Mitsubishi is honestly cool, hopefully Lamy will still the same or even better in the future. I was worried when I heard Lamy was bought. Thinking China has their hands on Lamy because they've been buying companies left and right lately. But when I heard it was Mitsubishi, I am quite relieved.
Story,...sure. If it would have ended there that would have been fine. But a scandal? Not even close. The mere fact that it snowballed into a side scandal with the whole ink re-release is beyond stupidity.
Thank you for your insights. I was a quivering puddle of confusion lying in the corner. Then I realized that I’ve never owned a bottle of any dark lilac and have no reason to be upset. Now I feel much better
I agree with your perspective. I don't think the thing was founded in outrage, though. I haven't seen anyone get really mad, there was just a tremendous amount of confusion due to the lack of communication, especially before Lamy had said anything - the ink literally just popped up on retailer's websites and they admitted they didn't know what it was. A lot of people refunded their orders (at least thats what stilo e stile said) once it was clarified that the ink wasn't the same. I don't think this is founded in outrage culture at all, but hype culture instead. I did not know my original video on it would get so big, I simply wanted to explain the timeline to people, that the inks weren't the same, and to be aware of that when spending money on it - and a reporter from the NYT style section reached out to me because he was very interested in the kind-hearted passion of the pen community, precisely *because* no one was really mad over what was a pretty embarrassing miscommunication (or lack of communication) from a well known brand. I tried my best to ensure that the reporting would accurately reflect that, and I think he did a very good job of writing a reference for non-fountain pen people, as much of the audience of the original video was not in this community and there were a bunch of questions from those people. At the end of the day, you're right, it's a very first world problem in a world where there are bigger issues like you mentioned. But I think it's still a good topic to use as a way to reflect on this hobby - why are we so passionate about LE's? Should we have so much FOMO? How should large brands interact with their consumers (Lamy admitted they didn't even know dark lilac was a beloved ink)? I think it's an interesting topic to have a rational discussion about, and I appreciate you adding a sense of broader perspective.
Strangely enough i never expected it to be EXACTLY the same ink. If you buy paint you always have to check the batch number because batches of the same paint can be slightly a different clolor between batches. My mother did a lot of knitting and when she bought wool she always checked the batch numbers because the same wool can be a slightly different color between batches. I have also seen this with fountain pen inks. There may be slight differences between the same inks (but inks do not have batchnumbers). It's almost impossible to make exactly the same color (and Lamy had to use another dye). I think people are overreacting. I have a bottle of the new Lamy Dark Lilac and i'm happy. I never got the original and i'm not willing to pay the price people are asking for it on ebay etc.
Maybe it’s because I’m 72, but I look at something like not getting a favorite ink reissued or truly reissued along the lines of: if this is the worst thing that ever happens to me I am going to be a ridiculously lucky and happy person.
I took the whole thing as almost satirical. The NYT article had an Onion-esque tone to it although with factual content. The reputable commentators took everything with a hefty dose of salt. I’ve somehow avoided comments of folks who seemed genuinely upset. Rather I saw a human interest news story approached tongue mostly in cheek. Entertaining as light extemporanea. Perhaps I lacked imagination in assuming nobody could take it too seriously.
If Lamy had never stopped selling dark lilac and the dye became unavailable it would be the same. Everything changes at some point. We should all be aware of this!
Who cares if the color is a fraction of a percentage of a decimal point different? Why isn't anyone angry about how different it tastes??? This is some New Coke / Coke Classic level conspiratorial outrage material!!
Thanks for your insight Stephen, and thanks for reading my post! At least from my perspective (that is, from the comments and messages on my IG page) I honestly saw very little real outrage at the situation, and I think people quickly saw there was no harm or misleading intended from the company's side. I myself thought this "drama" unfolding was a bit funny! And the most valuable part of it was having had the chance to talk to Lamy, and getting to face the fact that the company does not think like we enthusiasts think! Shocking, haha! In the end, this is our hobby, and it's supposed to be fun, so if anyone is out there in true distress over the situation, just lighten up :) cheers!
Thank you Stephen. I appreciate your putting this into perspective. Truthfully, my daughter was killed in a scuba diving accident two weeks ago. I could care about what ink Lamy has come out with right now.
Hi Stephen, you are,yet again, spot on still after all these years. Thanks again and again -AGAIN. Did I mention delightfully funny too? Have a great week while the world wide rage machine churns on.
Your comments are on-point. It is indeed possible not to have an opinion. It is also possible to have an opinion AND not be willing to die on a hill over it. Like: would I prefer the colour to be exactly the same? Maybe yes, but at the same time: 1. I didn't get the original one, and basically can't get it anymore, so who cares, and 2. I would actually prefer to know whether the new, slightly different, Dark Lilac is any good, because this is the one I can easily buy. Also, things that concern me much more than the off-colour colour, even within the bounds of "it's just fountain pens, nobody's actually dying because of this", is that two of the largest german fountain pen manufacturers have changed hands and I'm unsure what that implies in the long-run in terms of quality, continuity and innovation. That, to me, at least, is much more concerning.
Agreed - I think it's worth pointing out that the ink is a little different but the frenzy has been excessive. Perhaps Lamy could have done this a little differently but it's time to move on community.
If I cared so very much about the OG Dark Lilac, I suppose I might be a bit annoyed by the green sheen on the re-released Dark Lilac. But I have far too many other things over which to get my Jockeys in a wad.
Are you maybe exaggerating the online reaction? Some people are outraged about anything. I don't think they've caused an online meltdown and rending the community to pieces. O.o I hope someone is telling the NYT we aren't all rage babies who vehemently care about the right to care or not care.
Classic Black or White Western thinking. I do have an opinion about Lamy and the re-release of Dark Lilac, and I am not angry, and I don't really care, but I think that Lamy shouldn't have re-released it. It is not the same color, not even close. Almost suspect them of trying to cheaply capitalize . . . But I really don't care enough to be angry about it :)
“Do not attribute to malice that which could be attributed to other people not caring as much as you do about that one hyper-specific thing.” - Myke on the Pen Addict Podcast
I don't feel it's something that anyone should get upset about, but as part of our niche hobby, it is certainly worthy of discussion. It certainly isn't a disaster! It *does* have some of the vibes that surrounded the outrage when people found out MoFi were making vinyl records from digital masters. It's a nice 'purple' but I'd rather they released the violet they use in their cartridges as a bottled ink. The rabbit holes of our hobbies are distraction from the nightmare of the world.
