Pilot Better Retractable Ballpoint Review

The Pilot Better Ballpoint was one of my favorite pens in high school. I used the fine blue ballpoint almost exclusively, and I liked the fact it came in purple as well. There was something about the design and the fine tip that I enjoyed.

I grabbed a two-pack of the Pilot Better Retractable at Staples recently trying to bring back old memories of incessant notebook cover doodling. This was a great pen back in the day and the design is timeless. Unfortunately, the ballpoint quality has been lapped by even some of Pilot’s own products.

Because of the basic ink performance, the Pilot Better Ballpoint falls in to the “just a pen” category. The black ink is light, there is white space in the lines, and there is ink build up around the tip frequently. Have I used worse ballpoint pens? Absolutely. Can I recommend other ballpoints that are better than this? Dozens.

I understand its place in Pilot’s product line - they need an office supply cabinet filler. But when I see Uni-ball making an effort with the Jetstream 101 to have a lower cost, higher quality ballpoint, I think Pilot could do the same with this pen. How much of a design change would it take to get the EasyTouch Pro (aka Acroball) ink into the Better Ballpoint?

Make that change and the Pilot Better Ballpoint might live up to its name once again.

Rotring Tikky Graphic Drawing Pen 0.4 mm Review

Rotring makes some of the best looking pens on the market. I am a big fan of the high quality construction and clean design. Yes, you do pay a premium for them compared to other similar pens on the market, but in most cases I think it is worth it.

The Rotring Tikky Graphic Drawing Pen is a relatively new item at JetPens. It had been requested a few times by artists and art students because of its durability. I certainly don’t put these pens through the rigors and stress that an artists does, so I take their word when they say how durable the tip of the pen is. Like your favorite coffee, they are good down to the last drop of ink.

I use this pen mostly for writing. My lettering looks amazing, but since the ink flows so fast and heavy it tends to bleed through regular weight paper like the Doane Writing Pad I use for reviews. Compared to the Sakura Pigma Micron, the Rotring Tikky is a true artists pen, made to be used on heavier weight sketch paper. I can get away with simple note taking with the Micron where I can’t with the Tikky.

There are always so many different things to consider when purchasing a pen. If you are a writer this pen might not be for you. But if you are an artist this might be your new favorite pen.

Uni-ball Roller Grip 0.5 mm Blue Review

One piece of information I wish were more readily available is the year a pen was introduced. Very few people care about this other than me, but I think it is useful. I’m guessing this Uni-ball Roller Grip has been around for at least a decade and I would love to say “Introduced in 1998,”.

Why do I care about this all of a sudden? Because this is a pretty darn good pen, and it seems to have been lost in the shuffle over the years. I have been asked to review it several times in the past but it wasn’t until Carmen grabbed me one in Spain that I had one available to review. How funny is that? A great American pen that had to travel across the Atlantic to get reviewed.

It’s not that it is impossible to find in the States, it’s that it is just a pen. From Uni-ball’s perspective, it’s not going to get the same marketing push as the Jetstream or the 207, and therefore isn’t going to be on retail shelves everywhere. It is more of a buy it by the dozen office supply cabinet workhorse.

What I like about the Roller Grip is the ink. It is a liquid ink, but it is not too wet. As long as you don’t hold the tip on the page excessively the bleed is minimal. Uni-ball seems to have improved the overall ink quality over the years as well. It is listed as a pigment based ink that is archival, acid-free, and water-resistant. I had no idea until I read the specs when typing up this post.

Has and old standby become a new favorite? Well, I had a little grin on my face when I was writing this review, sort of a “I can’t believe it is this good” smirk. I think a dozen black are in my future.