Posts filed under Marker

Teranishi Magic Glow Slim Black Note Marker 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.)

The Teranishi Magic Glow Slim Black Note Markers are a bit of a marker-paint pen hybrid. They operate like markers in that they have felt bullet tips that don't require any priming, but the pigment ink behaves more like a paint. It's a pretty happy medium, if that's what your craft requires.

The build of the marker is excellent. They're sturdy and well labeled, the snap caps snap with enough satisfaction that you know they'll protect the felt tip. I was underwhelmed with the felt tips, though. They seemed a bit rough and the quality was inconsistent. Some of the markers seemed to have dried out a little in the package, so the lines were not as opaque as the wetter ones. When I applied some pressure--not a lot!--to try and squeeze out a little bit of pigment, I completely broke it. Oops! My favorite color, too! So be careful with the tips. When they say they don't require priming, they mean "don't press on this at all".

The pigment is very rich on white paper and shows up nice and bright. On black paper, it goes on dark, then give it a few seconds, then it pales to a vibrant opaque color. It looks a lot like the liquid chalk on the menus at coffee shops. It's a nice effect and it does its job well.

These could be really fun for card making or scrapbooking--but it would have to be a project you want to invest in. At $3.55 apiece or $42 for a 12-color set, these are pricey. In my opinion, too pricey. But if it's exactly the tool you need for a special project, it may be worth it. Just be careful with those tips!

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

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Posted on August 16, 2018 by Sarah Read and filed under Teranishi, Marker, Pen Reviews.

Tombow Play Color Dot Marker 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.)

The prospect of dotting all my stationery with perfect little bright circles delighted me to no end, so I was excited to try these new Play Color Dot Markers from Tombow. The colors are fantastic and the dots are definitely charming, but ink issues severely limit their usage. Alas, I cannot dot all the things. These markers only work on goldilocks paper--coated enough to prevent massive bleed-though, but not so coated as to prevent drying. The design is brilliant, and with a recipe change I think these would be a staple product for me. But right now, I can't use them the way I want to.

These pens have two ends--a 5 mm round felt-tip marker that works as a fat line, or as a highlighter, or as a circle stamp. The stamping is tricky to get the hang of. You can't just do a vertical drop like you would with a rubber stamp--you have to lightly press, do a little wiggle so that the full circle makes contact, and then peel it away from the page at an angle. This prevents the pigment from pooling at one side of the circle making it uneven and causing it to bleed through. You can see on my test page a variety of circle fails before I got the hang of it. Once I did, however, the circles came out really nicely.

The pigment is bright enough to be seen when used as a line, but pale enough to use as a highlighter as well. Because it is water-based, though, be careful about what you highlight over. And be mindful of the paper you're using, too, because of the bleeding issues.

The other end of the pen is a very fine .3 mm plastic tip. It's nice for writing or coloring in fine spaces, though the water-based ink does give it that over-pigmented area where lines overlap. In contrast to the very wet broad end, I did experience some dry-out of the tip during longer coloring sessions.

The pen body is plastic, and colors are very well indicated all over it. The broad end has the cap with a clip, while the fine point has a small cap. Bothe caps click closed securely, and both caps post on each other, which is a lovely clever thing. The clip is nicely flexible and sturdy. The side of hte marker includes instructions for proper stamping technique both in Japanese text and in a small graphic. If it hadn't been for that graphic, I'd be making blobby circles, still.

The 12-pack includes brown, grey, lilac, blue, sky blue, mint green, apple green, honey yellow, orange, coral, sakura, and cherry red. The colors are all vibrant and fun--I really like the palette chosen. It includes practical staples and a few fun accents.

Now, those bleeding issues. The wide tip causes some ink to pool, and it's in those pooled spots that bad things happen. If used carefully, the pooling can be mostly avoided, but not entirely. On cheaper paper, even the lightest touch soaks right through. And if the ink really concentrates, it can bleed through even Tomoe River paper. And it has some drying issues on heavily-coated papers as well. The two best papers I found for these markers were Kokuyo and Rhodia--and I still had to be careful (and still did get some faint bleeding). It's a shame, because these would be SO useful for planners and bullet journaling, but no one wants to make a confusing mess of their planner. I sincerely hope that this design might be revisited in the future with a revised ink recipe. They're nearly perfect, but the flaw is a fatal one.

I'm still going to use these, though. The colors are too good, the dots are too fun. If I can't dot all the things, at least I can dot some of them. It's better than no dots at all!

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

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Posted on April 12, 2018 by Sarah Read and filed under Tombow, Marker, Pen Reviews.

Iconic 2 Way 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.)

I love markers, so I guess it makes sense that I double-love twice the marker in one pen. I feel like the Iconic 2 Way Marker Pens were designed with the planner nerd in mind. Like they sat down and anticipated our needs. At first glance, they seem pretty plain--like something I've seen before. But the more I use them, the more I like them.

These double-ended markers have a chisel felt tip at one end, and a fine-point bullet felt tip at the other. The chisel is narrow enough that it can be used as either a regular marker or as a highlighter (though the darker colors might not work as well for this function). The fine tip is surprisingly fine and is great for making notes, even in small spaces (though the paler colors are more difficult to read in fine lines). Highlighting/color-coding events and making notes in small spaces is a huge part of my day--so a tool that can do both is instantly my friend.

The colors in this Retro Set are Brownie Pink, Cloudy Blue, Mustard Yellow, Pale Vermillion, and Warm Gray. I'm totally in love with these colors. I feel like the set needs a green, though. But it's an excellent palette.

For the most part, these pens are well designed. The white plastic body has a band of pale green with the brand info on it. Other color sets have different colored bands, so you can instantly tell what color family you're using. The color name is written on the barrel, and there are colored bands at both ends that indicate what color you're using and (by width) whether that end is fine or chisel. The caps are also clear--so it's easy to tell what end you're uncapping. Every visual cue is accounted for, so there's no frustration in the use. I never once had to search or double-check what color or width I was using. I really like it when I use a product and I can actually feel the thought that went into it--when I can tell that people came together and pooled their good ideas.

If I'm going to nitpick (and of course I am), the caps are a little difficult to get off. They stick pretty hard, and they're small and tricky to grip. And, being clear, they're hard to find when you drop them. But a good seal is important for a marker cap, and the clear caps help you see what end of the marker you're about to use...so I can't even fault those things. All I'm saying, really, is that they've failed to reinvent the cap. I can fault the clip, though. This is a silly clip. It's so thin, I doubt it will last long. And it's SO snug against the body of the pen that you might be able to get one sheet of paper in there, but you're going to wrinkle the paper if you do. It's really more of a roll-stopper than a functional clip.

I'll also note that these aren't really artist's markers. They don't do any neat layering, and they begin to damage the paper if you put down too much ink. I could see using them for coloring books, but not for any original masterpieces. Though with these colors, it would still look cool--and if you do some art with these, I want to see it! I feel these are better suited to notes and doodling--which are every bit as essential to life as art.

These are also at a pretty good price point, for all of the above. $8 for a set of five that acts like ten is a very decent deal. At that price, I'll happily snap up the other sets, and backup sets, and my planner will be so gorgeous. I feel more organized already.

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

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!