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View Full Version : Are you ready for the BSAR shocker?!?



Jon Szanto
July 14th, 2014, 11:58 AM
Well, this was a bit of a shock: a notification on a new Goulet blog post indicates that one of the most popular inks in the Noodlers line, Black Swans in Australian Roses, has undergone a major color change, due to a change from the dye manufacturer in one of the key component dyes. This ink will Never. Be. The. Same.

You can read about it here (http://www.inknouveau.com/2014/07/color-change-for-black-swan-in.html), as Brian goes into great detail on the story of this change. Here is the video they posted, as well. I'm glad I have a nearly full bottle of the original!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwBnvKMa1d0

tandaina
July 14th, 2014, 12:08 PM
Yeah. Very sad for me. BSAR is one of my all time favorite inks. Lovely dark old rose color, beautiful shading. The new color is... not to my taste and looks *nothing* like a rose of any sort. (Roses are very rarely 'purple' as there is no blue gene in roses at all. Antique roses, never that color.) The old one was subtle enough I could use it at work and few noticed anything but black with a hint of something else. I'm not at all happy, especially since it looks like there is no reliable way to buy the old stock.

Jon Szanto
July 14th, 2014, 12:35 PM
That pretty much sums it up for me, too. Life is change, I suppose.

snedwos
July 14th, 2014, 01:10 PM
I wonder if something closer to the old one could be achieved by mixing new aussie with english?

Jon Szanto
July 14th, 2014, 01:11 PM
I wonder if something closer to the old one could be achieved by mixing new aussie with english?

Well, you may hide purple, but you can't make it go away. The original was *not* purple, and the new one is. I am not a fan of purple inks. :(

Sailor Kenshin
July 14th, 2014, 02:24 PM
Yeah. Very sad for me. BSAR is one of my all time favorite inks. Lovely dark old rose color, beautiful shading. The new color is... not to my taste and looks *nothing* like a rose of any sort. (Roses are very rarely 'purple' as there is no blue gene in roses at all. Antique roses, never that color.) The old one was subtle enough I could use it at work and few noticed anything but black with a hint of something else. I'm not at all happy, especially since it looks like there is no reliable way to buy the old stock.

You said it. :(

Jon Szanto
July 14th, 2014, 04:05 PM
From what I read, Nathan isn't just aware of it, but has been completely transparent. Unless he can come up with another formula, and it sounds like that isn't a high likelihood, I would hope that he would be honest and rename this and call it a new ink. One thing it is *not* is BSAR.

tandaina
July 14th, 2014, 04:37 PM
From what I read, Nathan isn't just aware of it, but has been completely transparent. Unless he can come up with another formula, and it sounds like that isn't a high likelihood, I would hope that he would be honest and rename this and call it a new ink. One thing it is *not* is BSAR.
Doesn't sound like that will happen. This has been going on for long enough the Goulet's have none of the old formula left. So I'm guessing it will stay this way.

reprieve
July 14th, 2014, 05:21 PM
Black Swan in Australian Roses was one of my favorite inks. Luckily I still have about a 70%-full bottle left and it should last a long time. It takes me years to empty the Noodler's bottles. But still. Sad sad sad.

Has anyone found another ink similar in color?

snedwos
July 14th, 2014, 05:26 PM
I've tried my luck on Amazon with a seller that had pictures of the old stuff. I don't mind the new colour, and I do need a purple, so I'm not too bothered either way.

Sailor Kenshin
July 14th, 2014, 05:31 PM
Guess you could always put in a WTB ad.

colonel4God
July 14th, 2014, 08:53 PM
Hey y'all got some sad news today. I have for the longest time wanted but never purchased a bottle of Noodler's Black Swan in Australian Roses. Brian Goulet did a post today letting us know that due to no fault of Nathan Tardiff, the ingredients for the ink have slightly changed due to supply and so has the color of the ink. Sadness because I really like the now 'old' color and never purchased a bottle. I got one tonight. I let you know which formulation it is when it comes.

Here's the link http://www.inknouveau.com/2014/07/color-change-for-black-swan-in.html to Mr. Goulet's apologetic but honest explanation.

