Althouse: "I draw with Rotring Rapidoliners, 0.35 which are no longer made. I have to scour eBay for them."

October 26, 2017

"I draw with Rotring Rapidoliners, 0.35 which are no longer made. I have to scour eBay for them."

"I’m so afraid of running through my stockpile that I have learned how to refill them, even though they are not meant to be refilled. The ink is very, very black and completely waterproof. When I put watercolor on top of the ink, it doesn’t bleed."

I love the cartoonist Roz Chast, but this is getting my "things not believed" tag. Its unbelievability is on its face. If you're desperate for a rare item, why would you stir up competition and tell them where to go? Is there some other pen that the named pen is standing in for? Has Chast already scoured the last 0.35 Rapidoliner out of eBay and moved on to the hope that all the people searching for it will get back to Rotring and inspire them to make it again.

ADDED: I'm starting to believe. The idea is: this public plea and unsolicited endorsement should move Rotring to make the 0.35 Rapidoliner again. Get on it, Rotring. Please click on that Rotring link if you believe in Roz Chast. It could bring Tinkerbell back to life.

32 comments:

William said...: Maybe she's hoping some kind souls will send her their spare Rapidoliners.; 10/26/17, 10:12 AM
southcentralpa said...: You hit the nail on the head, she's definitely trying to lobby Rotring.

If Chast interests you, she is in the HBO doc "Very Semi-Serious". Quite a character. From the looks of her can collection, I'd say she very much has whatever she needs, Rapidoliner-wise.; 10/26/17, 10:12 AM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: http://vintagenibs.blogspot.com/2015/11/radio-pen-914-why-is-it-so-special.html

There has been a very high demand for Esterbrook’s Radio Pen 914 lately. It is not owing to its calligraphic prowess, though it does possess such qualities. It is not because it is silver and pretty to look at. It is in high demand because of its endearing association to a very skilled comic artist by the name of Charles Schultz (may he rest in peace.) It is now widely known that Charles Schultz used one exclusive pen point to ink his comic strip “Peanuts.” He has been quoted as stating that he would stop drawing the comic if he ever ran out of Esterbrook’s 914 Radio Pen. When Esterbrook decided to cease manufacturing of the Radio Pen 914*, Charles bought every last box in the warehouse. Due to that act, there are very few available boxes of Esterbrook Radio Pen 914 out there for grabs. This makes the pen especially rare on top of having a very special connection. It’s no surprise that with the release of the new Peanuts movie, that demand for this pen has risen and so has the cost for this pen.; 10/26/17, 10:14 AM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: I draw with Rotring Rapidoliners, 0.35 which are no longer made. I have to scour eBay for them... I’m so afraid of running through my stockpile that I have learned how to refill them, even though they are not meant to be refilled.

I got that far through the post, reaching the conclusion that the Rotring Rapidoliner was some sort of handgun/ammo.

The reference to ink in the next sentence caused considerable confusion.; 10/26/17, 10:16 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: She might try the Pilot Hi-Tech-C, which comes in .3 and .4.; 10/26/17, 10:16 AM
Nonapod said...: It's a common story. A product that may not have been fully appreciated when it was being produced is eventually discontinued, then someone artist or group of artists endorses it and its popularity soars, driving second hand prices through the roof. Eventually the company comes out with a reissue. But often the reissue isn't as good as the original.

The Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal distortion pedal is a great example.; 10/26/17, 10:18 AM
Infinite Monkeys said...: She'll just have to learn to refill the ink in an Isograph.; 10/26/17, 10:22 AM
lgv said...: It's only believable because he also has a workaround, albeit cumbersome. If he couldn't refill them, then he would have kept his mouth shut. Now he will use the crowd to solve his inconvenience.; 10/26/17, 10:23 AM
Left Bank of the Charles said...: She's trying to get fans to empty their drawers and send her their Rotring Rapidoliners, or clue her to shops in out-of-the-way towns that still have them in stock. You're supposed to scour Indiana on her behalf. That's the subliminal message.; 10/26/17, 10:43 AM
Henry said...: I used to use those. Then I decided they were too uptight.

As Freeman points out, a Pilot rollerball pen is in the ballpark.; 10/26/17, 10:53 AM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: My favorite mechanical pencil is more than $120 now. It was apparently out of production for a while after I kept buying them--the business supply store I used had 'em for $9, then $10, and then (I think) $12 or $15 before I decided they were too expensive. I only found out they were disontinued much later. I still kick myself for not buying more (I actually gave 4 or 5 away as part of Christmas presents, too)!

Pilot H-1005. Ebay has a couple listed for $145.; 10/26/17, 10:54 AM
Denever said...: Just did a search for "Rotring Rapidoliner 0.35." There are 9 in stock at Amazon, 8 in stock at Jet Pens ... I stopped there. It's obviously easy to find. I don't know why Chast would make this up, but I don't like her drawings, so I don't really care.; 10/26/17, 10:58 AM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: I used to go through two or three Shaeffer fountain pens a year; then they stopped making the cheap ones and I've managed to hold on to my $30 one for years now. Wish I had stockpiled the cheap ones though.

