Tombow Pen Deals: Compare Sale Prices & Find the Best Discount UK

If you’ve spent any time around hand lettering, bullet journaling or illustration, you’ll have seen a Tombow pen. The brand’s dual brush pens have become one of the most recognisable art tools of the last decade, but Tombow’s story goes back much further. In 1913, Harunosuke Ogawa opened a small pencil shop in the Asakusa district of Tokyo. The business grew steadily, and in 1927 it registered the dragonfly as its trademark. The name Tombow comes from “tonbo”, the Japanese word for dragonfly, a symbol of victory and good fortune in Japan. Over the following decades, the company expanded into pencil sharpeners, ballpoint pens and markers, launched its famous MONO brand in 1963, and introduced the Pit glue brand in 1971. More than a hundred years later, Tombow is still based in Tokyo and sells its products around the world.

For artists, the star of the range is the ABT Dual Brush Pen. Each pen has two tips: a flexible brush tip at one end, inspired by traditional Japanese ink brushes, and a fine bullet tip at the other. The brush tip responds to pressure, giving you thin hairline strokes when you press lightly and thick, bold strokes when you press harder, which is exactly what you need for brush lettering and modern calligraphy. The ink is water-based, so you can blend colours together, either directly on the paper or using a blender pen, or brush water over your marks to create soft, watercolour-like effects. With a huge range of colours, sold individually and in themed sets, ABT pens have become a staple for letterers, illustrators, card makers and journalers, and they’re practicaly synonymous with brush lettering.

Tombow also makes ABT PRO, an alcohol-based version of the dual brush marker. Alcohol markers dry quickly and blend smoothly without streaking, which makes them popular for illustration, manga, colouring and design work. If you’ve been looking at alcohol markers like Copic or Ohuhu, ABT PRO is another option worth comparing, especially if you already love the feel of Tombow’s brush tip.

For lettering, the Fudenosuke brush pens are hugely popular, especially with beginners. They have a smaller, firmer brush tip than the ABT, which makes them much easier to control when you’re learning brush calligraphy. There are hard and soft tip versions, and twin-tip versions too. Fudenosuke pens are often recommended as the best starting point for anyone new to brush lettering.

Tombow’s MONO range is equally loved. MONO erasers are among the best-known erasers in the world, prized for erasing cleanly without smudging, and the MONO Zero precision erasers are brilliant for lifting out fine highlights in graphite drawings. The range also includes MONO pencils and mechanical pencils. Irojiten coloured pencils, sold in beautiful book-style sets themed around colour, are another Tombow favourite, and the brand also makes glue, correction tape and a host of everyday stationery.

In sixteen years in the art supplies industry, including nearly a decade running digital marketing at ARTdiscount, I’ve watched brush pens and hand lettering grow from a niche hobby into a huge creative trend, and Tombow has been at the centre of it. In our community of 36,000 UK artists at Discount Art Supplies, brush pen and marker recommendations come up all the time, and Tombow is one of the most-mentioned brands, especially by letterers and journalers. Markers are also one of the most-searched product types on our own site.

Getting the best deal on Tombow comes down to a few things. First, compare prices before you buy. ABT sets in particular can vary noticeably between retailers, and our comparison above checks Cass Art, Jackson’s, Amazon and others in real time. Second, think about sets versus single pens. Sets are great value when you’re building a colourfull collection, but if you only need certain shades, or want to replace your most-used colours, buying individual pens is often cheaper. Third, choose the right pen for what you want to do. If you’re learning brush lettering, a Fudenosuke is easier to control than an ABT. For colour blending and illustration, the ABT is the better choice, and for fast-drying, streak-free colouring, ABT PRO is the one to look at. And finally, watch for sales. Tombow sets are regularly discounted, especially around Christmas, back-to-school and Black Friday.

A few questions come up again and again. What’s the difference between Tombow ABT and ABT PRO? ABT uses water-based ink that can be blended with water, while ABT PRO is alcohol-based, drying quickly and blending smoothly for illustration and colouring. Are Tombow pens good for beginners? Yes. Fudenosuke brush pens are especially beginner-friendly for learning brush lettering. Can you blend Tombow ABT pens? Yes. The water-based ink blends easily, either with other colours, a colourless blender pen or a wet brush. What does Tombow mean? It comes from “tonbo”, the Japanese word for dragonfly, which has been the company’s trademark since 1927.

From a small Tokyo pencil shop in 1913 to the brush pens in letterers’ hands all over the world, Tombow has spent more than a century making tools people love to use. Looking for a Tombow sale, discount or discount code? Check the price comparisons above, updated in real time, and you’ll always know you’re getting the best current UK price.