Pentel Rolling Writer - Pen Review

The Pentel Rolling Writer is an oldie, but goodie.  It may have been a pen you saw kicking around in a junk drawer (likely dried out) or on your dad's desk, but now you have long forgotten about it... 

Hands down, I think this is a great pen.  For such a cheap pen, it is hard to believe it writes as "fun" as it does.  It's almost difficult to describe the tip on the Rolling Writer.  It is flexible and squishy (yet firm), but as you apply various amounts of pressure it changes your line widths.  This makes for an extremely expressive penmanship and is, well, fun.  I'd say it is pretty difficult to get a fine line with it, but I write with a pretty heavy hand.  It is a fun pen to hand to someone to use and see their expression and they may just want to steal it.   

They have a very classic look that hasn't changed in probably 40 years.  The barrel is made of a cheap molded plastic and has a stamped metal clip.  Nothing too fancy, but it still looks cool; vintage even. 

They aren't terribly easy to find in your normal office supply store on the shelf, but you can order them online through Staples, although the only caveat is that you have to buy a whole dozen.  But, the dozen is only $11.99 which is a total steal.  If you work in an office and someone does the ordering for supplies, see if they can sneak in a pack of these next time...

 (sorry the pictures are kind of dark on this one...)

Fisher Space Pen - Futura Pen Review

The Fisher Futura is a pen I really don't know a whole lot about at this point other than it is a discontinued model.  Not sure if it is from the 70's, 80's, 90's... I'll have to look into it more.

I found this one secondhand for super cheap and thought it might be cool to add to my pen holder as I enjoy the Fisher brand.   Not in perfect condition as it has some scratches, nicks, and wear, but is decent.

On a side note, when I hear "Futura", my mind is instantly taken to the 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car which would eventually be modified into Adam West's iconic Batmobile.  Pretty sweet.  (Recently sold for $4.62 million this year...price tag; not so sweet.) 

The Fisher Futura is a very thin pen, but it would probably compare closest to the Zebra F-701 in build quality and feel (which can also be modified to take the Fisher refill).  

The Futura appears to have a stainless steel body and chromed brass tip.  When unscrewing the tip and peeking inside, the "innards" appear to be brass which is comforting.  Other than the thinness, the pen has a good weight and feel.  

The black knurling choice I thought was pretty cool, but as you can see from the picture tends to chip overtime.  There are some really great machined lines on the tip of the pen that adds just some subtle design interest that I found to be appealing.  

Notice the ding in the chrome tip...battle scars from the previous owner. 

As far as writing quality, the pen of course is compatible with the Fisher PR series which allows for all the crazy writing situations you may find yourself in...

Some other damage I found on it were some scratches on the clip.  If this was an everyday carry type pen for someone, this is to be expected though. 

I am not a huge fan of the click mechanism on this pen.  I'm going to blame it on age and wear, but the click feels almost gummy.  There is a distinct click, but there is a drag and it feels like it catches.  It is hard to explain...  It is more when the tip is retracting back into the pen where it feels like it snags; it just isn't very enjoyable.

Unless you are a super Fisher fanatic, I'm not sure I would try to seek out a really nice model of the Futura.  I found this one on eBay for less than $10.  If you want a nice clicky Space Pen, I'd go with the AG7.

White Lamy Safari Fountain Pen - M Nib Review

This Lamy has kind of a funny story.  I'd like to thank Tom for this one.  I was enabled to pick up this particular nib size due to a review he did on Instagram of Lamy nibs EF - B.  Yet, upon posting a photo of the selection I made in the white edition of the Safari, Tom was then prompted to go and buy one for himself.  I could see the vicious cycle of "enabler becoming the enablee" perpetuating itself further... I'm ok with that.  So, again, thanks Tom.

For whatever reason I find the white one particularly striking.  Same build quality of the normal ABS Safaris, but there is something about a glossy white finish that makes this pen stand out. 

The top of the cap is a nice subtle gray which accents the overall body well.  They even made the o-ring in the middle match the top.  That is some aesthetic determination right there; kudos Lamy. 

I've been very pleased with the M nib and it seems to be a really good starter.  The ink flows easily and puts down a line width that I think is most comfortable to me which is probably somewhere in the range of a 0.7mm on a good rollerball.  

The Lamy ink is not really my favorite and I wish it was a bit smoother to work with so I may have to opt for a converter in this one too.  If anyone has suggestions around some of their favorite blue inks to put through a Safari, please let me know! 

I'm going to link to this again if you happened to miss it from the Lamy Swift review, but it is the awesome Lamy Video (all in German) that shows some of their design and production process.  Seriously, you're going to love it. 

A beautiful Safari to add to the collection.