Awesome Readers = Awesome Mail

I had no idea the reach this blog would have when I first started it.  After all, I was just a guy on a quest for some ultra fine gel ink pens.  But as time passes, and the blog keep growing, I am finding that the readers of The Pen Addict are some of the most awesome people you could ever hope to run across.  From the great comments, email, and the occasional snail mail, I am very thankful for all of the communication and sharing of stories, ideas, and products.  Two of the most recent items I received in the mail are below:

George from the recently created My Supply Room blog sent me these wonderful stencils.  I made a comment on his blog about how cool the chemistry stencil was, and lo and behold, it shows up in my mailbox a few weeks later.  Thanks George!

When I gave away a set of Copic markers back in may, Yogi from the blog Art with Yogi was the big winner.  She was thoughtful enough to not only send me a thank you card for the markers, but the amount of time and effort she put into it were amazing, even using her newly acquired loot to decorate the squares on the card front.  Thanks Yogi!

These are just of a couple of the items I have received recently, and I have a few more items I need to get reviewed and posted from other readers.  Look for those in the very near future.

Review: Zebra Sharbo Gel Ink One Color + Pencil

JetPens recently started carrying the very beautiful - and very expensive - Zebra Sharbo X multi pen line.  While they are fantastic looking, the $45 to $75 price range for just the barrel puts them out of my range at the moment.  If I recall correctly, on the very same day the Sharbo X became available at JetPens, I saw this Sharbo Gel Ink One Color multi pen and pencil combo for sale, and at $5.70, it was much more in my budget.  I ordered it and have had it since the beginning of May, but posting the review this late has caused one problem - it has vanished completely from of the JetPens site.

I know what you are saying - horrors, right?  Well, obviously not, but I do at least like to tell you where you can get the pens I review in case you are so inclined to try them out.  And this Zebra Sharbo is a very nice option for a multi pen pencil combo.  The pen barrel is impressively sturdy.  I mentioned in my review that many multi pens have a bit of a rattle, or feel a little loose mainly because of all the moving parts, but not this one.  It is very solid in the hand, and gives a good writing performance.  The 0.5mm gel ink cartridge is even less scratchy than other Zebra pens I have used, and the pencil is equally as nice.

I actually stopped in the middle of typing this up to email JetPens about this pen, because I think it is one of the better bang for the buck options as far as multi pens go.  I'll let you know what I find out.

One final note - this was the first review I have done in the Doane Paper Idea Journal.  I am loving it so far, and will do a full review in the near future.

Click Here for the XL review.

Update: I heard back from JetPens and unfortunately it has been discontinued by the manufacturer.

Ink Links

Sorry I phoned it in a bit last week - vacation has a way of doing that to you.  I did try to keep up with a few links though!

-- Review: Rhodia Webnotebook  (Pentamento)

-- Blackpack - What's Inside Part 2  (Unposted)

-- Battle of the multipens  (Super Eggplant)

-- Pens from the 70s and 80s  (My Supply Room)

-- Arabian Rose, A Tasty Leftover  (An Inkophile's Blog)

-- Back to basics  (Definatalie)

-- Pentel Caplet A105 Mechanical Pencil Review  (Dave's Mechanical Pencils)

-- Finally, an entry! With a pen in it!  (Leigh Reyes)

-- Parker Vacumatic Pencil 1947  (Good Pens)

-- Writing gets medieval  (Quo Vadis Blog)

-- Moleskine Color-a-Month Planner Set  (Notebook Stories)

-- Review: Rhodia Webnotebook (Small US Version)  (Potentially Percipicacious)

-- Tsu Ku Shi pencil  (Pencil Talk)

-- Old School Review BIC 4-Color Ballpoint Multi-Pen  (Office Supply Geek)

-- Maruman Mnemosyne Notebook Video Review  (Rohdesign)

-- In search of a decent pen  (Jon Aquino's Mental Garden)

-- Faber Castell Pitt Graphite Crayon and Mitsubishi Hi-Uni 6B review and doodles  (Lung Sketching Scrolls)