The Retro 51 Blog

M A R C O. . . P O L O . . . you just discovered the new Tornado Popper! Marco Polo was known for being an explorer, merchant and writer traveling the Silk Road trading for rare and exotic goods he would take back to his country of Italy. He even wrote a book of his epic travels in The Travels of Marco Polo. This limited edition ballpoint is printed with the world map complete with stonewashed pewter trim and compass on the top disc. Pick one up and start planning your next epic adventure, just don’t do it during your Zoom meetings or school classes.

Purchase through a Retro dealer of choice or DM or email us (customerservice[at]retro51[dot]com) for help finding a dealer. Do not stress. There are 957 of this design with “57” significant for 57 million square miles on Earth.

Exploring new frontiers…

It all started thirty years ago walking into store with a tray of pens and coming out with an order. Retro didn’t even have an office until July of 1990 when the lease was signed for 1500 square feet in Dallas, Texas. It’s hard to believe that thirty years has flown by but here we are. We thank you our fans because we could not be here without you!

To celebrate three decades of fine writing instruments we bring you this special release of the Pearl Anniversary Tornado. The barrels are made from cellulose acetate in a marbled white and pearl blend that has been finished with polished rhodium accents. Choose from the twist ballpoint, capped fountain or 1.15 mm pencil. A total of 1951 pieces have been produced with each one engraved with it’s LE number on the top ring.

Try to intercept this new Tornado Popper because it will go fast. Only 951 rollerballs have been created with the stealthy appearance that is designed after the XXXXXXX reconnaissance aircraft originally built in XXXX and used by XXXXXXXX until XXXX.  The barrel has been acid-etched with details from the XXXXXXXX and lacquered in a matte black and printed details. Each one is packaged in a commemorative tube to keep safe when it’s not recording.

Watch for the release of this design at your favorite dealer or email customerservice[at]retro51[dot]com.

February 29th is an ephemeral ghost…A strange amazing day that comes only once every four years. For the rest of the time it does not ‘exist.’ In mundane terms, it marks a ‘leap’ in time, when the calendar is adjusted to make up for extra seconds accumulated over the preceding three years due to the rotation of the earth. A day of temporal tune up! But this day holds another secret — it contains one of those truly rare moments of delightful transience and light uncertainty that only exist on the razor edge of things, along a buzzing plane of quantum probability…A day of unlocked potential. Will you or won’t you? Should you or shouldn’t you? Use this day to do something daring, extraordinary and unlike yourself. Take a chance and shape a different pattern in your personal cloud of probability! — Vera Nazarian (Author)

🤯

We couldn’t say it any better so we’ll just say that unlike Leap year, this Tornado is a once in a lifetime production. This is a limited edition of 888 and they will sell fast so don’t hesitate. Check availability at your favorite Retro dealer or contact us for help finding a dealer.

Almost thirty years ago after walking into a store with a tray of pens and coming out with an order, Retro 1951 was born. We were officially in the pen business despite not knowing what we were getting into. Over the years Retro has said the pen is an accoutrement of life which we stand behind, but at that time it was the vehicle that would launch new careers filled with many adventures around the world and lifelong friendships.

With the new year and new decade it’s also time for something new for a handful of the Retro51 team …. retirement. Retro51 as you know it, will be making some changes and going on a sabbatical. What does this mean? We are still trying to figure it out, but there is a potential for new ownership or Retro could come back with a new business plan that we feel will thrive in the ever changing retail market. It is also possible that the Retro51 brand will be retired.

The plan for this year is to stay in business for the next six to nine months as we wind down. We will keep inventory of a select product group through March, plus we have plans for five to six new Popper designs yet to come. At the same time Retro will be working with dealers to produce their own exclusive designs, so 2020 will be filled with several unique and fun Retro designs.

We build our products to be daily writers but we understand that some issues may develop and your pens may need servicing. We are making arrangements for someone to be available to service your Retro51 products so they can continue to last for many years to come. The Retro51 website will also be maintained so you can reference it for this info, plus access the history of products shown there.

We could not be writing this letter without the many faithful fans and dedicated dealers. Countless times we heard how you bought or received a pen for a birthday, promotion or graduation. This small gift was the key to our success. Sharing your passion with someone else to mark a special occasion is why after thirty years we keep going and also led to taking chances on some crazy ideas (see Rudy Tissue Box holder and some of the Tornado Poppers). We are surrounded by such a great and passionate community and we owe our success to you.

Although retirement is around the corner, this is not a goodbye letter. Please consider this a mission accomplished letter. It’s a thank you letter. We are riding off into the sunset and singing “happy trails to you, until we meet again.”

– George and the Retro51 Team

P.S. Life is too short…

Contest is now complete, see the winners below. The first three people to complete the puzzle with all correct answers will win this year’s special Holiday Tornado you’ve never seen before.

Seven other people will also win in a random drawing one of these two prizes: Special Holiday Tornado (x 2 winners) and Christmas Melodies Tornado (x 5 winners).  One entry per person. (If you were already gifted the special Holiday giveaway you will only be eligible for the Christmas Melodies). 

