Wonder Pens

A great shop creating an amazing culture around pens, paper, and the art form of writing. The staff here are kind, helpful, and are steeped in the culture of pen writing and stationary appreciation. They even have a blog about their craft!
It also feels really good to support a young family.
I sometimes find the husband/​gentleman a little hard to read, and I can take this as he finds me a nuisance in his store, but the more I go and hang out there, the more I realize it’s just his relating style and he is in fact incredibly helpful.
This is an example of the kind of shop that we NEED to support: local, family run business who practice and appreciate their craft and the instruments they sell. What a gift!

Great place. The staff and store are top-​notch. So glad to hear they’ve moved and not just closed up.

This is the new location that Jon and Liz moved to earlier this summer. The entrance is a bit hidden and there is no sign showing 250. The walkway/​alleyway right next to 260 Carlaw. (see the pictures I posted). The door/​shop faces south. There is Green P street parking along Carlaw.
The new location is very spacious and a lovely space that has a lot of room to walk around in compared to the old shop which was tiny. It looks like there is a table set up which could be where calligraphy lessons might be held in the back of the showroom.
Wonderpens is a stationary Nerd’s Paradise, even in a digital age I keep going back to paper and pens. There is a nice selection of fountain pens that are cheaper (price wise) to midrange ($ 50 – 100). Fountain pens of course can be much more expensive, but Wonderpens is a great cost efficient place to get your first fountain pen and see if you like it and want to dabble further or not. They carry the Chinese brand Jinhao which makes attractive metal body pens that start at $ 7 which is cheaper than you can get from eBay most of the time. I love this because I don’t feel sad if I lose one of these. There’s a nice selection of Noodles Flex pens.
There’s a nice selection of different brands of ink and their are ink chips to show how the ink actually looks on paper.
There’s a nice selection of paper (notebooks and letter paper) of different weights and sizes. They do carry Midori Travelers Notebooks, accessories and refills and the price is not jacked up because we are in Canada and the lowest locally that I have found. They also carry Field Notes including limited editions.
Jon and Liz are friendly and answer questions that you may have about products they carry. If you read their blog and check out their instagram you will see Liz talks about product releases or her impressions using some of the products because she is a fellow stationary nerd too. I like that they carry a lot of products/​brands no other Canadian stores/​businesses don’t because I don’t have to order them online from the US.
I read an old review that some people think Jon and Liz are not friendly or that they felt like they ignore their customers. I don’t agree at all. They greet you when you enter and are always willing to answer any questions you may have. I like that they are easy going and give you space to shop. They don’t pressure you to buy anything like other small shops (of various goods) sometimes might. I used to pop by the old location every now and then, sometimes with a large haul because I am a Stationary hoarder, other times with nothing at all and I have always been treated with consistent and friendly demeanour from Jon or Liz.
I like supporting this local business because their prices are reasonable and they carry great products. It’s also apparent that they have an actual love of stationary which shows.
This is my favourite pen and stationary store and I love recommending it to friends like it was recommended to me by a coworker last year.

I love this shop.
I am an educator and in the last year I got interested in reconnecting with handwriting. I wanted to see if writing longhand, like I did years ago, would improve my research and my teaching. I found Wonderpens at their old location on Dundas West. I picked up a pen and was instantly hooked.
I’m now a regular customer. The two owners, Jon and Liz have put together not only a very cool pen and stationery shop, but they are also helping to build a community of like-​minded pen and paper lovers. Calligraphy classes, Letter-​writing clubs, and now an Antique pen market all serve a growing community of handwriting enthusiasts.
Their shop features an amazing collection of hard to find goods, like rare papers from Japan (Tomoe River), Midori notebooks and brass accessories (clips, stencils, rulers, clipboards — oh that clipboard!), as well as high grade G. Lalo writing paper, and much more. Palomino blackwing, Pearl, and the 602 are all there, if pencils are your thing — they also carry some really great mechanical pencils — check out the Kaweco Sketch!
On the pen side they have a very impressive array fine writing instruments. From high end Japanese fountain pens, such as Sailor and Pilot to finely-​engineered pens made by Kaweco (check out the copper Lilliput!), to starter pens for kids made by Lamy. My favourites are the gorgeous resins on the Edison Pens. I’ve explored nibs from. 2.4mm through the Extra fine Kaweco nibs, and I’ve been able to make good choices because Jon and Liz have such thorough knowledge of their products.
Ink? Got that covered too. Diamine, J. Herbin *including all 4 from the awesome 1670 line!*, Private Reserve, a ton of Noodler’s inks (including the infamous Bay State Blue), Rohrer and Klinger, Sailor, Iroshizuku (OMG, BTW), and more. It really is an impressive collection. And they have (check stock) Noodler’s awesome new Plains of Abraham ink, which for my money, is the best ink I’ve ever used.
I’m obviously a supporter of this shop and their mission. Whether you are a collector like me, or someone new to fountain pens, or if you just want some stationery, I think you would be hard-​pressed to find a nicer place to shop.

Strolling into Wonder Pens is always such a great experience. The great chats, and friendly service from Jon & Liz or their great posts on Instagram, Wordpress, and Facebook are always something to look forward to. You’ll be searching a while for a better pen haven in Toronto.
The community they’re helping build with their calligraphy classes, and letter writing club along with other events are making the fountain pen user community an even better and more inviting place.
Whether you’re a seasoned veteran of the fountain pen world or a person just looking to get their feet wet, this is the place to check out if you’re in Toronto or surrounding area.