Sakura Pigma Micron 01 Blue Review

I have reviewed the Sakura Pigma Micron several times in the past, and honestly, there is only so much to say about this great pen. But, I just found this photo in my Flickr stream from October of last year, and realized it never got its proper due. Aren't you all just so lucky!

One of the main reasons I have reviewed so many Sakura's is because I love taking notes with this style of pen. The plastic tip leaves such a clean line, and the barrel design works great with my low grip. For hard and fast writers and artists, tip durability could be an issue, but I find the Sakura Pigma Micron to be one of the best pens in this category.

As if all that wasn't good enough, you also get the benefit of one of the premier options for archival quality ink. The Pigma Micron web page has all of the technical specifications one would need to feel secure in choosing this pen for their next archival project.

This 01 (0.25mm) blue model is a little thin for me to use as an every day writer. The 03 (0.35mm) is my go to pen, preferably in black ink, but the orange ink is an excellent choice as well.

JetPens carries the Sakura Pigma Micron Drawing Pens in tip sizes ranging from 0.2mm to 0.5mm, and in a wide variety of colors. Be sure to check them out if you are looking to add something different to your writing arsenal.

Office Depot Foray Retractable Ballpoint Review

Continuing this weeks theme of readers favorite pens, this lovely chap you see in the photo above is the Office Depot Foray Retractable ballpoint. Pen Addict reader Amy sent me a few of these earlier this year after a discussion on the blog about which store brand pens are the best. My stance was there is only one that is worth the money - the Office Max TUL Gel. And honestly, there wasn't much disagreement with that. There just aren't many store brand pens that stack up well to their name brand counterparts.

The Foray Retractable is a decent option though. I like the needle tip style, which you don't see all that often in a ballpoint. The pen writes smoothly and relatively cleanly, although there were a few instances of extra ink hitting the page. Overall, it is a decent writing experience.

The barrel has a great design, but just feels average in the hand. It is fully plastic, even the "chrome" parts, so it is lightweight as well. The only thing I didn't really care for was how high the tip section screwed into the barrel shaft. Being a low gripper, that got in my way a bit.

Overall, you could do a lot worse than the Office Depot Foray ballpoint, which I guess is saying something. :) Do any of you have any store brand pens that you like that I need to check out?

Pentel Hybrid Gel Roller 0.7mm Review

One of the best parts about running a site like The Pen Addict is that you get to hear from a lot of readers about their favorite pens, pencils, and stationery. Even more fun is when they actually send you their products to try out, like Pen Addict reader Joshua, who sent me this now discontinued Pentel Hybrid Gel Roller. Thanks for letting me give this pen a spin Joshua!

One of the reasons he sent it to me is that he was looking for a pen recommendation to replace this one. The Hybrid Gel Roller is a long, sleek, 0.7mm gel ink pen, and Joshua was wanting something similar. My first thought was the Pilot Choose, which has a similar barrel design, but then it hit me. The Pentel Hybrid Gel Grip at JetPens is pretty much he same pen, but with an 0.8mm tip. That being said, Joshua stepped out of the box and tried a few of the more popular gel ink pens like the Uni-Ball Signo DX and the Zebra Sarasa Clip (I think the Signo DX 0.38mm was his favorite btw :).

So, what are my thoughts on Joshua's Hybrid Gel Roller? It's just average. The ink is nice and dark, but it wasn't near as smooth as other 0.7mm gel in pens I have used in the past. It wasn't scratchy, but it felt like the tip dragged across the page as opposed to gliding like most other similar pens. I did like the length of the barrel when writing, but the overall package just wasn't there for me.

Thanks for sending me this pen Joshua - it is much appreciated! I actually have another user submitted pen review ready to roll on Wednesday, so if you have a favorite pen that I haven't reviewed previously please let me know and I'll try to pick one up.