It doesn’t take much for me to review a pen, but a pen with dragons? How fast can it get here?
The Retro 51 Tornado Big Shot USPS Dragons Stamps not only looks amazing, but sports a feature that I have yet to review on a Retro 51: it’s big. I guess the Big Shot name gave that away, huh? But maybe not, so that’s why I wanted to take a look at it today, and compare it to the standard sized Tornado that many people are familiar with.
As a regular standard Tornado user, the size of the Big Shot is immediately noticeable when you pick it up. The length of the two pen models is identical at 125 mm, but the diameter is where the changes are. For comparison, here are the specs:
Big Shot grip area: 6.4 mm
Big Shot upper barrel: 9.2 mm
Big Shot Weight: 40 g
Standard grip area: 4.4 mm
Standard upper barrel: 6.5 mm
Standard Weight: 28 g
Looking at the numbers, the 12 gram weight difference is noticeable, but not that big of a jump in overall feel. The Big Shot is a well-balanced model, and while I noticed the weight difference when switching back and forth between the two models, I didn’t find it to be too heavy. The diameter, though, did take a bit of getting used to.
I took the barrel diameter measurements with my calipers right in the middle of where I grip the pen, so take my listed measurements with that caveat. The grip is obviously wider in the Big Shot, and given the refill used - the stock Schmidt P8127 used across the lineup by Retro 51 - it works. Wide refills and wide grips go together in my book, and it didn’t feel like too much of an outlier.
What took the most getting used to was the much wider upper barrel. Even though that area of the pen (I measured just under the clip/mechanism hardware near the top of the barrel,) sits in the open area in the cusp of my hand, I kept thinking about how bulky it felt there. Not in a good or a bad way, but in a “I keep noticing this,” kind of way. It’s wide up top, for sure.
With the size comparisons out of the way, let’s talk about the one thing that Retro 51 usually nails: the design. They have worked in collaboration with the United States Postal Service (USPS) for years, and each of those designs has been a hit. But this one, featuring Dragon stamps, was the first design that I had to get for myself. It’s so cool looking, with the bright colors and different stamp designs placed around the barrel. I’m having as much fun looking at it as I am using it.
From a price perspective, the Retro 51 USPS Dragons is $61 and lands in the middle of the Retro 51 Tornado lineup. The base level solid color Tornado is $28, and the more detail and design elements the pen has, the greater the price, reaching upwards of $100 for very complicated releases.
I’ve been enjoying my time with this pen, and I’m glad to now have a Big Shot in the collection. As a model, I will always prefer the standard size Tornado, but if the design dictates it - as in this case - I may consider adding another to the collection down the line.
(Goldspot provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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