Pilot FriXion Biz Point 04 Review

I’m not sure where I was when it happened, but I have turned into a full fledged Pilot FriXion fan. I think it must be Pilot’s constant updating and improvements to the entire FriXion line that made me sit up and take notice. Have you seen how many products they have released just in the past year?¹

When the first round of the FriXion Biz came out, I wasn’t on the bandwagon yet. The barrel looked great, but it contained the standard 0.5mm conical tip that was present in the regular FriXion. A year or so ago, Pilot came out with the FriXion Point 04 - a needle tip 0.4mm erasable gel ink pen. Now we are in business! The FriXion Biz Point 04 was released shortly thereafter, and I finally picked one up last week.

I went with the Metallic Blue Body, and it is both fantastic to look at and to write with. The barrel reminds me a lot of the Pilot Hi-Tec-C Cavalier barrel, but full sized as opposed to the slimmed down Cavalier. I also bought the blue ink refills, because I am weird about using different color inks than the body color (it comes with a black ink cartridge).

Looking at the written review², you can see how nicely the pen writes. Very clean lines, and no skipping to speak of. The shade of blue is lighter than most, but that allows it to be more easily erased, and doesn’t bother me a bit.

One thing that did bother me originally was the eraser placement under the cap. I am learning to deal with it, because in the case of the Biz, it would make for a less attractive pen if the rubber eraser was on top. If I was using a mechanical pencil I would have to remove the cap to get to the eraser too, right?

The Pilot FriXion Biz 04 has earned a place on my desk, and I reach for it often. I wouldn’t sign any official documents with it, but it is a fun pen to use in nearly every other situation.

---

1. 
   

   Note to Pilot: The G-2 could use an update. ↩

   
   


2. 
   

   Sorry for the terrible crop and the seasick photo angle. ↩

   
   

Uni Mitsubishi Pin Pen 01 Blue

The Uni Mitsubishi Pin Pen was one of the most requested items at JetPens, and we were finally able to stock them a few weeks ago. I personally have been wanting to load up on them for a while after getting my first one from Carmen’s Great European Vacation nearly two years ago.

For those of you familiar with the Sakura Pigma Micron, the Uni Pin is very comparable. The pigment ink is water proof and fade resistant, and lays down as clean of a line as you can imagine with its felt tip. The written review above is of the 01 (0.28mm) blue ink model, and I am really pleased with it. The tip feels firm, and the lines are sharp. The shade of blue is darker than both the Sakura Pigma Micron and the Sharpie Pen, which I like. Uni even managed to smooth out the ridges in the grip area so they don’t dig into your fingers like some other pens.

The Uni Mitsubishi Pin comes in three tip sizes - 01 (0.28mm), 02 (0.33mm), 03 (0.38mm) - each available in black, blue, or red ink. There is also an oil-based ink model made to write on plastic, glass, or fabric which I have yet to test.

If you are a fan of felt tip or drawing pens, these are well worth trying out.

Review: Kuretake Pocket Double-Sided Brush Pen

This review is by Kalina Wilson, who can also be found at geminica.com.

The brushes on the Kuretake Disposable Pocket Double-Sided Brush Pen are felt tips that are designed to give a variable width line.  These brushes are in the same neighborhood as Tombow Fudenosuke brush pens (of which I am a great fan) in terms of line width, shape, and responsiveness.

The two tips are described as "fine" and "medium", but with a light touch, they can both achieve quite a fine line.

Neither of this pen's tips are intended for fast, lush sketching. Ink flow is quite thin.  You get a lot of control but not a lot of ink.  I'd say this is a good pen for cartoonists that are inking carefully over pencil sketches - not so good for loose sketching since you'll run out of ink if you move too fast.  The ink appears to be totally waterproof.

This pen would be a solid competitor to the Tombow Fudenosuke... if the "medium" brush were a little more reliable.  Mine hasn't been used much but it's already a little flakey, and its skimpier ink flow really becomes obvious if you try to fill an area - see the bottom of sketch on the right. 

 

Because this pen is double-sided, affordable, waterproof, and has at least one good fine brush tip on it that can achieve very good detail (that Spock drawing is quite small), it's a very decent pen to experiment with - but I would recommend giving the excellent Tombow Fudenosuke a try as well.