Yes, anger displacement is real and currently doing a lot of damage. It’s a type of coping mechanism. Maybe it occasionally works for some people. Re this ink, I don’t care about the controversy except to want to know if I would using it in my pens. Does it behave well re drying time, spreading, etc? It looks like a nice purple.
I felt sorry for myself because I had no Dark Lilac ink until I met someone who had no _real_ Dark Lilac ink. Or, as I used to tell my kids, I felt sorry for myself because I had no hat until I met a man who had no head. And there are so many without functioning heads. In today's world, many non-functioning heads are exploding with Dark Lilac ink. What a mess.
Agree fully. There are so many choices regarding ink colours these days, and a LOT of people (myself included) have enough ink to last multiple lifetimes. The internet driven FOMO is particularly harmful.
I'm fine on the issue. 😊 No big deal for me. But I will admit to being a bit disappointed that I cannot buy and try the old ink color without paying a lot of money. I got back into fountain pens after Dark Lilac had come and gone. My favorite ink colors are purple, orange and blue, so I wanted to try DL - but not at the price people were charging. Then I heard that DL was being rereleased, and decided that I would buy a bottle when it came out. When the comparisons happened I decided against it. "Oh well." 🤷🏾♀️ While I'm a fan of purple ink, I prefer the ones that do not have a green sheen, and this 2024 version has a LOT of it. I liked that the 2016 version had a *slight* goldish sheen - that is what attracted me to it in the first place. I have other purple inks that have gold sheen, so I'm good. ☺️ If they had just given the ink a slightly different name, like Deep Lilac or Dark Purple or something, it would have avoided the confusion.
I'm not losing sleep over it and there's way worse things going on in the world. But... to my eyes, it's not a fraction of a percent different... it's green vs gold sheen. I think people wanted Lamy Dark Lilac that is purple with gold sheen. Lamy said "It's back, baby!" and it's purple with green sheen. Again... I still don't care and people can see the swatches and decide. I doubt Lamy tried to trick people but they must have seen the difference between green and gold. Just don't call it the same name. meh... Thanks for the vid
Right up my alley, completely agree with your opinion. Honestly I just clicked on this video being curious why SBRE Brown would make a video on this topic (about which I read first time yesterday on Instagram in a post by fpmemes, I had no idea this is huge "thing"). Loved the moment with no expression in your face 😂 and why not being sarcastic, we can take it 🤣 Anyway, thanks for putting the "thing" into the right perspective.
I think that the fact that the NYT made an article about it is amplifying this past what it really is. Personally, I don't care for purple inks, so perhaps my opinion is less valid, but the original ink was a *special edition.* If something was released as a limited item, in my opinion the expectation should be that *you aren't going to get that exact item **_ever_** again.* Hence "limited" If there are actually people getting completely bent out of shape about this, it sounds like a case of very poorly managed expectations combined with a lack of _actual_ life problems. I've worked as a manufacturer for products that rely upon natural ingredients. Supply batch consistency and congruency can vary quite a bit from batch to batch, and some ingredients will no longer be available if there isn't enough demand to justify making them- it sounds like the second situation is the case here. The only thing permanent in this life is that nothing is permanent in this life. As you succinctly put, there are much bigger things to worry about. It's ink, there are many. Enjoy finding a new one that you like. Personally, as someone that loves my lamy 2k and has been thinking about getting a few more to add to my stable, I'm more concerned that the Mitsubishi buyout will effect pens produced in the future. I don't want Lamy to start altering the size of their tipping to better suit their new Japanese overlords. I want my broad to be a legitimate broad, not something a hair over a medium. I am an unabashed Pilot fanboy, but chasing down a double broad to suit my tastes is a pain in the butt here in the US and the fact that Lamy pens still grade their tipping on more traditional european sizing makes Lamy a goto for me when I want a workhorse pen that I know I can easily replace if the need arises. Looks like I'll need to get that oblique nibbed 2k a lot sooner than I had thought I would just to be sure.
Hi, I totally agree with Stephen here. I'm a purple fan, but hey it's only an ink, there is lots of other lovely purples and I am happy with all the choices we have already. Chelsea c:
I always like these critical video’s of yours. You once made a video called “drama in the pen community” which had similar contents to this and I really liked. Thanks for making this.
You're welcome, and I appreciate your words; I'm not trying to be pedantic or feed the drama, but I do occasionally need to get something off my chest.
@@sbrebrown don’t worry; you don’t come across as pedantic or thirsty for views at all and anyone who claims the contrary clearly hasn’t understood your message. This video is like a nice breath of fresh air filled with stoic wisdom, which is verh helpful every now and then.
I do think it was definitely a misstep by Lamy to give it the same name, when it's noticeably different. They must have known that would set people off. I've got the dark lilac Safari - just used it an hour ago in fact. And I think I recall buying some dark lilac cartridges to go with it back when it came out, but never had a bottle of it. If the new version had looked closer to the old one then maybe I'd have bought some, because it was a lovely ink. But I can't get worked up about it. There are lots of other nice purple inks out there.
Companies should be more careful and honest from ‘the get go’ about these matters. For some of us ,near enough is not good enough. I shall try to purchase a bottle of a new bottle of ‘24 slightly different Lamy Dark Lilac to investigate this matter for myself. Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention.
I don’t understand the fuss about the ink either. What interests me more is how Lamy has handled this and I hope it’s not an indicator of things to come. I appreciate that the company was being acquired by Mitsubishi, so the minds of Lamy execs were probably concentrated elsewhere but let’s be honest it was really poor communication and marketing by one of the world’s leading pen companies. A missed opportunity to generate positive media coverage about the acquisition, reassure people about the future of a much loved brand and generate some fan fare about the introduction of a new renamed purple ink into the standard line. All of which should have been positive news. Talk about an own goal. All very bizarre. I’m interested in getting more information on the focus of digital writing in the acquisition letter and what that means for Lamy fountain pens in the future.
