A Visit to Retro 51

(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!.)

Before I headed home after the 2025 Dallas Pen Show, I asked Jeff Velker of Retro 51 if I could pop by for a short visit, and he said yes, so here goes!

Situated in an office complex, the Retro 51 headquarters is located in Richardson, Texas, about 15 minutes from the Dallas Pen Show hotel, the Doubletree Hotel Dallas Galleria.

Behind this unassuming door is all the hard work that goes into creating and shipping Retro 51 pens out to their fans.

Just inside the entrance, this etched glass reminds us all that “Life is too short to carry an Ugly Pen!”

On the other side of the glass are the Retro 51 archives. Jeff Velker is standing in front of drawers filled with most of the Retro 51s ever made!

One of the archive drawers. See those empty slots? Those are some of the ones they don’t have in their archive yet.

Opposite the window is a display of awards, pens, and various Retro 51 products/memorabilia.

A big Retro nib and airplane displays.

Rudy, the Tiki Tissue Box Holder, is one of my favorite Retro 51 products.

Jeff is working hard to keep everything running smoothly.

That’s one nice display of Retro 51 pens sitting on Jeff’s desk!

Retro 51 is part of the Writeside Holdings portfolio of brands, which also includes Fahney’s Pens, and Write USA, which is now the distributor for Waterman, Parker, Rotring, and more. Along with business partners Adam Finer and Joe Corona, Jeff oversees operations for Retro 51, Fahrney’s and Write USA.

Jeff (left), Adam Finer (center), and Joe Corona (right) - the three partners behind Retro 51 and Writeside Holdings.

In addition to the offices for accounting, marketing, sales, etc., they have space filled with Retro 51s (and other products) ready to be shipped out to customers or to their authorized retailers.

There was something in this room that I was not allowed to photograph – you’ll have to ask Jeff about it when you visit! (Hint: it’s not in this picture so don’t bother zooming, lol.)

This room is packed with tools and engraving machines to personalize your Retro 51, or for adding special designs/logos for events.

Earlier this year, Retro 51 added some more space next door so they can expand the warehouse, as well as provide more room for the creative team, and a small space for retail sales and possibly meetups. Maybe it’ll be ready by next year’s Dallas show?

The creative team has a lot of space to come up with and design future releases.

After a quick tour of the Retro 51 HQ, we headed out to lunch where I asked both Jeff and Richard Koehler ((long time employee and Creative Director for Retro 51) a few Rapid Fire Questions:

What are your favorite Retro 51s?

Jeff: With so many new pens being released, it’s hard to pick a favorite because favorites rotate all the time. Right now, probably Dr. Jekyll and an exclusive that was made for the Kentucky Bourbon Festival VIP attendees.

Jeff’s current faves - Dr. Jekyll (left) and Kentucky Bourbon Festival (right.)

Richard: Lift Off and Flying Tiger

Richard’s faves: Lift Off (left) and Flying Tiger (right.)

Favorite color?

Jeff: Blue/Cyan

Richard: Bright Green

Most used non-Retro 51 pens?

Jeff: Pilot Vanishing Point

Richard: Kaweco Sport, Pigma Micron, and Fineliners

Coffee or Tea?

Jeff: Coffee, black with a little Stevia

Richard: Coffee, little cream and sugar

Favorite place to visit/travel?

Jeff: I’d love to go to Germany, Italy, and Japan

Richard: Kauai

Here are some of my favorite Retro 51s:

I own several of the Fahrney’s Cherry Blossom exclusives, but this 2025 one marked a new chapter for Retro 51, Fahrney’s, and Drew Brown, whom I affectionately refer to as “Mr. President”.

The first 10 on the left are various “drinks” exclusives from Goldspot, then NYC Skyline, The System, Ice-O-Metric, and Sprinkle Ops, Zodiac, Ombre Blue fountain pens. And the two on top are “PEN” and “2025 PEN”. (I swear I’m not kissing up to the Bossman!)

A huge Thank You to Jeff Velker, who accommodated my visit on short notice, and also to Richard Koehler who spent some extra time showing me the archives. I had a great time!

(Disclaimer: Retro 51 isn’t open to the public, so please don’t just show up. You can contact them by phone, email, or chat.)

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The Pen Addict Podcast: Episode 686 - The Thing Inside the Liquid Inside the Thing Inside the Liquid

Kaweco TITAN(-ium) Sport.

Some would say our slow descent into madness began with the first episode, but Myke and I may have reached new heights 686 episodes later. Stationery is the best.

Show Notes & Download Links

This episode of The Pen Addict is sponsored by:

Pen Chalet: Check out this week's special offer, and to get your code for 10% off.

Hightide Nahe Soft Gadget Pouch 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 Bluesky. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)

These days, we are plagued by a scatter of gadgets. Doodads, thingamaobs, the detritus of modern life, where every device has a charger, an adapter, a widget. And to contain all this madness, we need pouches! Clever ones.

The Hightide Nahe Soft Gadget Pouch in the small size surprised me, because when it arrived, my first thought was "oh no--that's way too small" and then it wasn't. It just looks like it is. Very sneaky.

The pouch is made from a nylon canvas and is available in several colors. All have a black zipper with a single zipper pull that has a rubber grip that fits a hooked finger perfectly. The pouch is triangular in profile, with a wide base. The top is narrower when zipped shut, but it opens wide as a whale's mouth, so it's easy to see inside and access your tools. The opening is reinforced with metal bars to help it keep its shape, and they also act like a roll-cage in your bag, protecting the contents of the pouch from your notebooks and water bottle.

Inside the pouch, there is a soft black lining with a velvety texture. There are mesh slip pockets on the inside of each wall, and the center of the case has a separator that sticks down with Velcro, so it can be removed or adjusted as needed.

The mesh pockets are perfect for small accessories you need to keep track of, and the main compartment is perfect for larger gadgets. It fits a typical phone perfectly, or a smaller digital camera. It's just long enough to fit a handful of gel pens also, though longer pens would not fit. While the case is somewhat reinforced by its structure, it is still a soft case, so not ideal for extremely delicate things. My small digital camera fits on one side of the divider, the flash attachment on the other side, and the memory cards and spare battery go well in the mesh pockets.

The Hightide Nahe Soft Gadget Pouch Small size sells for $32 on Jetpens. The larger size, which can fit a small notebook, sells for $43. I do feel like these are on the pricey side. There are pouches of similar quality with more features that cost less than this one. I do think it's a good pouch, though, and its deceptively large capacity and wide mouth are strong points in its favor.

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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!