(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Bluesky. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)
It's a great feeling when you are interested in something because of one feature it has (like, say, a tiny Retro 51 pen), but then you find yourself enjoying all of its features much more than expected. So yes, I selected this item because I wanted the tiny Retro pen. It's cute! And now I am enjoying having a great wallet, too. Double win.
Pularys makes lots of nice leather wallets, and the Modern Traveler Set collaboration with Retro 51 combines their quality features with a great portable pen, ensuring that you can be well equipped for any tasks that combine card-carrying and writing. There are a lot of those. While many receipts have gone digital, I used mine today in a restaurant, and earlier this week signing a form in a doctor's office. I wouldn't want to write a whole book with this teeny tiny pen (though I'm mad enough to try it someday, probably), but it's fantastic for jotting down a quick note or signature. And the pen writes well! It’s a ballpoint pen, not the gushing rollerball of Retro 51 Tornado fame, but that is much more practical for what will likely be used on receipt paper a lot of the time.
The wee Retros included in these wallets are color-coordinated to the set. This blue wallet comes with a copper-colored pen. The Cognac wallet's pen is teal, and the black wallet's pen is black. All have the Retro 51 brand on the front, and they close with a silver snap strap. They all look great.
It's a surprisingly small wallet, though it carries a lot. It holds 8 cards in the aluminum RFID-blocking sleeve, which releases the cards with the flip of the black plastic lever at the bottom of the wallet. There are also two folder-style sleeves inside the wallet to store additional cards. There's also a folded plastic bill holder behind the aluminum card sleeve. Then, of course, there's the mini Retro pen sleeve in the spine. I was able to move everything I need to carry into this wallet--from a much larger wallet that did not include room for a pen. It was a wonder of physics.
This is my first time using a wallet with one of those card-flipper features. I've been nervous to try one. The little flippers stick out funny, and what if they break, leaving my important cards trapped in their aluminum coffin? Okay, I'm still a bit anxious about that, but I can say that using this one feels very sturdy and reliable.
I knew I would love the pen. I had a tiny Retro 51 like this that I purchased at my first ever pen show in Colorado in 2015, and I lost that treasured pen when it fell out of my pocket in a parking lot one day. I've been searching for a replacement ever since, and it looked like this wallet set was the only way to find one. I did not expect to like the wallet as much as I do! I figured it would be nice, don't get me wrong, but I have never considered myself to have "wallet preferences." That might change, now.
The only thing I'd change about this wallet is that I'd include a teeny tiny notebook tucked into the right side slip pocket, just for a bit of scrap paper to go with the wee pen. Happily that's something I can add, myself.
The Retro 51 Modern Traveler set sells for $120, though as I write this, it's on sale for $96 at Dromgoole's. It's worth the full-price cost, and the sale is a great deal. If you have someone in your life who needs a nice new wallet, or if you need a tiny Retro 51, this is a total win.
(This product was purchased from Dromgoole's at regular price.)
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