anything else I had in my collection, and I was lucky enough to have guessed right in this case.
Robert Oster NYC Pen Show 2022 is a special edition ink that I'm glad to have in my collection. It's a beautiful medium sky blue with lovely shading properties. If you can't snag this limited edition, I'm sure we can find something very similar or identical to this one. And I bet I'll have an inexplicable urge to buy that ink too! At $21 for 50ml, this ink is priced a few bucks higher than the standard inks, and I imagine this has something to do with the limited nature and smaller scale. The price and quantity is still reasonable for the beautiful color and excellent performance, so don't hesitate if you love the color and need another sky blue ink in your life.
(Goldspot provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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