The Pen Addict

Review: Pilot FriXion Ball Knock Retractable 0.5mm Black

I give Pilot a lot of credit for continuing to tweak and improve their FriXion line after first introducing it a couple of years ago.  The original FriXion was a good not great pen, but as far as erasables went, it led the pack.  The fatal flaw with the pen in my opinion was that the eraser part of the pen was on the butt of the pen, meaning that if you write with the cap posted, you would have to take the cap on and off to access the eraser.  That was endlessly annoying to me.  They corrected that with the Color Pencil-like FriXion, putting the eraser on the tip of the cap (duh!) making it far easier to access.  The ball knock retractable seals the deal with the eraser on the end of the pen, and having the clip of the pen as the knock mechanism.

The design of the pen steals a lot from the Pilot VBall RT, with the barrel size and shape, grip, and tip being virtually identical.  The barrel finished is more of a brushed style than a glossy style, giving this pen a very sharp look.  A look I wouldn't mind seeing in some of their other products as a matter of fact.

Of course the big selling point of the FriXion is the ink, and this may be Pilot's best effort yet, at least from a darkness standpoint.  The original ink had nearly a gray tone, which was too light for my tastes.  The Color Pencil-like had a much darker tone, and this new FriXion knock has matched that.  From an erasability standpoint, it works almost exactly like any of the other FriXions.  The ink comes off the page for the most part, but there is stil some shadow left behind.

<rant>Seeing how freely Pilot feels it can change up the FriXion line, you would think they would throw their G2 fans a bone every now and then.  The original G2 is in desperate need of an update, but I assume since it is an office supply cash cow, they don't want to be too quick to upset the status quo.  The GKnock recyclable G2 is a fair option (I actually prefer that barrel), but they could do so much more with one of the most popular pens around.</rant>

Click here for the XL review.

Products used:

Pilot FriXion Ball Knock Retractable Gel Ink Pen - 0.5 mm - Black from JetPens

Writing Pad from Doane Paper

Review: Uni-Ball Fanthom Erasable Gel 0.5mm

The Uni-Ball Fanthom is the latest entry into the friction based erasable pen market, and compared to the Pilot FriXion, it is a pretty decent option.  While erasable pens have their good and bad points, I do see some value in them, especially for students.  In the business world, maybe not so much, but this pen is designed for fun, so know what you are getting before you take the plunge.  Hopefully this review will help.

The ink is the real selling point of the Uni-Ball Fanthom.  Like the product description states on JetPens, the ink is thermo-sensitive, meaning the more heat friction I create while trying to erase it, the better the ink comes off the page.  This poses two problems for me.  One, it is difficult to erase a small area.  I write small, and it is tough to generate enough friction to erase just part of a character.  I have to erase two or three characters to get a clean enough area to make my correction.

Two, and this is a real stickler for me with the Fanthom as compared to the FriXion, the harder and faster I erase, the more I "gloss up" the area of the page I just erased.  I don't know the official term for "gloss up" but what I mean is by rubbing so hard on the page, I tend to create a smoothed out area that now has different properties than the page around it.  When I write my letters back over that spot, they look different than the other letters that weren't erased.  Not a big deal for some, but with my anal retentive ways, it bugs me.  The FriXion eraser has a little more give in it to where it doesn't treat the paper the same way as the Fanthom.  The Fanthom doesn't even have an eraser per se.  You just use the point of the pen cap to get the job done.  At least Uni-Ball put the eraser on the correct end of the pen.

On the plus side of the ledger, I thought my writing looked absolutely killer with this pen.  The letters were clean and sharp on the page.  The barrel is very well designed also, with a nod to the Uni-Ball Vision Elite barrel, which is one of the best around in my book.  Also, the Fanthom is refillable.  That is a very nice touch for heavy users - like students - who should find this pen quite handy.  While the ink colors are much lighter than gel or liquid ink pens, compared to other erasable pens it isn't too bad.  The regular FriXion seems lighter to me, but the colored pencil-like FriXion is darker.

