[Pen/Pencil Review] The Bic Cristal Classic Bold 1.6mm Ballpoint Pen
I know I’ve complained loudly about pen manufactures (BIC and Papermate, I’m looking at you) defaulting to larger and larger ballpoint sizes. I’ve been quite vocal about my love of fine points. But to be fair, I hadn’t actually used one of the “new” 1.6mm “Bold” points. I needed to give them a try. So taking advantage of “Back-to-School” sales, I picked up a package of Bic Cristal Classic BOLD ball point pens…18 count in 7 colors – black, blue, green, red, purple, light blue, light green, and pink.
I used them all, because I like seeing colorful longhand manuscripts. I also wanted to make sure my evaluation was on pretty much all of them. The writing sample is the basic blue–because for comparison, it’s the one that I had all three point sizes for. Those are my disclaimers/explanations.
The Bic Cristal Bold Classic 1.6 mm is about 5.75″ capped and 6.5″ long with the cap posted, which is normal for this kind of pen. On first glance you can see just how big a 1.6mm pen point is. The tip is coated in a hard wax to prevent leaking in the package. It’s difficult to remove completely and does affect writing ability until the wax is completely removed.
Being 1.6 mm, the ballpoint has a lot more surface area to use as a writing surface. You’d think that would be a good thing, but in fact, it causes a lot more clumping and smearing of the ink. I had to be careful not to get anything on me as I used the pens. That’s not a ringing endorsement for me. However, in terms of fairness, the color does come out richer and darker than in other point sizes, but that’s not enough to win me over.
I don’t know if it’s psychological thing, or really an aspect of the larger point size, but I found myself getting less material on a written page with the larger point. In my normal, “comfortable” writing, I felt like I do get fewer “characters per inch” with the bold. I’m sure there would be a much more analytical or scientific way of measuring, but I think even the writing sample shows a significant difference.
The Numbers:
1. How does it work? – 0.5 It works. It wrote right out of the package, once you got the wax off the tip. It didn’t fade down the page. The ink clumps and smears.
2. Grip and feel – 0.5 – It’s an inexpensive, plastic, no frills pen. It’s hard plastic. No grips. It’s not an “all day” pen.
3. Material – 1 For an inexpensive plastic pen, it’s solidly built. The cap and barrel are secure. The logo doesn’t wear off easily.
4. Overall Design – 0.5 -It’s a classic BIC pen that hasn’t changed in decades. I can see globs of ink on the point, which I don’t care for. The tip actually seems overly large for the design of the pen.
5. Price Point – 0.5 – You can get them anywhere, but only in bulk. I haven’t seen just 3 or 4 They’re in large numbers. I suppose when you look at it that way the $5-$8 isn’t bad when you’re getting 18, 24, or 48 (depending on which store you purchase them). You’re investing a lot on of resources for something that will probably not be a long term investment.
3 out of 5 Bronze Pencils
