JetPens $100 Gift Certificate Giveaway

Kaweco AL Sport Matte Blue (Image via JetPens)

The time for the 2014 Atlanta Pen Show is near and I'm jonesing like a madman. I'm feeling kind of guilty too, talking about all the cool things I hope to see this coming weekend while many of you don't have a pen show nearby to travel to. That is where my friends at JetPens come in. There is a pen show going on there 24/7/365 and you are always welcome!

One lucky winner is going to have their own personal pen show with this $100 gift certificate I have to give away. What will you spend it on?

Here is how to enter:

1. Leave one comment on this post anytime between now, and Thursday night at 11:59 PM Eastern Time. You are limited to one entry. This contest is open to US and International readers.

2. For this contest, I will pick one winner at random from the comments section of this post. The comments will be numbered in the order they are received, i.e. the first comment is #1, the second #2, and so on. The Random Integer Generator at random.org will be used to pick the number of the winner.

3. The contest winner will be posted on Thursday, April 10th. The winner will have one week to email me via the Contact link at the top of the page.

That's it - good luck!

Yasutomo Y&C Stylist Marker Pen Review

As a purveyor of plastic tipped pens I like to think I know what I like in pens similar to the Yasutomo Y&C Stylist Marker Pen. Sharp lines are key, which goes hand in hand with a firm plastic tip. Color brightness and comfort are secondary, but still important. The Yasutomo Stylist Marker covers all of that with surprising ease.

I almost didn't add this pen to my cart at JetPens, considering the poor perfomance of the Yasutomo Stylist Gel. It was a scratchy writer and is poorly designed in the grip area. While the Stylist Marker has some barrel design concerns (which I will get to in a moment), the writing performance is so good I am willing to overlook them.

You cannot make a plastic tip pen too firm in my opinion. To give you a baseline, the Kuretake Zig Cartoonist Mangaka is very firm, while the Marvy LePen is very soft. The Sakura Pigma Micron is right in the middle. The Stylist Marker is right up there with the Kuretake.

Looking at the writing sample, the edges of my lines are very sharp, which I love. That is what a firm plastic tip will give you. In no way did I expect to find performance like this from this pen. The only thing left to determine is durability, which will come with time and use.

It's not all roses for this pen though. The barrel design could use some improvement, especially regarding the clip. Mine fell right off after receiving it and I tried to shove it back on as you can see in the image below. That didn't work, so I just trashed the clip. It is comfortable to hold and write with otherwise.

I don't normally have good luck with unknown brand name pens but the Yasutomo Y&C Stylist Marker Pen is a keeper.

(JetPens is an advertiser on The Pen Addict and I received this product at no charge.)

2014 Atlanta Pen Show Meet Up

The 2014 Atlanta Pen Show is scheduled for Friday, Apr 11th through Sunday, April 13th. This will mark my third year in attendance and I cannot wait! Are you going to be there? If so I would love to meet you. I plan on being at the show all day Saturday (10a-5p) and will have an informal Pen Addict meet up in the hotel bar from 5p-7p.

Feel free to leave a comment here or get in touch via Twitter for more specifics. See you there!