[Pen/Pencil Review] The Austin College Gift Pen

This week’s pen blog is another one of the pens I got received for Christmas. It’s an Austin College Retractable that my niece, Suzanne gave me.

This pen is lovely. The body is black plastic, but with a lacquer shine. It’s a promotional type pen, so the hardware isn’t the best, but it’s not the cheapest. I was pleasantly surprised to find it had a Parker Style GEL ink in it. In a 0.7mm, I’m sure, but that was a pleasant surprise.

The pen is about 5.25-5.5” long with the point extended and is not slender, but not thick. It’s light but not completely featherweight and pretty well-balanced. This pen has a click retraction mechanism that is smooth and secure. This pen has little in the way of frills. No grips. But also no weird edges, so if it’s wide enough for you (or slender, depending on your preferences), it’s a comfortable pen. I’m happy to use it on a fairly regular basis – though I am trying to be careful not to rub off the college name or ding it up too much.

The numbers:
1. How does it work? – 1 – It’s decent. Mechanically there’s nothing wrong with the pen. The mechanisms and clip are pretty solid for a promotional/gift type pen.
2. Grip and feel – 0.5 – Though there are no edges to really dig in, there’s also no grip to the plastic. It’s okay, but can get tiresome.
3. Material – 1 It is a good quality promotional type pen. It’s plastic, but good quality plastic. It doesn’t feel “CHEAP”.
4. Overall Design – 1 – It’s good for what it is. It’s a pretty pen that’s meant to look good and promote the college. It does that. It’s not uncomfortable to work with, and it has a good ink.
5. Price Point – 0.5 – You know? I have no idea. It’s a college bookstore pen. It’s probably about $7-$10 because it’s more to promote the school and be a gift than it is to be an everyday writing pen. And being it’s from my niece? I’m not going to go digging around to find out.
GO ‘ROOS!

I give it 4 out of 5 Bronze Pencils

Tags: Austin College, black ink, gel ink, retractable pen