Posts filed under Pen Reviews

Retro 51 Tornado Big Shot USPS Dragons Stamps Review

It doesn’t take much for me to review a pen, but a pen with dragons? How fast can it get here?

The Retro 51 Tornado Big Shot USPS Dragons Stamps not only looks amazing, but sports a feature that I have yet to review on a Retro 51: it’s big. I guess the Big Shot name gave that away, huh? But maybe not, so that’s why I wanted to take a look at it today, and compare it to the standard sized Tornado that many people are familiar with.

As a regular standard Tornado user, the size of the Big Shot is immediately noticeable when you pick it up. The length of the two pen models is identical at 125 mm, but the diameter is where the changes are. For comparison, here are the specs:

Big Shot grip area: 6.4 mm

Big Shot upper barrel: 9.2 mm

Big Shot Weight: 40 g

Standard grip area: 4.4 mm

Standard upper barrel: 6.5 mm

Standard Weight: 28 g

Looking at the numbers, the 12 gram weight difference is noticeable, but not that big of a jump in overall feel. The Big Shot is a well-balanced model, and while I noticed the weight difference when switching back and forth between the two models, I didn’t find it to be too heavy. The diameter, though, did take a bit of getting used to.

I took the barrel diameter measurements with my calipers right in the middle of where I grip the pen, so take my listed measurements with that caveat. The grip is obviously wider in the Big Shot, and given the refill used - the stock Schmidt P8127 used across the lineup by Retro 51 - it works. Wide refills and wide grips go together in my book, and it didn’t feel like too much of an outlier.

What took the most getting used to was the much wider upper barrel. Even though that area of the pen (I measured just under the clip/mechanism hardware near the top of the barrel,) sits in the open area in the cusp of my hand, I kept thinking about how bulky it felt there. Not in a good or a bad way, but in a “I keep noticing this,” kind of way. It’s wide up top, for sure.

With the size comparisons out of the way, let’s talk about the one thing that Retro 51 usually nails: the design. They have worked in collaboration with the United States Postal Service (USPS) for years, and each of those designs has been a hit. But this one, featuring Dragon stamps, was the first design that I had to get for myself. It’s so cool looking, with the bright colors and different stamp designs placed around the barrel. I’m having as much fun looking at it as I am using it.

From a price perspective, the Retro 51 USPS Dragons is $61 and lands in the middle of the Retro 51 Tornado lineup. The base level solid color Tornado is $28, and the more detail and design elements the pen has, the greater the price, reaching upwards of $100 for very complicated releases.

I’ve been enjoying my time with this pen, and I’m glad to now have a Big Shot in the collection. As a model, I will always prefer the standard size Tornado, but if the design dictates it - as in this case - I may consider adding another to the collection down the line.

(Goldspot provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on April 2, 2024 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Retro 51, Rollerball, Pen Reviews.

Penlux Honoring Ishikawa 2024 - Pen Review

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

On January 1, 2024, the Noto Peninsula in Japan was literally shaken to its core by a 7.6 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami, causing widespread devastation “on the Noto Peninsula, particularly in the towns of Suzu, Wajima, Noto and Anamizu, with the neighboring prefectures of Toyama and Niigata also recording significant damage” (Wikipedia). Penlux decided to raise money for relief efforts with the release of the “Honoring Ishikawa 2024” Delgado pen. Proceeds from the sale of each pen will be donated to Peace Winds, a charitable organization which responds to natural disasters and other crises.

Penlux is one of the brands that is distributed by Itoya of America, who also distributes Sailor, Taccia, Profolio, Kuretake and others. I saw this pen at the recent California Pen Show and got the green light from the Bossman to get the pen for review since I didn’t have any experience with the brand. It was a bonus that the pen purchase would also benefit earthquake relief efforts too.

*This beautiful teal leaning blue pen is the Penlux Delgado Honoring Ishikawa 2024.*

*”Honoring Ishikawa 2024” is engraved on the barrel of the pen.*

It was a couple weeks after the show before I got around to inking up the pen and I wasn’t able to unscrew the section. Duh, Kimberly, it’s a piston filler! I wasn’t expecting that from a pen at this price point - I should know better, since there are other brands that have piston fillers at lower price points, like my beloved TWSBIs, for example.

*If I read the instructions, I would have known this was a piston filler (insert facepalm, lol.)*

I like the ruthenium trim on the cap band, piston cap ring, grip section and nib. The metal grip has a slight taper to a lip to prevent your fingers from slipping over the edge, but it is a fairly slick grip. The slight drop on the barrel above the threads is subtle and isn’t very sharp, so it should be comfortable if you gripped your pens higher up. There is a liner inside the cap so your nibs don’t dry out - you can feel the slight springiness when capping the pen.

