I've been excited to give this bright Lamy away and thanks to those that entered the contest and for visiting The Clicky Post!
And the winner is:
I couldn't agree more! In my workshop I actually have a pair of bright orange gloves for that very purpose: easy to find!
Congrats! Please contact me through the Contact Page with your address and details and I'll get your pen sent out to you right away!
I very much like the look of this pen. It is just a simple design, but the plastic barrel is a nice rich color accented by some clear areas. White logo and writing all around and not too flashy. Very conservative.
I decided to toss one of these in my cart on an order from JetPens awhile back as a "filler"; their free shipping over $25 makes it easy to try new pens if you're almost at the mark. And, with this pen being only $1.65, it was an easy and low-risk choice.
Prepare for a thought detour: one thing that drives me absolutely bonkers is sticker residue. By sticker residue, I mean the layer of gunk that stays on the surface of a product after you peel off a label of some kind like the UPC barcode sticker for scanning. Oh. My. Gosh. On some products it seems that nothing short of turpentine and steel wool would get that junk off. For whatever reason, I've found pens to be one of the worst culprits for this. Even if a pen is cheap and sold from a cup for individual sale, I still want to be able to remove the sticker to make the experience more enjoyable. Well, as you've presumed, the Multiball had some wicked sticker residue... Consider this rant now over.
The Multiball lays down a pretty fine line, but the ink flow is good which makes for dark, solid lettering on the page. The writing experience isn't smooth by any means and there is a considerable amount of drag on the page. I thought it might just be my Doane Paper as it is a pretty heavy stock and not overly smooth, but when I went to a Rhodia 5x5 Block pad, the experience was a bit better but not by much.
The grip on the pen is actually very good. It has just enough flex and enough rubbery feel to be really effective. Never during my time of writing did I feel like my grip on the barrel slipped.
I think I might have a love/hate with this pen. There are times I really don't like it, but when I feel like I get into a good handwriting "groove", the words on the page are neat, dark, and precise which I like. I would not recommend this pen as an everyday writer if smooth is your thing.
From what I've read, the Multiball writes on a large variety of surfaces, including glass. Pretty impressive, and I could see that being a benefit if you worked in a lab of some kind or your work required you to physically write on a variety of smooth surfaces. I haven't done any crazy tests, although I did ask my wife if I could write on one of our drinking glasses...she respectfully turned me down.
Now, I ask you, does anyone in their right mind need two Orange Lamy Noto pens?
Debatable.
Regardless, I happened to get my hands on a couple of these discontinued Lamy Noto models and wanted to give one away to a lucky reader!
I've decided to go with the "comment" system as I think it is more interactive and fun.
Please leave one comment on this post about your favorite Lamy model, or why you might want to buy your first Lamy (or maybe win this one?...). To make it easier to get to the comment section, you can go to the direct page for the post also.
Comments must be submitted by 11:59pm EST Tuesday, July 23rd. I will be randomly selecting and posting the winner on Wednesday, July 24th. If you are the winner, please contact me through the Contact page with your details and I'll get your pen sent out!
This giveaway is open to both US and international readers!
Good luck!
- Mike