16 June 2016

Colors of the Four Seasons—Again

“If it ain’t broke, do not fix it”, but this wise sentence does not seem to apply to the world of marketing. In fact, it might be right the opposite—making noise and calling for attention are often the names of the game in advertisement strategies.

Back in 2009-2010 (::1::, ::2::, ::3::), Sailor changed its line of inks. The old selection of colors, including some sorely missed ones, was discontinued in favor of four batches of limited editions—the seasonal inks. Much hype they generated, but being limited releases they were gone all too soon… to revive some years later. In 2014, as I reported on these Chronicles, Sailor reissued eight of the old sixteen seasonal inks.


The colors left behind in 2014 are now back.

And now, in June of 2016, it is the turn of the remaining eight inks:

Spring:
若鶯 - Waka-uguisu.
桜森 - Sakura-mori.

Summer:
藤娘 - Fuji-musume.
利休茶 - Rikyû-cha.

Autumn:
金木犀 - Kin-mokusei.
仲秋 - Chu-shu.

Winter:
囲炉裏 - Irori.
雪明 - Yuki-akari.


The not-so-new inks.


Some of these new inks, on display in a shop in Tokyo.

It seems that these not-so-new inks will coexist with those released in 2014. Therefore, the catalog of Jentle inks (by Sailor) will be composed, for a while, of sixteen fancy colors plus the well-known triad of black, blue-black and blue. Prices remain unaltered—JPY 1000, plus taxes.


The seasonal inks released in March of 2014.

At the time of writing this text (June 16, 2016), few shops have stocked these inks, but it is likely these inks might soon become widely available in the next few weeks. These inks hace also been announced on the last issue of the magazine Shumi-no Bungubako (趣味の文具箱, Vol 38, June 2016, page 82).

And the question previously asked remains adequate—does Sailor have any consistent policy regarding inks? It might just be a matter of making noise now and then.


Pilot Murex – Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Brown

Bruno Taut
Nakano, June 16th, 2016
etiquetas: Sailor, tinta, mercado

12 comments:

mashikupi said...

Are these new inks available any more.??

Bruno Taut said...

I do not really understand your question... In any event, these inks are available right now, as I said on my text.

Thanks for passing by and commenting.

BT

Denise said...

Do you know where one can buy these re-releases?

Bruno Taut said...

So far, Denise, I have seen them in Itoya and in Maruzen in Tokyo. But they do not seem to have a large stock of these inks.

Thanks for passing by and commenting.

BT

Anonymous said...

Just what i need...more ink for my pens.
¿es recomendable alguna para tener, o por lo que se ve son mas ciclotímicas que unas elecciones y prescindibles?

Bruno Taut said...

No entiendo su pregunta, Sr. Anónimo. Las tintas, éstas y todas las demás, son lo que son y cada uno emplea su dinero como considera oportuno. Yo solo ofrezco la información que tengo a mi alcance.

Saludos,

BT

Anonymous said...

Ya te voy a dar anónimo. Me refiero a si hay algún color interesante y que no vaya a volver a editarse (como por ejemplo, esa iroshizuku que tienes...¿tokyo?) o los reflotan mas que los hilos en los foros.

Anonymous said...

Sailor's bait and hook strategy seems to be working. My ink guy said some of the inks that I wanted are either unavailable (with no ETA of new stocks), or I'd have to wait a month for the alternatives. I was in no hurry, so I chose the colours that were available and wait for the rest.

So much drama for just half a dozen bottles. —Tony

Bruno Taut said...

Anónimo ciclista:

Las profecías son muy difíciles, sobre todo si se refieren al futuro... Así que poco puedo decir de los planes de Sailor para el futuro. Y sobre si son interesantes o no, para gustos los colores. Dicen algunos que el Kin-mokusei es el Apricot de antaño. Mi gama de colores es cada vez más daltónica: un negro, un azul y un verde...

Gracias por pasar y comentar. Un abrazo,

BT

Bruno Taut said...

Tony,

I like your expression "bait and hook" strategy. I might copy it!

In my opinion, the ink market lives in a bubble. Too much drama for a bunch of new colors that are not that new in the market, and that could easily be replaced by some similar hues by some other makers--Diamine, J. Herbin, De Atramentis...

Thanks for passing by and commenting.

Cheers,

BT

Unknown said...

as far as everything is concerned Sailor also has made it available for online order through their webstore so... yes should be readily available in most of Japan by now

Bruno Taut said...

Right, Unknown. By now, July 8th, these inks are generally available in fine stationers everywhere... at least in Japan. Even in some with discounted prices.

Cheers,

BT

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