This reminds me of many business meetings I had the misfortune of attending during my career in which the same people could be counted upon to monopolize the time wailing and gnashing teeth over problems that had a 1:100,000 or more of occurring to make sure everyone knew how smart they were. As always, Dr. Brown, you have done a great job of putting this issue into perspective! I already thought this whole thing was much ado about nothing, anyway, but I enjoyed watching you lay it out so eloquently.
Thank you for putting things into perspective, dr. Brown! I can't understand why people are angry about the release, but i understand having issues (not anger) with Lamy non-communication, and then mis-communication. I'd love to have a bottle of the original, as 35 different purple ink bottles stand proof. But i won't lose sleep (or temper) that this new one is reddish and has gold sheen. Perspective matters, context matters. I did find it funny (and exasperating) that some people were upset of the release because "it ruined the original LDL market" (yeah, who'd pay 200$ for 2016 LDL instead of 11$ for 2024 LDL?). My understanding of hoarding for re-sale is extremely limited. Would love to hear your opinion on collecting (inks, pens) just for the sake of collecting and after sale
@@bhoola123 looking at Coke's revenue that year and with the reintroduction of coke classic had, it seems in hindsight it really was only a couple months of bad press and then by the end of 1985 they were outselling Pepsi. Sensationalism and large news stories drove a controversy that isn't unlike what we are seeing here. Its just on a much larger scale than ink. There are lots of influencers that do not have the cool head we see here. I have seen people saying they will never buy from Lamy again, which seems like a large overreaction.
Sooo lovely! Thank you!! There is but one question I have: Why do most companies leave this small sentence ”but there might be smallest differences to the original“ out? Maybe they know the ”social game“ better than we think. Because now they get even more attention through the shitstorm 😉 But one thing is clear: Stoicism is the solution to every problem. And you, Mr. Brown, showed us this secret ”weapon“. THANK YOU FOR THAT!!
Were this Iroshizuku’ jurojin I would not be happy about this. Obviously it’s a very first world issue. I’ve been crestfallen when my fav lipstick color was discontinued. Yet I survived, and thrived.
I agree Stephen.. as a former city manager for a well endowed community, i was continually amazed and saddened by the nonsense people got wound up about.. love your work and happy belated birthday! Frank in Colorado
Thought provoking as usual Dr.Brown. I was able to purchase a bottle of dark lilac the original formula in 2019. That being said when there are other more important issues to focus on, it's just ink. I do agree with the consumers on this one issue and that is if you are going to put out a product that has legendary status then you should give your customers what they ask for and not insult them. I still have some... 1). Parker penman Sapphire & emerald 2). Mont Blanc British racing green 3). Waterman absolute brown I had montblanc Alfred Hitchcock blood red but the ink got contaminated some how and developed some sludge. had to be thrown out. As I disgustingly looked at the bottle being tossed in the trash I came to the realization that it's only ink and it's not that serious. as the saying goes , the beat goes on.
Tempest in a teapot. This happens all the time in art. Favourite paints are discontinued yearly because component colorants are no longer available. Ink and paint companies, including automative paint, all rely on the same dye and pigment manufactures. In art, it’s common for a paint company to recreate a close lookalike paint and use the original name.
Thank you for your video. I choose option 2: I don’t care whether the ink from 2024 is the same as the previous one or not. It’s a lovely colour, take it or leave it, un point c’est tout!
:) I do own a Lamy Dark Lilac Matte Finish Safari PEN (and like its color), but have never owned or even tested the "matching" ink. I have a couple other inks in that "range" but, quite honestly I don't use them much simply because it's not my normal color preference. So, there's my opinion which is next to worthless ... but I do understand the appeal to others. I would add that inks change their color naturally, with age over time, with exposure to light and oxidation, so a fraction of a percent of a decimal point variation should not be unexpected. Yes, please note the double negative. SBRE Brown imitating Peter Sellers portraying Dr. Strangelove while imitating some famous person that I can't quite recall or, at least, that person's genre. Not bad, Stephen! Bravo And, now, to quote Slim Pickens as Major T. J. "King" Kong in the same movie: "Well, shoot! We ain't come this far just to dump this thing in the drink. What's the nearest target opportunity?" and "Wahoo! Waawaahaa! Wawahoo!" Too bad that bomb wasn't Lamy's original Dark Lilac ink color - things might have worked out better.
For me it was a reality check. 😅 somehow I forgot the manufacturers don't actually care about what we want. They will do what THEY want. We're only there to buy - or not. I don't like purple ink so it was whatever. But it WAS funny to watch unfold.
lol I also do not think this is such a big deal. I didn’t know the 2016 version, but if I did, I’d say something new and better will always come out anyways. It’s so funny that I’m in the fp community, but it was my non fountain pen friend that shared this issue with me, that’s when you know it’s going out of hand.
It is more than a little bit silly from Lamy to create a new ink with the name of a discontinued ink, giving that that company does not produce so many different inks that it can ran out of names! (Something that may happen to Diamine at any time now!) On top of it, Lamy does not put the name of the ink onto the bottle... weird! I never had the old version of that ink and only discovered about it here. But the new version is quite nice on its own right, and I purchased a bottle and just enjoy the dark lilac with green sheene. To quote a song "I don't care! I love it!"
I'm not involved in this one about the Lamy ink however in some ways you've summed me up in your opinion here. It's like I rage about such trivial things that it makes me wonder what I'm thinking about. There is so much more to life and the people around us that to get so caught up in onlline trivia or an ink argument is ridiculous. Almost a Maximus quote... ".are you not satisfied..." 😆Cheers Dr Brown, much appreciated.
I have come to the party too late (September 2024) as I’ve just discovered no more Lamy Safari Dark Lilac PENS are available! I don’t care that much about the ink. But why did Lamy do a Special Edition when it knew how popular it would be? I do get your point as to why anyone should be obsessed over a trivial issue like this, but I do think it’s worth a few seconds of time to chastise Lamy over this issue and not be accused of insensitivity to larger issues.
I don’t care about the ink. I didn’t buy the original nor will I buy the re-release. However, Lamy should not have kept the name of that popular ink if it was not the same formula. It’s simply fraudulent, even if perhaps trivial.
