Pentel Tradio Energel - Pen Review

June 20, 2013

I guess I'm on a Pentel kick. The Tradio is a pretty neat pen that I know has a huge following, especially the felt tip "art" pen variety. I ordered the sort of grey/brown/olive drab finish from JetPens and have been pleased with it overall.

The color of the body is really hard to pin down (hence my string of colors above), and the barrel has a soft matte finish. I haven't noticed any chipping or flaking from the barrel yet, but I wouldn't be too surprised if it ended up doing so over time.

I have to admit, the barrel design isn't my favorite now that I've been using it. Not that it is uncomfortable whatsoever, but it seems a bit to...ergonomic? There is a little bump near the tail end of the pen for the cap to post on, but I think it adds a strange design distraction. It has a cool little window in the cap to see the tip though!

This Tradio takes the brilliant Energel refill, my personal favorite of the office supply store 0.7mm gel variety (compared to the G2, Signo 207) . If you haven't picked up an Energel, give it a shot as it is a great everyday writer with a really quick dry time. Although the black ink is nice, I'm more of a sucker for blue.

The grip section on the Tradio Energel is comfortable for being stiff. The pen is much lighter than it looks. Really light in fact that it almost took me by surprise. Not a deal breaker, but it looks heavier in pictures I guess, and maybe a nicer quality than it really is.

If I were to give this pen a rating, it might be a 7 out of 10.

Pentel Rolling Writer - Pen Review

June 19, 2013

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

June 16, 2013

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.