Posts filed under Pen Reviews

Retro 51 Rescue Tornado Buzz 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.)

Of all the pen breeds, ballpoint is my least favorite. I still think they're fun, because pens, but I don't love them with the same manic fervor as I do other kinds. Except for this one!

There's something about the Retro 51 Buzz design and these crazy smooth Retro 51 Easy Flow 9000 ink cartridges. The pen will take any Parker-style ballpoint refill, but I've never used one that's better than this. It writes butter-smooth and never skips, but the line is crisp and as dark as gel ink--without the smearing. It has all the utilitarian properties of ballpoint ink but eliminates all my pet peeves about it. It's nicely saturated and doesn't feel dry or require hand-cramping pressure.

When you take a refill that good and put it in a pen this beautiful, well. That's just pure fantastic-ness. The body of the pen is acid-etched in a honeycomb pattern, enameled with honey-gold colors and adorable wee bees. The accents are in brushed copper. It has the classic Retro 51 knurled twist mechanism and sturdy metal clip. The finial is decorated with a hungry looking bear who has just found his favorite snack.

On top of all that, the proceeds from each sale go to the NW Honey Bee Habitat Restoration. So if you needed one more reason to push you over the edge, there you go. These would make excellent gifts, too--especially for people who like pens but don't want anything fussy or who need that ballpoint ink for work. It's just a good pen and this edition does good for the world. It is sweet as honey in every aspect.

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

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Posted on October 25, 2018 by Sarah Read and filed under Retro 51, Pen Reviews.

Pineider Avatar Fountain Pen Review

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

It's easy to spend years in the pen community and be completely unaware of various pen companies that are also operating in the same space. That's what happened to me with the Pineider Avatar. Pineider is an Italian stationery company that dates back to 1774, and recently rebooted in 2017. In the case of the Avatar, I've been pleasantly surprised by this new (to me, anyway) brand.

The Avatar is made of resin and silver trim, but that's really selling it short. The mixture of red shades and translucent material gives this pen a little something extra when the light catches it. Moving under the light, the pen appears to have dimensions and space beneath the surface, an intoxicating chatoyance.

The silver trim matches the pen nicely without detracting any from the real star of the show. The ends of the pen and cap are both rounded, and the clip is a spring-loaded mechanism that integrated into the top of the cap. It's not the strongest clip out there, but it gets the job done.

One of my favorite things about this pen is the magnetic cap system. Instead of a traditional screw-on cap or friction fit system, the Avatar has a nifty magnet catch design. Uncapping the pen is easy, and recapping it results in a satisfying /chink/ to let you know it's secure. When capped and not in use, the cap feel secure and I don't think it would slip off in normal circumstances. I would keep a close eye on this pen if I put it in my pants or shirt pocket if the pen couldn't reach the bottom of the pocket.

Another fun feature of the cap is the band. There's a lot going on with the band, and I wasn't sure I liked it at first. After looking a bit closer and realizing that it was a skyline, it started to grow on me. Since I didn't recognize the city skyline at first, I looked at the small pamphlet that came with the packaging and discovered that it was a skyline of Florence, Italy. Along with the skyline is a classy "Pineider" logo. I wish the band had a little more thickness and dimension, but I also appreciate that it's flush with the body of the cap.

The section of this pen is longer than most, but it has a nice shape. It's a slick metal finish that can get a bit slippery, but I haven't had any issues with it so far. One issue I did have during the first few days of using this pen was inky fingers. I wasn't sure how my fingers kept getting ink on them, but I finally figured out what was happening. Since there's no lip or ridge at the bottom of the section, my finger would slip down onto the feed and pick up ink. After realizing this, I consciously changed my grip on the pen to stay a little higher up. After doing this, I had no more issues with inky fingers. This is more of a individual preference problem, but worth mentioning since I don't normally have this problem with the dozens of other pens I own and use regularly.

The steel nib on the Avatar is also something that surprised me. It's minimally decorated and the size matches the size of the body perfectly, but it's also buttery smooth on paper. The nib is firm without feeling like a nail, but you also can't get any flex out of it. Even though it's labeled as a medium, it feels more like a fine — possibly even an extra fine. I'm not sure if Pineider nibs run small usually or if this is just an issue on the unit I have. Either way, I enjoy using the nib and it's performed beautifully right out of the box.