Good conclusions. I guess I'd care if Lamy had sacrificed the very last Murex brandaris to make this ink. I might care if I had preserved the last ten sheets of the stationery on which I loved to use the original Dark Lilac -- and somehow had prevented the paper from aging -- and still had the one pen I had dedicated to the ink. Preserving something unchanged over time does change it -- because it exists in time. Anyhow, I always feel somehow reassured when I see the Loeb Classics, Latin series, on the shelves behind you, a gentle reminder that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Well done, Professor!
I didn't realize that a lot of people are genuinely angry about the LDLs. The questions about the differences between the versions seem interesting (we _do_ like to compare our inks: Is this a true blue-black or just a dark blue? Is this green from Robert Oster exactly like that green from Van Dieman's?) and amusing to me. But we should be able to have our ink debates without losing perspective about other matters. Thanks for trying to pour some oil on the waters.
It’s definitely a non-issue and has no impact on my world. I think the main problem was people were confused and a bit disappointed that they were selling it as a re-release of a popular ink when Lamy already knew it was not the same ink. Still not a big deal, but a tiny bit dishonest and deceptive.
Thank you for this, especially given how many shared the NYT article with me even though they know j@ck 💩 about FPs. Let's move forward by giving the rereleased Dark Lilac to our local art teachers and art students who will not mind version 2.0. 💜
THANK YOU for making me feel like that I wasn't alone in this. Sometimes people just need to step back, exhale and get back to reality. My goodness.....it's pen ink people!!!!!!!!!!! Everyone has their interests and their hobbies,...I get it BUT CMON!!! Have we lost the ability to also understand priorities in life? This is not an age thing either,....it's simply a HUMAN thing. The internet has been a positive thing in many areas and sadly it has also fostered stupidity and self absorption to a degree never reached in our history.
I think one of the darkest side effects of the industrial age is our expectation of standardisation. If we,as individuals do not the exact same thing every time we think the world is collapsing. Go analog.
So if I have a bottle of 2016 Dark Lilac (I do), is there something toxic about it, something I should be concerned about? Because Lamy is not allowed to use this one dye anymore? I’m serious. I’ve used it in the past, but not much. Is there something carcinogenic about the not-allowed-in-the-EU-anymore dye? Thanks for this video BTW. 😊
As long as we still have Waterman Tender Purple, I'm fine. Now I do get a bit sad about the disappearing Browns: Waterman Brown and Iroshizuku's Tsukushi.
I really appreciate your perspective and your putting this issue into perspective in regards to much more pressing issues going on in the world. I’m very critical of color and have a keen eye. I could see the difference without if needing to be pointed out. But the difference seemed small enough to not matter. In the fiber arts world we talk about dye lots. If you are knitting a sweater its important that all the yarn come from the same dye lot of you could end up sign an unintentional stripe or different colored sleeve. But ink doesn’t matter to that degree and falls well without the error margin of a dye lot variance in the fiber art realm. It just isn’t that big of a deal. I’d rather channel my anger towards trans rights here in the US and Gaza and the Ukraine. But to each their own I guess.
Hehe maybe I’m just not that into purple ink, but i was wondering yesterday “how good could this old dark lilac ink actually be?? Surely there’s a dupe or another purple close enough” 😅
This is a great, great video! I come from the wine industry - the wine made from the same vines each year has different characteristics and it's celebrated, are some vintages "better" than other - sure...does that mean the current vintage isn't enjoyable - no! Was the prior release of this ink better? maybe? is this release less enjoyable?? probably not? and especially to those who never knew about other releases - 100% a first world problem
Thank goodness for that, I thought I would have to leave the community primarily due to the fact I don’t give a rats ar*e about Dark Lilac! Thank you for your words
Gentle screen reader viewer, for 1:28: The 'the stupid people are loud' lines are all showing on his forehead. If you aren't sure what set I'm referring to, it's the same set used when students try to bs their way out of a deadline or make dumb excuses for simple things.
Frankly, the bigger fountain pen story is how Lamy was bought my Mitsubishi.
and how Mitsu wants to focus on "digital writing"
Mitsubishi is honestly cool, hopefully Lamy will still the same or even better in the future.
I was worried when I heard Lamy was bought. Thinking China has their hands on Lamy because they've been buying companies left and right lately. But when I heard it was Mitsubishi, I am quite relieved.
Indeed!
Story,...sure. If it would have ended there that would have been fine. But a scandal? Not even close. The mere fact that it snowballed into a side scandal with the whole ink re-release is beyond stupidity.
7:18 💯
Thank you for your insights. I was a quivering puddle of confusion lying in the corner. Then I realized that I’ve never owned a bottle of any dark lilac and have no reason to be upset. Now I feel much better
I agree with your perspective. I don't think the thing was founded in outrage, though. I haven't seen anyone get really mad, there was just a tremendous amount of confusion due to the lack of communication, especially before Lamy had said anything - the ink literally just popped up on retailer's websites and they admitted they didn't know what it was. A lot of people refunded their orders (at least thats what stilo e stile said) once it was clarified that the ink wasn't the same. I don't think this is founded in outrage culture at all, but hype culture instead.
I did not know my original video on it would get so big, I simply wanted to explain the timeline to people, that the inks weren't the same, and to be aware of that when spending money on it - and a reporter from the NYT style section reached out to me because he was very interested in the kind-hearted passion of the pen community, precisely *because* no one was really mad over what was a pretty embarrassing miscommunication (or lack of communication) from a well known brand. I tried my best to ensure that the reporting would accurately reflect that, and I think he did a very good job of writing a reference for non-fountain pen people, as much of the audience of the original video was not in this community and there were a bunch of questions from those people.
At the end of the day, you're right, it's a very first world problem in a world where there are bigger issues like you mentioned. But I think it's still a good topic to use as a way to reflect on this hobby - why are we so passionate about LE's? Should we have so much FOMO? How should large brands interact with their consumers (Lamy admitted they didn't even know dark lilac was a beloved ink)? I think it's an interesting topic to have a rational discussion about, and I appreciate you adding a sense of broader perspective.
I concur
super well said, its nice to see well thought out arguments
Less dramatic "outrage", more... moderate disappointment. A sort of collective "awww..." among the community.
