[Pen/Pencil Blog] Ghosts of Pen Blogs Past
Yes, it’s another re-run post. Yes, it’s a day late I will get better at managing my time on Mondays. Promise. Yesterday got away from me. MONDAYS, whatcha gonna do? Grr. Truly hoping for this year to end strong and allow for a more…productive 2018.
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Okay, so I know Office Max and Office Depot are technically the same thing, but I still think of them separately. Though, it’s getting harder. There’s one line that still exists in the Office Max Universe – the TUL pen line. Which makes me happy this holiday season, because I like their 0.5mm retractable pens. And for the next month, I’ll be exclusively working in RED and GREEN… because fa lalalalala.
The TUL retractable pens are about 5.75″ long with the tip retracted and extended. The barrels are plastic with color coordinated dimpled rubber grips. The clips are metal and sturdy with color coordinating accents. The plunger is clear plastic with color coordinating plugs in side. There’s not a ton of squish in the grip, but they’re pretty comfortable.
The ink is decent. I’ve actually had these for a while, and they still work well, even on the rough handmade paper. The color is rich and smooth, especially for a 0.5mm. I’ve enjoyed working with these pens off and on for a while now. I’m kind of surprised I haven’t reviewed them before. But I looked, and lo, behold!
I’m more impressed with the green. Green is hard to get a good dark line in finer points, but these TULs do a good job. I think you may still be able to get smaller packages than a dozen in the multiple colors, but even if you can’t the 12 pack in multiple colors are still pretty affordable.
These are good utility pens. Solid mechanisms with good ink for a decent price. You can go pretty far with these pens. I’m sticking them in my bag for work pens this month. Along with some Pentel EnerGel Xs and probably others. 😎
The numbers:
1. How does it work? – 1 – These are solid pens. The ink doesn’t skip in the fine point. The ink is dark and rich. It has a good feel.
2. Grip and feel – 1 – It’s a utilitarian pen. Has a nod to ergonomics with the dimpled, rubber grip. It has a good length with decent balance.
3. Material – 1 It’s a solid plastic and metal retractable pen. It’s good for what it is.
4. Overall Design – 1 – It’s solid. It’s utilitarian. It works.
5. Price Point – 0.5 – These run between $1.50 – $2.00 a piece, which make them affordable, but I’m not sure how easy they are going to be to get any more other than online. Since TUL was an Office Max “house brand” I don’t know that Office Depot kept them on. Get them while you can, if you can. Or order them online.
4.5 out of 5 Bronze Pencils
