Review: Uni-Ball Signo DX 0.38mm Red

One of the things I have mentioned over and over again on this blog during the past three years is the lack of availability of micro tip pens (tip width under 0.5mm for gel ink pens, under 0.7mm for ballpoints) on the big retailers shelves.  Earlier this week I made it back to the store that was the impetus for getting this blog started - the Office Max near Perimeter Mall in Atlanta, GA.  I was there for a training class just like I was three years ago when I first discovered the Uni-Ball Signo RT 0.38mm.  I figured I would check it out again to see what had changed over the past three years.  A quick glance down the pen aisle answered that question very quickly - almost nothing.

If I had taken a picture of the pen aisle back then and compared it to now, it would have looked eerily similar.  The only true micro tip pen on the shelf was the Pilot G2 0.38mm - not even the RT was still there.  About the only change from three years ago was the presence of the Sharpie Pen, and a bunch of the same pens as before but in different barrel colors.  I'm not sure if it is the retailers, the manufacturers, or the consumers to blame for the lack of change (I imagine it is some combination of the three), but I left the Office Max that night without spending a dime.

So why this diatribe on a Uni-Ball Signo DX 0.38mm review?  This would be the perfect pen to mass market to the American public.  It writes wonderfully, is durable, comes in a rainbow of colors, and is reasonably priced.  There is literally no downside to this pen that I have ever been able to find.  Uni-Ball put the RT on the shelf sparingly, so why not the DX?  It is a superior pen in my book, and I think it would do well.

I'm not going to get my hopes up though.  The rate of change for big box retailers is on the order of miserable.  Thank goodness for JetPens.

Click here for the XL review.

Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper - November 9, 2010

Welcome to the November 9, 2010 edition of carnival of pen, pencil and paper. I am very excited to host this carnival for the second time, and love to see the pen, pencil, and paper blogging community come together for the greater good. It is a true pleasure!

Editor's Picks

John presents Pencil for long-term writing. posted at Pencil Revolution, saying, "Thanks for opening up the carnival to pencils also!"

David Garrett presents Ink Review - Pelikan Edelstein Ruby posted at seize the dave.

New product news

Okami0731 presents Inky Monday - Wancher Original Inks posted at Whatever, saying, "New line of Inks from Wancher"

Notebooks

Millie presents Product review: Think Green notebook posted at Planet Millie.

Kristin Donovan presents Lust: Ecojot Recycled Mini Journals posted at Journal Writing Saved My Life.

Nifty Notebook presents Review: Revolver Notebook posted at Notebook Stories, saying, "A review of a two-in-one notebook with a unique binding."

travisthetrout presents The Day Book: tips for a more effective daily notebook posted at Notes in a Book.

Pencils

Keith Harris presents The Pilot Opt .5 posted at Penned House.

CynthiaNiklas presents Review: Comparing Tombow?s Mono 100 Drawing Pencils with the Newer, Mono Professional Drawing Pencils posted at Journaling Arts, saying, "Thanks! If you need anything else, please let me know."

Pens

Tom Oddo presents New Pen Buying Guide posted at Goldspot Pens, saying, "A basic primer to aid the layperson in buying a new fine writing instrument. Step into a pen store / show with confidence!"

Shaylen Williams presents Private Reserve Ebony Purple Fountain Pen Ink posted at The Poor Connoisseurs, saying, "I have been reviewing pens on my blog for a little while now. This is my first fountain pen ink review. I am trying to get this blog "out there" a little more. I'm not super technical; my husband and I review everything on our blog from a "poor college student" point of view. That is what we are, though we still enjoy nice things."

ThirdeYe presents Pentel Vicuna Pen Review posted at Derek's Pens and Pencils.

Diane Bobal presents TWSBI Fine Point Fountain Pen posted at Pocket Blonde, saying, "Can't stop marveling at just how good this fountain pen is, one designed basically by committee (and we know how well that stuff work out!)."

Cheryl from Writer's Bloc presents The Forgotten Pen Collection posted at Writer's Bloc Blog.

Margana presents So What's The Deal With Iron Gall Ink posted at An Inkophile's Blog, saying, "Traces of iron gall ink have been found on the Dead Sea Scrolls. It has been around that long but does it belong in your fountain pen?"

Note Booker, Esq presents Let's ride! Booker's review of two Waterman Harley-Davidson Fountain Pens posted at Note Booker, Esq.

Brian presents Pen and Highlighter in One: Bic Duo posted at OfficeSupplyGeek.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of pen, pencil and paper using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Review: Zig CocoIro LetterPen

This review is by Kalina Wilson, who can also be found at geminica.com.

The Zig CocoIro LetterPen is a fairly new product at JetPens, and I was immediately seduced by the brilliant color barrels and excited to see a variety of refill colors.  However, each color was moving to "sold out" as I watched!  In the end, what I received were this pretty, curvy yellow barrel with ink refills in black and royal blue.  

(The pen bodies and refills appear to be mostly back in stock as of my writing.)

This pen has an unusual design.  The refill is almost a pen in itself, with a solid cap that can be placed back on the refill allowing you to switch back and forth between in-use colors.  The refill is not in itself very comfortable to hold, so it does needs the casing.  When you insert the refill into the casing, the end sticks out the back so you can easily tell which color is currently in the pen.

I like the idea of this pen.  It's in the style of the Tombow Fudenosuke and various fine-tipped Kuretake pens, in that it provides a very fine tip that offers some line variability.

However, while the body is cute and the refill color options alluring, this pen is not as strong as the Fudenosuke.  The greatest fault is that the tip doesn't spring back after writing, so when you rotate the pen the next lines you draw are unpredictable.  You might almost be able to see the slight bend in the uncapped tip in the above photo.

It's possible one could get used to the tip and take advantage of its variability - much in the way that you can cheat a finer line out of a fountain pen by turning the nib upside down.  I ended up using the pen in this way for this drawing of a Victorian woman, but felt timid with it since whenever I rotated the pen to get a thinner line, it wasn't certain what kind of line would result.

It may take a close look, but you can see in this example that some of the lines came out weak or scratchy, or have a little glitch at the beginning as the tip bent into its new angle.

Subsequent water tests demonstrate that the ink is not even remotely waterproof.

A test with the royal blue refill yielded nothing special; the color is a bit ho-hum and the lines are not very smooth.  The tip on this refill actually feels very dry.

While I like the physical appearance of the pen and was able to tease a couple of ok drawings out of it, there's simply nothing but appearance and some alternative ink colors to recommend it over the Tombow Fudenosuke which leaves a more pleasant, reliable, and waterproof mark.