Strangely enough i never expected it to be EXACTLY the same ink. If you buy paint you always have to check the batch number because batches of the same paint can be slightly a different clolor between batches. My mother did a lot of knitting and when she bought wool she always checked the batch numbers because the same wool can be a slightly different color between batches. I have also seen this with fountain pen inks. There may be slight differences between the same inks (but inks do not have batchnumbers). It's almost impossible to make exactly the same color (and Lamy had to use another dye). I think people are overreacting. I have a bottle of the new Lamy Dark Lilac and i'm happy. I never got the original and i'm not willing to pay the price people are asking for it on ebay etc.
Maybe it’s because I’m 72, but I look at something like not getting a favorite ink reissued or truly reissued along the lines of: if this is the worst thing that ever happens to me I am going to be a ridiculously lucky and happy person.
Thank you for a moment of sanity.
Your sarcasm was exquisite. You offered a reality check, an important lesson that can be applied well beyond a misplaced brouhaha over an ink color.
Steven, this is you at your very best. Thanks for the vid.
I nearly choked on my lunch while watching this…several times. So funny and spot on!
I took the whole thing as almost satirical. The NYT article had an Onion-esque tone to it although with factual content. The reputable commentators took everything with a hefty dose of salt. I’ve somehow avoided comments of folks who seemed genuinely upset. Rather I saw a human interest news story approached tongue mostly in cheek. Entertaining as light extemporanea. Perhaps I lacked imagination in assuming nobody could take it too seriously.
Thank you Dr. Brown, not only for sharing your insight, but for anchoring your perspective in Stoicism.
If Lamy had never stopped selling dark lilac and the dye became unavailable it would be the same. Everything changes at some point. We should all be aware of this!
I agree! (and I think a lot people forgot about it after they heard that Lamy was sold to the Mitsubishi Pencil Company)
Who cares if the color is a fraction of a percentage of a decimal point different? Why isn't anyone angry about how different it tastes??? This is some New Coke / Coke Classic level conspiratorial outrage material!!
lololol
Social media is outrage culture now. I’m pleased by the release personally 😊
Meanwhile at Montblanc they're releasing what they say are different inks but they're the same ink lol.
😂
so true!! 😂 IYKYK
No specifics?
Google montblancgate for an example, but they have done this with several inks now.@@JerryBearry
Thanks for your insight Stephen, and thanks for reading my post! At least from my perspective (that is, from the comments and messages on my IG page) I honestly saw very little real outrage at the situation, and I think people quickly saw there was no harm or misleading intended from the company's side. I myself thought this "drama" unfolding was a bit funny!
And the most valuable part of it was having had the chance to talk to Lamy, and getting to face the fact that the company does not think like we enthusiasts think! Shocking, haha! In the end, this is our hobby, and it's supposed to be fun, so if anyone is out there in true distress over the situation, just lighten up :) cheers!
"Im not trying to be overly sarcastic." 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
The voice of reason has spoken. Thank you.
Thank you Stephen. I appreciate your putting this into perspective. Truthfully, my daughter was killed in a scuba diving accident two weeks ago. I could care about what ink Lamy has come out with right now.
I am so dreadfully sorry for your daughter's death. What a terrible, agonizing loss. I offer you a piece of my heart in sympathy.
@@ruthfeiertag Thank you, Ruth! I deeply appreciate it.
@@dr.d723 If you feel like it, let us know how you are as time goes on. Even if you’re not feeling eased.
I'm so sorry for your incalculable loss.
Hi Stephen, you are,yet again, spot on still after all these years. Thanks again and again -AGAIN. Did I mention delightfully funny too? Have a great week while the world wide rage machine churns on.
i never bought ink before until i saw lamy dark lilac in the news. problem is I didn't have a fountain pen..
I do want to give you soo many thumbs up to get this clip up in the rating, beautiful! Love it!
Your comments are on-point. It is indeed possible not to have an opinion. It is also possible to have an opinion AND not be willing to die on a hill over it. Like: would I prefer the colour to be exactly the same? Maybe yes, but at the same time: 1. I didn't get the original one, and basically can't get it anymore, so who cares, and 2. I would actually prefer to know whether the new, slightly different, Dark Lilac is any good, because this is the one I can easily buy.
Also, things that concern me much more than the off-colour colour, even within the bounds of "it's just fountain pens, nobody's actually dying because of this", is that two of the largest german fountain pen manufacturers have changed hands and I'm unsure what that implies in the long-run in terms of quality, continuity and innovation. That, to me, at least, is much more concerning.
Agreed - I think it's worth pointing out that the ink is a little different but the frenzy has been excessive. Perhaps Lamy could have done this a little differently but it's time to move on community.
If I cared so very much about the OG Dark Lilac, I suppose I might be a bit annoyed by the green sheen on the re-released Dark Lilac. But I have far too many other things over which to get my Jockeys in a wad.
Are you maybe exaggerating the online reaction? Some people are outraged about anything. I don't think they've caused an online meltdown and rending the community to pieces. O.o I hope someone is telling the NYT we aren't all rage babies who vehemently care about the right to care or not care.
Thank you, Stephen. It's exactly what I think.
Classic Black or White Western thinking. I do have an opinion about Lamy and the re-release of Dark Lilac, and I am not angry, and I don't really care, but I think that Lamy shouldn't have re-released it. It is not the same color, not even close. Almost suspect them of trying to cheaply capitalize . . . But I really don't care enough to be angry about it :)
I love Lamy Turquoise bottled ink with the blotting paper around the bottom
Amen. I just bought a new bottle of Diamine Oxford blue. Life is good! 🙂
I'm partially color blind. It a blessing that it can be enjoyed fully.
“Do not attribute to malice that which could be attributed to other people not caring as much as you do about that one hyper-specific thing.” - Myke on the Pen Addict Podcast
I don't feel it's something that anyone should get upset about, but as part of our niche hobby, it is certainly worthy of discussion. It certainly isn't a disaster! It *does* have some of the vibes that surrounded the outrage when people found out MoFi were making vinyl records from digital masters. It's a nice 'purple' but I'd rather they released the violet they use in their cartridges as a bottled ink. The rabbit holes of our hobbies are distraction from the nightmare of the world.