Either click on the jpeg above (and save) or click here for a JPG version. Manually fill it out and snap a photo with your phone or just email the answers.

Contest ends at 11:59 pm Monday, December 16th 2019. USA Contestants only.

Winners will be notified by email. In the case of a tie, a tiebreaker question will be created.

First Prize: Special Holiday Tornado (never for sale) x 5 winners (first three + first two drawn by RNG)

Second Prize: Christmas Melodies Tornado Popper x 5 winners by RNG drawing

WINNERS: 

Vince M.

Brian L.

Matt S.

Monica G.

Denis S.

Robert C.

Deborah O.

Kim H.

Anca A.

Stephanie A.

(all winners have been emailed)

It’s beginning to sound a lot like Christmas…

Turn up the Christmas music, light the fire and get out the egg nog because it’s the best time of year! The final Tornado Popper of 2019 combines the love of Christmas music with vintage nostalgia … vinyl records. This analog writer has an acrylic barrel that’s been etched like your favorite LP and then printed with some of the most beloved Christmas songs. It’s been finished with chrome accents, engraved serial number on the top ring,  top disc with singing birdie and packaged in a commemorative tube. This rollerball will have you singing throughout the holidays …. On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a Retro51 Christmas Melody…”

Limited to 1225 rollerballs. Check your Retro dealer for availability or contact us for help finding a dealer.

Invisible Creature has been a well known illustration and design company for over a decade now. If you are in the design industry you have known of them for sometime. If you are not, you have probably still experienced their work in your local Target without even knowing it. From in-store graphics to the gift cards they’ve created and possibly you’ve even purchased.

They have done so much work in the music industry that you probably have a CD with their designs as well. Bands/artists such as Foo Fighters, Kendrick Lamar, Alice in Chains and Lecrae to name a few.

Or perhaps you have used these stamps from the USPS…

They also designed some posters for NASA including “The Grand Tour” poster that is framed in our offices. This poster lead to a call with Don Clark to discuss the possibility of a collaboration. One year after our first phone call we were excited to release the Creepy Scrawlers, the first collaboration project for Retro.

R51: Would you consider yourself a “pen” person? Have you ever received on as a gift?

DC: You know, before this project I’d have to honestly say no. I wasn’t familiar at all with “pen culture” since I essentially only use a stylus and pencil for drawing. I have some cool brush pens that I use on occasion but my work is created almost entirely digitally at this point. (Cue sad trombone sound here). And I think like most people, we find ourselves writing less and typing much more these days. We have a few ball point pens around the house but don’t give them much thought. This project with you guys was enlightening in many ways and made me think of pens in a whole new light!

R51: Did you know about Retro51 or the world of pens before this project started?

DC: I did know there were nice writing pens out there, but had not hear of Retro 51, sadly.

R51: Do you use a pen in day to day life? Doodling ,note keeping etc.

DC: I would say yes, I definitely do use a pen every day, but mostly it is to jot down a phone message at the studio or for a quick sticky note. I wish I had more time to doodle these days. I’d say 100% of my drawing time is for a client or specific project we are working on. If I am experimenting or sketching, that would usually be done on my Wacom Cintiq with a stylus.

R51: Did you find designing on the pen was difficult? or did it come together really well?

DC: Actually, it did present a few challenges that I enjoyed figuring out. Namely when it came to creating something that was going to be printed so small – and on a curve. Since we had so many characters featured on the pen (and the holder), I needed to make sure that certain elements didn’t become too tiny or obscure. I had fun playing around with stroke widths and sizes to determine how small I could go with things.

(Original Sketch)

R51: Do you have a favorite monster? or favorite 5?

DC: That’s like asking if I have a favorite child! Ok, Ok, it is hard but I think maybe this guy? He just looks soooooooo guilty.

R51: Did you ever surprise yourself with one of the Scrawlers you created? Like you look back and think “that’s crazy.”

DC: Well I do think it’s a little crazy that I haven’t counted the amount of monsters yet … I should do that. 

(R51: there are 17 monsters on the pen and 69 on the packaging)

R51: Did you name any of them? For some reason I felt like this guy’s name would be “Igor.”

DC: I haven’t yet but I think the guy above should be named “Benny.” He looks like a “Benny.”

R51: Do you think you’ll add onto these “Creepy Scrawlers” in any ways? Another poster or t-shirt perhaps?

DC: I’d love to do another series of all new creatures in a completely different color way sometime!

R51: If you were to design another pen theme what would you want to do?

DC: Yes. Birds! 

R51: Would you consider yourself a “pen” person now?

DC: Can I be a Retro 51 “person”? If the answer is yes, then I am definitely a pen person now.

R51: Big thanks to Don for working with us and taking the time to give some insight on this project! We hope you like your Creepy Scrawler as much as we do. To see more of their work check out their website. For help finding a dealer with these still in stock please contact us.

What is your favorite Scrawler?

Do you want to see more collaborations?