Best New Stationery Releases: Pens, Markers, and Inks Worth Adding to Your Rotation

Introduction

The last stretch of the year brought an unusually strong wave of stationery releases, spanning everything from limited edition character collaborations to pastel brush markers and collectible fountain pens. This roundup pulls together the highlights across pens, markers, and inks, with a focus on what each item actually does well and who it suits. Whether you are building a collection, journaling daily, or shopping for a gift, there is something here worth a closer look.

The Pokémon Collaboration Pens

Pilot’s limited edition Pokémon pens are aimed squarely at collectors who want function and charm in the same barrel. The Dr. Grip Multi Pens come in 0.3 and 0.5 millimeter versions and pack four ballpoint ink colors plus a mechanical pencil into a single body, which makes them genuinely practical for everyday carry. The Juice Gel Pens arrive in sets of four curated colors, and the Kakuno Fountain Pens pair fine nibs with bright, cheerful caps. All of them carry adorable illustrations of Pikachu, Piplup, and other familiar characters across the barrels.

Because these are limited edition releases, availability tends to be uneven once the initial stock is gone. If you have been waiting for a collectible pen that still performs as a daily writer, this is one of the more appealing ways to do it.

Pastel Brush Pens: Tombow Fudenosuke and Pentel Milky

Tombow’s Fudenosuke Brush Pens finally come in pastel hues, and the timing could not be better for anyone doing decorative lettering or art journaling. The inks show up on both light and dark papers and can be layered to build opacity, which is unusual for pastel ink. The soft, flexible felt tips allow for expressive line variation, and the pens are available individually or as a six-pen set.

If you prefer a bristle tip for brush lettering, the Pentel Milky Brush Pens are a natural companion. They dispense pastel inks that stay visible on light and dark papers and are equally buildable, giving you two very different tip styles for the same soft color palette.

Kuretake ZIG Brushables

The Kuretake ZIG Brushables stand out because each pen has two different color brush tips on the same body. Most double-sided markers put a brush tip on one end and a bullet tip on the other, but the Brushables pair two brush tips where one color is softer than the other. That design makes blending and layering genuinely easy, so you can create shading effects without switching pens.

They come in a rainbow of colors, some of which will look familiar from the Clean Color Dot series, including Platinum, Fawn, and Hyacinth. For lettering artists who work in gradients, the two-tone tip format is the main reason to choose these over standard single-color brush pens.

Platinum Preppy Wa 2022

After the original Preppy Wa collection in 2021 proved enormously popular, Platinum brought back a second limited edition run in 2022 with new barrel designs inspired by traditional Japanese patterns. The Preppy line has always been one of the easiest entry points into fountain pens, and these decorated editions work just as well for first-time users as they do for collectors who want the full set.

Platinum 3776 Century 10th Anniversary

For something more collectible, the Platinum 3776 Century 10th Anniversary edition is limited to 3,776 pens worldwide, and the special nib treatment is the detail that draws the eye. It is the kind of release that creates real FOMO even among people who already own a 3776 Century. If you have been eyeing the 3776 platform anyway, the anniversary edition is the version with the strongest long-term collector appeal.

Kaweco Collection Sport: Smooth Sage and Ruby

Kaweco’s Collection Sport releases prove that festive colors do not have to end with the holidays. Smooth Sage and Ruby are both compact when capped and comfortable to hold when posted, staying true to the Sport format. Smooth Sage resembles the Skyline Sport with its lightweight, durable plastic body and silver details, while Ruby is an AL Sport with an aluminium body and gold accents. Having one plastic and one metal version of the same pocket-friendly design makes it easy to pick based on how a pen feels in hand rather than how it writes.

TWSBI Limited Editions: ECO Cerulean, ECO Glow Purple, and SWIPE Ice Blue

TWSBI’s newest limited editions keep the brand’s core formula intact: large ink capacities at an affordable price point. The ECO Cerulean, ECO Glow Purple, and SWIPE Ice Blue all deliver that value proposition in fresh seasonal colors. The company also released a gift set featuring the ECO-T in Royal Jade with rose gold accents, which is worth a look if you want a ready-to-give option.

Pilot Iroshizuku Cartridges

One of the more practical ink releases of the season: Pilot’s most popular Iroshizuku inks are now available as cartridges. Each cartridge holds a generous 0.8 milliliters of ink and is simply more convenient to use than the bottled versions, especially for travel or for anyone who does not want a bottle open on their desk. The packs contain six labeled cartridges, and the outer packaging charmingly matches the 50 milliliter bottles.

The one caveat worth knowing before buying: Pilot uses proprietary ink cartridges, so these only work with Pilot fountain pens. That is a non-issue for Pilot owners and a dealbreaker for everyone else, so check your pen’s compatibility first.

Herbin 1670 Anniversary Violet Imperial

Violet Imperial is the sixth addition to Herbin’s 1670 Anniversary ink collection, and it is a statement color. This bold purple carries gold shimmer and a “blurple” sheen that shifts depending on the light and the paper. Purple dye was historically a symbol of royalty because of its rarity, and this ink leans into that heritage while making it accessible to anyone with a fountain pen. As with all shimmer inks, finer nibs will show less sparkle than broader ones.

Buying Advice

If you are new to fountain pens, the Preppy Wa or TWSBI limited editions are the safest starting points: both are affordable, reliable, and forgiving. Collectors should prioritize the 3776 Century 10th Anniversary and the Pokémon collaborations first, since limited runs tend to disappear. For marker and lettering work, pick based on tip preference: felt-tip flexibility points to the Tombow Fudenosuke pastels, bristle tips point to the Pentel Milky pens, and gradient shading points to the Kuretake ZIG Brushables. Ink buyers should confirm cartridge compatibility before choosing the Iroshizuku cartridges, and pick Violet Imperial if you want maximum visual drama on the page.

Conclusion

This batch of releases covers an unusually wide range, from playful limited editions to serious collector pieces and genuinely useful everyday consumables. The strongest picks depend on your priorities: charm and collectibility from the Pokémon pens and anniversary fountain pens, creative flexibility from the pastel and two-tone brush markers, and everyday value from the TWSBI editions and Iroshizuku cartridges. Whichever direction you lean, most of these arrived in limited quantities, so deciding early is the best way to avoid missing out.