I've decided that I'm going to make a strong effort to review some of the more "over the counter" pens in greater frequency as I do use them fairly often in my day-to-day, but tend to review the fancier stuff here on the blog. There has to be a balance of both, wouldn't you say?
One pen that I was excited to finally get my hands on is the Sharpie Pen in the retractable model...in a medium. Now, that may not seem like a big deal, but I have never seen these in the store; ever. In perusing Sharpie's site awhile back I noticed them as an offering on their site, but no retailer (brick and mortar) has ever carried them to my knowledge. Apparently you can buy them direct, but I didn't go through the process to see how much shipping would be...
I found a two-pack of the medium tipped ones in blue on Amazon, but these things were pretty pricey to try. Its almost like they are a rarity or something? For comparison, a two pack of blue in fine on Amazon are as cheap as $4.16 while a two pack of medium are $11.99. Crazy, right?
In the Sharpie Pen I do prefer a medium tip over the fine as it has a little more flow while writing. The fine is smooth enough as it is a porous tip pen, but I enjoy the broad lines of the medium; fits my style a bit more.
If you've not used a retractable Sharpie Pen, I'd give it a go. They are pretty large pens and a little bit awkwardly long, but are super light because they are all plastic. There is a grippy rubber section that isn't squishy at all, but gives ample stability while writing.
The retractable mechanisms are a little loose on these pens as in they they feel kind of flimsy, although have a good stiff "click". In my opinion it is obnoxiously long, but gets the job done. I really think the overall aesthetic and design element of the retractable Sharpie Pen could be redone to be a bit sleeker even though they are pretty much all a solid color and a bit straight forward. Maybe making them a bit more interesting? They used to have chrome accents more chrome accents on the pens which I'm glad they did away with (other than the clip).
I think Sharpie should also make a higher end model of this pen. I know there is the capped stainless steel Sharpie, but my issues with it are customization. No medium tip and no blue ink... Although, a higher end model would require the ability to change the refill which these pens do not possess. When they run dry you simply toss them in the trash. Seems a shame as it would be awesome to buy a Sharpie Pen refill similar to a Schmidt Fine Liner that could fit in other pens.
Another weird thing about these pens is the fact that the ink doesn't seem very consistent as far as color is concerned. The shade of blue for the fine tip is completely different than the medium. The medium is a lighter hue, while the fine is a darker almost royal blue. This seems super odd to me; don't they make these in the same factory?
Although this pen does have some casual gripes from me, overall it is a solid go-to office writer.