Who knew there would be so many words to write about an erasable gel ink pen?  After all of that, there are probably things I have left out, so please leave a comment below and I will address any questions you have.  I haven't tested out any of the non-traditional colors yet, but I plan on it soon.  At $3.00 a pop, they are priced to where you could try one out before committing to the entire rainbow.

Click here for the XL review.

Product Links:
Uni-ball Fanthom Erasable Gel Ink Pens at JetPens
Large Writing Pad from Doane Paper

Exploded view:

Review: PaperMate Replay Max

Aside from a few dabblings here and there with Pilot FriXion's, I have pretty much sworn off erasable pens.  They are usually too inconsistent from a writing perspective, don't erase well enough, or more times than not, both of those things.  Unfortunately for the PaperMate Replay Max, it falls into the both of those things category.

I keep threatening to do a bottom five pens post like I have done for the top five, but I just haven't made the time to do it.  If I were to do one tomorrow, I'm pretty sure this pen would be included.  I think it was back in my middle school days when I first used PaperMate's original erasable pen.  It was cool back then, and using this Replay Max reminded me a lot of those days.  That is not a good thing.  I never thought the original erasable pen wrote very well, but I was a kid and who really cares.  I had a PEN, and it ERASES!  I'm only a kid at heart now, and I need my pen to do a lot better job than this one does.  The line is essentially one big skip.  There are so many gaps in my lettering that even Madonna is embarrassed by it.  The barrel is surprisingly comfortable, and the eraser does a good job at what it is supposed to do, but the writing performance is so bad that this pen is almost unusable.

Is there anyone out there that uses an erasable pen on an every day basis?  If so, which model do you use?

Click here for the XL review.

Review: Pilot FriXion 0.7mm Purplish Red

I have really done a 180 on the entire Pilot FriXion line with this new Color-Pencil-Like model, going from "No Thanks" directly to "More Please!".  And Purplish Red?  How can you pass up Purplish Red?  This pen just glides across the page without so much as a hiccup, and the eraser gets the job done admirably when called upon.  The color is interesting as well.  I don't normally fall for red pens, but the purple adds a nice twist and I find myself reaching for this pen frequently.  With 24 colors available, maybe there is a cool color out there for you too.

This video for "Patty Lee" from Les Savy Fav is all kinds of awesome.  It's a great tune, and always tops the playlist when my daughter and I break out with a dance party.  Plus, maybe I can learn some moves from the girl in the video.  Turn this one WAY up and get your groove on.

Click Here for the XL review.

Review: Pilot FriXion Color Pencil Like Erasable Gel

This is my third go-round with a Pilot FriXion pen, and after not liking the first two I tried, what would make me think I would like this one any better?  I have no idea, other than I am a glutton for punishment, and at just $1.95 a pop for the new model I could handle the pain of not liking it.  As it turns out, the Color Pencil Like (is that really it's name?) model has made great strides over its predecessor.

My issues with the original Pilot FriXion are as follows:
-- Ink color - Much too light for my tastes.  Both the blue and black I previously tried looked washed out.
-- Eraser location - To actually get to and use the eraser, you had to keep the cap unposted, or take it on and off each time you wanted to get to the eraser.  Highly annoying.
-- Eraser performance - It was poor at best, taking too much effort for too little erasing.

The combination of all three issues made the Pilot FriXion a novelty act in my mind, but the new model has changed that.  I noticed immediately that the ink is darker - even before noticing that the eraser is now in the proper location, meaning the pen cap can remain posted when writing.  To top it off, the eraser actually works.  If you can make it out in the photo, the words I erased in the eraser test came off cleanly with minimal effort.  The colored blocks didn't erase as well, but I think part of the problem is that I was erasing too firmly, taking some of the paper with me.  The words erased with light pressure.

Now the bad news - JetPens is sold out of nearly every one of the 24 colors available in this pen.  Yes, I said 24 colors, but they are usually quick to restock.  I picked up a Purplish Red one as well just because I like saying Purplish Red.  I also had sense enough to grab a 6-pack of these to use as a giveaway, so look for that in the next week or two.

Related posts:  Erasable Pen Olympics