The fact that there are no real comparable ink colors to the original formulation makes this accidental happenstance even worse.

kataish
July 14th, 2014, 09:16 PM
@colonel4god Ohhh no, I much prefer the look of the old one better. I have over half a bottle of the original formulation... do you want some of it? I have some 15mL sample vials that a friend sent me some inks in... as soon as one is empty (I'm close to emptying several of the colours) I can send 15mL your way!

tandaina
July 14th, 2014, 10:10 PM
Yup, one of my all time favorite ink colors. I've got about half a bottle left and it will now become very precious. :( The color was wonderful, the "new" color is... Not.

Jon Szanto
July 14th, 2014, 10:17 PM
FWIW, I started a thread this morning on the same subject, found right here (http://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread.php/7801-Are-you-ready-for-the-BSAR-shocker-!).

Bogon07
July 14th, 2014, 11:12 PM
The original BSiAR was one of my favourite and first fountain pen inks. :cry:

I was looking for a nice purple-black and the new version seems to fit the bill but I wish it wasn't at the expense of the original BSiAR colour.

It seems somewhat surprising that Nathan mixed up whole batches of this ink without doing any quality control checks.

He did a reformulation of Army Green a while ago and then reverted to the original after feedback. However this appears due to an un-announced change in the raw material by his supplier from what Brian Goulet says.

dannzeman
July 15th, 2014, 12:02 AM
Threads merged.

Jon Szanto
July 15th, 2014, 12:23 AM
Threads merged.

Anyone tell you today how cool you are? Consider it done.

Al_S
July 15th, 2014, 10:58 AM
Bummer. I'd wanted to buy a bottle of this, but had been putting it off. The new mixture doesn't really do it for me, so now I have to figure out if it'll be worth the risk to try my luck at scoring old stock.

Al_S
July 15th, 2014, 11:29 AM
So I failed a will save and ordered a bottle. Hopefully it'll be the old mix, but if it isn't & I don't care for the new mix, I can always offer it as a PIF.

snedwos
July 15th, 2014, 11:41 AM
So I failed a will save and ordered a bottle. Hopefully it'll be the old mix, but if it isn't & I don't care for the new mix, I can always offer it as a PIF.

My exact thought process yesterday. I then failed another 2 will saves (someone loaded my d8s!) and bought some ink cartridges and a chinese pen.

Al_S
July 15th, 2014, 01:57 PM
So I failed a will save and ordered a bottle. Hopefully it'll be the old mix, but if it isn't & I don't care for the new mix, I can always offer it as a PIF.

My exact thought process yesterday. I then failed another 2 will saves (someone loaded my d8s!) and bought some ink cartridges and a chinese pen.


I had a +2 bonus to Will, added by recent angry wife's reaction to last month's credit card statement, so I made it off the site with only the ink in my basket. Then I proceeded to the For sale forum and rolled a one. At least it'll be a great pen for the BSiAR :rofl:

snedwos
July 15th, 2014, 02:55 PM
What did you buy?

Al_S
July 15th, 2014, 04:27 PM
The Visconti Calligraphy set. http://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread.php/7815-Visconti-Calligraphy-set-65-shipped

It was too good a deal & I'm a sucker for italic nibs.

colonel4God
July 15th, 2014, 10:12 PM
@Kataish Oh I don't know. To know I would only have a small amount and never again that seems almost worse than never at all.

colonel4God
July 15th, 2014, 10:14 PM
Threads merged. Thanks didn't notice the redundancy. Second the "you are the man" thoughts.

raging.dragon
July 15th, 2014, 10:38 PM
I might actually prefer the new colour, but it's very different from the old. It actually resembles a mix of North African Violet and Black that somebody posted on FPN a few years ago - if I recall correctly it was nick named Black Swan in North African Violets.

writingrav
July 15th, 2014, 11:56 PM
I still have most of a bottle but will miss it when its gone. Unique and one of my favorites, though if memory serves very close to private reserve black-red if anyone is looking for a substitute.

kataish
July 16th, 2014, 10:59 AM
@Kataish Oh I don't know. To know I would only have a small amount and never again that seems almost worse than never at all.