I did stockpiile 100 watt bulbs..; 10/26/17, 10:58 AM
Bob Boyd said...: Tinkerbell @Tinkerbell

Peter Pan once asked me to spread my legs and land on his tongue. #MeToo; 10/26/17, 10:59 AM
Bilwick said...: I hope Chart gets whatever tools she needs to continue her work
Her graphic novel "Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant" is a brilliant piece of work. Takes a serious subject (the physical and mental set deterioration of her parents) and--without trivializing the situation--still finds humor in it.; 10/26/17, 10:59 AM
Bilwick said...: I meant "Chast" not "Chart." I have trouble typing on my new smartphone.; 10/26/17, 11:03 AM
Etienne said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/26/17, 11:18 AM
Etienne said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/26/17, 11:19 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Just did a search for "Rotring Rapidoliner 0.35." There are 9 in stock at Amazon, 8 in stock at Jet Pens ... I stopped there. It's obviously easy to find. I don't know why Chast would make this up, but I don't like her drawings, so I don't really care."

I just looked and came up with 0.; 10/26/17, 11:45 AM
Donatello Nobody said...: I'm still working through our stash of 60-watt incandescents. Every light bulb change is a fresh chance to disparage our political/corporate class. When I finish these, I'll start on on the case of Mexican bulbs with which I supplemented our supply. They're not quite as bright as the real thing, but apparently they may last longer. You can take my incandescent when you pry it from my cold, dead hand!; 10/26/17, 11:54 AM
Henry said...: Here they are on On Amazon.

That's assuming that Rapidograph is the same thing as Rapidoliner.; 10/26/17, 12:11 PM
Henry said...: Anyone of you light-bulb guys want my 100W incandescents? I have about 50 left. I also have a couple 50-100-150W 3-way bulbs for a long-broken lamp.

I'm perfectly happy with the latest LED options.; 10/26/17, 12:12 PM
Henry said...: At JetPens.; 10/26/17, 12:13 PM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: We still have a giant stockpile of Palomino Blackwing pencils because my late mother-in-law was enamored of them and afeared they would stop making them. She died in 1994 and we still have a cabinet full. And they never stopped being available for purchase.; 10/26/17, 12:50 PM
Henry said...: @IHMMP -- You missed your window of opportunity. According to Wikipedia, between 1998 when Sanford production stopped and 2012 when Palomino restarted it, individual Blackwing pencils went for as much as $50.; 10/26/17, 12:55 PM
Robert Cook said...: "We still have a giant stockpile of Palomino Blackwing pencils because my late mother-in-law was enamored of them and afeared they would stop making them. She died in 1994 and we still have a cabinet full. And they never stopped being available for purchase."

Actually, manufacture of the original Blackwing pencils did cease in 1998, after having been manufactured by Eberhard-Faber from 1934 to 1988, then by Faber-Castell from 1988 to 1994, and finally by Sanford from 1994 to 1998.

However, Palomino, another manufacturer, brought them back into production in 2008.; 10/26/17, 1:19 PM
Ann Althouse said...: “That's assuming that Rapidograph is the same thing as Rapidoliner.”

I don’t think so. The Rapidograph is refillable. Chast describes a nonrefillable.; 10/26/17, 1:23 PM
Robert Cook said...: Rapido-liners are different from Rapidographs, in that Rapidoliners are disposable technical pens, not meant to be refilled, as Roz Chast says, but Rapidographs are refillable technical pens. I can't imagine why someone would prefer buying the disposable pens. It gets expensive and it fills up the earth with inert plastic and metal cylinders. A refillable technical pen--and there are other brands--is "green," as the kids say today...and cheaper in the long (or even the short?) run.

Technical pen lines are uniform, dead, and lack the liveliness of nib pen or brush lines. However, some artists can use to them to great effect.; 10/26/17, 1:25 PM
Anonymous said...: Rapidograph and Rapidoliner are not the same pen. The Rapidoliner is meant for sketching, and not as tight with its ink flow - that is, you can tip it sideways, and the ink flow won't stop the way it would with a technical pen.

The Rapidoliner used to be refillable, then it went to a cartridge style. I didn't like their cartridge pens and so stopped using the brand altogether. I recently saw some refillable Rapidoliner pens (not the cartridge kind) and bought some. They were like what I remember using before the cartridge thing. This person must be looking for the cartridge type. (I think the attraction is that you get a new nib with each cartridge, and so don't have to clean and unclog it?)

Something has changed with that company. When I was a kid, I used Rapidograph (the technical pen, not the sketching pen) all the time, and hardly ever had problems with clogging or breaking, and now I can't keep their pens functional - I spend way too much time soaking, cleaning, etc. I wish they'd get their act together and do whatever it is they used to do.; 10/26/17, 1:35 PM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: I don't draw, but I thought the cool kids/comic artists used Copic pens. I'm almost certain they have a 0.35 or 0.03 version.; 10/26/17, 1:55 PM
Anonymous said...: For me, it's the Uni-Ball Deluxe fine (0.5mm) or extra-fine (0.3mm). Discontinued years ago. I was able to pick them up on eBay for awhile, but they're getting too expensive as the supply runs out.; 10/26/17, 11:31 PM
Bruce Gee said...: Years ago I knew a wood carver who resided near a waterway. He carved wooden fishermen, fisherwomen, and related subjects out of basswood, and his wife would paint them and sell them out of their home. He had for years used a certain short Stanley fixed blade utility knife. With that much use, these things actually wear out. Of course, Stanley stopped making them and he went into a panic. “I tried using the new longer versions, but they didn’t fit in my hand right,” he lamented. So off he went in search of the last of the short utility knives.

This happens all the time to craftspeople. I had a certain Salem Maple dyed stain I used to use as a staple for my finishing work. Of course Mohawk stopped supplying it. My own thoughts on this is it is probably a good thing: it forces the craftsperson to search around, and the search almost always leads to a new and often better way to do something. We tend to settle down comfortably with the materials and tools we’ve grown accustomed to, not bothering to notice that over the years cool new products have been developed that we had not been aware of.; 10/27/17, 8:41 AM