Speaking of the box, Pineider really takes pride in their presentation. The box that this pen arrives in is a black pleather covered box with a couple of small flaps that are secured with magnets (someone at Pineider really likes magnets...). Upon opening the box, you're greeted with the pen on a stand at the top of the box. Under the pen is a small drawer that contains some information on Pineider and some stationery supplies — small envelopes and pages for letters. It's a nice touch and something that I've never seen before for a pen of this price.

I think it's fair to classify Pineider as a luxury brand, and I've had mixed experiences with luxury brand pens before. This certainly isn't the norm, but there are times where the presentation is on par with a luxury brand, but the writing experience is poor. Sometimes it's hard to justify the price of a luxury pen if it doesn't easily attain the number one practical goal of all pens.

In the case of the Pineider Avatar, I'm pleased to report that this luxury pen is a satisfying mixture of elegant materials and presentation as well as a beautiful writing experience.

The Pineider Avatar retails for $280, but Pen Chalet sells it for about $225 at the time of this review. At that price, there's a lot of excellent competition that usually blows weaker luxury pens out of the water. With the combination of a great writing experience and the gorgeous, tantalizing materials of the Avatar, I think it sits fairly in this price range along with the likes of the Pilot Custom 823 and others.

If you're interested in the Avatar, it comes in four beautiful colors. The color featured in this review is Lipstick Red, but you can also choose from Coal Gray, Pacific Blue, and Saffron Yellow. Each pen comes with a cartridge converter and accepts international short cartridges. Unfortunately, there are no nib options outside of medium steel nibs.

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

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Posted on October 24, 2018 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Pineider, Fountain Pens, Pen Reviews.

Ballograf Epoca P Ballpoint Pen Review

One of the most fun parts of being a pen addict is trying out stationery from all over the world. I’ve tried many pens from many countries, and am always on the lookout for more.

Ballograf was a name I was familiar with, but I had never tried this Swedish brand until two years ago when my friends from the country brought me one. It had a classic style that I loved, almost a throwback/retro look, and it felt great to use. They told me these pens were EVERYWHERE in Sweden, from offices, to banks, to schools, to homes. Ballograf is Swedens pen.

As it should be. The company was started there in 1945, was owned by Bic from 1959 to 2004, and returned to Swedish ownership from then onwards.

The history of the brand is on display with the Ballograf Epoca P ballpoint pen. This pen is a throwback, but in browsing through the history of the company I think it is more fair to say it has never changed. And that is ok by me.

The design and colors of the Epoca are right out of the era when it first launched and gained popularity. I chose Khaki Green to honor the heyday of 1970’s avocado green kitchenware. There are more modern colors available, like Heather Purple and Mint Green, but if I’m going throwback, I’m going all the way.

The plastic barrel of this pen is sturdy, and is comfortable to hold when writing. It looks like a simple design, but there are small elements like the octagonal upper barrel and clip detailing that set it apart from basic ballpoints.

The ballpoint ink cartridge is different too, in that the ink is rated as archival. Outside of the Uni-ball Jetstream, are there other ballpoint inks that claim this? Honestly, I’ll have to do more research on that. Mine shipped with a medium blue refill and it was finer and cleaner than I hoped it would be. So much so that I want to order the fine blue ballpoint refill to see just how perfect it could be.

As much as I like the Ballograf, it’s not all ABBA and IKEA here. This pen has a ton of tip rattle, or click-clack as I like to call it. You know that sound when the tip of the pen hits the page and you think “Who is using a typewriter in here?” The Epoca is not a quiet writer because of this. I’d be interested to try another one to see if it is consistent, or if this is manufacturing variance.

Also, I find the price to be interesting. At $6.50, it is not expensive in the grand scheme of things. Although relative to the competition, you could argue that it is. The Jetstream is half the price and is far superior. The Parker Jotter is twice as much and is practically the same. So, why do you want to own this pen?

For me, it is the statement pen for an entire country, and that is something I can get behind. I’m glad I have it, and I want another one to test out. In fact, looking through their catalog, there are several products I would jump at the chance to buy, with their chrome-barrel pens and pencils at the top of the list. Let’s do this Sweden!

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

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