[Pen/Pencil Review] Vintage BIC Gold & Silver Metallic

A few months ago I mentioned our trip to Killen to meet George Fox of My Supply Room. I came home with this lovely selection of BIC pens – mostly vintage. Several of them had either no ink or ink so old that the pens didn’t work. But that’s okay. I took some notes, and voila, today’s post.

I’ve been starting with the gold and silver classic hex body BICs. Mostly because they remind me of C3PO and R2D2. And also, gold and silver goes with everything. I had some 0.8mm blue and black BIC Round Stick Grip pens that you can buy in bulk at like Staples. I “harvested” a blue and a black refill from those and gave new life to these vintage bodies.

So, the high points… this is a 0.8mm point, they run 5.75″ capped and 6.5″ with the cap posted. The ink is actually dark for the fine line. The tungsten ballpoint does allow ink to flow easily. Both the blue and black are nice and rich. Though, if you don’t rotate the pen in your hand as you write, there is some ink clumping that can smear. But for the most part it’s a quick dry time. I hope it’s the tungsten design now that keeps the ink consistent. In the past I’ve felt that the ink started out dark and rich and then fade (like the ball stopped picking up ink or something) as you went down the page, but I don’t have that impression with this pen.

There’s nothing fancy about these pens except that they’re shiny. It’s simple, plastic, with no bells or whistles. The gold and silver hexagonal barrels have no padding or ergonomic grip – which does lead to fatigue if you’re do a tight grip on pens like I do. But for a simple pen, it’s quite handy and nice. I would like to have a few boxes of each color on hand to have backups. I only have the one of each and I don’t want to use them up before I can find replacements.

The numbers:

1. How does it work? – 0.5 It’s decent. No frills. No padding. Ink can be a bit clumpy and will smear if you’re not careful (and/or left handed).
2. Grip and feel – 1 – It’s an inexpensive, plastic, no frills pen. The grip and feel is hard plastic. But you’re not buying this pen for the grip, let’s be honest.
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 – 1 -It’s a classic BIC pen that hasn’t changed in decades. It is what it is.
5. Price Point – 0.5 – These are going to be more expensive than they should be because they’re vintage and you have to find them.

4 out of 5 Bronze Pencils

Tags: Ballpoint, BIC, BIC metallic, black ink, Blue Ink, Fine Point, George Fox, My Supply Room, Star Wars, Vintage, writing instruments