Hmmmm.... now, isn't that a great start to a pen review? Perhaps the tone of the review is already set with a "hmmm".

I saw the Zebra Z-Mulsion LX online through Staples and figured I'd put in an order to have one sent to my local store for me to pick up in a couple of days. On a side note, honestly, if you buy something from Staples.com, this is the best way to do it because the shipping is free (although travel to the store is not). Make it an on the way home pickup and its pretty much free.

My first impression of the pen even before I used it was that I really dislike the name. I think it is a weird slogan-like name that just doesn't work for me. Especially on a metal Zebra barrel, they could stick with their "part number" style like they do with literally all of their other steel pens (give it a look) like the F-701, F-402, G-301, etc. They could put Z-402 or something for Z-Mulsion (if they really like the idea of calling their ink this). The metal barrels with the letter/number name makes it seem like you're writing with some sort of aircraft part which is cool. It adds a small touch of class and quality to a pretty cheap pen. Z-Mulsion just doesn't do it for me.

The pen writes smooth, as in very little drag, but it is really globby. This could be due to the large size of 1.0mm. The tip of the refill also seems to wiggle a bit which makes me consciously think about trying to write neatly. This is a big red flag that this will not be a pen I will use ongoing. It makes the experience poor and my handwriting suffers because of it.

I've also included a picture of my glob smears to clean off the tip from writing only one page... it felt like I had to clean off the tip of the pen after only a few lines just to continue writing with it.

The build of the pen also seems like a hodge podge of parts with varying ranges of color, material, and build quality. The barrel is steel, but has kind of a yellowy hue to it, and in contrast to the chromed clip (feels cheap), knock, and tip, it just looks thrown together. There is the Z-Mulsion "droplet" symbol on both the clip and stamped on the back; I think this a little too much branding. I really am not digging this pen, am I? : )

I did some comparisons with a few other hybrids I had laying around: the Uni-Ball Jetstream in 0.7mm and the Pilot Acroball also in a 0.7mm. Out of the three, I'm going to have to crown the Jetstream as my favorite hybrid so far.

Based on my experience, I would not recommend this pen to someone, nor will I likely use one again. With such good competition out there for a great hybrid pen, Zebra kind of dropped the ball on this one in my opinion.