*The Penlux Delgado (top) and the Pelikan M800 - both are equally comfortable for me.*

*I don’t post my pens but this is what it would look like if I did.*

It is a comfortable pen that isn’t particularly light or heavy. Since I’ve already inked it up, it’s hard to accurately compare the pen’s weight to others. It felt similar to an uninked Pelikan M800 or Nahvalur Voyage/Nautilus, and slightly heavier than a Leonardo Momento Zero.

*Comparison pens capped: Sailor Pro Gear, Platinum 3776, Pelikan M800, Penlux Delgado, Leonardo Momento Zero, Pilot Custom 823, Nahvalur Voyage.*

*Writing sample on 100gsm Ayush Dot Grid paper.*

The nib on the Penlux is a steel Jowo nib, so it writes as one would expect from a Jowo nib. The ruthenium plating feels a bit “squishy” on paper to me, not in the flexy or bouncy kind of way but like there’s something between the nib and the paper. Even though the Robert Oster Sydney ink (which has an average to slightly dry flow) wrote fine, I think wetter inks would do better in this pen. Nibs are available in Fine, Medium, Broad and 1.1 Stub.

*Closeup of the ruthenium-plated nib, which has the Penlux logo on it.*

Penlux hopes to raise $10,000 for Peace Winds by donating $100 each from the sale of 100 of these, which is more than half of its $170 price tag. Kudos to them for donating such a significant portion to charity - I won’t name names, but a certain luxury company’s donation of 5 € per multi-hundred dollar pen is laughable by comparison.

The Penlux Delgado Honoring Ishikawa 2024 is currently available for $170 on the Squid’s Choice website, which is the online retail site for Itoya of America.

As you can see, I have a soft spot for this material, and knowing that money is going to a good cause makes this a great addition to my collection. Pens shown (left to right): Franklin-Christoph 20, Leonardo Momento Zero Positano, Penlux Delgado, Levenger Select.

(Disclaimer: The pen was purchased at regular price at the CA Pen Show.)

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Posted on March 22, 2024 by Kimberly Lau and filed under Penlux, Fountain Pens, Pen Reviews.

Penquisition Touchstone Fountain 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. And her latest book, Root Rot, is now available for pre-order!)

Penquisition, home of many useful review blogs and keeper of one of the more fun and tempting pen show tables, have teamed up with pen designer Ben Walsh of Gravitas Pens to bring us the Touchstone Fountain Pen. The pen is made from anodized aluminum and is carefully curated to be the goldilocks of pen sizes. It's not too wide or narrow. It's a full-length pen that will be comfortable in most grips, but short enough to fit in most pockets or pen holders. The grip section is gently shaped, but not in a way that steers the hand toward any one grip style. Basically, they've set out to make a pen that is comfortable for anyone to use. And while I can't speak for everyone, it was certainly comfortable for me.

The pen body is widest toward the middle, with a gradual taper toward either end, terminating in pointed finials. The cap screws on with metal threads, and is slightly wider than the body, leaving a clear edge so that you always know which end is up. The surface is a matte finish that still looks shiny but avoids the mirror-finish that collects fingerprints. The grip section is slightly narrowed at the middle, with a flare to prevent slipping, and is textured with very subtle ridges to help with grip. Ink does get into these ridges, especially when filling the pen, but they are shallow enough that it was easy to wipe them clean.

The pen comes in three very attractive colors. I chose the Orange with a deep Green grip section, but there is also a Purple with a Teal grip and a Blue with Red grip. It is taking a lot of willpower to not order the Purple one and create a frankenpen of the beautiful combinations.

The pen comes with a steel #6 Jowo nib engraved with the Penquisition logo. My EF nib was a little snaggy on arrival, with the right tine catching on the paper during certain directional strokes, but it smoothed out nicely with a few swipes of micromesh. Overall it writes very nicely, with great flow and the nib did not dry out even when I left the pen in my bag without using it for a week.

The pen also comes with a full-size converter, which doesn't look like it would fit in the pen from the outside, but Ben has access to TARDIS technology apparently, because it does indeed fit.

The first run of these pens also comes with a custom Rickshaw Bagworks Solo Pen Sleeve, turning this awesome duo into a trifecta of pen collaboration. I love to see this all come together, and the end result is a fantastic product. I've carried this pen daily since it arrived in its rad pen sleeve, and really enjoyed using it. The only days I didn't use it were when I ignored it on purpose to see if it would start up again right away after being neglected for a while. It was difficult to not use it! I kept reaching for it, and had to remind myself to use something else. I do feel that they've achieved their design goal of making a perfectly comfortable, portable pen. At $129, it's also priced well for what you get.

Well done, team. I hope that there will be more fantastic collaborations like this in the future.

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

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