Posts filed under Zebra

Zebra Zensations Sarasa Fineliner Review

(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.)

Who can resist the allure of a pack of brightly colored fineliner pens? Not me. Probably not a lot of you. Honestly, why try? Especially when they're from Zebra.

This pack of 12 fineliners is part of the Zebra Zensations line--art and coloring tools perfect for zentangles or other relaxing ink crafts. I've played with a lot of fineliners and have a decent stash of them already, so I'd planned to pass this pack off to the kids after the review. But I like them so much they snuck right back into my pen cup. They're now among my favorites.

The pen body is sturdy black plastic with a colorful wrap that shows the color of the ink. The clip is also the ink color, so it's easy to tell what you're reaching for. The clip is fantastic. It's strong but flexible and has enough room that it can clip to a book cover or a nice chunk of pages. The grip section is also in coordinated colored plastic. It's slim and tapers a bit, so there may be some slipping if you're using the pen for longer periods. I found it very comfortable to hold, though.

The tip is a .8 mm "needle point" felt tip. I've been a bit spoiled by insanely fine tips, so calling this a fine/needle point seems off to me. I'd consider this to be a fairly broad fineliner, but its lines are very crisp and precise.

The ink is water resistant, acid free, and archival quality. The colors are very rich and vibrant, and the tip provides excellent coverage. I think they're fantastic for coloring and journaling and I suspect artists would get good use from them as well.

Despite all this awesomeness, they're at the low end of the price range for fineliners. It's $1.75 apiece for open stock, or this pack of 12 costs $19.

If you need to get some colorful zen into your life, I'd snap these up.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on August 9, 2018 by Sarah Read and filed under Zebra, Fineliner, Pen Reviews.

Zebra Zensations 0.6mm Fountain Pen Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

The Zebra Zensations fountain pen is a recent addition to the disposable fountain pens category at JetPens, and one that I'm happy to recommend. It's been a while since I experimented with the disposable fountain pens category, and the Zensations pen just solidifies my opinion that just because a pen costs less than $5 does not mean it performs poorly.

Similar to the Pilot Varsity, the Zensations fountain pen is a disposable, non-refillable fountain pen that costs only $3. This is the same price as the Varsity and I would say they are perfectly comparable. The Platinum Preppy is another popular choice in the disposable category, but they are different from the Varsity and Zensations pens because they feature a cartridge system. When the ink runs out, you can simply replace the cartridge with a color of your choice.

The Zensations pen features a slip cap design and an all-plastic body (except for the nib, of course). Despite the materials, this pen is rugged and can take normal bag and transit abuse just fine. The clip isn't the strongest clip I've encountered, but it does the job well. The plastic clip is a tad springy, but it provides plenty of gripping power on clothing, bags, cases, and other objects. If you like to post the cap while writing, the Zensations pen will handle that well. The cap posts securely and adds very little weight to the end of the pen while writing.

As an added bonus, there's a convenient ink window on the side of the barrel so you can easily see how much ink is left in the reservoir. The pen barrel is mostly black, but there's a lot of accent color thrown in, as well as a gray/silver trim for the clip. The ink feed section is visible through the grip, which can also be helpful when the ink is close to running out.

The nib on the Zensations pen is fantastic considering the cost. It's smooth, dependable, and has excellent flow. Straight out of the box, it wrote well and without any hiccups. This is important with any fountain pen, but it delights me to see this level of performance with a three-dollar pen. In a lot of cases, this pen may be someone's first exposure to a fountain pen, and I expect that to be a good representation of the nib and feed mechanism. These are perfect to hand out as a "try it" challenge to friends, coworkers, etc.

The steel nib is fairly stiff, and you won't notice much line variation as a result. The 0.6mm sizing roughly equates to a Japanese medium or European fine. It's a great size that most people are familiar with if they're coming from a bold ballpoint or 0.7mm gel pen.

The unit I have is the blue variation, which corresponds to the ink color inside. Where most pens seem to favor the darker blue hues in the standard lineups, the Zensations pen has a beautiful lighter blue that I absolutely love. It's more of a medium turquoise than a standard blue, and that makes me incredibly happy. Although, if you're expecting a darker blue or even a blue-black, I'd recommend looking at the other color options.

Speaking of which, there are seven total colors to pick from, and you can also pick up a pack that includes one of each color. At $3 per pen, and $17 for the seven pack, these pens are a fantastic deal. Throw some in your cart next time, and enjoy this newest player in the entry-level experience that give fountain pens a good name.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on July 4, 2018 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Zebra, Fountain Pens, Pen Reviews.

Zebra Funwari Fude Color Brush Pen Review

(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.)

Brush pens are so fun, but so tricky. I learned a lot listening to Ana on the recent Pen Addict Podcast (episode 292). These Zebra Funwari Fude brush pens have the firm, reinforced felt tips she mentioned that are ideal for beginners.

The pens have a white plastic body with a snap cap that matches the color of the ink (sort of). The cap does post, but not very deeply. Overall, it's a plain design. The real feature on these is the brush point.

The tips are felt, but reinforced with some plastic so they aren't as flexible as some. That helps a lot with line control and learning how and when to add pressure to get your desired line width. At first, they didn't seem to flex much at all, but they did break in after some use. They were still firm enough that the tip could be used to write with to get a finer line. Gentle pressure adds some width to the line, and then using the sides of the tip adds even more variation.

All the ink colors are water-based, but the black has some extra water-resitance so that it can be used for sketching and outlining. The pens would be great for drawing or calligraphy, though I did get a little feathering where I put down more pressure.

This set includes eight colors--black, grey, red, golden yellow, green, blue, purple, and pink. It's the full color range of the model, which has a lot of gaps, unfortunately. There isn't an orange! That shouldn't be allowed.

At $22, I do think they're a bit pricey. The overall feel and use is more school supply/beginner tool, rather than an artist's pen, but they're priced higher than some much fancier models. If you're wanting to get more into brush pen techniques,though, and struggling with the full-flex brushes, these are a great way to ease into the hobby.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!