Tuesday Toolset, Top 5 Plastic Tip Pens Edition

This list is a peculiar one, and one very near and dear to my heart. Why do I love plastic tip pens (or drawing pens, or felt tip markers, or fineliners - whichever term you like) so much? They make my handwriting look amazing.

That’s one of the two reasons to buy one of these pens. The other is, of course, art. Depending on the model, they can provide features artists need, such as a wide range of point sizes, plenty of color choices, and archival ink properties.

Plastic tip pens aren’t for everybody. Students could use them for marking notes, but they break down too fast for page after page of notes. Same with repeated outdoor work - the tips are easily damaged.

But, if you know how this type of pen can benefit you, it can be the superstar of your arsenal.

Top 5 Plastic Tip Pens

1. Kuretake Zig Cartoonist Mangaka - There will come a point when the lack of color choices will catch up to it, but not here, and not now. (Buy)
2. Sakura Pigma Micron - Seen anywhere and everywhere fineliners are sold. And for good reason. Far more colors and tip sizes than the Kuretake, but not quite on par with performance. (Buy)
3. Staedtler Pigment Liner - Number three on my list, but number one with the artists I follow on Instagram. Especially artists who focus on tiny, detailed drawing. (Buy)
4. Copic Multiliner SP - If it weren’t so damn good I would have taken it off the list during the last price increase. You can buy 4 to 5 of the other pens on this list for every one SP. The standard Multiliner isn’t a good pivot either. (Buy)
5. Paper Mate Flair - I could have gone many different directions in this last spot, but the Flair is a great pen and adds a more utilitarian option to the list. The Ultra Fine Model is great too. (Buy)

(Notes: This is a big category, as seen by solid pens like the Uni Pen, Sharpie Pen, Stabilo 88, and more being left off. )

EK Tools Journaling Pen Review

One of the things that has fallen off my radar in the past several years is keeping tabs on what’s happening on retail store shelves, at least for stores in my general area. I can’t remember the last time I’ve gone out of my way to see what Staples has in stock, or what Michael’s is into these days. If I had, I might have seen these EK Tools Journaling Pens (Amazon affiliate link) before now.

The only reason I saw them is because I know a guy that now works as a designer for the brand, and that guy’s name is Chad Doane. Yes, that Chad Doane. Chad sent me a pack to see what I think about them and how they stack up to the competition in the art/drawing pen category.

Short version: Solid, but not spectacular.

These are good art pens, and I’ve enjoyed writing with them. Any plastic tip pen makes my handwriting look awesome, and these are no exception. I especially like the barrel shape, which is tapered from the center of the barrel upward towards each end of the pen. That does two things: Gives the pen a comfortable, flared-out grip area, and a cap that allows you to stand the pen up on its end. Ok, that last point isn’t the most important part of this pen, but it sure is fun to set them up and watch them come cascading down as you bump your desk.

Performance wise, the EK Tools pens are mixed bag. This pack comes with five sizes: 0.2 mm, 0.25 mm, 0.35 mm, 0.45 mm, and 0.65 mm. For journaling, crafting, scrapbooking, etc., that is a good range of sizes. That’s what these are made for after all. For my purposes, which is mostly writing, I enjoyed only two of the sizes: the 0.25 and 0.45. Oddly enough, the middle sized 0.35 felt different than the other four. The tip was softer, and the line wasn’t as clean and sharp. The 0.25 was fantastic to write with (which is what you see in the review), and the 0.45 had the firmness I wanted to see out of the 0.35.

For the price - approximately $1.80 per pen on Amazon as I write this - I reiterate what I said earlier, in similar terms: Good, not great. For my money, I’d pay the $2.50 per pen for the Sakura Pigma Micron, considered the best in class for this type of pen, or my favorite, the Kuretake Zig Mangaka, for $2.00.

Drawing pens are a well-established category in the stationery world, and tough to break into. While I like the EK Tools Journaling Pens, they fall just short of many of the other top-tier options in this group.

(EK Tools provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Stabilo Sensor Fineliner Marker Pen Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter.)

Fineliners are usually fairly standard in build and purpose, but every now and then, one with a unique feature comes along. The Stabilo Sensor boasts a cushioned felt tip that retracts into the metal casing. It's not a feature I've encountered on other fineliners I've tried. I can't decide if I like it or not, but I do think it has its uses.

The body is plastic, the same color as the ink, which is always nice. There's an angular cap with a sturdy clip. It clicks securely in place and posts well. The grip section is comfortable to hold and not too slick. The ridges provide enough grip that your fingers don't slip when applying pressure to the tip. I do think it would have been better with a cushioned grip, but I didn't experience any trouble during short writing sessions. It does take a fair amount of pressure to retract the tip all the way, but I don't think it's intended to be written with that way. That would cause some serious hand fatigue.

The retractable tip is meant to help with writing comfort. It's also meant to enhance the pen's use with rulers and stencils, and to allow for a consistent line when applying different levels of pressure. It also helps preserve the integrity of the tip. I can see how the springiness would help with the life of the tip, where pressure will retract it instead of flattening it. Those with heavy writing hands may find that this fineliner lasts much longer than the standard ones. But I didn't get good line consistency with different levels of pressure. Writing with pressure created a much broader line--which isn't the intent of the feature, but was kind of a cool feature by itself. There aren't many fineliners that offer any line variation. It could be a fun thing to experiment with, though experiment may wear out the feature if abused, I suspect. Still--it could be a fun thing to use for a few bullet journal headers.

This pen has been available for some time in standard colors, and now the new sets include a fun variety--though the sets have three of the same colors (teal, purple, and pink)--and then the Bright set has a lime green and the Colortangle has black. The groupings seem a little odd to me, but they're also available as open stock. The ink is well behaved and the colors are saturated and bright. I could see this being a popular pen for coloring books, if they released a better variety of colors.

Overall, I think the Sensor is very useful and the unique feature makes it a bit fun and interesting. It's perfect for drafters or doodlers, and it's priced well to be good for office or student use.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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