I wonder if ordering from stores that still have old stock would help? I bet Wonderpens in Toronto has bottles of the old stock. That *almost* makes me want to order another bottle, but I'm already hoarding so much ink. I bought a few bottles of Sailor Jentle I wanted, along with others. Eek!

colonel4God
July 16th, 2014, 04:10 PM
@Kataish Oh I don't know. To know I would only have a small amount and never again that seems almost worse than never at all.

I wonder if ordering from stores that still have old stock would help? I bet Wonderpens in Toronto has bottles of the old stock. That *almost* makes me want to order another bottle, but I'm already hoarding so much ink. I bought a few bottles of Sailor Jentle I wanted, along with others. Eek!

I might try it out. I also might be having second thoughts on your offer. ;)

kataish
July 16th, 2014, 07:04 PM
I might try it out. I also might be having second thoughts on your offer. ;)

No worries! The offer doesn't expire unless you ask me after I use up the ink ;)

snedwos
July 17th, 2014, 03:15 PM
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/18/je3uzu7u.jpg

tandaina
July 17th, 2014, 03:58 PM
Yup, that's the new stuff. Very nice purple, but most definitely purple. :\ I'm thinking I hsould buy a bottle of English Roses just in case it changes too!

Jon Szanto
July 17th, 2014, 04:03 PM
I'm thinking I should buy a bottle of English Roses just in case it changes too!

Interesting question. Someone should pose that to Brian Goulet, for Nathan Tardiff.

Austin_Malone
July 17th, 2014, 08:06 PM
I never even got to try it it was on my must buy list and I hate the new color.

snedwos
July 18th, 2014, 11:08 AM
I'm loving it myself, though it is less unique. The old oz was an ink I wanted very much.

Al_S
July 19th, 2014, 12:06 PM
Well, my gamble paid off. I ordered a bottle through Writer's Bloc and managed to score a bottle of the old mix. The new mix looks nice, and now that I have the old in hand, I may eventually break down and order a bottle of the new stuff too...I guess I'll add it to my wish list.

snedwos
July 19th, 2014, 01:48 PM
Well, my gamble paid off. I ordered a bottle through Writer's Bloc and managed to score a bottle of the old mix. The new mix looks nice, and now that I have the old in hand, I may eventually break down and order a bottle of the new stuff too...I guess I'll add it to my wish list.

Aaaaagh SUMGAI!

So much hate lol

pajaro
July 20th, 2014, 09:27 PM
Purple Swan In Australian Orchids.

snedwos
July 21st, 2014, 10:40 AM
I hint it's still fair to call it a black swan.

Avalona
July 26th, 2014, 11:47 AM
The new BSiAR looks like a blackened version of Rohrer and Klingner's Solferino, which I like, but it's not the same sort of shade at all. ): I have like 90% of a bottle of BSiAR, so I'm good for a while, but this is kind of sad.

Shimmershadow
July 31st, 2014, 06:36 PM
I'll confess, I like the new color, because I am a sucker and a half for anything purple, and I'll probably pick this up soon. That said, BSAR was one of the first Noodler's inks I ever got, one of the first bottled inks I ever got, and I love it dearly. I will be very, very sad if they can't bring the old formula back. Also, I don't feel that calling the very different color of the new formulation by the old name is right. If nothing else, I would have preferred Noodler's to say, "Hey, we can't make BSAR anymore and we're sorry about that, but we have a new Black Swan coming out called [color name]." We buy ink with a certain expectation of that ink being consistently a particular color. If it's not that color anymore, it's not the same ink. JMHO.

Susan3141
August 4th, 2014, 08:50 PM
I have an almost full bottle of the original formula. I never use it. If someone would like it let me know. You pay for the shipping and I will be happy to give it a home where it will be cherished.

tandaina
August 4th, 2014, 10:02 PM
Ooo, Susan I'd love that bottle!

Susan3141
August 5th, 2014, 06:28 AM
Ooo, Susan I'd love that bottle!

It's yours. I'll email you.

tandaina
August 5th, 2014, 12:41 PM
Yay! Thank you! :)