[Pen/Pencil Review] Paper Mate InkJoy Gel – Fashion Colors
Today’s blog post is a revisit that isn’t a revisit. Today we meet the Paper Mate InkJoy GEL pen. These are retractable pens with something that makes me happy – “medium” points in 0.7mm and “fine” points in 0.5mm AS IT SHOULD BE! Which made me say, “Okay, let’s do this.”
The ink is really good. I do give Paper Mate that. I bought the fashion colors for the first go round. I picked these up at Target on an end cap. I went for the 0.7mm because there were colors – the 0.5mm were only available in black at that particular store. The colors are purple, pink, and light green – in the three-pack I bought. There are more colors – these also come in 8 packs and 14 packs – so ALL the colors. My next shopping trip will be for the 0.5mm.
The Paper Mate InkJoy gel pens are 5.75″ long retracted and extended. The barrels are slightly thicker than your typical retractable stick pen. The barrel is smooth and is mostly rubberized plastic for a comfort grip. There’s a clear-ish hard plastic front panel that lets you see the level of ink in the refill that also includes the clip – which could snap if you mess with it long enough. The tip is conical and metal, and so is the plunger on the retraction mechanism. The tip screws off to refill the ink and sets smoothly to avoid any ridges.
The deal with the InkJoy gel pens is supposed to be really smooth and quick drying – compared to Pilot G2 (which is a lofty goal – G2 is pretty much THE standard). So do they measure up? Actually yes, they do. These pens have good ink reservoirs with rich tints to the ink. The conical tips are smooth and lay down a solid line. The feel is good. The ink does seem to dry quickly – except in my moleskine calendar which has really slick pages. EVERYTHING smears on that. Any residual smearing is only really visible every in the purple.
Finally an InkJoy that DOES bring me joy. Can’t wait to try the 0.5mm. They’re comparable to other gel pens – running between $5-$6 for the 3-packs – depending on where you get them and if they’re on sale. These are available at most common retailers. I’ll be getting some more of these.
To the numbers:
1. How does it work? – 1 The ink is decent, and comes in decent point sizes. The retraction mechanism is solid
2. Grip and feel – 1 – It’s fairly basic retractable pen, but long like a stick pen. The rubberized plastic goes all the way around and up the back of the pen to give a comfortable fe
el for long-term use.
3. Material – 1 – It’s rubberized and translucent plastic pen. It’s solid for what it is.
4. Overall Design – 1 – It’s an InkJoy that I can get behind. The pen is colorful, comfortable, and solid.
5. Price Point – 0.5 – These run close to $2 a pop which is about on par but seems a touch high. They should be refillable, but I’m not seeing refills for these yet. If they do end up having the refills, then they will be a solid pen for everyday use.
4.5 out of 5 Bronze Pencils