Posts filed under Pen Reviews

Lamy Pico Pearl Chrome Ballpoint Pen Review

In all of my recent discussions around pocket pens on the blog and the podcast, the Lamy Pico was left out of the primary conversation. That was a mistake on my part, because it is one of the best pocket pens on the market today.

The main feature of the Pico is the unique retractable mechanism it offers. When closed, it is a sleek, compact pen that is easy to slide into a pocket or a bag. When deployed, the pen extends into a full length writer that is comfortable to hold in any situation.

Many compact pens offer a standard length when in the writing position, but what sets the Pico apart is the full-sized, or even over sized to some, barrel diameter. Pocket pens generally have a slimmer profile to suit their reason for existence, so it is nice to see a normal barrel width in a compact pen. The Kaweco Sport series is another pocket pen that does this well.

The refill is above average quality for a ballpoint, but the size is proprietary. So, there is no swapping of refills for your favorite D1 or Parker. The Pico ships with a medium black ink cartridge, but Lamy offers a fine blue refill, which is always my go to choice if possible.

Aside from being an excellent pen, the Pico is part of Lamy’s limited color rotation, so you will see fun colors like Neon Pink and Blaze Orange pop up about once per year. This Pearl Chrome is part of the stock lineup, and features a satin silver finished that feels great. And since the barrel is metal, is is perfect for engraving, which makes the Pico a great gift.

This makes my second Pico, although I can’t seem to find my white one at the moment. Regardless, it won’t be my last, especially if Lamy keeps releasing fun colors in this lineup.

(Pen Chalet provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on August 21, 2017 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Lamy, Pico, Ballpoint, Pen Reviews.

Inventery Mechanical Pen Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

Machined pens have always captured my interest, so I was pretty excited to open up the Mechanical Pen by Inventery. Minimal packaging, minimal pen, and big impact. That was my impression after opening the package, and it hasn't really changed since.

Inventery is a design house located in Los Angeles. I wasn't able to find much about the company, but based on their website, it looks like they design and sell unique lifestyle items to fit their aesthetic vision. Unlike other machined pens we've come to love, it doesn't look like these pens are manufactured in-house. Either way, the end result is a very nice pen.

So, what is the Mechanical Pen? It's machined from a single rod of brass and then coated with another thin layer of metal to achieve different colors. Today, they offer a brass, chrome, brushed chrome, and onyx (black) finish for their pens. While I enjoy a good brass or copper pen, I'm not overly fond of the smell of the metal or the oxidation that inevitably takes over the surface of the metal. Sure, they can be cleaned and polished to original luster, but I don't find much enjoyment in that activity. The model I have is brushed chrome, and I'm a big fan of the color and finish. Since it's brushed, it isn't as shiny as the polished chrome cousin. This dials down the shine factor a bit, making it look very similar to polished aluminum.

Inside, the Mechanical Pen is rocking a Schmidt P8126, aka the refill found in the Retro 51 Tornado. This is a fantastic refill, and another great design decision on the part of Inventery. You probably recognize the click mechanism as well, which is also made by Schmidt and found in many, many other retractable machined pens. It's a smooth, quiet, reliable mechanism, and another solid choice in design.

Being made of brass, this pen has a noticeable heft. After owning and handling many metal pens over the years, this isn't really a surprise anymore. Based on my own tastes, I know before buying a pen that I almost never prefer brass over a lighter metal. For me, brass is just too heavy for comfortable use. The same is true of the Mechanical Pen, but it's small enough to be comfortable for short writing sessions, notes, and scribbles. One thing is for sure — you can tell when this pen is sitting in your pocket, but it always falls to the bottom of a bag/purse due to the weight. The smooth metal finish doesn't have any texture, but it's still easy to handle when writing. My fingers haven't slid while using this pen. It's also a great size for writing, with a slightly larger than normal barrel diameter. It's actually exactly the same length as another favorite of mine: the Karas Kustoms EDK, which also uses the popular Schmidt P8126 refill.

The shape of the pen is simple, but it does feature a nice design detail to keep it from rolling away easily. There's a ~2mm flat edge that runs down the length of the pen barrel that acts as a great stabilizer when this pen is sitting on a flat surface. It's not as sturdy as a clip, but it definitely helps in keeping the pen in place.

