Unsharpen.com has a vast trove of pen and pencil data, which gives the site a unique overview of trending writing instruments. While the archive is non-exhaustive and its reach is limited by the site’s own popularity, there are always some good takeaways from any look into our data.
Here are some of the notable pens and pencils from February 2021, based on user interest and other site engagement.
Parker 51 Deluxe
The Parker 51 Deluxe fountain pen is no doubt making waves this month. The long-awaited reissue of the Parker’s iconic fountain pen is finally here and Parker fans are scrambling to get them. With prices ranging from $60 to about $250 depending on our nib and reseller, it’s not an unrealistic purchase for most people. Interestingly the pricing is roughly in line — adjusted for inflation — with the prices of the Parker 51 in 1941 when it was first released.
Pilot G2 Limited Matte Black
Pilot isn’t exactly known for their limited editions or yearly updates, but they did release a matte black version of the Pilot G2 Limited this month. This gel pen is still quite hard to find, but you can buy it direct from Pilot, albeit for about 2x the price you’d pay when buying from Amazon. Still, it’s a very cool pen.
You can see our video review here.
Sharpie S-Gel
It’s hard to tell exactly what’s happening with the S-Gel, but people love this pen. We tried to dig into its popularity a bit but it likely just doing an excellent job of combine a good pen with Sharpie’s huge brand name. This pen has been “trending” since its release over a year ago and seems to be a runaway hit.
Zebra G-750
The Zebra G-750 is back in the news, as the pen has been soft launched. It was delayed in 2019 and then never released in 2020, but it’s finally coming. If you remember, this is the black version of the Zebra Steel series pens but with a gel pen. It it’s basically the gel equivalent of the popular F-701 ballpoint.
Pilot S30 Pencil
While it’s not yet been released, the Pilot S30 mechanical pencil is gaining a lot of interest. This pencil combined elements of the fantastic S20 pencil and the Automac, so of course people are interested. We are still waiting on an official release date but the pencil community is excited and has enough leaked brochures and catalogs to know just what to expect. Once it comes out this should be one of the best pencil released in 2021.
Pentel GraphGear 1000
This is a mechanical pencil with a rabid following and a large fan base. The GraphGear 1000, despite some flaws and the growing popularity of the Graph 1000 (PG1005), the GG1K remains a popular pencil. The pencil’s double knock system, all-metal body, and dual-material grip is a crazy deal, often selling for about $10. It could go for twice this amount and still be a hit.
A noted above, each of these pencils and pens seem to be at the forefront of mind in the stationery community, but also in some way trending with the wider world of people who are in the market for writing instruments.
Seen anything trending that we missed? Please email and give us a heads up about what you saw and how you found it.