Yes, anger displacement is real and currently doing a lot of damage. It’s a type of coping mechanism. Maybe it occasionally works for some people. Re this ink, I don’t care about the controversy except to want to know if I would using it in my pens. Does it behave well re drying time, spreading, etc? It looks like a nice purple.
I felt sorry for myself because I had no Dark Lilac ink until I met someone who had no _real_ Dark Lilac ink.
Or, as I used to tell my kids, I felt sorry for myself because I had no hat until I met a man who had no head. And there are so many without functioning heads. In today's world, many non-functioning heads are exploding with Dark Lilac ink. What a mess.
Agree fully. There are so many choices regarding ink colours these days, and a LOT of people (myself included) have enough ink to last multiple lifetimes. The internet driven FOMO is particularly harmful.
I'm fine on the issue. 😊 No big deal for me.
But I will admit to being a bit disappointed that I cannot buy and try the old ink color without paying a lot of money. I got back into fountain pens after Dark Lilac had come and gone. My favorite ink colors are purple, orange and blue, so I wanted to try DL - but not at the price people were charging. Then I heard that DL was being rereleased, and decided that I would buy a bottle when it came out. When the comparisons happened I decided against it.
"Oh well." 🤷🏾♀️
While I'm a fan of purple ink, I prefer the ones that do not have a green sheen, and this 2024 version has a LOT of it. I liked that the 2016 version had a *slight* goldish sheen - that is what attracted me to it in the first place. I have other purple inks that have gold sheen, so I'm good. ☺️
If they had just given the ink a slightly different name, like Deep Lilac or Dark Purple or something, it would have avoided the confusion.
I'm not losing sleep over it and there's way worse things going on in the world.
But... to my eyes, it's not a fraction of a percent different... it's green vs gold sheen. I think people wanted Lamy Dark Lilac that is purple with gold sheen. Lamy said "It's back, baby!" and it's purple with green sheen. Again... I still don't care and people can see the swatches and decide. I doubt Lamy tried to trick people but they must have seen the difference between green and gold. Just don't call it the same name. meh... Thanks for the vid
Bravo! Love your perspective and sanity. Personally don't care for lilac/purple inks, but if i did - all things change. Tempus fugit. Memento mori.
Right up my alley, completely agree with your opinion. Honestly I just clicked on this video being curious why SBRE Brown would make a video on this topic (about which I read first time yesterday on Instagram in a post by fpmemes, I had no idea this is huge "thing"). Loved the moment with no expression in your face 😂 and why not being sarcastic, we can take it 🤣 Anyway, thanks for putting the "thing" into the right perspective.
I think that the fact that the NYT made an article about it is amplifying this past what it really is.
Personally, I don't care for purple inks, so perhaps my opinion is less valid, but the original ink was a *special edition.* If something was released as a limited item, in my opinion the expectation should be that *you aren't going to get that exact item **_ever_** again.* Hence "limited"
If there are actually people getting completely bent out of shape about this, it sounds like a case of very poorly managed expectations combined with a lack of _actual_ life problems.
I've worked as a manufacturer for products that rely upon natural ingredients. Supply batch consistency and congruency can vary quite a bit from batch to batch, and some ingredients will no longer be available if there isn't enough demand to justify making them- it sounds like the second situation is the case here. The only thing permanent in this life is that nothing is permanent in this life.
As you succinctly put, there are much bigger things to worry about. It's ink, there are many. Enjoy finding a new one that you like.
Personally, as someone that loves my lamy 2k and has been thinking about getting a few more to add to my stable, I'm more concerned that the Mitsubishi buyout will effect pens produced in the future. I don't want Lamy to start altering the size of their tipping to better suit their new Japanese overlords. I want my broad to be a legitimate broad, not something a hair over a medium. I am an unabashed Pilot fanboy, but chasing down a double broad to suit my tastes is a pain in the butt here in the US and the fact that Lamy pens still grade their tipping on more traditional european sizing makes Lamy a goto for me when I want a workhorse pen that I know I can easily replace if the need arises.
Looks like I'll need to get that oblique nibbed 2k a lot sooner than I had thought I would just to be sure.
Yay, Dr. Brown! Totally agree. Thanks. Tired of hearing about it.
what about Lamy being sold off to Mitsubishi pen company?
psychologically, he's in distress, because all he will get is Jetstream ballpoints instead of Lamy founters for free, my 'art' bleeds for him.
Hi, I totally agree with Stephen here. I'm a purple fan, but hey it's only an ink, there is lots of other lovely purples and I am happy with all the choices we have already.
Chelsea c:
Instead of being offended by the trivial, they can try Lamy Blackberry. It is very close to Dark Lilac, which I loved!✒️
Agree a non-story - easy solution would have been a slight name variation
There was, the new one is called ‘Dark Lilac 2024’. And it’s listed as the 2024 limited edition. Surely that should have been a clue?
I always like these critical video’s of yours. You once made a video called “drama in the pen community” which had similar contents to this and I really liked. Thanks for making this.
You're welcome, and I appreciate your words; I'm not trying to be pedantic or feed the drama, but I do occasionally need to get something off my chest.
@@sbrebrown don’t worry; you don’t come across as pedantic or thirsty for views at all and anyone who claims the contrary clearly hasn’t understood your message. This video is like a nice breath of fresh air filled with stoic wisdom, which is verh helpful every now and then.
Lol! Just wait until Lamy re-releases Petrol! Lamy had better hire more security at headquarters.
I do think it was definitely a misstep by Lamy to give it the same name, when it's noticeably different. They must have known that would set people off.
I've got the dark lilac Safari - just used it an hour ago in fact. And I think I recall buying some dark lilac cartridges to go with it back when it came out, but never had a bottle of it. If the new version had looked closer to the old one then maybe I'd have bought some, because it was a lovely ink. But I can't get worked up about it. There are lots of other nice purple inks out there.
This was a well done tie into why philosophy and stoicism is still relevant, as well as a social media literacy check in. Sehr gut Sir!
Companies should be more careful and honest from ‘the get go’ about these matters.
For some of us ,near enough is not good enough.
I shall try to purchase a bottle of a new bottle of ‘24 slightly different Lamy Dark Lilac to investigate this matter for myself. Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention.
