Stabilo Pen 68 1.0 mm Neon Marker 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.)

The Stabilo Pen 68 Markers are a favorite of many marker lovers. Their huge variety of vibrant colors allow for infinite creativity and they're priced at a point where you don't have to feel too weird for collecting multiple, similar shades of the same color.

Stabilo's latest addition to this marker line is neon shades--six electric bright colors for when your work needs an extra pop or highlight. There's neon red, pink, orange, yellow, green, and blue. The ink is much brighter than it appears in pictures--these could even be used as highlighters, with the 1 mm tip perfect for highlighting finer print. The tip can also be held at different angles to produce different line widths. The tips are bullet-shaped and quite firm for felt tips. They hold up well for sketching, coloring, and lettering, and they're great for coloring books.

The ink is super bright. It's odorless, water-based, and dries quickly with no smearing--so it's great for lefties. Though it dries quickly on paper, through some sorcery it doesn't dry out in the tip. They can be left uncapped for up to twenty-four hours without drying out. That's insane. And great for long coloring sessions. A twenty-four-hour coloring session sounds pretty nice right now. This feature also makes them good kid markers, where creative enthusiasm can sometimes lead to forgotten or lost caps. The small caps are a choking hazard, though--so keep them away from younger kiddos.

The body of the pen is hexagonal, so it won't roll on tabletops. It's a rather long marker at 6.6" capped, 6.2" uncapped, and 7.1" posted. It's also fairly narrow--similar to a pencil in feel. There is no clip and no specific grip area. The body itself serves as the grip section, which allows for some nice flexibility in grip preference, and the hexagon angles are subtle enough that they aren't uncomfortable to hold. Which is good if you're planning that twenty-four-hour color-a-thon. The cap is ventilated and clicks in place. It also clicks to post, and is nicely secure there. The cap is really small, though, and it twists freely so that the hexagon angles don't line up. I confess I've lost some valuable coloring time to fiddling with the caps so that they line up with the body. But I'm also aware that if they put the engineering into aligning the caps, the markers would probably cost more. So I'll let this one go. I mean, I'll probably have to fix it every time, but I'll try not to complain about it.

I generally prefer colored pencils or gel pens to markers, but if I was going to invest in a big set, I'd consider these a good value. I'd personally prefer a finer point, for the tiny spaces in adult coloring books.

I think everyone needs a little pop of brightness and fun in their day--and there's not much more bright and fun than neon art supplies.

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

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Uni Pi:s And Zebra Mackee Double-Sided Marker Showdown

Markers make my handwriting look awesome. Maybe it's the larger, faster arm movements that are required to keep pace with a wide tipped, fast flowing pen, or maybe it's as simple as the design of the tip itself. Either way, pens like the Uni Pi:s and Zebra Mackee are fun to have around for when you need them.

When you actually need markers like this is the key. These aren't every day writers like the Sakura Pigma Micron. They are task specific, meaning you should know how you will be using these pens before getting started. Both the Uni Pi:s and Zebra Mackee are made to write on many surfaces, such as paper, fabric, glass, metal and more. The oil-based ink allows for this, and makes them water resistant as well.

What sets these two pens apart? Not much to be perfectly honest. They are very similar in design - so much so that I have to find the brand logo on the barrel to determine which one I am using. Each is double-sided, both with fine and extra-fine tips, with the tips on the Zebra being slightly firmer and finer. I doubt I could tell the difference in a blind test though.

The Zebra does have the lone differentiator in the pens with refillable ink cartridges. For a pen like this that is a big deal because you will burn through markers if you use them heavily. The cartridges are a long cylinder with wide openings on each end for good ink flow.

And the ink flow is huge, as you would expect with this type of pen. Any use of these pens on normal paper will result in bleed and feathering. Writing with them is fun, but they are most suited for heavy duty materials like posterboard, fabric, and plastic.

For $2 a pop, the Uni Pi:s and Zebra Mackee both come in a rainbow of colors and will make your inner artist squee with delight. Check them out the next time you have a project that calls for some color.

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