The Pen Addict X Retro 51 2025 “PEN” Is Now Available!

The Pen Addict X Retro 51 2025 “PEN” has landed, and is now available in The Pen Addict Shop!

This project has been a blast to work on, and the results are perfect. This “PEN” is a follow-up to last years “PEN”, which is a shout-out to sneaker culture and the amazing innovation in that space.

The 2024 model took its design cues from the first ten sneakers in Vigil Abloh’s Off-White collection for Nike, and the 2025 edition is themed around one of my all-time favorite designs, the “QUEEN” Blazer. The Pink and Purple gradient, the Grey hardware, the bright Yellow accents - even the finial matches the sole of the sneaker!

The Pen Addict X Retro 51 2025 “PEN” is $75, and is a limited edition of 500. As with my other Retro 51 projects, I donate $1000 from the sale of the pen to charity. Since it was a September launch this year, I donated $250 to four different Community Campaigns that are raising money for St. Jude. Thank you to everyone who purchases a pen and makes this possible!

The latest “PEN” isn’t the only new product in the shop. I have added the Pen Addict Progress Pride patches from NoSo, a “PEN” themed fidget toy from Penquisition, and both of the new Baseball and Waffle House stickers.

And finally, do you want 25% off these, and most other, products in the Pen Addict Shop? Pen Addict Members receive a discount on nearly everything available (with a few exceptions,) with no limit on uses. Click on the link to find out how you can join, and learn about all of the other benefits available.

My thanks once again to Retro 51 for their work in making this possible. I can’t wait to get this “PEN” into your hands!

St. Jude Milestone Giveaway - Papa J Studio Floral Finial Fountain Pen

I’m raising money for St. Jude during the month of September, and as we keep hitting milestones, I keep adding items to give away to anyone and everyone who would like to enter.

This giveaway is for a Papa J Studio Floral Finial Fountain Pen in an as-yet unreleased Carolina Pen Co. material, fitted with a Medium Steel #6 Bock Nib. You know the drill - read the rules below, and get to entering!

One note: this, and all other St. Jude Milestone Giveaways will run until the end of September, officially closing at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time.

There are more giveaway milestones to hit, so check out my campaign and help myself and Relay raise money for St. Jude Children’s Hospital during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

St. Jude Milestone Giveaway - Papa J Studio Floral Finial Fountain Pen

The full list of St. Jude Milestone Giveaways:

St. Jude Milestone Giveaway - River City Pen Co. Inkthrower Fountain Pen

St. Jude Milestone Giveaway - Hello Tello Firefly Mini Pocket Pen

St. Jude Milestone Giveaway - River City Pen Co. Inkthrower Fountain Pen, Number Two

St. Jude Milestone Giveaway - Hello Tello Venice Piccolo Pocket Fountain Pen

St. Jude Milestone Giveaway - Nahvalur Eclipse Fountain Pen

St. Jude Milestone Giveaway - Mike’s Pen Fun Fountain Pen With #8 Nib

St. Jude Milestone Giveaway - Zodiac Pen Co. Aries Fountain Pen

St. Jude Milestone Giveaway - London Pen Co. Christopher 14 Ebonite Fountain Pen

St. Jude Milestone Giveaway - Esterbrook Estie Botanical Gardens Fountain Pen

St. Jude Milestone Giveaway - Skogsy Pens Agave 14 mm Turquoise Fountain Pen

St. Jude Milestone Giveaway - Nahvalur Eclipse Fountain Pen Number Two

St. Jude Milestone Giveaway - Ritter’s Writer’s Sunset Dreams Fountain Pen

St. Jude Milestone Giveaway - Musubi Peruvian Quechua Wool and Alpaca Notebook

St. Jude Milestone Giveaway - Zodiac Pen Co. Capricorn in Orange Swirl Ebonite Fountain Pen

uniball Jetstream Prime 3 Color Lite Touch Ballpoint Multi Pen Review

I’ve been sleeping on the uniball Jetstream Prime for too long. Time to correct that.

I bought this pen (full name: uniball Jetstream Prime 3 Color Lite Touch Ballpoint Multi Pen) all the way back in February at the California Pen Show. So long ago, I can’t remember exactly who I made the purchase from. All I remember was being surprised to see it there.

The Jetstream Lite Touch had been launched to great fanfare in 2024, and my experience with it has been great. I reviewed the single pen and the 4+1 multi pen at the time, and have mostly stuck with the single version since. My uniball multi pen time has been mostly spent with the 4+1 Karimoku edition (also seen in the linked review, and in this one,) but the Prime has a lot going for it that has me intrigued.

For starters, the barrel is slim in diameter for a multi pen. So slim, that on first glance it seems like an upgraded barrel for a single refill pen. And it is a metal barrel, too. Aluminum, but not too light and airy, like some of the 4+1 uniball aluminum barrels. The compact nature means the insides are packed, so it has a solid and balanced feel in the hand. The matte finish on my Burnt Orange model is smooth, but it hasn’t been slippery so far.

The deployment mechanism for the Jetstream Prime is a twist, as opposed to a knock. The look is much cleaner for a multi pen, and for the premium Prime barrel it’s a good fit. The Black 0.5 mm refill is in the center, with a quick twist clockwise to engage Red, or counter-clockwise to engage Blue. You will have to jump over Black in the middle every time if you want to go from Red to Blue, or vice versa. The refill retracts in the zones to each side of the Black refill. The clip does line up with whichever refill you select.

Top to bottom: Single refill Jetstream Lite Touch, Jetstream Prime, Jetstream 4+1 Karimoku edition.

From a writing perspective, you can’t do much better than the uniball Jetstream Lite Touch - at least if you are amenable to using a ballpoint pen. That’s a curse word in many pen circles, but I’m a fan, and will not stand for any ballpoint pen slander! The Jetstream is not your parent’s ballpoint pen, and the Lite Touch is so good, you might not even realize it is one. The best thing I can tell you to do is try it and see for yourself. Maybe not the Prime from the jump, but the single barrel is a good starting point at $3.

The Prime carries an extra digit on its price tag, checking in at $31. Looking at the label on my box, I paid $37 for mine, but that was before the pen became more widely available from importers. $31 seems completely fair for an upgraded barrel like this, although Burnt Orange seems to no longer be available. The four current colors are nice, with the Ivy Green looking especially great.

Only one question remains for me with the Jetstream Prime Lite Touch, and that is how it fits into my rotation going forward. It’s going to take the place of the Karimoku model for now, and given the fact the Prime uses the Lite Touch refills and the Karimoku doesn’t, it might find a permanent home on my desk. At least until the Uni Jetstream Slim Multi Pen 0.38 mm gets the Lite Touch upgrade and they will have to battle it out for supremacy.

Maybe I just swap the refills now.

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