Monami Super Gel-Q Gel Ink Pen 0.4 mm Blue Black Review

I teased my review of the Monami Super Gel-Q a couple of weeks ago on Twitter and mentioned then that I wanted to spend more time with it before posting my review on the the blog. Well, time has been spent and I think I am able to paint a better picture now than when I first bought the pen.

I purposefully set low expectations for this pen before testing it out. Why? First of all, I don’t have a lot of experience with the Monami brand. Secondly, it looks like they are borrowing heavily design-wise from the Pilot Hi-Tec-C and Uni-ball Signo DX. My experience in the past with pens that fit this criteria usually haven’t been positive, so thus the low expectations.

So, with that background out of the way, how did it perform? Initially, much better than I imagined. It wrote so well and was so nice to use I kept stopping, looking at the pen, and asking “is this really happening?” It was happening all right. In fact, I enjoyed it so much I took it to work to continue testing it out. And then …

… the other shoe dropped.

Have you been around long enough to remember my review of the Zebra Sarasa Stick? I had high expectations for this pen since I am a huge fan of the regular Zebra Sarasa line. The Sarasa Stick was great at first, but all of a sudden the line would dry up in the middle of writing. Sometimes it would come back, sometimes it wouldn’t. As I continued to use the Monami Super Gel-Q the same exact thing started to happen.

I was upset because I thought I found another great everyday use pen. I scribbled and scribbled but I still haven’t been able to get as good of a line as I did in the photo above. My lettering looks great that picture, and I want it back!

I’m not giving up hope yet though. Sometimes a pen needs a break to get started down the right path again. Plus, I have a black 0.4 mm that I haven’t used yet so maybe this is a one off issue. My recommendation? Try one, but just one. They have several great colors to choose from but I wouldn’t go buying up six or so right out of the gate. If that one works well then dig a little deeper.

Just remember to keep your expectations in check.

Lamy Joy Calligraphy Fountain Pen 1.1mm Nib Review

(This is a guest review by Bryan Gushikawa)

Ah, Lamy. The German company that stands for rugged, tank-like pens with fat nibs! They really know what their customers want and the Lamy Joy Calligraphy Fountain Pen is proof. The angled, super-wide nib makes for fun writing and can really make calligraphy pop on the page. Unlike the louder colors of the Safari and Al-Star lines, though, this one comes in a classy black with red accent plastic body, but has the same tough metal clip and triangle grip of those lines.

The body is long, almost 3/4ths of a cap length longer than the Safaris. The heavy plastic body feels rugged and is big enough to be comfortable to hold for long periods of time. The triangle grip is smooth plastic and it seems to be a love or hate thing among fountain pen users. The trademark ink window is present and this pen IS compatible with all Lamy cartridges and the converter, too. I like the black color a lot because it’s not a super fingerprint magnet, but it looks pretty stylish, especially with the red accents.

The nib is classic Lamy: built like a tank, but smooth with good flow. The angle imparts a nice flavor to the nib, even though the line is really wide, and calligraphy with this pen will be wonderful. The nibs are most likely interchangeable between other Lamy pens (not verified), so if you have another Lamy pen, this one is still a good one to get. I couldn’t find any flaws with this pen and the quality is very high for such a low price point!

It’s well known that Lamy=quality and this pen is NO exception. Classic German sensibility, design and performance. You can’t go wrong with a Lamy!!!

Uni-ball Insight 0.7 mm Rollerball Review

If you are anything like me, a trip to the store is not complete without a visit to the office supply aisle. The majority of the time there is nothing new, and on the rare occasions there is, it is coming home with me - for better, or for worse.

I was hoping the Uni-ball Insight would land in the “for better” category, but my expectation was it would fit squarely in the “for worse” bucket. At the risk of ruining the rest of the review I’ll go ahead and cop out right now: It is somewhere in the middle.

The good: Like most of Uni-ball’s products, the design and overall quality are top notch. I rarely have any issues with their pens and the Insight is no exception. The barrel is solid, lightweight, and comfortable to hold. It also uses Super Ink technology, which means the ink is archival quality.

The average: Shockingly, the Insight is also “refillable”. I use quotes around the term because one, I haven’t laid eyes on any refills, and two, like the Uni-Ball Vision Elite, you are replacing at least 50% of the entire pen (ink cartridge, grip, and tip) with each refill. I don’t see how that is good value.

The bad: While I do appreciate the Super Ink technology, the ink flow of the Insight is too heavy for me. In my book, this is a redesign of the base-level Uni-ball Vision, a pen that I don’t care for at all. It bleeds profusely on most standard papers, and is overall a messy writer. If you enjoy the standard Uni-ball Vision then you will like the Insight very much. But, if you are looking for a liquid ink Uni-ball pen that performs better than average, skip these and go straight for the Uni-Ball Vision Elite.

One pricing note: The black and blue dozens at Amazon run in the $15 range, but for some reason the red dozen is only $8. If you are a heavy red pen user that is an excellent deal. The Insight is certainly worth that.