(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter.)
This bundle includes eight new bold colors in the 1.0 mm size of the Pilot Juice gel pen. There's black, blue, blue-black, brown, coffee brown, red, green, and burgundy. The colors are lovely and practical--a great set for school or work, but fun to play with as well.
The ink is the much-loved pigment-based, water-resistant gel ink that can write on photos as well as paper. I didn't find the flow to be as good as in the finer-pointed versions. Sometimes it felt a bit dry or viscous, and there would be some build-up on the tip. But I haven't had any trouble with skipping, and the bold lines are nicely consistent. I think the improved ink formula in the Juice Up gives a much better writing experience than the original. But if you like a broader tip on your gel pen, these are still an excellent choice.
The body is clear plastic with a spring-loaded clip, clicky top, and rubber grip. The click, grip, and clip are the color of the ink, which is handy for identification. It is very difficult to tell the difference between the browns and the blues in low light, though.
I love the sturdy spring clip. The whole pen feels quite durable, which is great--particularly because these can be refilled with replacement cartridges. You can even switch to a different tip size or the wetter-flowing Juice Up ink (though I'd find it confusing if the refill didn't match the info on the pen body).
These pens are perfect for those times you need a gel pen but pastels, glitter, or metallics aren't situationally appropriate. But they're also really fun for journal sketches and stenciling. And the smooth tip and rubber grip make them great for longer writing sessions. There are enough fun colors for some color coding and organized note taking, as well as enough businesslike colors to be the old-reliable cup pen that maybe you don't think about as often, but it's always there when you need to sign a form or address an envelope. They're a great addition to the Pilot gel pen lineup.
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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