Doane Paper Utility Notebook - Traffic Light Series Winners

At just over 300 entries, this giveaway was one of the most successful yet.  Big thanks to everyone who entered, and of course thanks to Doane Paper for providing these great giveaway items.  The winners are listed below - here is what I need each of you to do:

1. Leave a comment on this post.
2. Email me your mailing address using my email address on the sidebar.

You have one week to claim your prize.

34 E said...
love the doane utility pads. these colors are great!
Reply November 02, 2009 at 09:35 AM

77 AB said...
Sign me up...
Reply November 02, 2009 at 11:52 AM

249 Kristi said...
Hi from Nashville.
I'm number 51.
Reply November 03, 2009 at 01:48 PM

If you weren't one of the lucky ones this time, don't fret.  This month marks the two year anniversary of The Pen Addict, and I have a bunch of cool giveaways planned.  Stay tuned for another one from Doane Paper next week!

Review: Uni Pin Fine Line

Raise your hand if you have heard of the Uni Pin before.  Some of you may have, but this is a brand new one for me.  I think it may have even elicited a few ooohs and ahhhs from me when I freed it from its envelope.  Yet another pen passed on to me from my friend Carmen (I bet I have over a dozen more to review as well), and another big winner in my book.

By the looks of it, this is Uni-Ball's stab at the art/drawing/technical pen market.  I know they have the Posca marker line, but do they come in this fine of a point?  The barrel design reminds me a lot of the Sakura Pigma Micron, and the performance does as well.  Toss in fadeproof and waterproof pigment ink, and you can see where it is targeting its competition, and it compares quite nicely.  I mentioned in my review that I felt there was a long distance from the cap line to the end of the pen, but when compared to other pens in the same category, it is right in line.

Some quick and dirty internet sleuthing leads me to believe they come in black, blue, and red ink, and in 0.5, 0.3, and 0.1 tip sizes.  I have really enjoyed this pen so far, so hopefully they will become more readily available in the US market soon.  If they do, I will be buying a bunch.

Click here for the XL review.

Review: Lamy Vista Clear Ballpoint

This is another pen from the Carmen Collection, and I was very anxious to test it out.  Lamy makes some of the best looking pens in my book, but outside of the Safari, I had never really put one to the test in its original state.  A Lamy Vista was on my short list to try, so I was excited to see this one make it my way from Europe.

As you would expect from Lamy, this is a very well built pen.  The plastic barrel and overall construction are top notch, and the moving parts such as the plunger and the clip are solid as well.  Lamy has turned me into a fixed grip placement fan, with their standard molded-for-your-fingers grip area.  It is hard to make out in the photo, but trust me, it is there.

My one concern about this pen was the ballpoint.  It's pretty well know that I am a gel pen guy first and foremost, with liquid ink pens second, and ballpoints (and their varieties) third.  This ballpoint cartridge knocked my socks off though with its performance.  I am very impressed with how smooth it writes, especially how small I can write with it and have it still maintain its consistency.  I won't go as far as saying it is Jetstream-esque (and maybe that isn't a fair comparison), but I have no plans on trying to find a replacement cartridge for it.

Click here for the XL review.