Winner of 2013 Pen of the Year. We Have a Three-Peat!

The pen-loving public hath spoken and decreed that the Edison Menlo Pump Filler is your 2013 Pen of the Year. With this victory, the Ohio-based Edison Pen Co completes its three-peat of this title, starting in 2011 with the Edison Collier taking the crown. Big congrats to Brian and the team at Edison Pen Co on this historic achievement.

The end results were a staggering landslide for the Edison crew, engulfing the competition with over 50% of the total votes cast. Almost 600 total votes were cast in this year's ballot. The TWSBI Diamond 580 won out the battle for 2nd place honors with 13% of the vote. The Pilot Metropolitan and Pelikan Souveran 800 Brown Tortoise rounded out the top 4.

The Edison Menlo Pump Filler is a Signature Design offered directly through Edison Pen Co that can be customized in any acrylic material you wish. The filling mechanism works similarly to that of a Parker Vacumatic, where ink is "pumped" into the body of the pen by depressing the brass piston revealed under the blind cap. Pushing down on the piston forces air out through the nib. Releasing the piston creates the vacuum that draws up the ink through the nib and into the pen's massive reservoir. Check out the animation below for a detailed look at the filling action.

The Menlo Pump Filler design is not offered as a production model to retailers. You may purchase your custom made Menlo directly through the Edison Pen Co website.

Like Pens Much?

It's always fun when we have one of our sales reps in the office to show off all the pretty pens. We took a few pictures of the spread at this pen buffet. This post is drool-resistant, so feel free to view with mouth agape.

Bonus : spot the most expensive pen on the table and get a free congratulatory pat on the back.

The last photo is of some luxury lifestyle items that we are contemplating carrying in our online catalog. They certainly make some handsome, high quality items including clocks, pocketwatches and leather wallets. What do you think?

Vote for the 2013 Pen of the Year

Now that we've voted all the politicians to office, here comes the fun part : voting for your favorite pen released in 2013! We asked for your nominations and received an outstanding response to put together a solid list of nominees that all deserve to be considered for this prestigious honor.

The images below are a reference for each nominee. You may find more information about each pen by clicking the name of the pen.. Click here to cast your vote (via SurveyMonkey).

The Nominees Are :

Pilot Metropolitan

 Edison Menlo Pump Filler

Lamy Safari Neon Yellow

Pilot Justus 95

Pelikan Souveran M800 Tortoiseshell Brown

TWSBI 580

Please note that you can click on any of the nominees to find a larger pic or more information to help you decide. There is also a write-in option if your choice is not present on the list (Please keep it clean, folks.) Voting will be open until Monday, November 18th at 11:59pm Pacific US Standard time. The winner will be announced next Tuesday, the 19th.

Have fun and cheer on your favorite pen from this year!

November 2013 Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper

Welcome to the November 2013 Blog Carnival!

 

Pen Reviews

Azizah Asgarali presents Kaweco AC Sport Carbon Black Body Fountain Pen - Double Broad posted at Gourmet Pens.

Brad Dowdy presents the Pelikan M205 Review posted at Pen Addict.

youstruckgold presents Ecclectitbits: Pelikan Twist - Pen Review posted at Ecclectitbits.

Inktronics presents a Lamy 2000 Fountain Pen - Broad Nib Review.

Pen Paper Ink Letter Presents a Noodler's Ahab Clear Flex Nib fountain pen review.

Paper & Writing Accessories

Dan Smith presents Monsieur Fountain Pen Notebook Review posted at FP Geeks.

Brian Greene presents Slickynotes Self Adhesive Dry Erase and Sticky Notes posted at OfficeSupplyGeek.com.

Heather presents The Next Step: Lamy Z24 Converter posted at A Penchant for Paper.

Pondering about Pens & Pencils

Vadim Koystinen presents Alphabet Pencil Sculptures posted at Bestylus.

youstruckgold presents Ecclectitbits: Why Fountain pens? posted at Ecclectitbits.

TonyB presents Why Do People Say ‘Ink Pen?’ posted at Tiger Pens Blog.


Thanks for reading the November 2013 Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper. The next edition will be held by Life Imitates Doodles on Dec 03, 2013. Click here to submit your article for December's Carnival.

Happy Fountain Pen Day!

Started in 2012, the movement to make November 1st National Fountain Pen Day is catching fire! This year, we've joined in on the fun.

Goldspot Fine Writing and Luxury Gifts is sponsoring this year's Fountain Pen Day with a weekend-long special deal for those who want to celebrate by purchasing a new pen.

Simply purchase a new fountain pen of $99 & up on our website's store between now (Friday) and Monday, 11/04/13 (until 2pm) and we will  include a FREE bottle of Noodler's fountain pen ink (value up to $13.50 Retail). You may select the particular color in the order comments section of the website order form. If no ink is selected, we will include Bulletproof Black by default.

Even if you're not in the market for a new fountain pen, ink up the pens you do have and spread your enthusiasm for writing with your stylo plume! Wear your inky fingers proudly today!