Posts filed under Pen Reviews

Lamy 2000 Ballpoint Pen Taxus Body Review

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

At this point, we're all very familiar with the Lamy 2000. It's an iconic design that has definitely stood the test of time. Love it or hate it, it certainly has a fan-base. We've also seen some special editions for the Lamy 2000, but not many. The classic black Makrolon is a winner, but that doesn't mean the 2000 has to stop there.

The Lamy 2000 Ballpoint pen has been around for quite some time. It's not a new pen by any means, but the Taxus body option sure is new to me. Instead of the industrial Makrolon body material, this ballpoint features a beautiful wooden body made from the taxus tree. It's a completely different aesthetic that adds a lot of warmth to this old classic.

If you're already familiar with the shape of the Lamy 2000, then this pen doesn't have any surprises in store for you. For me, it's an exceptionally comfortable pen that I've never had any problems with when writing for long periods of time. The Taxus body just adds a small amount of warmth and a smoother texture than the Makrolon material.

Aesthetically speaking, the grain of the wood adds a lot of character and visual interest to an otherwise reserved design. It's a lighter colored wood, with darker grain that swirls smoothly around the surface of the pen body. Personally, I think it's a great color and texture match for a timeless design. I've really enjoyed using this pen and would highly recommend this option to anyone interested in a Lamy 2000 ballpoint.

The Lamy 2000 uses a Lamy M16 ballpoint refill, and it ships with a medium black refill. You can also pick up a blue refill, but you only have the choice of a medium tip. Monteverde also sells compatible refills for this pen with a few other color options, but I haven't personally tried these out yet.

The M16 refill is really smooth and lays down a dark line with minimal skipping. It actually does a pretty great job compared to other ballpoint refills, but it just can't compete with the Schmidt EasyFlow 9000 I've come to love so dearly. This is one of those moments where I furrow my brow at Lamy for insisting on their own proprietary refills instead of using a more accessible style. That's really the only complaint I have against this pen, and it can be a fairly major one depending on how much you like (or dislike) the default M16 refill.

Refill woes aside, this really is a delightful pen. The nock mechanism is smooth and crisp, the minimal Lamy logo printed on the back of the nock collar is tasteful, and the clip features the famous spring action design that the flagship Lamy 2000 fountain pens boast. All in all, it's a great pen.

Now, this fancy taxus wood body does come at a premium. Compared to the base price of about $65 for the traditional black Makrolon ballpoint, the Taxus Body comes in at just over $103 (at the time of publishing). That's a hefty premium, but one that I think is justified in the look and feel of this premium material. These pens make great gifts for the pen enthusiast in your life. Oh, and of course they're an excellent addition to your collection if it checks all the right boxes.

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

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Posted on January 1, 2020 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Lamy, 2000, Ballpoint, Pen Reviews.

Uni EMOTT Sign Pen Review

Any time a new sign pen hits the market you better believe I’ll be getting them to test as soon as possible. The Uni EMOTT Sign Pens look exactly like a pen that would be perfect for me. Now that I have them in hand, are they?

First of all, they write wonderfully. 0.4 mm plastic tip pens are not the norm by any stretch, and based on the way I write, they are great. The line is sharp and clean, which is the exact requirement for a pen tip like this.

The marketing of the EMOTT focuses a lot on the durability of the tip as well, stating it is “no bend, no breakage, and a consistent fine line width.” So far, I’m buying what they are selling, but I have a lot more writing in front of me to really test the durability.

The water-based ink is also water resistant, no bleed, and no smearing - which is honestly the cost of entry into this market. Your marker/sign pen has to have those features. What else can the EMOTT bring to the table? How about 40 colors of ink.

I chose the No. 8 Retro Set, which consists of Blue Green, Red Wine, Apple Green, Straw Yellow, and Iris Purple. It’s a great combination of colors, and it will shock you none that Blue Green is my favorite of the bunch. The only downside of this set is that they aren’t sold as individual pens like the 10 base colors are.

The two hangups with the EMOTT that some may have are the barrel shape, and the price. These are long, skinny pens with a square barrel. I’d prefer it to be triangular, if not round, but square works for me. It may not for others.

Price-wise, I think $3 per pen is the top end of what I’d pay for these. It looks and feel more like a $2 sign pen, but if the durability is there as it states, they are probably worth it. I’ll likely pick up a basic black soon to write with more frequently and see how they really stand up.

