The Pen Addict

The Hallmark 3 x 5 Index Card

2012-02-08T09:00:00-05:00

Ana Reinert of The Well-Appointed Desk is a long time friend of the blog. I remember talking to Ana as far back as 2007, right after I started The Pen Addict, and our friendship has continued ever since. Knowing my love for index cards, she sent me a package recently that knocked my socks off. I’ll let her explain:

These are “official” Hallmark 3 x 5’s. The story goes that the founder of Hallmark, J.C. Hall, asked the pressman to trim down the waste bits of paper into 3 x 5’s for him to write notes. He was seldom ever seen without a handful in his pocket and soon others were asking if they might have a stack.

Now, there is no place in the company where you will not see a stack of these. Conference room tables always have at least one pile. Every desk has a stack so people can leave a note when you are away. Writers start ideas on cards and throw them in a bowl at writing review meetings so each bit of editorial is “anonymous”. Designers fold them in half and make mini-card thumbnail drawings.

So, welcome to the world of Hallmark 3 x 5’s!

What an awesome story Ana! Thank you so much for sending me these cards and allowing me to share the story behind them.

I hope to do the cards proud!

Staedtler Triplus Fineliner 0.3 mm Review

2012-02-06T09:00:00-05:00

The Staedtler Triplus Fineliner is one of those pens that seems like it has been around forever. It gets a lot of love from artists, students, and just about anyone who uses drawing or art pens. I finally picked up my first one last month to see what all the fuss is about.

I really branched out on my color choice here. Not black, not blue, but gray! I know, I know - there are 30 colors to choose from, but I panicked and went the safe route. Maybe next time I will go with Light Orange or Bordeaux Red.

In using the Triplus Fineliner as my main writing pen for a couple of days I found it did a decent job. The color was sharp, the lines were clean, and it was an all-around good writer. Comparing it to the Sakura Pigma Micron or Uni Pin, the tip on the Fineliner is softer, giving it a slight brush pen feel. It’s clearly not a brush pen, but there is a difference between this pen and some of its counterparts.

While the softer tip will keep me from using it as an every day pen, there is another feature of the Triplus Fineliner that is impressive. Staedtler touts this pen as Dry Safe, meaning you can leave this pen uncapped for days and pick it right back up and start writing. This is normally a huge no-no for drawing pens and I wouldn’t believe it unless I saw it. Well, I saw it, and it worked as advertised. Take a look at the bottom of the written review and you will see my 0-hour, 24-hour, and 72-hour uncapped samples. Three days later and the Triplus Fineliner wrote like I uncapped it for the first time.

Overall, this is a great pen, especially for the price. Do understand though that there is a difference in tip firmness compared to other drawing pens. For me and my writing style it is not a great fit, but for many of you it will be right up your alley.

Ink Links

2012-02-04T09:00:00-05:00

– Review: The Paper Mate Retractable Ballpoint Profile 1.4b (512 Pixels)

– Review of the 4Sevens Titanium Tactical Pen (ThruMyLens)

– Tombow Object Rollerball Pen Matte Black (Multi Pen Dimensions)

– Noodler's Ink Ahab Fountain Pen Lapis Inferno Flex Nib (No Pen Intended)

– Review: Miquel Rius Red Soft Bound Journal (Gourmet Pens)

– Signature Gutenberg Notebooks by Daycraft (Plannerisms)

– Stormtrooper defeated by Jinhao X750 (Peninkcillin)

– Stabilo LeftRight (Bleistift)

– Pentel Fluorescent Marker (A Penchant for Paper)

– Insanely Great (nemu*nemu)

– Cplay Sevenroll Leather Pencil Case (Pocket Blonde)

– Adventures in dusting: Pilot Cavalier Hi-Tec-C 0.4mm (From the Pen Cup)

– Review: Lamy Studio rollerball, stainless steel finish (Note Booker, Esq.)

– It's a robot! No, it's a pencil sharpener! (Woodclinched)

– Ahh…Pen Satisfaction (Stacey Creates)

– Handmade Moleskine iPhone Case (Penned House)

– Stabilo GREENcolors Set of 12 colored pencils review (Lung Sketching Scrolls)

– Notebook papers (Pens and Paper via Rhodia Drive)

– Glass Pens (Leigh Reyes)

– Muji (Penfan.ru)

– Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Pen Spotting (Palimpsest)

– BIC Pocket Pen (My Supply Room)

– Guest Post: Vintage Pens (Quo Vadis Blog)

– Alvin Draft-Tec Retrac .5 (Economy Pens)

– PHX-1 : Design Tool Set (The Leaky Pen)

– Island Towns (M.C. Barrett Concept Art)

Dong-A Fine-Tech 0.3 mm Review

2012-02-03T09:00:00-05:00

I haven’t had the opportunity to review many Dong-A pens and pencils, so when my Twitter friend Rachael mentioned she had a new favorite every day pen and wanted to send me one I was more than happy to put it to the test.