I don’t understand the fuss about the ink either. What interests me more is how Lamy has handled this and I hope it’s not an indicator of things to come. I appreciate that the company was being acquired
by Mitsubishi, so the minds of Lamy execs were probably concentrated elsewhere but let’s be honest it was really poor communication and marketing by one of the world’s leading pen companies. A missed opportunity to generate positive media coverage about the acquisition, reassure people about the future of a much loved brand and generate some fan fare about the introduction of a new renamed purple ink into the standard line. All of which should have been positive news. Talk about an own goal. All very bizarre. I’m interested in getting more information on the focus of digital writing in the acquisition letter and what that means for Lamy fountain pens in the future.
This reminds me of many business meetings I had the misfortune of attending during my career in which the same people could be counted upon to monopolize the time wailing and gnashing teeth over problems that had a 1:100,000 or more of occurring to make sure everyone knew how smart they were. As always, Dr. Brown, you have done a great job of putting this issue into perspective! I already thought this whole thing was much ado about nothing, anyway, but I enjoyed watching you lay it out so eloquently.
Thank you for putting things into perspective, dr. Brown! I can't understand why people are angry about the release, but i understand having issues (not anger) with Lamy non-communication, and then mis-communication. I'd love to have a bottle of the original, as 35 different purple ink bottles stand proof. But i won't lose sleep (or temper) that this new one is reddish and has gold sheen. Perspective matters, context matters. I did find it funny (and exasperating) that some people were upset of the release because "it ruined the original LDL market" (yeah, who'd pay 200$ for 2016 LDL instead of 11$ for 2024 LDL?). My understanding of hoarding for re-sale is extremely limited. Would love to hear your opinion on collecting (inks, pens) just for the sake of collecting and after sale
It's like Coke or new Coke? The soft drink product. Thanks for being the voice of reason.
I’ve been using this as my way to explain it.
@@gizmogeek23 and as quoted from the last words of Socrates, "I drank what?"
Seriously? New Coke was an unmitigated disaster.
Pepsi. @@bhoola123
@@bhoola123 looking at Coke's revenue that year and with the reintroduction of coke classic had, it seems in hindsight it really was only a couple months of bad press and then by the end of 1985 they were outselling Pepsi. Sensationalism and large news stories drove a controversy that isn't unlike what we are seeing here. Its just on a much larger scale than ink. There are lots of influencers that do not have the cool head we see here. I have seen people saying they will never buy from Lamy again, which seems like a large overreaction.
Sooo lovely! Thank you!!
There is but one question I have:
Why do most companies leave this small sentence ”but there might be smallest differences to the original“ out?
Maybe they know the ”social game“ better than we think.
Because now they get even more attention through the shitstorm 😉
But one thing is clear:
Stoicism is the solution to every problem.
And you, Mr. Brown, showed us this secret ”weapon“.
THANK YOU FOR THAT!!
Were this Iroshizuku’ jurojin I would not be happy about this. Obviously it’s a very first world issue. I’ve been crestfallen when my fav lipstick color was discontinued. Yet I survived, and thrived.
I agree Stephen.. as a former city manager for a well endowed community, i was continually amazed and saddened by the nonsense people got wound up about.. love your work and happy belated birthday! Frank in Colorado
Thought provoking as usual Dr.Brown. I was able to purchase a bottle of dark lilac the original formula in 2019. That being said when there are other more important issues to focus on, it's just ink.
I do agree with the consumers on this one issue and that is if you are going to put out a product that has legendary status then you should give your customers what they ask for and not insult them.
I still have some...
1). Parker penman Sapphire & emerald
2). Mont Blanc British racing green
3). Waterman absolute brown
I had montblanc Alfred Hitchcock blood red but the ink got contaminated some how and developed some sludge. had to be thrown out. As I disgustingly looked at the bottle being tossed in the trash I came to the realization that it's only ink and it's not that serious. as the saying goes , the beat goes on.
Tempest in a teapot. This happens all the time in art. Favourite paints are discontinued yearly because component colorants are no longer available. Ink and paint companies, including automative paint, all rely on the same dye and pigment manufactures. In art, it’s common for a paint company to recreate a close lookalike paint and use the original name.
Here we have an example of the fact that "Everything Changes", can not be avoided. 🙂
Thank you for your video. I choose option 2: I don’t care whether the ink from 2024 is the same as the previous one or not. It’s a lovely colour, take it or leave it, un point c’est tout!
:) I do own a Lamy Dark Lilac Matte Finish Safari PEN (and like its color), but have never owned or even tested the "matching" ink. I have a couple other inks in that "range" but, quite honestly I don't use them much simply because it's not my normal color preference. So, there's my opinion which is next to worthless ... but I do understand the appeal to others.
I would add that inks change their color naturally, with age over time, with exposure to light and oxidation, so a fraction of a percent of a decimal point variation should not be unexpected. Yes, please note the double negative.
SBRE Brown imitating Peter Sellers portraying Dr. Strangelove while imitating some famous person that I can't quite recall or, at least, that person's genre. Not bad, Stephen! Bravo
And, now, to quote Slim Pickens as Major T. J. "King" Kong in the same movie: "Well, shoot! We ain't come this far just to dump this thing in the drink. What's the nearest target opportunity?" and "Wahoo! Waawaahaa! Wawahoo!" Too bad that bomb wasn't Lamy's original Dark Lilac ink color - things might have worked out better.
Wonderful video! Perfect reaction!
For me it was a reality check. 😅 somehow I forgot the manufacturers don't actually care about what we want. They will do what THEY want. We're only there to buy - or not. I don't like purple ink so it was whatever. But it WAS funny to watch unfold.
lol I also do not think this is such a big deal. I didn’t know the 2016 version, but if I did, I’d say something new and better will always come out anyways. It’s so funny that I’m in the fp community, but it was my non fountain pen friend that shared this issue with me, that’s when you know it’s going out of hand.
Awesome! So wanted this video to be done by Lord Windermere!
It is more than a little bit silly from Lamy to create a new ink with the name of a discontinued ink, giving that that company does not produce so many different inks that it can ran out of names! (Something that may happen to Diamine at any time now!)
On top of it, Lamy does not put the name of the ink onto the bottle... weird!
