Beautiful Leather Pen Storage from Girologio (Sponsor)

Are you looking to protect your precious pens when on the go? Or maybe looking for larger storage capacity for all of your favorites? If so, then Girologio leather pen cases are what you need.

For daily carry, Girologio offers two and three pen case configurations, made from soft, supple, and chemical-free leather. Each case features full-length, lined, dividers and a reinforced frame, giving you maximum protection. The fold-over magnetic flap keeps your pens safe and secure, while allowing for easy access. And the slots are designed to handle large pens, such as the Montblanc 149.

If you want to go big - and I know you do - Girologio offers cases with a 12, 24, 48, and yes, a 96 pen configuration. Even someone as obsessive as me can find a case to hold all of the things! Ok, maybe two of those big cases. For starters.

What case will you start with? Girologio has you covered, no matter how many pens you want to carry and store safely and securely. To see all they have to offer, head over to Girologio, and be sure to check out where you can buy these fine goods.

My thanks to Girologio for sponsoring The Pen Addict this week.

Posted on November 12, 2018 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Featured Sponsor.

Muji 2B Pencil Review

As I have become enlightened about Muji and their stationery over the years, I can’t help but think about what the underlying brands are for this white label wonder.

It has been easy to sort out the origins of the gel ink pens: The refills come directly from the sources. Even though all of the normal markings are removed, the refill shapes match their source companies refills. Even the plastic parts of the refills are the same colors as the OEM refill.

A quick twist of the barrel and you will see refills from Uni-ball, Zebra, and Pentel in use in their various gel ink pens. And its not like they are trying to hide it either - the Muji pen that uses the Zebra Sarasa refill is a spitting image of the Zebra Sarasa Clip pen. It’s easy to sort out.

*The tip after writing my review notes. It does wear quickly.*

The Muji Pencil though. That poses a challenge. What cues from the design can help me figure it out? Can I tell anything simply from the feel of the graphite core?

If this was a bad pencil I wouldn’t care. But it’s not. It’s downright awesome. When I first opened the package, sharpened one up, and put the tip to the page, my response was “Oh!” as in, this feels good. The graphite is smooth and dark. Yes, a 2B should feel that way, but I thought it was extra nice.

That led me immediately to my next question: “Who is making these for Muji?” I’ll cut to the chase right now and tell you I don’t know for sure, but the list of options is very, very short.

The first words out of my mouth were that it reminds me of the Tombow Mono 100 - high praise indeed - but I didn’t have one at the time to test. I do now. I don’t own a 2B Tombow, but I did test the HB from the Mono, Mono 100, 8900, and 2558 lineups. And I don’t think the Muji pencil is made by Tombow. All of the Tombow cores felt similar to each other, and none had the smoothness or darkness of the Muji.

My second thought was Mitsubishi. Knowing the relationship that Muji already has with the company - Uni-ball gel ink refills for starters - I’d say this is the most likely scenario. The Mitsubishi 9850 feels really close, despite it being an HB versus 2B comparison. The consistency of the graphite on the page is much closer than anything from Tombow.

After being compelled by the 9850, I thought the 2B Mitsubishi Hi-Uni would be a closer match than it was, but it has a firmer core than the Muji by a good amount.

Surprisingly, the Blackwing Pearl was a close match for the Muji. The core felt similar, and the color and smoothness on the page was similar. I’m not sure if that says more about the 9850 or the Pearl. Regardless, these are the two closest matches, with of course the HB in the 9850 being firmer than the other two.

One final point to make in my overthinking this: The pencil barrel has a code stamped into the barrel. I have no idea what it means, but I do know that the font used doesn’t match any of the Japanese pencils I own that have similar markings. The 6 is especially telling.

So, I’d love to tell you who makes this pencil, but I can’t say for sure. (Update: According to an enterprising reader they are made by Kitaboshi, making my Blackwing comment even more interesting than I knew. Seems legit!) What I can tell you is it looks great, feels great, and works great, and for a .50 cent pencil, what more can you ask for? Heck, it may even convert me over to the dark side of the B scale in time.

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Posted on November 12, 2018 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Muji, Pencil Reviews.

Misfill, Van Racing Edition

Each week in Refill, the Pen Addict Members newsletter, I publish Ink Links as part of the additional content you receive for being a member. And each week, after 10 to 15 links, plus my added commentary on each, I'm left with many great items I want to share. Enter Misfill. Here are this weeks links: