Posts filed under Retro 51

Retro 51 Tornado Dmitri Mechanical Pencil Review

I’m a traditionalist when it comes to mechanical pencils. Give me a classic design over most anything. Bonus points if it is an engineering-style mechanical pencil, like my beloved Rotring 600.

That’s what has kept me away from the Retro 51 Mechanical Pencil for so long. Not that this isn’t a classic style with it’s twist mechanism. In fact, it may be more classic than the standard click mechanism. But the twist pencil is no longer the expectation for mechanical pencils, nor has it been for decades.

It took Retro 51 to design one to get me interested. The Dmitri, named after Dr. Dmitri Mendeleev, the father of the Periodic Table, is not only a great bit of scientific history, but is beautiful to look at.

Unfortunately, that’s where my joy with this product ended.

Retro 51’s Tornado mechanical pencils are designed around 1.15 mm graphite diameters. I like larger diameters, regularly using both 0.9 mm and 2.0 mm varieties in various products I own. But, the graphite has to be good. I’m not sure this graphite is good. It has a more plasticky feel than I would like. That makes it smooth and firm, but it has no character. No depth. No darkness.

With a more standard lead size I would happily swap in a different brand, like I do with ballpoint and rollerball refills. 1.15 mm is such a peculiar size that it makes swapping the lead out more difficult than with other mechanical pencils. Quick Googling shows a dearth of options.

Even the times I am content with the lead situation in this pencil, I’m not content with the mechanism. It works fine extending and retracting the lead, but when I’m writing and the tip hits the page between words, the lead scoots back into the barrel slightly. Not every single time, but enough to be noticeable. It’s like there is some play in the twist, allowing it to backtrack if it’s hit in the right spot.

And finally, the eraser. It erases fine, that’s if it remains in place long enough to get the job done. I figured out immediately that if I erased in a left to right fashion, the eraser would pop out of the barrel. If I erased in an up and down fashion, it stayed in place. End of the world? No. Annoyance? Yes.

Does the style of the pencil outweigh the annoyances I had with it? No, it doesn’t. There is no doubt it is a stunner, and would make a great gift for the right person. But if you aren’t looking for a gift and instead want a great writing experience, you should look elsewhere.

(Retro 51 provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on November 19, 2018 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Retro 51, Mechanical Pencil, Pencil 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.)

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

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

The Making of “Pink Robots”

My latest limited edition pen design from Retro 51 has been released, and I couldn’t be more excited about it. Titled “Pink Robots”, this pen was a huge stretch for me, both personally and professionally.

I shared the story of its creation with Pen Addict Members over a month ago, and wanted to share it publicly today. I hope you enjoy.

When I decided to make my first Retro 51 two years ago I was a nervous wreck. I knew I wanted something basic, but with a few tweaks to make it different than the standard Retro 51 Tornado. Of course it was going to be orange, but what else could I do with it?

I worked with Retro 51 on that original design for weeks. Dozens of mock-up, tweaks, and changes. I was sweating this one hard! I had never done anything like this before, design-wise or money-wise.

Even the minimum order of 300 units had me completely freaked out. Could I sell all of these pens?

Turns out, I could. Fairly quickly I might add. The success of this project gave me the confidence to do more the next year.

I wanted to do something fun for round two, and that culminated in working with my friend Michael Jacobs and using his wonderful Ice-O-Metric design for the pen. It turned out amazingly well, and was everything I wanted it to be. It was cool and fun and a completely perfect design for a Retro 51 collaboration.

It was so perfect, in fact, that I doubled the amount of pens I ordered to 600. They sold well too, and as of this writing, there are less than 50 pens left for sale.

That leads us to the third iteration of the Pen Addict Retro 51, which I want to share with you today.

The first edition was basic, as I got my feet wet with the process of creating a pen design. The second edition was fun, as I believe all pens should be, and is a killer addition to any writing arsenal.

The third edition is personal.

Anyone who knows me knows I am a music fan. All of you members are probably like “Yes, Brad. We get it. You like the tunes!” I talk about it a lot, because it means a lot to me. And, over all of the years of my life, some music sticks with me more than the rest. It helps me to relax, to think more clearly, to get me through tough times, to pinpoint memories and places and things. At a basic level, it is entertainment. Other times, it is more.

To me, Yoshimi is more.

The Flaming Lips released “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots” in 2002 to great critical acclaim. If you’ve never heard of The Flaming Lips - much less any of their music - I wouldn’t be surprised. Their uniqueness is very much an acquired taste. It took me years to come around to them and their sound. “She Don’t Use Jelly” isn’t exactly representative of a band that has been making music for over 30 years.

Why I latched on to Yoshimi as a song at the time is still a mystery to me, but I felt something there. Who is Yoshimi? What is she all about? Why is she fighting the Pink Robots?

One of the great things about music is that the stories behind the lyrics are often nebulous. Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne says the song is about fellow artist Yoshimi from a Japanese band called the Boredoms, because she sounds like she is fighting monsters when she sings. Many who listen to the album as a whole say it is about love. A decade after the album’s release, Coyne created an off-Broadway musical where Yoshimi is battling cancer, represented by Pink Robots.

A few years ago, my friend Matthew Morse blindsided me with a piece of artwork he created. Titled “Go Yoshimi Go!”, it features Yoshimi, sword in hand, ready to stand her ground against the giant Pink Robots. It’s such a moving piece to me because Yoshimi is a hero who has the uncanny ability to stand up to whatever the Pink Robots represent to you. It could be your own personal fight against health issues. It could be depression, or anxiety. It could be oppression, or racism. It could be as simple as a college course whose ass you are about to kick. Yoshimi can be anything you need her to be.

And that’s why I love her, and need her in my life. She helps me through the tough times, through the daily fights and challenges that come my way. And now I can have her with me on a daily basis.

When I first approached Matthew to use his artwork for this pen, I was nervous. Not that he would say no - in fact he was all for it - but that I could pull off this project as a whole. Getting personal is rarely the best business decision. But, as you likely know by now, I never let business interfere with who I am as a person and what I stand for. I’m making this pen for me, if no one else.

The end result came out wonderfully, and I can’t wait to share it with all of you. “Pink Robots” is slated to arrive in late September, and as Pen Addict members, you will get first crack at it. I’ll have more information on pricing and shipping as we get closer to release. (Note: The pen is available now to everyone.)