I never had the old version of that ink and only discovered about it here. But the new version is quite nice on its own right, and I purchased a bottle and just enjoy the dark lilac with green sheene.
To quote a song "I don't care! I love it!"
I'm not involved in this one about the Lamy ink however in some ways you've summed me up in your opinion here. It's like I rage about such trivial things that it makes me wonder what I'm thinking about. There is so much more to life and the people around us that to get so caught up in onlline trivia or an ink argument is ridiculous. Almost a Maximus quote... ".are you not satisfied..." 😆Cheers Dr Brown, much appreciated.
Fantastic. This is what people call storm in a tea cup. Not worthy of such negativity. Take it or leave it should be proper in my opinion as well
I have come to the party too late (September 2024) as I’ve just discovered no more Lamy Safari Dark Lilac PENS are available! I don’t care that much about the ink. But why did Lamy do a Special Edition when it knew how popular it would be? I do get your point as to why anyone should be obsessed over a trivial issue like this, but I do think it’s worth a few seconds of time to chastise Lamy over this issue and not be accused of insensitivity to larger issues.
I don’t care about the ink. I didn’t buy the original nor will I buy the re-release. However, Lamy should not have kept the name of that popular ink if it was not the same formula. It’s simply fraudulent, even if perhaps trivial.
Good conclusions. I guess I'd care if Lamy had sacrificed the very last Murex brandaris to make this ink. I might care if I had preserved the last ten sheets of the stationery on which I loved to use the original Dark Lilac -- and somehow had prevented the paper from aging -- and still had the one pen I had dedicated to the ink. Preserving something unchanged over time does change it -- because it exists in time. Anyhow, I always feel somehow reassured when I see the Loeb Classics, Latin series, on the shelves behind you, a gentle reminder that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Well done, Professor!
I didn't realize that a lot of people are genuinely angry about the LDLs. The questions about the differences between the versions seem interesting (we _do_ like to compare our inks: Is this a true blue-black or just a dark blue? Is this green from Robert Oster exactly like that green from Van Dieman's?) and amusing to me. But we should be able to have our ink debates without losing perspective about other matters. Thanks for trying to pour some oil on the waters.
It’s definitely a non-issue and has no impact on my world. I think the main problem was people were confused and a bit disappointed that they were selling it as a re-release of a popular ink when Lamy already knew it was not the same ink. Still not a big deal, but a tiny bit dishonest and deceptive.
Thank you for this, especially given how many shared the NYT article with me even though they know j@ck 💩 about FPs. Let's move forward by giving the rereleased Dark Lilac to our local art teachers and art students who will not mind version 2.0. 💜
THANK YOU for making me feel like that I wasn't alone in this. Sometimes people just need to step back, exhale and get back to reality. My goodness.....it's pen ink people!!!!!!!!!!! Everyone has their interests and their hobbies,...I get it BUT CMON!!! Have we lost the ability to also understand priorities in life? This is not an age thing either,....it's simply a HUMAN thing. The internet has been a positive thing in many areas and sadly it has also fostered stupidity and self absorption to a degree never reached in our history.
I’m glad you made this video.
Well said Stephen. 👍🏻
I think one of the darkest side effects of the industrial age is our expectation of standardisation. If we,as individuals do not the exact same thing every time we think the world is collapsing.
Go analog.
So if I have a bottle of 2016 Dark Lilac (I do), is there something toxic about it, something I should be concerned about? Because Lamy is not allowed to use this one dye anymore? I’m serious. I’ve used it in the past, but not much. Is there something carcinogenic about the not-allowed-in-the-EU-anymore dye? Thanks for this video BTW. 😊
Yeah, stop using it. Send me the rest of the bottle so I can dispose of it safely for you!
@@micheltran7115Ha! Not likely! 😄
@@micheltran7115 spoken like a true fountain pen pal! Always looking out for the other guy😉
Well said, well done.
I like the fuss. Are you still an enthousiast if you do not have an opinion?
As long as we still have Waterman Tender Purple, I'm fine.
Now I do get a bit sad about the disappearing Browns: Waterman Brown and Iroshizuku's Tsukushi.
I really appreciate your perspective and your putting this issue into perspective in regards to much more pressing issues going on in the world. I’m very critical of color and have a keen eye. I could see the difference without if needing to be pointed out. But the difference seemed small enough to not matter. In the fiber arts world we talk about dye lots. If you are knitting a sweater its important that all the yarn come from the same dye lot of you could end up sign an unintentional stripe or different colored sleeve. But ink doesn’t matter to that degree and falls well without the error margin of a dye lot variance in the fiber art realm. It just isn’t that big of a deal. I’d rather channel my anger towards trans rights here in the US and Gaza and the Ukraine. But to each their own I guess.
Thanks for this review.
I'll have to check out this Marcus Aurelius character. Might have to brush up on my Latin.
I alm ost skipped this one, but thank you. Sanity...
Change is the cause of all problems.
I appreciate that you appreciate the irony of your video. 👍🏼
Hehe maybe I’m just not that into purple ink, but i was wondering yesterday “how good could this old dark lilac ink actually be?? Surely there’s a dupe or another purple close enough” 😅
Not any closer than lamy's new one.
Do you know that LAMY has been sold?
The stoic speaks on Lamy Dark Lilac. Thank you, sir.
I love the smell of rationality in the morning…
This is a great, great video! I come from the wine industry - the wine made from the same vines each year has different characteristics and it's celebrated, are some vintages "better" than other - sure...does that mean the current vintage isn't enjoyable - no! Was the prior release of this ink better? maybe? is this release less enjoyable?? probably not? and especially to those who never knew about other releases - 100% a first world problem
Thank goodness for that, I thought I would have to leave the community primarily due to the fact I don’t give a rats ar*e about Dark Lilac! Thank you for your words
Gentle screen reader viewer, for 1:28: The 'the stupid people are loud' lines are all showing on his forehead. If you aren't sure what set I'm referring to, it's the same set used when students try to bs their way out of a deadline or make dumb excuses for simple things.
I’m not even worried about the massive asteroid heading straight for the earth.
I care about the dark lilac ink!!
It’s not even April 1 😂
anthrax said it best in blood - hate is so much easier to feel than love