It was pretty obvious when I opened the package what the Dong-A Fine-Tech 0.3 mm gel ink pen is trying to accomplish. It wants to be a Pilot Hi-Tec-C. Aside from a few small design tweaks it is pretty close in the appearance department. If the Fine-Tech could pull off a similar writing performance to the Hi-Tec-C then we might have something here, but unfortunately it falls short.

Since it is clear where this pen is trying to position itself I can’t help but compare it directly to the Hi-Tec-C. The ink flow of the Fine-Tech is nice when it is going well. My lines were clean and sharp and the ink was solid and dark. Where it started to falter was in line consistency. Sometimes the ink flow became too heavy - especially for an 0.3 mm gel - and sometimes it was to light and thin.

This is not a bad pen by any stretch. The Dong-A Fine-Tech sells for about half of what the Pilot Hi-Tec-C does, and in this case you get what you pay for.

Zebra Arbez Piirto Ballpoint Pen 0.7 mm Review

2012-02-01T09:00:00-05:00

It is great to see manufacturers branch out from the norm and come up with fresh pen and pencil designs. Zebra takes it a step further by holding an annual contest for young designers around the world, and the Zebra Arbez Piirto was the winner of the 2011 event.

The winning design is based around the slim and simple form of an ice pick, which makes sense when you realize the designer is from Finland. It is quite stunning, especially when you consider that part of the design process was to make it as inexpensively as possible. Mission accomplished on all fronts.

Many pens use a rotation or twist mechanism to extend and retract the pen but where the Piirto differs is that the mechanism is in the grip area as opposed to the upper barrel area. It functions quite well and does not get in the way of the writing experience at all.

What does get in the way of the writing experience is the ballpoint ink cartridge. This is your basic cheap ballpoint refill, so set your expectations accordingly. A Zebra Surari refill would make this pen a knockout but would also raise the price, which goes against the reason the Piirto was created.

The Piirto ballpoint is available with black and red ink cartridges as well as a black barrel design. There is even a mechanical pencil version that is designed similarly. While it may not perform like a world beater, the design and price made it an easy choice to add to my collection.

Identify This Old School Pilot Ballpoint

2012-01-31T10:26:26-05:00

Pen Addict reader Yohan doesn't want me go to all of this trouble to help him identify his pen, but I am more than happy to share it with the masses. I know as well as anyone how important some of the pens we grew up with are, if nothing else for sentimental reasons.

The pictures below are great, showing a classic retractable ballpoint design and the Pilot holographic sticker. Yohan originally bought this pen growing up in Indonesia, and used it heavily in the early 90's.

Can anyone come up with a model number for this Pilot ballpoint?

Retro 51 Tornado Classic Lacquers Roller Ball Pen Review

2012-01-30T09:00:00-05:00

If you know me at all then you know that The Pen Addict was not created around 0.7 mm roller ball pens. It is sub 0.5 mm or bust around here, and the majority of pens I review that are 0.7 mm or wider are usually just that. Not this Retro 51 Tornado. I have seen the top of the mountain, and it is good.

I have known of Retro 51 pens and pencil for years, but until JetPens started carrying them I never had the opportunity to try one. Even then I was hesitant, but the classic barrel design drew me in. The Classic Lacquers Series feature a stainless steel body with a high gloss lacquer overlay. This makes all of the barrel colors in the series really pop. The knurled twist-top is the very definition of +1.

As beautiful as the barrel is, the quality of the refill is going to make or break the pen. I had zero expectations that it was going to work for me, but I am continually impressed by it. The tip is very smooth and, most importantly, the ink does not bleed like many 0.7 mm cartridges do. Is there some bleed? Sure, it is inevitable with this size tip and liquid ink. But compared to many other similar refills it is superior, at least in my non-scientific mind.

Does anyone else feel the same way about this refill and how this pen writes, or am I delusional? To me, it is better than any other similar refill I have tried. It is a telling sign that I keep my orange Retro 51 within arms reach among the jungle of 0.3 mm gel ink pens on my desk.