Stationery Products That Disappointed in 2024: An Honest Look at Five Purchases

Introduction

Most stationery purchases this year went well, but a handful genuinely did not work out. None of these products is a total disaster, and some of the disappointment comes down to availability or quality-control quirks rather than the product itself. Still, each one failed to earn a repeat purchase, and that is reason enough for an honest write-up. Here are five stationery products that disappointed this year, what went wrong, and who might still get value out of them.

Notebook Therapy B5 Dotted Journal

The Notebook Therapy B5 dotted journals were picked up in early 2024 when B5 journals from other brands were nearly impossible to find in stock. On paper quality alone, there is nothing wrong with them; the notebooks themselves were genuinely nice. The problem came after the first order: for months afterward, the B5 size simply was not available again, which turned a good first impression into a frustrating dead end for anyone who prefers that format for bullet journaling.

That availability issue is the main reason this counts as a fail. If the B5 size is in stock when you shop, it is worth a look. If it is out of stock, you are left hunting elsewhere, which is exactly the headache that led to trying this brand in the first place.

Archer and Olive B5 Journal

The same B5 shortage is what makes the Archer and Olive B5 journal the practical fallback. The brand eventually restocked its B5 format in larger quantities, which finally ended the long stretch of not being able to buy the preferred bullet journal size anywhere. Having a reliable restock schedule matters just as much as the notebook itself, and this is where Archer and Olive came through.

For bullet journalers who want the B5 size, this is the safer bet purely because it has proven easier to actually get.

Archer and Olive Acrylic Pen Case

This acrylic pen case was bought during the Black Friday sale and the disappointment is surprisingly specific: the Archer and Olive logo printed on the front is noticeably off-center, sitting too low and too far left relative to the drawer handles. It was not a clearance item; it was promoted as a returning product for the Black Friday event, which makes the sloppy branding harder to overlook since it is the only thing that identifies the product.

To be fair to the case itself, it holds pens fine and the drawers work as well as you could hope. The drawers slide out completely and feel a little flimsy and wobbly on their own, but once loaded with pens the added weight makes it sturdier and less likely to shift around. The build is functional; the execution of the finish is what let it down.

Monami Plus Pen 3000

The Monami Plus Pen 3000 is the clear writing-experience failure of the year. Part of the blame goes to a purchasing misunderstanding: these were expected to be small brush pens, but they are felt-tip pens. Even accounting for that, the problems go beyond expectations.

On the plus side, the shade range is appealing, and the colors are vibrant, pigmented, and opaque. But the nib is extremely hard and stiff, and the pens are scratchy on paper to a degree that stands out among felt-tips. That stiff nib also drags on the page and splatters ink while writing or doodling, leaving a less clean result. The formulation is fine; the writing experience simply is not.

Zebra Mildliner Mix Pens

The Zebra Mildliner Mix pens were the other recent pen disappointment. The idea is clever: each pen combines a darker and lighter shade meant to produce a gradient effect. In practice, the set only includes six shades with a lot of pink and purple overlap, and after a couple of months the two tones inside each pen have blended into a single color. Two of the shades are now basically the same soft orange.

The activation trick of holding the nib down for about a minute was tried and the colors still would not separate back into their original states. To be fair, the pens still work as regular Mildliners and look beautiful as they are. But the mixing feature was essentially the selling point, and it turned out to be a gimmick. If you are buying Mildliners anyway, the standard versions or the brush pen versions are the better spend.

Overall Buying Advice

The pattern across these five products is that the failures come from execution and availability rather than from bad ideas. Notebook Therapy makes a nice B5 journal, but a restock schedule you cannot rely on matters when you journal in that size constantly. Archer and Olive’s acrylic case works, but a misprinted logo on a promoted sale item suggests inconsistent quality control. The Monami Plus Pen 3000 shows that vibrant pigment cannot compensate for an unpleasant nib. And the Zebra Mildliner Mix proves a gimmick feature is no substitute for doing the basics well. Buy the Archer and Olive B5 if you need that format reliably, skip the rest unless the specific trade-offs above sound acceptable to you.

Conclusion

Thankfully, only a few purchases this year ended up on the fail list while the vast majority performed beautifully. The lesson is worth repeating: availability, build finish, writing feel, and honest feature claims matter more than a clever idea on the packaging. Check those boxes before you buy, and you will avoid most of these regrets.