Review: Pilot Nextage Fine Ballpoint

I picked up this Pilot Nextage in the same eBay order that I bought the pen now known as the Pilot G23 (thanks Michael!).  I thought it was a really good looking pen, and the price was right (somewhere in the $2.00 range) to make this pen an easy add to the cart.  And unlike the G23, there is a wealth of information online about the Nextage.

As it turns out, I have reviewed the pencil version of this pen, which I purchased from JetPens and is known in Japan as the Pilot Opt.  It is a decent enough pencil for the price, but it is essentially an entry level mechanical pencil.  The Nextage ballpoint is pretty much the same - an entry level ballpoint with a bit of a fancied up barrel design.  It is nice to look at, and feels good in the hand, but in the end, it writes like a plain old ballpoint - ink smell and everything.

The blue ink is your standard ballpoint shade, and while there is no real mess on the tip when writing, the line does skip quite a bit.  This isn't a pen I would use on a regular basis, but based on its looks and its pricepoint, I see why it might be popular.

Click here for the XL review.

Review: Pilot G23 Luxury Gel Rollerball

This Pilot G-2 Special Edition was bought off of eBay many, many months ago.  So long ago in fact, that I am unable to pull up the original information from the purchase, nor am I able to find squat on this pen anywhere on the internet.  Maybe I should get around to reviewing my pens in a more timely fashion, huh?

Regardless of the lack of info, I can still tell you plenty about the pen.  While I knew that the 0.38mm Pilot G-2 gel ink cartridge would work just as well as any other I have tried, it was the barrel that had me intrigued.  The steel barrel looked really sharp, but one thing I didn't notice and has ended up turning me off of this pen is the cap design.  As you can see in the picture, there is a notch in the barrel that a matching point on the cap has to slide into like a puzzle piece to get the cap on securely.  This is endlessly frustrating to me, because I am used to just popping the cap on and going.  With this pen, I have to pay attention more to what I am doing.  The horrors!

If the rest of the pen was perfect I could overlook the cap design, but it really isn't.  There is a weight/balance issue with the pen for starters.  With the cap posted, it is too top heavy and unbalanced, and with the cap off, it is too light.  And I almost never write with the cap off.  Also, the grip area of the pen tapers a significant amount, making it a little too skinny to hold, especially considering the weight.

I believe I paid $12.50 for this pen, so I'm not out too much money, but I was hoping to enjoy it more than I have.

Click here for the XL review.

Update: Thanks to Michael from CultPens, I know know exactly what this pen is called.  Thanks!

Review: Zebra NuSpiral 0.5mm Mechanical Pencil

I'm not going to go as far as calling it a fatal flaw since we all see things through our own filters, but with my anal-retentive and sometimes overly picky views, I have a bad problem with the new Zebra NuSpiral mechanical pencil.  The grip area on this pencil is contoured, which is considered a feature of its ergonomic design.  This is a problem, because as all pencil users know, you need to rotate the pencil around as the lead flattens to maintain a sharp point.  That is all well and good, but don't design the grip so that it is made for only holding in one position.

If you couldn't tell, this is a big pet peeve of mine.  This particular grip is soft enough to where it is usable, but it is just too annoying to be rotating the pencil to get a sharp point and have your fingers end up on the ridge of the grip.  This design can work on a pen, but it is no help at all on a pencil.  Even the swirl of the barrel pokes you in the hand differently as you rotate it around because is is not cylindrical in design.

This pencil is part of the new product line for Zebra in 2010 and was provided to me by Zebra.  From what I am hearing, most of the new pens and pencil I have been reviewing from them will be on the shelves in early summer.  I was in Staples this week and haven't seen any yet, but I will keep an eye out and post when they are available.

Click here for the XL review.