Branding is extremely minimal on this pen. There are two markings on the body of the pen, and they are easy to miss if you aren't looking for them. Both markings are on the top of the pen barrel close to the click mechanism, and they are on opposite sides of the barrel from each other. On one side, there's a serial number. The other side features a small Inventery logo, which is an upper-case I in a circle. Like I said, minimal and easy to miss. Compared to other machined pens, this is 100% more branding than usual, but it doesn't stand out.

While I like the Mechanical Pen, there are some things that I wish were different or expanded on. First of all, I really like pens to have pocket clips. I don't always use the clip, but I feel like it should be there. Unfortunately, the Mechanical Pen doesn't have one, and that's a design choice that isn't easy to retrofit. I love the simplistic design, but I miss that clip.

I've also noticed that some of the chrome finish is missing around the tip of the pen where the cone meets the pen barrel, allowing some of the brass to show through. This is really hard to see without magnification (like a camera lens), but it's definitely there. I don't mind it all, but it does make me wonder if more of the chrome finish will wear or chip away over time and with use. This observation probably translates to the regular chrome and onyx finishes as well.

This is more of a "wishlist" item, but it would be nice if there were options outside of brass for this pen. I would love an aluminum version of this pen due to the simple weight reduction. It would also be fun to see a titanium or stainless steel version, as well as other colors and finishes. This would also provide different price points since brass tends to drive cost up compared to cheaper metals. More material (and cost) options would attract more buyers.

Overall, the Mechanical Pen by Inventery is a solid pen. It's minimal, elegant, sturdy, and features a dependable, well-performing refill that will satisfy pen enthusiasts and likely delight buyers who are new to the arena. The Mechanical Pen is $90 and available in chrome, brushed chrome, brass, and onyx finishes.

(Inventery provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on August 16, 2017 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Inventery, Pen Reviews.

Kuretake ZIG Clean Color FB Brush Pen Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter.)

When I was a kid, my mom always had a lot of brush pens. She was studying Japanese, so they were a useful tool. Occasionally, my brother and I would find them and have a blast. The Kuretake ZIG Clean Color FB take me back to that play, only without the time-out that usually followed.

Brush pens have certainly improved since then--I remember them drying out and fraying quickly, though that may have been due to my childish coloring techniques. But these pens were very smooth on both Rhodia and watercolor papers and didn't dry out on me during use. I expected to feel some feedback or even see bits of tipping or paper on the watercolor swatches, but they were perfectly well behaved.

The ink is a water-based dye ink. It is most likely not lightfast. It can be blended with water for a paint-like effect, though not all of the colors are equally successful with this. Some spread easily and completely, while others barely moved at all, and many still showed the original marker lines underneath. The ink is odorless, xylene-free, and AP-certified nontoxic. So they're great for leaving them out where your kids can find them and foster and early love for stationery.

The colors are very vivid, even when diluted with water. The Pure set includes carmine red (022), cornflower blue (037), gray (090), green (040), May green (047), mustard (067), oatmeal (064), orange (070), pink (025), platinum brown (903), violet (080), and yellow (050).

The felt brush tip is not super flexible (it may loosen up after some more use), but using the side angles of the brush can create some great line variation. The tip is not replaceable and the ink is not refillable.

The body is a sturdy grey plastic and the snap cap is clear, with a nice wide clip. I suppose the clear cap might help to identify the color, but many colors look fairly indistinct through the plastic. In order to identify the color you'll have to check the bottom disc of the pen, or navigate the novel of text on the pen body looking for the color name. This drove me bananas when I was using these. If you have them in a pen cup or stored in sleeves, you're better off just memorizing the color numbers, because all that info will be hidden. Unless you store them upside-down, which may be a perfectly good option with these. This brand's other lines of brush pens have a colored plastic section, making color identification quick and easy. I'm not sure why they didn't go that route with these.

As far as price goes, at just under $2 per pen, these are right in the middle of the road. I did notice that there is almost no cost advantage to buying the sets. A set of twelve costs only 2 cents less than buying 12 open-stock pens. One the one hand, I think that's a bit of a bummer, but on the other hand that means you can just pick whatever colors you want without feeling like you're not getting the best deal.

I don't think these pens are great tools for artists, but they're a lot of fun for more casual use. I'm looking forward to trying them in coloring books and leaving them out where my kids can find them.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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