Posts filed under Pen Reviews

Zebra Click Bright Highlighter Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And her latest book, Root Rot, is now available for pre-order!)

Where were these all my life? Bookworms rejoice, there's finally a wee chisel-tip highlighter that's perfect for highlighting fine print and closely printed text. I didn't know I could be so delighted about highlighters, but here we are.

Zebra, king of the school supply isle, has brought us the Click Bright Highlighters, which are both bright and clickable. This set of six comes in the classic neon colors: yellow, pink, blue, orange, purple, and green. They're not overly pigmented to the eye-searing level that some highlighters achieve, but they're a good balance of bright enough to draw attention. Unlike the standard capped highlighters, these are a click-retract model, which is so perfect for when you're holding a book in one hand and marking it with the other. No more removing the highlighter cap with your teeth! We've all done that, right? And despite the lack of cap, these still have a sturdy clip, so they can become the clip-on bookmark that all highlighters are destined to be.

The tip on these is also very good. It's a slightly angled chisel tip that is only 2 mm tall, which makes it so perfect for dainty work. It can even be used as a marker for writing, if one wants some neon calligraphy.

The ink is water-based, but not too wet or overly-juicy, so it doesn't bleed through paper. It makes me very sad when highlighters bleed through, so I was glad to see that these don't. They do feel a little dry when using them, but they don't actually dry out, even with their capless design.

I have to nitpick to find anything wrong with these, and the only thing I can come up with is that there's so much text on the body that it makes them look very cluttered and cheap. And to be fair, they are cheap, or at least inexpensive. The set of six sells for $10.50, with colors available individually for $1.75. That's a very decent price for what are now my favorite highlighters.

How much time have I spent slowly and carefully using the tip of a regular highlighter to mark fine print or novel text? So much time! These I can just swipe across the page without a care in the world. They're also perfect for color-coding in planners, even those with tiny grid lines. These have made my day literally and figuratively brighter.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on April 4, 2024 by Sarah Read and filed under Zebra, Highlighter, Pen Reviews.

Opus 88 Demo 2024 Edition Fountain Pen Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

Just a few months ago, I reviewed the 2022 special edition of the Opus 88 Demo, which was a wonderful mix of purple and maroon that I really enjoyed. Before then, I wasn't aware that Opus 88 did annual color editions, so I was curious about whether a 2024 edition was announced yet. Not only was it announced already in January, but it was also available for sale. I immediately bought one after see it on the computer screen because the greens and blues spoke to me so strongly.

Fast forward a few days when I got the pen in hand, and I couldn't be any happier with the purchase. In person, the greens and blues are more vibrant and you can see more of the semi-translucent qualities of the acrylic material. It's not often for me that I know that I'll love something like this before I've even received it, but for some reason I just knew that the colors would be spectacular in person. I'm glad I was right.

The Opus 88 Demo model has been around for years, and it's one of my personal favorites. I like the uniform barrel shape and mix of colors that I would think might clash but somehow work together. The grip section fits my hand well, and the pen diameter is really comfortable for how I write and hold the pen. On top of all that, the ink capacity is stellar. I don't normally fill these pens up all the way with ink because I normally want to change out the ink before I use it all. But, just having the option of loading this pen up with ink and not having to refill for quite a while is definitely comforting.

The color scheme for the 2024 special edition is a dark turquoise body paired with green-yellow accents on the cap and grip, and a lighter blue blind piece that you use to open and close the ink reservoir. The colors go so well together, and I love the visual interest that the semi-transparent material adds to the already eye-catching colors. The nib and clip are both a dark off-black color, which go great with the dark hues of the pen body. I think bright metal would distract the eye from the acrylic materials, so I like the dark metal choice.

For this model of the Demo, I opted for a Medium nib. This is a favorite size for me when doing general writing or long-form writing, so the Demo is a perfect workhorse choice for that nib duty. The nib is glassy smooth out of the box, and the flow is perfect. I paired the pen with Road Trip from Standard Bindery, which is a fun ink on its own merit, but it pairs beautifully with this pen.

It's refreshing to see pen companies release fun and new colors for their existing products. Lots of companies do it, but Opus 88 does an exceptional job. Their pens are great quality, affordable for what they offer, and work well. Since I know the pen model is a great baseline, it's easy to make a quick decision on a colorful and attractive model without having used the actual pen before.

If this 2024 Edition of the Opus 88 Demo speaks to you like it did me, you'd better hurry and snag one ($140 as of this review). These are limited stock, and when they're gone, they're gone. If the greens and blues aren't for you, then there's always next year or even the solid selection of standard colorways as well. The Demo is one of my favorite pen models, and this color combination just makes me happy.

(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on April 3, 2024 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Opus, Fountain Pens, Pen Reviews.

Retro 51 Tornado Big Shot USPS Dragons Stamps Review

It doesn’t take much for me to review a pen, but a pen with dragons? How fast can it get here?

The Retro 51 Tornado Big Shot USPS Dragons Stamps not only looks amazing, but sports a feature that I have yet to review on a Retro 51: it’s big. I guess the Big Shot name gave that away, huh? But maybe not, so that’s why I wanted to take a look at it today, and compare it to the standard sized Tornado that many people are familiar with.

As a regular standard Tornado user, the size of the Big Shot is immediately noticeable when you pick it up. The length of the two pen models is identical at 125 mm, but the diameter is where the changes are. For comparison, here are the specs:

Big Shot grip area: 6.4 mm

Big Shot upper barrel: 9.2 mm

Big Shot Weight: 40 g

Standard grip area: 4.4 mm

Standard upper barrel: 6.5 mm

Standard Weight: 28 g

Looking at the numbers, the 12 gram weight difference is noticeable, but not that big of a jump in overall feel. The Big Shot is a well-balanced model, and while I noticed the weight difference when switching back and forth between the two models, I didn’t find it to be too heavy. The diameter, though, did take a bit of getting used to.

I took the barrel diameter measurements with my calipers right in the middle of where I grip the pen, so take my listed measurements with that caveat. The grip is obviously wider in the Big Shot, and given the refill used - the stock Schmidt P8127 used across the lineup by Retro 51 - it works. Wide refills and wide grips go together in my book, and it didn’t feel like too much of an outlier.

What took the most getting used to was the much wider upper barrel. Even though that area of the pen (I measured just under the clip/mechanism hardware near the top of the barrel,) sits in the open area in the cusp of my hand, I kept thinking about how bulky it felt there. Not in a good or a bad way, but in a “I keep noticing this,” kind of way. It’s wide up top, for sure.

With the size comparisons out of the way, let’s talk about the one thing that Retro 51 usually nails: the design. They have worked in collaboration with the United States Postal Service (USPS) for years, and each of those designs has been a hit. But this one, featuring Dragon stamps, was the first design that I had to get for myself. It’s so cool looking, with the bright colors and different stamp designs placed around the barrel. I’m having as much fun looking at it as I am using it.

From a price perspective, the Retro 51 USPS Dragons is $61 and lands in the middle of the Retro 51 Tornado lineup. The base level solid color Tornado is $28, and the more detail and design elements the pen has, the greater the price, reaching upwards of $100 for very complicated releases.

I’ve been enjoying my time with this pen, and I’m glad to now have a Big Shot in the collection. As a model, I will always prefer the standard size Tornado, but if the design dictates it - as in this case - I may consider adding another to the collection down the line.

(Goldspot provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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