Pentel Vicuna Video Review

This is a guest post by Bryan Gushikawa.

The Pentel Vicuna is Pentel's entry into the already saturated market that was started by the Jetstream and is now crowded with major players like the Zebra Surari and Pilot Acroball.  Can Pentel capture any market share with its neon-colored entry?  Read the review to find out!

The appearance of the Vicuña is the first thing that is noticeable when the pen is picked up.  The crazy and bright colors and accents make it look like a 100 yen shop cheap special, but the plastic in the barrel is actually quite nice to hold.  It's ridged on the grip area, but the barrel is not elastomerized, so it's not that spongy stuff that attracts dirt and dust.  The handling of the pen is also quite good:  the weight is mostly forward and the tapered design works in the pen's favor.  The refill itself is a slender type with a gel matrix grease ink that is reputed to be super smooth.  The refill inserts via the rear when the click mechanism is twisted off.

As far as writing performance goes, the ink IS super smooth.  It's very similar to the Jetstream in that it's glassy smooth and skip free.  It's also very dark dye ink and lays down a very solid and pleasant line.  You won't have any trouble writing page after page with this pen!  The width is right at about 0.4mm and there is no bleedthrough on the paper.  A quick dry time is good news for southpaws and the consistent line width makes this pen a good daily workhorse.

Where does the Vicuña fall short?  One is the design that doesn't have the same classy styling of a Jetstream.  The neon colors might be really unsuitable for office use.  The ink also blobs a little bit when writing loops, although the ink dry time is short enough to make this just a little annoyance.

Overall, this pen IS a very good entry and, if you don't mind bringing a brightly-colored, plasticky pen with you, then this is a pretty good deal!  A definite recommend on the strength of the writing performance, with reservations on the styling.

Muji Aluminum Pen Case and Needle Tip Gel Review

My pen friends are the best, and Carmen (@ccorrada) might be the leader of the pack. Her latest trip took her to New York City, and she stopped by the Muji store to pick me up one of the newish Refillable Aluminum Pen Cases for their super popular 0.38mm gel ink refills.

Muji prides itself on minimalism in its design, but even more impressive to me is the seamless functionality of the few parts involved. The barrel has three parts - the tip, the barrel, and the cap - and any other Muji gel retractable ink cartridge fits right in. The neatest part (which I managed not to take a picture of - and neither did Amy) is how there is a cutout on the top of the cap to allows you to see what color ink refill you have loaded. Muji applies Apple's "It just works" philosophy perfectly to minimalism, and this pen is no different.

I have raved about the performance of the ink cartridge time and time again, so no need to rehash that other than to say I have yet to have any performance problems to speak of. What made this one unique to me was the fact this was a needle tip refill, where I have only used the conical tip in the past. In fact, I don't even see the needle tip as an option on their web site, so I'm pretty happy to have been sent this one.

Since these aren't the easiest pens to come by, you should be sure and grab one or several if the opportunity ever arises.

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.