Ink Links

-- Chisel Away  (Doodlers Anonymous)

-- J. Herbin Anniversary Ink  (Unposted)

-- Review: Pentel Jolt and Click Mechanical Pencils, and the Pentel Tri-Eraser  (Mightier Than The Sword)

-- User Review: Alberto on the J. Herbin Creapen  (Rhodia Drive)

-- Book A4: plain, ruled or squared?  (Moleskine)

-- Quite possibly the last review in the entire world of the second generation Rhodia Webnotebook  (Note Booker, Esq.)

-- Pencil Case Review – The Nomadic PD-04 Roller  (Office Supply Geek)

-- Stationery Geek Fest  (Ghost in the Machine Zine)

-- Post-it® Flag Pen & Highlighter  (Does This Pen Write?)

-- Muji A6 Memo Pad, 200 Sheets  (Bleistift)

-- 10th Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper  (Whatever)

-- everyday i get in the queue  (Andrea Joseph's Sketchblog)

-- Start to Draw Your Life update  (Michael Nobbs)

-- The Countdown Continues  (The PenUltimate Ink Blog)

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!