So, are they perfect for me? No, but they are really good. Especially the tip size and the colors. I’m definitely enjoying them so far.

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

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Posted on December 30, 2019 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Uni, EMOTT, Sign Pen, Pen Reviews.

Kaco Retro 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.)

Trying new and unique fountain pens is always fun, especially when they come in at the lower end of the price spectrum. The Kaco Retro fountain pen is a sleek design from a Chinese company that offers a sense of nostalgia and modern colors.

I've definitely done my share of eBay perusing when trying to find some fun and inexpensive fountain pens to try from top Chinese sellers. But, you do run some additional risk when you purchase these pens because quality control isn't the best and your options for correcting any problems are convoluted. In the case of the Kaco Retro, you can purchase your pick from Cult Pens and be sure that your experience will be top notch. This takes all of the guess-work out of this particular pen!

Purchasing options aside, the Retro is actually a good pen. Like the name implies, it borrows heavily from the Parker 51 aesthetic, but manages to add some modern flair in the way of colors and the clip accent. Possibly the coolest feature of the pen is the use of a hooded nib, which means the grip section covers most of the nib and only allows the very tip to show through. The orange one I have is an eye-catcher, and it's also fun to pass around and let people try since it's an inexpensive fountain pen.

To me, the aspect of this pen that grabs my eye first every time is the little pin head at the end of the clip. The bright blue-green always catches my attention and I can't help but pick it up for a quick writing session. Each pen color has a coordinated clip accent, which just adds to the fun of these pens. The functionality of the clip is also excellent! It's strong and does a great job of holding the pen in place during transport.

Moving on the cap, it features a smooth friction-fit design to secure it to the pen when not in use. You can also post the cap easily while writing. The amount of force necessary to uncap or cap the pen feels almost perfect to my preference. It's a bit tight when trying to uncap, but you quickly get used to it after using the pen a few times. One thing I noticed quickly is that you should avoid twisting the pen in a counter-clockwise motion when uncapping it because this unscrews the grip section from the pen body! I never realized how much I rotate pens when removing the cap, but I have certainly noticed during my time with the Kaco Retro. This hasn't resulted in any ink accidents, but it is slightly annoying to be made to tighten the grip section after uncapping the pen.

Aside from the clip, the only other feature on the cap of the pen is a small embossed KG, which stands for the company name. It's very low-profile and is difficult to notice in most light.

The pen body and grip section are the same width and match up perfectly against a small clear ink window. The ink window is handy to show you how much ink is left in your converter or ink cartridge, but it's also really easy to just unscrew the section and take a closer look. Either way, it's definitely a nice visual point to break up all the orange.

The grip section is somewhat uncomfortable for my fingers due to the material and smooth, sloped nature of the grip. I always struggle with glossy plastic grips, and this one is no exception. It is comfortable in my hand at first, but quickly becomes slick and difficult to hold after I use it for a minute or two. Your experience will vary, but you should have a pretty good idea of whether this grip will work for you just based on the shape and materials used.

Now, how about that nib? It's a good nib! The manufacturer says it's an extra fine, but the one I have writes like a European fine. The Cult Pens website even notes that some of the pens write like a European medium, so keep that in mind when ordering. This isn't a good choice if you're trying to dial in your nib preferences or are only interested in certain nib sizes!

The nib is smooth, the feed provides plenty of ink while writing, and I've been really impressed with how well the pen works in general. My only complaint is due to the design of the grip and nib. The hooded nib looks great, but it's always difficult for me to make sure I'm holding the pen at the right orientation while writing. Fountain pen nibs work best when the nib is parallel to the page. In most cases, the nib ceases to function when you roll the nib too far to one side or the other. Not a big deal in most cases, but this pen lacks the visual cue of the actual nib, and it also has a featureless grip section to let you know when your grip is rolling a bit too far. The hooded nib is so hooded that I have a difficult time knowing where the sweet spot of the nib is located!

Minor quirks aside, this really is such a fun pen. It includes a couple of ink cartridges as well as a cartridge converter so that you can use your own bottled ink. As a writing instrument, it functions beautifully and manages to be really dependable and robust. The materials used are mostly plastic, but the pen body and cap feel solid instead of like thin plastic that will break easily. For a pen that costs about ten dollars, it's a fun experiment!

Aside from the awesome orange color featured in this review, you can also purchase the Kaco Retro in a variety of other fun colors, like Red, Blue, White, Turquoise, and Black.

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

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